Nov 23, 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 of
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, even 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