So leaders, here is the question for you. Was this a good thing or not? On one hand, it is always best to take advantage of the talents and knowledge that exist in a group and use them to solve problems quickly.  On the other hand, by providing the solution, this individual deprived the others in the program of a remarkable learning experience, which previous participants indicated was of great value to them. What is your opinion – was the participant leading, by guiding the group to a quick and effective solution? Or was he simply taking a short cut of the easy, convenient way out.

Situations with seemingly competing correct responses, are commonplace for leaders. That is why leadership is more art than science. Rather than offering you a point of view, I would be thrilled to know what you think is the best answer, in a situation such as this. I hope you will be willing to contribute your thoughtful answer to this perplexing question. Take care and lead on!

My first thought was, where did that come from? 3 years out and this kid still (almost) remembers the other candidate. Wonder how many older kids, even adults might remember that.

That led to a couple of other musings. 1) Maybe his parents were for the other candidate and might still be noisily fussing about their loss. 2) If the RNC thought that the 10 year old vote would have elected McCain, they would probably be seeking legislation to lower the voting age. (In all fairness so would the Dems in a similar situation.) 3) Was this kid the 21st century version of Alex Keaton (google old TV show, Family Ties).

I was disappointed that the kid never said why McKeen would be President, because I was so anxious to hear his thoughts. But alas, a second later, the conversation was back to swimming.

My conclusions are these. I am not quite ready yet to let kids vote. And I will continue to be amazed at what they have in their heads. Although I have passed on most of the current GOP debates, it might be a hoot to hear what kids would say about the issues. My guess is Afghanistan and Medicare would get a lot less attention than too much homework and too few holiday breaks. And if those comments applied to work as well as school, they would probably get a standing ovation from a lot of working stiffs like us.

My hope is people will do some homework and keep in mind the capabilities which are needed in the offices being sought. There is a lot at stake these days. Going gaga over (or despising) a candidate because of superficial qualities (looks, race, gender, recognizable name etc.), or simply wanting to be like “everybody else,” are just not good enough reasons for voting someone into office. Making good decisions requires education, and boy, do we need good decisions. It is up to each of us to become knowledgable so we can vote wisely. And hopefully a number of us will be sure to encourage and inspire others to do the same.

• In what ways did you grow or develop your skills and abilities? How are you different or better than a year ago. Be as specific as you can.
• Did your growth just happen, or did you plan it and intentionally execute on it?
• How satisfied are you? Did you feel like you really soared, or did many of your plans seem to fizzle out because of too many competing tasks?
• In what area of growth are you most proud of from last year?
• How important is ongoing growth to you? Do you feel as if you are expert enough already, or do believe there are some key areas in which you must improve. (Think deeply about this question.)

Here is what I observed. There are some very bright and extremely hard-working students involved in this. They have devoted a lot of time and effort to their ideas. They did extensive research to build their cases, and put together helpful boards of advisors, from people inside and outside of the university. And they came very prepared for their presentations, armed with detailed business plans, and dressed like seasoned professionals.

And keep in mind, this work was for just one of many classes they take, along with the number of other activities they are involved in at this stage of their lives. One more tidbit – many of them are majoring in something other than business.

From what I have seen in working with many big corporations, these kids were more prepared than many managers twice their age, who have also been in the workforce for a couple of decades. So when I now hear people in the workplace lament about the work ethic of today’s “young people,” I will have to beg to differ. Of course they had some gaps, just as there are gaps made in proposals presented like these to corporate boards or venture capital companies. They will have to work still harder to overcome them. But these students created some terrific possibilities, and some of the teams will actually turn their ideas into a tangible business or society-enhancing improvement.

So if you are running low on some fresh ideas… maybe you should hook up with a local university. Like at Miami, you will know doubt find a great deal of creative, passionate and talented you adults, just waiting to be unleashed.

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL. I have always appreciated great art, but am rather uneducated about it. So I still cannot tell you much about Dali’s brushstrokes or perspective. But oh what a trip to the land of imagination. I felt awed, amazed, inspired and a whole bunch of other emotions. Believe me when I tell you, one could look at a few of his individual works for an hour each and not see everything in them. Dali was indeed a master of converting images in his head to the proverbial canvas.

Leadership is also an art and the masters are able to convert dreams and images of the future into a vivid pictures that excite, motivate and move people to action. One of the mistakes too many developing leaders make is not exercising the courage to use their imaginations to dream really big. Such a pity. It is often those big hairy audacious goals (thank you Jim Collins), visions chock full of great imagination, that leave us breathless.

So treat yourself to an educational and inspiring field trip to spend a day with Dali. It will certainly get you thinking about things in ways you cannot imagine.

The very next thing the escorts did was get on the phone and report the incident. As a guest, I was not the one responsible for ensuring I was electronics free, my escorts were. And they immediately reported themselves for allowing this breach. The fact that I never officially left the gate – and there was no one around – and the gate actually exited into a plain lobby where there was nothing of value, they still made the call. They could have easily overlooked the situation because it was so minor. But without blinking an eye, they immediately reported it, because for them, there was a solid line in the sand about what constitutes a security breach, and we crossed it.

Leaders understand the importance of living values and celebrating those who do. My escorts will likely be pointedly reminded of their miscue and the need to be more attentive. There are consequences for incidents like this. I Just hope they work with leaders who will also acknowledge them for their visible demonstration of uncompromising integrity. I certainly wanted to recognize it, and hope all of us have the courage to follow their great example when we face a similar moment of truth.

Relationships are hard. A number of people are simply more capable of doing their functional work, be it sales, accounting, research or whatever, than working collaboratively with others who have different experiences, personalities and points of view. In order to look good, people will attempt to avoid or minimize what they fear (or know) they don’t do so well. Quite often what they do not do so well is relationships.

One of the behaviors I have noticed from those who struggle is exaggerated comments about the relationship. One (or both) will say something like, “we’ll never be best friends,” or “we won’t be going out to lunch every day, just to make it look like we really get along well.”

People can be civil, respectful, supportive and cordial to another without being best friends. Since most people are willing to work harder and do more for people they care about, there is some benefit for at least being somewhat friendly. And regarding the lunch comment, I have never seen a definition of collaboration defined by the number of times people break bread together. But occasionally, there may be a need to do just, in order to get work done that requires both people’s attention.

It is disappointing to hear remarks like these, as it makes me think that emotion is in control of the conversation. It is as if the conflicting parties feel that have to be totally connected at all times or not at all, and that is absurd. It also makes me wonder if people who shout out these extreme remarks still believe they are as effective as they can be as leaders.

Some will continue to be very anxious when it comes to relationships, but perhaps they will find the courage to take some small steps to improve them. After all, they probably took a lot of small steps over time to become proficient in their functional work!
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For example, if you have an overseas customer “service” call center which is simply awful, and you hear an endless number of complaints from customers about it, you better do something. Otherwise you risk sending the message that the customer (perhaps thousands of them) is not so right after all.

Regarding associates as our best asset, how does this play out when the company dumps some of their best assets in order to contract with an outside group – and the quality and results of the outsourced work are unquestionably lousier.

Examples such as these bring a question to my mind. “Under what circumstances” is the customer always right or are the associates are most important asset? Is it all the time or conditional? From what I have seen, for these particular slogans (and no doubt others) to be truthful, there frequently needs to be a small addition to them. And it usually has to do with money. The more accurate statement by some organizations would be “our associates are our most important asset – unless we can get the work done cheaper by someone else.” Or, “the customer is always right, as long as we keep making money on them, or don’t have to spend extra money to satisfy them.”

Rest assured there are a number of great companies who put their money where their mouths are and do live up to their lofty aspirational statements. And interestingly enough, they continue to survive the tough economic periods and prosper over time.

So, be very careful when you put forth an idealist statement of values or intent. It will cost you something to live it. And you will have to prove your case with your consistent actions.

PS: I would love to hear some of the slogans you hear, which causes you to question their authenticity.

That statement struck home with all of us. Treating people with dignity and respect is a fundamental principle of leadership. And for many of us, we likely viewed respect more in terms of how we personally interact with others. Yet, this leader opened our eyes to a new way of showing respect – by doing our very best. I am not sure I ever connected the relationship between respecting others and doing one’s best so clearly.

I hope you will take Jerry’s words to heart, as I have, in everything you do. If we can all make progress in living up to this ideal, we will no doubt become better leaders. Good luck on your continuing leadership journey.