What do you do when people intentionally disobey rules and regulations? Get out the company manual, reinstate capital punishment and subject the violators to non-stop torture? I don’t think that would be the solution. Besides, pretty soon, you will have the Human Rights advocates banging on your doors. But you can deal with the problem if you use a little creativity and understand a little bit of employee empowerment, as the following story will clearly explain.

At a large private high school somewhere in the Midwest, a young girl created a mini-scandal when she made an impression on the bathroom mirror of her lips in bright red lipstick. The principal, a bright, well-educated woman with more than 20 years of experience in public school administration, was appalled. She immediately addressed the students over the school intercom:

“It has come to my attention that someone has been leaving an impression of their lips on the mirror in the second-floor girl’s bathroom with her lipstick. This behavior is considered vandalism and will not be tolerated. I hope that whoever is responsible for this will not do it again and will apologize for her inconsiderate actions. And I will warn you all that if this incident is repeated, all guilty parties will be suspended for a period of one week. I trust I won’t have to address this problem again.”

Naturally, the principal’s announcement had precisely the opposite effect. Despite the teacher’s best efforts, an epidemic of lipstick imprints galloped through the girl’s bathrooms. In desperation, the principal listened to an idea from the school janitor and allowed him to try it.

The janitor gathered together about five junior and senior girls who were the unofficial leaders of their classes and led them into one of the bathrooms with a bucket and a washrag in his hands. “I wanted to show you girls just how difficult it is to wash this lipstick off the mirrors,” he told them. The girls rolled their eyes, folded their arms, and otherwise signaled their utter indifference.

The janitor then proceeded into one of the stalls, dipped his washrag in the toilet, and swirled it around in the water. He went over to the lipstick on the mirror and wiped it off with the toilet-water-soaked-rag. Wide-eyed horror replaced the expressions of boredom as the janitor finished wiping down the mirrors.

The lipstick problem ended almost immediately.[1]

Talk about empowerment. The school janitor came out with the best solution in dealing with the problem, which teaches us a lesson as well. Empowerment simply means listening to the suggestions and recommendations of the people working under us. Our Ph.D.’s  and our business degrees do not necessarily mean we know all the right answer all the time. You might be surprised to know that very practical and logical solutions lie in the hands of those simple folks without fancy work titles and they’re simply waiting for us to give them a chance to show us what they’ve got.

Theories, books and high sounding words pertaining to “employee empowerment” abound everywhere. Just take a trip down your favorite bookstores and you’ll find titles upon titles that deal with the subject matter. Use your favorite search engine and look up the word empowerment and you’ll be surprised to find so many articles and materials written about it.

Well I’ve got news for you. Employee empowerment simply means we start with giving due respect and attention to those who are working for us. To accord them with the right degree of honor and respect. And to adopt a teachable mindset remind the self that there will always be something we can learn from others. Successful leaders understand this principle and that’s why he gets the most out of his people. And the bonus here is that his people like what’s happening. And they get motivated to do more.

The bible has something interesting to say: It says that those who want to lead must first learn how to serve and nothing beats serving those who work under us by giving them due attention, honor and respect.

So the next time you find a lipstick impression right in your mirror, before you being out the “Death sentence” Penalty, call your janitor for advice. Because this is good advice.

Note: 723

[1] Lipstick on the Mirror. Alex Lubertozzi, Perdido Magazine

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You and I know very well that resistance to change is always one of the inhibitors of progress. And this point is best illustrated by a historical event that happened in the field of basketball. From the Signs of the Times courtesy of Pacific Press comes this beautiful story.

Do you know that on the night of December 30, 1936, a crowd of more than 17,500 turned out at the old Madison Square Garden in New York City, to see Long Island University, the nation’s number-one basketball team with a 43-game winning streak, oppose Stanford, the defending Pacific Coast Conference champion. Stanford ended LIU’s winning streak with a 45­-11 victory, but something more important happened.

The crowd in fact had mostly come to see Hank Luisetti, Stanford’s 6 foot 2 inch, 185-pound sophomore. He was the only player known for shooting the ball with one hand while he hung in the air, in defiance of basketball style. Everyone else was shooting the old style: two-handed set shots or hook shots. The huge publicity celebrating Luisetti’s shooting style did not change that the goal was putting the ball into the basket, but it forever changed how the game was played. But not without stubborn resistance. The establishment felt it was not the right thing to do. “That’s not basketball,” Nat Holman, the fabled City College of New York coach, said at the time. “If my boys ever shot one-handed, I’d quit coaching.”

Luisetti was voted college player of the year in 1937 and 1938. He finished second to George Mikan in the Associated Press’s poll to select the best player of the first half of the twentieth century.

Hank Luisetti died on December 17, 2002, living plenty long enough to see his style perfected and embellished by the likes of Earl Monroe, Julius Erving, and, of course, Michael Jordan. Had somebody not had the courage to break convention, then basketball today would have remained static and boring.

Through out history you will see that resistance to change has always been there. Hindsight is 20-20 vision. Today as we look back we find it humorous. Take for instance this story:

In the late nineteenth century, a controversy erupted among educators about a new American invention. For decades, students had used lead pencils in doing their work. But in 1880, a technological breakthrough came. For the first time, they began attaching rubber erasers on the ends of pencils.

This had never been done before. And many educators opposed the use of this newfangled pencil on the ground that it encouraged students to make mistakes. “Let them avoid errors in the first place, and they won’t need an eraser.”

When calculators were introduced accounting and engineering professors were against the machine. The devices were prohibited entry into the classroom. One accounting professor proclaimed with passion and conviction that those who persist in using the calculator will become dumb. Of course today, if you are not using the calculator you are already dumb. When was the last time you ever see someone carrying the slide rule and algorithm to class? Hardly.

Be open to change. But stick firm to biblical values.

These are the only thing that should never change for it they do change then they are not considered values in the first place.

Make change your friend. People who soar and succeed are those who refuse to live in the past but whole eyes sparkle with the prospect of the future embracing change along the way.

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I was doing my 2nd day training of our 2 day John Maxwell Leadership Workshop and Seminar to some of the budding leaders for a very huge business organization and I talked about good leaders being big enough to apologize for their mistakes and earn the respect of his or her people.

Yes Virginia, even bosses make mistakes.

Somebody sent me this material about bad bosses. Basic Rules concerning Bosses so consider this:

BOSSES BASIC RULES

Rule 1: The Boss is always right!

Rule 2: In the impossible hypothesis that a subordinate may be right, Rule 1 becomes immediately operative.

Rule 3: The boss does not sleep; he rests.

Rule 4: The Boss is never late; he is delayed elsewhere.

Rule 5: The Boss never leaves his work; his attention is required elsewhere.

Rule 6: The Boss never reads the paper in his office; he studies.

Rule 7: The Boss never takes liberties with his secretary; he educates her.

Rule 8: The Boss is always chief, even in his bathing togs.

Rule 9: Whosoever may enter the boss’s office with an idea of his own must leave the office with the boss’s ideas.

Rule 10: If, in your lamentable ignorance, you fail to grasp the truth, fear not; return to rule 1.

Yes Virginia. Even bosses make mistakes. But what differentiates bosses from good leaders is that good leaders are big enough to admit their mistakes, rectify them and earn the respect of their people.

In the seminar however, one participant in the group was so bothered he asked me a pointed question: “But being a leader means you have to be tough and you could never afford to show your weakness in order to gain the respect of your people.” And then I realized that this has been the philosophy that has been fed a majority of our people.

No wonder we have a dearth of good leaders in this country.

Good leaders are not supermen. Even leaders are not immune to mistakes.

I told this honest and truth seeking gentleman, “Good leaders need to have firmness. Solid to the core as far as character is concerned. Standing unmoved when it comes to values and principles but they have to maintain a heart of tenderness.” And I can see the expression on the man’s face that my words sounded alien to him.

You see history will give us real examples of such leaders.

Leaders who are steel and velvet combined. Let me tell you of one such leader.

An unusual tribute was paid to Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg.

The poet wrote, “Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, who is as hard as rock and soft as drifting fog, who holds in his heart and mind the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect.”

Lincoln demonstrated then and now how a person can possess both a will of iron and a heart of tenderness. Nothing deterred the president during the American Civil War from his “noble” cause, and few persons have ever endured more criticism and detractors than Lincoln. Yet he was no more a man of steel than one of velvet.

When General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army, Lincoln sent an unexpected message to the enemy commander. “Tell your men they may keep their horses; they’ll need them for plowing,” said the president.

Then this: “Tell your men they may keep their rifles; they’ll need them for hunting.” When Lee read those words he wept.

I don’t think this showed Lincoln as weak; in fact it displayed his great strength of character.

The weak ones are those who bully the small and the poor.

The weak ones are those who strut around with an armed group of mean looking thugs designed to instill fear to those who dare oppose them.

The weak are those who are so small they will never dare admit their mistakes and apologize because they do not have the character in them to do so.

The weak are those who think that humility is a virtue accredited to wimps and that the strong should be those with super giant EGO always trying to impress people and win their admiration.

Be firm but be strong enough to be tender.

Moses was mightily used by God. Face off with the mightiest leader of the known civilization at that time. He opposed Pharaoh to his face, delivered his people out of slavery and brought them to the promised land. Tough? Yes. Tender? Yes. And this is why God says Moses was the most humble man on earth. A combination of steel and velvet. I hope this is convincing enough.

Be firm but do not harden your tender hearts and let it be constantly sensitive to God’s touch at all times.

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A security man has a dream that the plane his boss is supposed to take the next day is going to crash. When he wakes up he calls his boss at home and tells him. His boss decides not to take the plane. Sure enough the plane crashes. The relieved boss calls the young man to his office and gives him a reward — and then fires him. Slightly confused the man asks why. The boss replies, “You were sleeping on the job.”

There are good bosses and then there are bad bosses. Most bosses I know try their best to be good but the current working scenario just could not afford them the luxury. This I will explain.

How many among you believe that as your boss wakes up in the morning he or she will be thinking: “Let me see now…..what can I do for you today?”

While my partners and I teach and train people on leadership skills, while we emphasize the importance of connecting with one’s people and inner circle in the work place, while we shout out the fact that “People will not go along with the leader unless they get along with the leader…..” The fact remains that even though your leader is as nice and magnanimous as he or she can be, nobody will care about your career more than you do. Well with a few exceptions like perhaps your parents or your spouse. What this means is that you have to take responsibility for managing your own career and never even for a moment consider leaving it to anyone else.

Your bosses, your co-workers, your direct reports are mainly focused on themselves and their careers. This is not to say that those around you at work are not interested in helping you succeed, but their own career’s trajectory, projects and future promotions will be their main concern. This is why you should start thinking like you’re the boss. You are a company of one and that is You Inc. as Tom Peters would say. Start cultivating the mindset of a CEO, marketing manager, HR director maybe. Or perhaps the head of product design and you be the talent coordinator, the agent representing yourself. Start cultivating an employer’s mindset. The employee mindset person will never get ahead in life because he or she is merely compliant while the employer mindset person is committed.

Job security today is a myth. No company is crazy enough to offer lifetime employment. Only you can guarantee yourself lifetime employability. International competition, mergers and acquisitions have eradicated job security but the fact remains that no company want to lose good people. Work stats in America reveal that the average working American will now have between ten and twelve jobs and three to five careers during his or her lifetime. Meanwhile, people across the board – including your boss, his or her boss, and the bosses of your bosses are being asked to juggle more and more assignments, often combining the responsibilities of two or three people into one job. Of course you know what this is called: “Multi-tasking.” They’re having a hard time making their own careers work so how can they have the time to take care of yours?

Knowing yourself is as important as knowing how to do the job.

Not only cows or cattle are branded. Ask the marketing experts. They will tell you that you yourself should build your own brand. A brand that says you are not only good in what you do, you are a master craftsman. You are reliable and trustworthy. You have the drive to succeed. And you have the leadership skills needed to help propel your people and your company to greater heights and success.

If you want to stay competitive and ahead of the game, keep your hard skills sharp. But work hard on your soft skills too. Making this happen is not your employer’s responsibility, it’s yours. All things being equal, the person with a better attitude is always preferred over one who does not have it. The world does not owe you a living. Your years of stay in a company should match your growth in skills and abilities. Seniority today is not a basis for getting ahead unless you have the necessary skills to show it. Self-leadership is the key.

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Dr. John C. Maxwell is a very prolific author. Our company Inspire Leadership Consultancy has been licensed to do his leadership training programs here in our country. I would love to share with you an article Maxwell wrote many years ago. And as the whole country prepares to go to the polls, I hope that the new set of elected officers would learn from the lessons presented here. Maxwell writes:

Before the NBA ever heard of Shaquille O’Neal, Dikembe Mutombo or Tim Duncan; back before anyone knew the name Hakeem Olajuwon; in the days before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ruled the hardwoods, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell changed the nature of professional basketball with the way they played the center position.

Chamberlain was a great scorer and Russell was known more for his defense, but no matter which end of the court they were on, they played above the rim like no centers before them ever had.

Russell, however, is best known not for his offense or his defense but for something else – winning. His No. 6 jersey was retired by the Boston Celtics in 1972 to honor his contributions as the anchor to teams that won nine consecutive NBA titles. He added two more titles as a player/coach.

That’s why it was such an honor to meet him at a recent NBA All-Star game, and that’s why I wasn’t surprised to hear what he said about great team players: “The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.”

One of the qualities of a great team player, you see, is that they enlarge others. Bill Russell isn’t just a large man; he’s a man who enlarged others. He made them better.

Here are five characteristics of people who enlarge others.

1. Enlargers value their teammates.

When you think about your teammates, place a “10″ on their heads. If we think of others as 10s, we’ll do everything to add value to them. Our behavior is totally different when we think of someone else as a two. Seeing others in the very best light makes the entire team better because usually our level of performance equals the level of value placed on us.

2. Enlargers know and relate to what their teammates value.

Here’s how you can tell if you value people: Do you value people who won’t benefit you or only those who might contribute in some way to your success? Great team players truly value others as people, and they know and relate to what others value. When I want to know and relate to others, I look for five things. I want to know their dreams, values, skills, attitudes and life questions. We all have questions, by the way. If you can find the pathway to a person’s questions, you can always find the pathway to a person’s heart.

3. Enlargers add value to their teammates.

Whatever the project, task or situation, enlargers find ways to make others around them better because they approach life as a win/win situation. They realize that making others better isn’t just better for others; it’s better for everyone. As the old adage goes, a rising tide lifts all boats.

4. Enlargers make themselves more valuable.

You cannot give what you do not have, so self-improvement precedes team improvement. The first step toward improving the team is to improve yourself. The only way I can keep leading is to keep growing.  The greatest way that I can add value to my team is to make myself more valuable. If I can become a better player, if I can continually increase my skills, if I can continually become enlarged within myself, then I have the capacity to enlarge others.

5. Enlargers initiate.

Enlargers believe in others before they believe in themselves, serve others before they serve themselves, and add value to others before they add value to themselves. See the common thread? The word “before.”

They have the ability to see potential in another person before they even see potential within themselves. They have the ability to start action. They have the ability to start belief. They are initiators.

Maxwell is so right. Initiate. Enlarge. Be a great team player.

Serving others is the best way of enlarging others.

Even Scriptures say that he who wants to lead must first serve. And when we serve we do not only enlarge others, we also enlarge ourselves in a positive way.

Oh how I wish that this time, God would raise up a new set of leaders who would enlarge our country and never their own pockets.

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