2,000,000,and Still Counting

Just crossed the 2,000,000 mile mark in air miles traveled.  Over a 20-year career, that equates to an average of 100,000 miles logged per year.  Of course that has meant many early morning flights, too many missed dinners at home and a tremendous amount of wear and tear on my body.  But it has also meant the opportunity to meet more terrific people than I could count, to experience the cultures of places like India, Iceland, Kenya, UAE, 48 of the 50 US states, most countries in Europe, Russia, Tanzania and others.  To see the beautiful plains of sub-saharan Africa, the luscious peaks of the Himalayas, the surreal volcanic terrain, glaciers and brilliant blue lagoons of Iceland and the rugged coastline of Nova Scotia.

But even more than all of those things, it has made me a better leader - with a deeper appreciation of the value of differences, the richness of life, the indomitable nature of the human spirit and the power of human connection.  It has made me a stronger person - confident in my stamina and energy and ability to endure extended days, multiple time zone changes, long flights, and longer bouts of intestinal distress.   It has made me a better listener as you have to listen harder to reach understanding when voices and accents don't sound like yours.  It has made me more patient and resilient in facing the inevitable vagaries of travel delays, last minute itinerary changes and stymied plans.  It has taught me how to laugh at myself during the crazy things that happen when you step into taxis and Ubers 20 times a month and check into hotel rooms 30 times a year.

So while I appreciate and certainly benefit from the efficiency offered by all the tools we have at our disposal today to have video meetings on our phones, hold low cost conference calls and communicate via email, text and chat; I have no plans to get off the road.  There is simply no replacement for looking your team members in the eye and hearing from them directly their ideas, hopes and dreams; from sitting down with a prospect to understand their fears, concerns and ambitions; from meeting a customer to hear their passionate (hopefully!) and frank feedback.  Besides I have those last two states to visit - looking forward to seeing Wyoming and Alaska!

So at 2,000,000 miles, I am just getting started!

CEO as the Master Mind

As I was sitting in my office the other perusing my book shelf, a book leapt into my hands.  It is a beautiful book with a deep maroon binding and gold raised lettering on the binding.  It feels good in one's hands.  It had been some time since I had read it so I opened it up and started reviewing my notations.  The book was the "Principles of Self-Mastery" by Napolean Hill.  Napolean Hill was one of the original "self help" masters.  Writing in the early part of the 20th Century, he wrote such classics as the "Law of Success" and "Think and Grow Rich."  If you haven't read any of his work, I encourage you to take up one of his books.  Any of them will do.  I think you will still find his ideas and concepts thought provoking.  As an indication of continued relevance today, all are available in modern electronic form through Amazon and other sites.

I started re-reading the chapter on the "Master Mind" and was struck by how relevant that concept is to modern-day CEOs.  Most people hear Master Mind and they think of a powerful individual, a genius evil or otherwise, a "great man or woman" that makes all the decisions and makes all the difference.  That is the exact opposite of what Napolean Hill meant by his Master Mind.  For Hill, the Master Mind was a "mind that is developed through the harmonious cooperation of two or more people who ally themselves for the purpose of accomplishing any given task."  It is the collective mind of a team.  The great ideas and energy that develops when a team works in sync - when the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

The role of today's CEO - especially ones who run highly technical or geographically distributed or rapid moving businesses (don't most businesses fall into one or more of those categories) is not to know everything or to make every decision it is to bring together a team of highly competent people and create an environment in which - collectively - they are able to punch above their weight.  Are able to accomplish great things because they have mastered the art of working together without the petty, draining friction of political jockeying or professional envy or one-upsmanship that permeates so many organizations.

If anyone doesn't think that this cult of the Hero or savior CEO isn't alive and well - a situation almost always doomed to failure - just ask Marissa Meyers.

Hill's theory actually takes a page from the physics of his day stating that "a mind can communicate directly with mind on the theory that thought or vital force is a form of electrical disturbance" that is picked up - even unconsciously by the other.  Anyone who is lucky enough to have worked on a high performing team and felt the electric energy in the air can appreciate his argument that we are all connected by this "vital force" out in the universe.  And that the truly great leaders are the ones that can harness that vital force of a group of people to achieve a joint goal.  In Hill's mind it wasn't the leader who knew the answer to every strategy question or could write the code or solve the key technical question of the day but the CEO who was provided "by Nature with mind chemistry favorable as a nucleus of attraction for other minds."