Nov 16, 2022
Jan
Rutherford and Jim Vaselopulos, the hosts of
The Leadership
Podcast, explore core
values based on the six cardinal virtues. Follow the discussion in
this important episode to be reminded how the cardinal virtues
apply in life and at work, and how you and your organization can
move forward by going back to the fundamentals of
leadership.
https://bit.ly/TLP-333
Key Takeaways
[1:25]
Jan and Jim have both received a lot of very positive texts about
Episode 332, featuring Richie Norton, who talked about the brevity
of life. Jan sees that people are planning frantically for next
year.
[3:05]
Leaders are making sure they don’t get caught up in emotions but
look at the facts. Jim refers to past guest Alan Beaulieu and ITR
Economics. The slowdown we’re feeling is a slowdown in the rate of
growth, not a recession. Slowing from 25% growth to 9% growth feels
like the airbags just came on. Don’t overreact.
[5:20]
The numbers come from our words, deeds, and our ability to work
through other people. Leaders get people to do things willingly
that they would not do otherwise. How we lead depends on our
values. Ask what is the most important thing, the second-most
important, the third-most important, and so forth. We need to
prioritize what we value and translate those values into behaviors
we can observe.
[6:47]
If we say we value integrity, what is the observable behavior that
comes from that value? Is hitting the number that top priority, or
are people a priority?
[7:42]
It doesn’t matter what you say, it matters what you do. Your
culture is a product of your daily decisions and how you treat
people.
[8:53]
Jim recalls an experience from his first college internship at
Glenview Tool Company. The owner, Mike Sciortino told him that a
security device can’t prevent all theft but it can help keep honest
people honest. Jim says, as leaders, let’s help people do the right
thing. Let’s encourage them.
[11:04] Jan shares a recent airline experience
where “the system” wouldn’t allow the airline to fix a problem. The
system should be for people!
[11:40] Jan explains the six cardinal
virtues: Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice,
Temperance, and Transcendence. Wisdom is built upon curiosity. We have to reward
curiosity if we want people to be able to identify problems. Daily,
use the statement, “That’s a great question!” Reward questions!
It’s important to catch people doing right.
[17:15] Take the focus of questions away from
yourself and put it on the other person. Instead of saying, “I
don’t understand this, can you explain it to me?” say, “That’s
fascinating. Help me understand why you’re going about it that
way.”
[18:12] Courage
gets a lot of talk these days. The
best business translation of courage is honesty. Sometimes we say
authentic. Jan coached a client who had been honest to their boss,
but their boss just got quiet, as though wounded. If we want the
truth, we need to hear it. Jim cites Choosing Courage, by Jim Detert. Courage is related to timing.
Sometimes, wait for the right moment instead of blurting it
out.
[21:45] Jan’s client recently told him that
part of being courageous is not being complicit. Don’t keep quiet
about stuff.
[22:39] Employees always have three choices
about their workplace: Suck it up and deal with a toxic culture,
try to change it, or leave. What do you stand for? What are you
willing to compromise on, or not? It’s not like there’s much
greener grass in different places, but there is different grass in
all the organizations. You don’t have to be complicit in a toxic
culture or abusive leadership.
[24:40] Humanity
is simple kindness or the Golden
Rule. This can be hard because there’s a lot of competition.
There’s tunnel vision. Some niceties go by the wayside. But
research shows that human kindness works. Humans respond best to
positive reinforcement. Humanity is a decision that doesn’t depend
on anyone else. Just be kind, even if people are mean to you. It’s
doing the right thing.
[28:01] Jan tells of going from being a
sergeant to being an officer. He was told, “You don’t have to speak
like the soldiers; you can be above that.” It’s a matter of
respect. If you try to fit in by speaking the cool lingo, it is
inauthentic.
[28:58] Justice
is fairness. Organizations are
asking people to be fair to one another. But, in personalized
leadership, you can’t treat everybody the same, because of their
individuality and the work function they have. People want
one-on-one time with their leader. In all that, we have to be sure
we’re being perceived as being fair. Encourage others in the
organization to be fair and equitable.
[33:19] Temperance
is self-discipline. Without
self-discipline and sacrifice, we can’t tackle big goals. John
Wooden taught players how to put on socks and shoes so they
wouldn’t get blisters. In business, we are missing so many
fundamentals, such as starting and ending meetings on time and
being predictable.
[35:00] Jim says discipline is respect. Showing
up to meetings on time is respectful for everybody’s time.
Discipline with personal and business goals is respect for how
important those goals are. If you don’t have self-discipline, you
probably don’t have self-respect. Discipline thrives when you have
respect. If you don’t have self-respect, discipline
falters.
[36:29] Transcendence
is spirituality. In work, Jan sees
it as being gracious and operating with gratitude. Jim reminds us
that in the grand scheme of things, our role is small. How do you
relate to the universe and other people and creatures? Barry
Schwartz, in Practical
Wisdom, told of
janitors in a cancer care unit operating with graciousness because
the patients were in great need and having a hard time.
[38:19] The transcendent behavior of the
janitors improved the condition of the patients, who were at their
most humiliating moments. The janitors were looking at the bigger
picture than cleaning up a mess. In high-performing organizations,
people operate with that level of transcendence. People who win the
Medal of Honor are operating with transcendence, also known as
Mission, Vision, and Values.
[39:20] Companies are not started for the sake
of creating a great culture. A company starts because there is a
market need, and they think they can help people. More people get
involved and then they think about having a good company, which
means having a good culture. People are tribal. The cardinal
virtues are the rules to get along with our tribe and be of service
to other humans in other tribes.
[40:50] Things feel out of hand because we’ve
gotten so far from the fundamentals. As you look at planning, go
back and say, “Are we making this too complicated?”
[42:24] Closing quote: Remember,
“Courage is the most
important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t
practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue
erratically, but nothing consistently without
courage.” — Maya
Angelou
Quotable Quotes
- “As [Richie Norton] reminded us, ‘Life is
short’ isn’t a cliché, it’s true. and ‘Don’t defer your dreams.’
Boy, that show resonated!” — Jan
- “We had some sectors that were growing at 25%
and now they’re only going to grow at 9%, so it feels like the
airbags just came on because we’re slowing down from 25 to 9. … The
slowdown is huge but it’s still a rate of growth. … Let’s not
overreact.” — Jim
- “[As a leader,] you’re basically saying, ‘Let’s
change the trajectory, let’s improve performance, let’s do
something different that you wouldn’t have done if I didn’t
intercede.’” — Jan
- “Your culture isn’t what you want it to be.
Your culture is a product of the decisions you make on a daily
basis. … Do [you] respect people? Do [you] listen to them when they
have a concern?” — Jim
- “If people aren’t asking questions around you,
you might be the emperor without clothes.” — Jim
- “There is a way to ask a question so that it
will never be perceived as stupid. … [Instead of ‘I don’t
understand this,’ say], ‘That’s really fascinating. What made you
think to do it that way?’ or ‘Help me understand why you’re going
about it that way.’” — Jim
- “We see what’s going on in big tech right now;
it’s all fear. It’s awful. People are afraid to speak up.” —
Jan
- “It’s
not like there’s much greener grass in different places, but there
is different grass in all the organizations. They’re different. There might be a place
where the values line up better with what you’re all about. You
don’t have to be complicit in a toxic culture.” — Jan
- “Humanity is a decision that doesn’t depend on
anyone else. If you’re going to be kind, just be kind, if people
are mean to you.” —
Jim
- “As leaders, we’ve got to encourage others in
the organization to be fair and equitable.” — Jan
- “We know this: Without a certain amount of
self-discipline and sacrifice, you can’t tackle big goals and defer
short-term pleasures. It’s really hard. And any organization has
really long-term goals.” — Jan
- “No company that I know of was started to
create a great culture. … Every company starts because there’s a
market need and they think they can help other human beings. And
then they get more people involved. And then they say, … ``We should have a
good
company!” —
Jan
- “We are
tribal. To me, these cardinal virtues are the rules for us to
behave in a certain way to get along with our tribe and to deliver
services, offerings, and products to other humans in other
tribes. That’s what we’re
doing.” — Jan
- “Everything feels like it’s out of hand because
we’ve gotten so far from the fundamentals.” — Jan
Resources
Mentioned