Professional Documents
Culture Documents
001_Lead to win
Michael Hyatt: You know the American television sitcom The Office?
Well, it ran for nine seasons, and the show was a major success by
almost any measure. It won multiple Emmys, a Golden Globe, more
than a dozen other major awards. More than that, references to the
show and its characters have penetrated workplace culture, just like
Scott Adams’ Dilbert comics before them. Without a doubt (guiadara a
daut), the key ingredient to the show’s success was Steve Carell’s
hilarious portrayal of the lead character, Michael Scott.
[Videop]
Michael Scott: The fundamentals of business. The fun-da-mentals of
business. Mental is a part of the word. I have underlined it
(underlaindit), because you’re mental if you don’t have a good time.
You have to enjoy it.
[End of video]
Michael Hyatt: The magic in the character was just how oblivious he
was. Here’s Carell talking about Scott:
[Video]
Steve Carell: I think he’s a man who clearly lacks self-awareness. And
I’ve always said (anajoys) that if he even caught a glimpse of who he
really is, his head would explode.
[End of video]
[Video]
Steve Carell: If you don’t know a Michael Scott, you are Michael Scott.
[End of video]p
Michael Hyatt: We all love watching the character, but no one wants
to work for him, let alone be him.
As a leader, Alan Mulally is best known not only for his successful
tenure as CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes but also his stunning
turnaround of Ford Motor Company. When he took (guenichuck – no
recommendable-) the CEO job in 2006, Ford was plagued with
troubles and bleeding cash by the billions. Along with other strategies,
Mulally worked closely with his executives, encouraging honest
communication, and within three years Ford was profitable again, and
that was during the Great Recession, when General Motors was taking
government handouts and still failing.
Fortune magazine put Mulally on its World’s Greatest Leaders list, and
similar recognition came from Barron’s, TIME magazine, and other
publications. But Mulally wasn’t always such a great leader. In fact, as
a 25-year-old manager, his very first employee quit because he was
such a terrible boss. “Why are you quitting(quiring)?” Mulally asked the
employee. “Because you’re driving me nuts,” the man answered
(ansord).
Initially, Mulally was hurt, but a few weeks later he tracked the man
down and asked him what it was about his leadership that drove him to
resign. The truth was hard to hear, but according to organizational
psychologist Tasha Eurich, who tells the story in her book Insight,
Mulally never forgot that feedback. Ipt turned out to be the alarm-clock
moment that marked the beginning of his incredible journey as a
leader. Mulally went from clueless to self-aware.
Well, after reviewing over 750 studies on the subject, Eurich identified
two distinct kinds of self-awareness: internal and external. Internal self-
awareness is about your values, your beliefs, your appetites, and
emotional triggers. External self-awareness is about how others see
you, and effective leaders know not only how they move through the
world; they also know how others experience that movement.
Hi, I’m Michael Hyatt, and this is Lead to Win, a podcast to help you
win at work, succeed at life, and lead with confidence. In this inaugural
episode, we’re going to explore self-awareness, and I’m delighted to
say that I’m here with my cohost, COO and eldest daughter Megan
Hyatt Miller. Thanks for joining pme, Megan.
Michael: This is so awesome to have you doing this with me. You are
the one who actually suggested self-awareness. What is it about that
topic that got you so excited?
Megan: Well, it’s the thing that I see in our team and in teams that we
coach, through the entrepreneurs we lead and resource, that really
comes up time and time again. When a team member or an aspiring
entrepreneur or an executive doesn’t have self-awareness, they really
get in their own way and very often without knowing it. It’s usually the
reason people are promoted. It’s usually the reason people are fired. If
you don’t have it, it will slow your growth in ways you can’t even
imagine, and if you do, it will skyrocket your success.
Michael: Absolutely. I think the important thing in this show is to talk
about how in the world could we get it. If it’s true that so many people
don’t have it yet think they have it, how can you move from being
unaware or clueless to self-aware and effective?
Michael: Yeah, I am, but I have to tell you something funny first. I’ve
always been a little self-conscious about this, wondering if anybody
would ever figure this out. My middle name is actually Scott, so in a
sense, I’m Michael Scott.
Michael: Okay. Let’s get into these practices. The first practice is know
your symptoms. I had(ran) an executive who worked for me more than
a decade ago, and it’s the weirdest thing, because he was somebody
who reported to me, but in every meeting a couple of things happened.
First, he felt like he always had to have the last word. I would be clearly
summarizing the meeting, bringing the plane in for landing, closing off
with all of our conclusions and the summary, and then he had to say
something, and it was usually a correction to something I had said. So
that was the last word.
Finally, I walked into his office and said, “Look, this division only has
room for one leader, and right now that’s me.” I said, “Do you
understand me?” He kind of took a deep gulp and said, “Yeah, I get it.”
It did improve after that, but I think he was completely oblivious to the
fact that he was doing that. It was apparent not only to me but to
everyone else, because other people had mentioned it to me.
But it was really irritating, and I found myself managing around him. I
would just stop inviting him to meetings because he was so clueless
that this happened repeatedly. It made me uncomfortable, it made
everybody else uncomfortable, so it was just easier to leave him out,
and that’s why I finally felt like I had to speak to him.
Megan: Wow. That’s a great story, and unfortunately one that I don’t
think ever got corrected. According to research we’ve seen, leaders
are especially susceptible to self-unawareness for two reasons. First
(and this is a hard one to hear), power is proven to decrease empathy.
One study conducted by Adam Galinsky of Northwestern’s Kellogg
School of Management found that increased power can lead to a
deceptive degree of self-assurance.
Michael: What’s interesting about that, the story I just told a moment
ago… One of the top strengths in this executive I was talking about
was self-assurance. Self-assurance can be a big thing if it shows up as
confidence, but if you dial that up a couple clicks and it becomes sort
of that indomitable sense of “I’m never wrong, I’m always right, I have
amazing insight,” it could become arrogance, and that’s how it could
manifest itself here. You don’t have the empathy because you think
you have all of the answers.
Michael: Well, I think it’s true for all leaders. Even at my age and with
my experience, I think it’s imperative that I maintain a sense of humility
that really all I have at the end of the day is my limited perspective.
There are other perspectives. I certainly want to be confident, and I
want to lead with confidence, but I don’t want to be so self-assured that
it becomes arrogant and I begin to close down other perspectives. I
want to be aware that other people bring much to the table.
Megan: Last I checked. All businesses are filled with humans for the
most part.
Michael: Okay, so how can you tell if you’re one of those leaders who
lacks self-awareness? This would be hugely helpful if we had some
kind of barometer or some kind of way to be able to take somebody’s
temperature and say, “Yep, you’re lacking in self-awareness.” As it
turns out, I think there are at least four symptoms. So let’s talk through
those.
Megan: Right. One of the things to help with that is notice people’s
body language, their tone of voice, their pacing of the conversation,
how the agenda is flowing, all those kinds of things. It’s really a lot
about paying attention, which I know we’re going to talk a little bit more
about later, but when you’re doing this self-analysis, that’s one of the
things to ask. “What’s going on in the meetings when I’m present?”
Michael: That’s one of the problems when you get too self-assured.
You’re thinking more about yourself than the environment and the
people around you, and you miss clues when that happens.
Megan: Absolutely.
Michael: The second symptom is that people are working around you
or leaving you out of meetings and conversations. They don’t involve
you voluntarily. If you feel like you’re being left out, it might be a good
opportunity for introspection and to ask yourself the question, “Why am
I not being invited to these meetings? Why does it feel like people are
managing around me? Why am I being left out?”
Megan: Right. People just feel shut down when they’re around you.
You know, as you were talking about these symptoms, I thought,
“Wow! If people would do this diagnostic on themselves…” It’s like
when you have some weird medical thing going on and you get on
WebMD and try to see what your symptoms mean and whether you
are dying or not.
You see, this person was a great performer. He would frequently crush
the goals I set for him, exceeding them by 20 or 30 percent, which was
amazing, but he carried an angst and negativity about him that had
started to adversely affect the tone of the department as a whole. You
would see him walk into a staff meeting, and it was as though the
enthusiasm in the room was deflated by the negative comments he
would make.
I don’t think he woke up in the morning wanting to knock the wind out
of the sails of all of his coworkers. He just had a mind that was
naturally wired to see the pitfalls and, frankly, wasn’t aware of how
powerful the way he communicated about those pitfalls was when it
came to diminishing the morale of his coworkers. Even after
addressing the issue with him, he persisted in it, because it’s what
came the most naturally to him.
At the same time, I had another team member who was more of an
average performer. She would usually achieve the goals I set for her,
but honestly, her greatest value came in the fact that she took a
posture of encouragement to the members of the team around her.
She was always rooting on her coworkers, and even when we were
given a challenging assignment, she would be the first to say, “Guys, I
know this is tough, but we’re going to get it done.” Then she would go
make us all a pot of coffee. She had such an uplifting effect on
everyone on the team.
When I sat down to make this tough decision, I realized that even
though the individual contribution of that first employee was stronger,
what was ultimately in the best interest of the department as a whole
was keeping on the second. The reason was that not only was she
giving us a solid individual performance, but she was elevating the
performance of everyone around her with this infectious enthusiasm.
I think sometimes we’re not aware of how our words, how our body
language impacts other people. I’ll give you an example. I remember
years ago sitting in a financial review when I was the CEO of Thomas
Nelson Publishers, and I had an executive consultant, Ilene. I’ve
referred to her in a lot of my writings. She was hugely helpful to me.
At the break, she came up to me and said, “Are you angry this
morning?” I said, “No, I’m feeling fine.” She said, “Well, you might want
to have a conversation with your face, because your face looks like
you’re mad. I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but it’s very intimidating
to these people who are trying to make a presentation.”
I said, “No. How I feel is I’m curious. I’m interested. I sometimes kind of
feel proud of them. I’m excited about what’s happening in the
company.” She said, “You have to get this to your face. Your face
needs to telegraph that, because it will really move the conversation
forward and build people’s confidence, not destroy it.” That was huge
for me and, I think, huge for our company.
Megan: That is a huge idea. One of the things I talk about with the
leaders who are under my jurisdiction here at Michael Hyatt &
Company is about the idea that you’re responsible for what you
communicate, not what you mean or intend. Whatever you think you’re
communicating is not nearly as important as what you’re actually
communicating, both through your words, your body language, your
actions…all those kinds of things, and that’s a big part of self-
awareness. I think our society and modern technology seem really
structured to keep us asleep more than ever. Don’t you think?
Michael: Yeah, that’s a good point. In his famous book The Screwtape
Letters, C.S. Lewis writes from the perspective of an elder demon
advising a novice tempter about the best way to thwart a human
patient. Among his most sinister advice is the insistence that he should
never let the human pause to reflect. He says, “Your business is to fix
his attention on the stream [of immediate sense experiences]. Teach
him to call it ‘real life’ and don’t let him ask what he means by ‘real.’”
Megan: Whoa. That’s intense, and we live in that time more than ever.
Megan: Yeah, although actually we’re not. We’ve become not, but I
think that’s something we’ve worked at. Another test is the Myers-
Briggs test, which is a really classic personality test that’s used widely
that we like a lot.
Michael: Well, I used to think I was an INTJ, but when you have five
daughters, the thinking moves to feeling, as it turns out, because I
spent a lot of time listening to my daughters as teenagers.
Megan: The other test we love and rely heavily on for hiring in our
company and positioning people within their strengths is called the
Kolbe A Index. Why don’t you talk a little bit about that and why we
love it so much?
Michael: We love this because this basically talks about how people
strive, which is the language of Kathy Kolbe, but it means how we
initiate work. There are some people who like to initiate work… It’s
called a fact finder, somebody who likes to go out and do a lot of
research before they come to any conclusion or take any action. Then
there’s somebody who’s a quick start, which I am and which you are.
Basically, we’re just like ready, fire, aim. Just do something, and we’ll
figure it out along the way.
Michael: But as I said, and I gave it away, we’re both high on the quick
start, so we like to act and then figure out what we’re doing.
Megan: Right. But we’re aware of that, and we know how that can
drive our team crazy if we’re not careful.
Michael: Which is kind of the point we’re trying to make here. All of
these things create self-awareness, not only to your strengths but also,
even more importantly, to your weaknesses. You can see where your
tendencies go, where you go in stress or where you go when you’re
not healthy, and you can take corrective action.
Michael: This is one I read about probably about 10 years ago and did
some initial exploration, but really until I got to be really good friends
with Ian Cron, who happens to be a resident of Nashville where I live,
did I read his book The Road Back to You and got really intrigued in
my conversations with him about this, because I saw the potential of
this as a leader.
In fact, one of the things about people who are Enneagram 3 is that
they can perform to exhaustion. They can’t turn it off. They become
workaholics. I’ll tell you, for the first decade and a half of my career that
really defined me, and it almost cost me my most important
relationships.
Michael: And it gives you a path to move from that unhealthy version
to the healthy version.
Michael: Yeah. I’m so excited about this new product. It’s called
Leader Box, and it’s essentially leadership development that comes in
a box. It’s a monthly curated reading experience designed to maximize
your time, grow your leadership, and accelerate your results as a
leader. It delivers personal and professional development to your door,
helping you get through two books a month in just 30 minutes a day.
Megan: Just to say it again, you can get through this in 30 minutes a
day, which is crazy. That’s a lot of books to read in a year in 30
minutes a day.
Michael: And actually, it’s only 21 days of the month. We give you the
weekends off.
Megan: Okay, so that happens in the activation guide, so talk a little bit
about what is in those.
Megan: I love this solution, because I think it solves a very real need
for leaders who are committed to personal growth and professional
growth but need to achieve it as quickly as possible. I mean, come on.
We don’t have time to sit around for hours every day like we’re
professional students. Right? Plus, unlike so many subscription
services, you’re offering the option to cancel at any time.
Michael: Yeah, that was a big decision for us, but we wanted to take
all the risk out so that leaders can get the development tools they need
without having to worry about being locked in if it’s not right for them.
Megan: So for those who are interested, where can they find out
more?
Michael: Well, I thought you’d never ask. You can subscribe now at
leaderbox.com, and I’ll encourage you to do that today so you don’t
miss the cutoff for the next box.
Megan: Yeah, that’s important, because each box is only available for
one month, and there’s no way to get your hands on them after that.
Right?
Michael: That’s true. The books in the activation guide this month are
great, and I don’t want you to miss out, so subscribe now.
Michael: Yes. First, set aside the necessary time. This has to be part
of your morning ritual or part of your evening ritual. Harry Kraemer is a
clinical professor of strategy at the Kellogg School and the former CEO
of multibillion-dollar healthcare company Baxter International.
Reflection is key for him. He says, “The reason many, many people
have trouble balancing their lives is that they have not been self-
reflective enough to figure out what they’re trying to balance.” I totally
resonate with that.
“What am I thankful for right now?” That, for me, is usually a series of
bullets to give me the perspective of gratitude, to be aware that even
when I suffer a setback the day wasn’t a total loss. Probably something
good happened that I could be thankful for. “What did I read today?” In
my own practice, I read the Bible every day, and then I like to ask
myself this question. “What stood out to me in my reading?” So those
are just some of the ways I practice journaling.
Michael: Exactly. That’s exactly what it’s like. The second thing I love
about it, and this is a new feature that Day One introduced. By the
way, I have no affiliation with this company. I just love the product.
They have a feature called “On This Day.” Now this is part of my
morning ritual. I read what transpired on this exact day several years
past.
Today, I had entries for three different years on this exact day, and it’s
incredible to read that, because you start seeing familiar patterns crop
up, and you start saying, “You know, I really have a problem with this
that I need to address.” There’s one particular thing I’ve been wrestling
with, and seeing this is not the first time I’ve done it is helping me head
it off at the pass and kind of cure the problem.
So besides all the great stress relief benefits and things like that, in
terms of self-awareness it teaches you to be in the present moment
and to pause. In fact, our team at Michael Hyatt & Company recently
took a month-long mindfulness challenge at the urging of our friend Ian
Cron. Ian is a psychotherapist and Enneagram expert and the host of
the popular podcast, one of our favorites, Typology.
Next step, I notice. I simply notice what’s going on. I look around me to
see what’s happening in the environment, what others are doing, how I
might be relating to what’s going on in the environment around me,
and I just notice. I do it without judging, without evaluating, without
trying to name it or to fix it. I’m just noticing, almost like a disinterested
observer, what’s going on.
The next step I take is I ask. It’s a little bit of self-inquiry. I love what
someone else calls it, which is a sacred pause. In the ask moment,
what I do is I ask myself at least three questions. One is “What am I
believing right now?” There’s a verse in the Bible, “As a person
thinketh, so he becomes.” Our thoughts dictate, in many ways, the
people we are in the moment. I ask myself, “What am I believing right
now?” It’s amazing how powerful that question is.
You may be believing in the moment “I’m a failure” or “I’m never going
to make this deadline, and it’s going to be the end of the world.” I just
ask myself “What am I believing?” Then I ask myself, “Is it true?”
Again, a very powerful question. Is it really true I’m a failure? Is it really
true that it’s going to be the end of the world if I miss this deadline? Is it
really true? Then I ask myself, “Who would I be if I let go of that belief
right now and believed something different, something truer than what
I’m believing right now?”
The last step is pivot. Sometimes I prefer to call it prayer. In that
moment, what I do is I decide, “Gosh, could I believe something
different right now or approach life differently than I am right now?” I
just have freedom to make choices when I’m not in auto-self, when I’m
living mindfully. I can tell you it has made a terrific difference in my life,
and I promise that SNAP could make a terrific difference in yours as
well.
Megan: So that was the third practice: dedicate time to reflection. Now
we’re at the fourth practice. Tell us about that one.
Michael: The fourth practice is ask your inner circle. Okay, guys. Now
it’s time to be brave. Most of us thrive on praise and affirmation but
avoid criticism, and yet criticism is the one thing, particularly if it’s
constructive and particularly if it’s people who love us and are familiar
with us, that can really move the needle for us and help us become
more self-aware.
Megan: Absolutely. Shame is often the culprit for why we don’t ask for
help and why we stay in a place of a lack of self-awareness. Shame
inflates our response to criticism. It’s almost like we perceive things as
being more harsh than they actually are or more personal than they
actually are. It makes us unable to confront our own shortcomings.
Here’s the truth: you are an imperfect leader. I’m an imperfect leader.
That’s okay. The goal is not perfection. It’s just growth and progress.
Michael: That’s right. And we don’t need to pretend that we’re perfect.
Michael: Yeah, that’s right. Here’s how to make your team feel safe in
sharing that information with you. Typically, people don’t give you the
honest truth because they’re afraid of the consequences.
Megan: Yes, absolutely, because it does take courage. All right. Today
we’ve covered four practices to increase our self-awareness as
leaders. First, know the symptoms. Second, do a self-inventory. Third,
dedicate time to reflection. Fourth, ask your inner circle. If you’ve
enjoyed today’s episode, you can get the show notes and a full
transcript online at leadto.win.
As we come in for a landing, I’d like to acknowledge that increasing our
awareness of our faults and flaws can be discouraging, but it’s a bit like
medicine. It may have a bitter taste at first, but ultimately it makes us
well. Having an awareness of your shortcomings allows you to improve
and will ultimately make you a more intentional, more excellent leader.
Any final thoughts today?
Michael: Thanks again for joining us on Lead to Win. If you like the
show, please tell your friends and colleagues about it, and also please
leave a review of the show wherever you listen to podcasts.
Michael: Our production assistants are Mike Burns and Aleshia Curry.
Michael: We invite you to join us for our next episode, where we’ll be
discussing three behaviors of high-growth leaders and explaining how
you can avoid career stagnation. Until then, lead to win.