Tag Archives: leadership

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What 12 Years Has Taught Me About Having an Awesome Marriage

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This post is a bit of an expansion of the theme of this blog.  In my first couple months of blogging at the end of 2012, the theme of my blog was ‘Next Practices in Commercial Real Estate.”  With the start of a new year, I have expanded that theme to ‘Next Practices in Life, Business, and Commercial Real Estate.”  I’ve moved the blog to a new self-hosted platform (thanks Michael Hyatt).  I’ve got a new look.  And now I’m expanding the content.  I hope you like it!

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Good Behavior

 

 

I’ve had a crush on my wife – still do – since the day I laid eyes on her.  I was 10 years old in youth church choir.  She sings like an angel, and I liked being around girls that could sing like an angel.  It took me 8 years to ask her out.  Two reasons caused the delay.  I was sort of a dork, and she was intimidatingly beautiful – still is!  After 5 years of me proving that she is the most forgiving person on the planet, we got married.  (This is by far the most condensed version of ‘our story’ that I’ve ever pulled off).

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated our 12th Anniversary.  I can hear you gasping that I can’t be old enough to be married that long!  No?  Well, thanks anyway.

We spent the weekend away in Nashville and left the kids at home.  We had one purpose – enjoy each other’s company.  No agenda other than one reservation at the Melting Pot for our anniversary dinner.  After 12 years of marriage, I think we have found our sweet spot.  Here are 9 key that can help you find yours.  And forgive me if I come at this from the perspective of the husband.

  1. Never commit the sin of 50/50 give take – If I had to make a list of one, this would be it.  I submit to you that love is selfless – completely.  The entire premise of 50/50 give-take is you are being selfish 50% of the time.  There is a better way and that is 100/100 give-give.  Imagine what your marriage would look like if 100% of the time you made decisions for what your spouse gets out it.  And she did the same in return?  100% of the time you would be satisfied – blown away, really – while being totally selfless.  It doesn’t get any better than that.  Pipe-dream?  Maybe, but that is what we shoot for, and it is sweet when it works.  All of our conflict is born from one of us (normally me) going selfish on the other.
  2. Become a student of your wife – I would say guys aren’t good at this naturally.  However, we need to know our wives.  What does she like to do on a date?  Where does she like to eat?  What is her favorite song?  What is her favorite sort of gift?  How often does she need to get away from the kids and recharge?  Does a back rub communicate love to her?  What about flowers?  If your relationship is a bank account, are you in the red?  There is a great new app to help guys with this called Book On Her.  I highly recommend it.
  3. Always speak positively of your wife – I hear guys all the time speak poorly of their wives in front of other people.  You should slap yourself for this.  Always speak positively of your wife.  It is a great opportunity to build her up and strengthen your relationship.  You can knee-cap her or make her feel like a million bucks.

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    Normal Behavior

  4. Learn her love language – then use it! – Millions of people have read Gary Chapmanss book The 5 Love Languages.  My wife’s primary love languages are gift-giving and quality time.  Mine are not.  If I want to love on her, I need to communicate that love in her languages by giving gifts and spending time with her.  Too many of us try to love on our spouses in our love language verses theirs.  This goes back to key number 1 and key number 2 above.
  5. Set up adultery guard rails – Too many great men have fallen because they were stupid.  I’m not that great or that smart.  If it can happen to others it can happen to me.  So, set boundaries that can protect your marriage from adultery.  I won’t have lunch with a woman other than my wife.  I won’t ride alone in a car with a woman who isn’t my wife, mother, or other family member.  These may sound overly strict, but the down side is too great.  It’s just not worth it.  You should spend time putting up guard rails for your marriage.  They don’t have to be the one’s I use.
  6. Don’t flirt with other women – I almost didn’t include this, but I see it happen too often.  My goal is for my wife to never question my love to her and my commitment to our marriage and family.  Flirting simply undermines this.  And the best way to shut down someone who is flirting with you is to talk about how awesome your wife is.
  7. Get her away – Nothing does more to bless and recharge my wife then getting her away from those that ask her a million questions a day.  I don’t do this enough.
  8. Love on your kids – I don’t think I’ve ever communicated this to my wife, but I love how she looks at me when I’m playing with our kids.  I feel like the look says, “My husband rocks!”  Maybe that looks says, “he’s nuts,” but I don’t think so.
  9. Make the bed – Do the dishes.  Help fold the laundry.  These are all ways to make relational deposits into your marriage that keep your account in the black.  One night my wife had dinner with some of her friends.  I put the kids to bed and then cleaned the bathrooms.  I need to do that one again – that was good night!

So I ask you – what do you do that enriches your marriage?  How intentional are you about pouring into the most important earthly relationship that you have?  What would you add to this list?

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5 Reasons to Develop Decisiveness by Using the 70% Rule

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I am naturally a perfectionist.  If my parents read this, they may disagree.  They will remember me leaving potential on the table.  I was the poster child for procrastination.  The truth is perfectionism is the mother of procrastination.

Decisions

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.comjoste_dj

I remember one semester of college at Murray State University.  I decided that I would not procrastinate any longer.  I purposed to work ahead in all my classes — finish assignments early.  I remember going to the library to work on a paper that was due weeks in the future.  I found that I could not focus my thoughts.  The possibilities of what direction I could go and how perfect the paper could be were overwhelming.  I needed the pressure of the last minute to focus my thoughts and force me to action.  I am the classic Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim…………….Fire!

My father is not this way.  While he gathers information, he is naturally decisive and instinctive.  I would characterize him as Fire, Ready, Aim.  If you can’t tell, we work very well together.

In business and life, there is a great tension between impulsiveness (foolishness) and perfectionism (procrastination).  Leaders are decisive.  In fact, decisiveness is one of the 14 Leadership Traits of the Marine Corps that I wrote about recently — read more here.  Additionally, decisive leaders reject perfectionism.  They understand that it is an elusive fallacy.  Your business should have a goal of success, growth, and excellence — not perfection.  There is a difference.

So how does a leader manage this tension between impulsiveness and perfectionism?  The Marine Corps taught me the 70% Rule.  It says that you take action on any decision when you have 70% confidence in the success of the decision.  That statement just made some of you uncomfortable.  Here are 5 reasons you should consider implementing this rule in your business.

  1. Reality – Decisions are made in time.  Sometimes it must be made very quickly.  You also have competition.  They are also trying to succeed.  They are also trying to beat you.  Being decisive while not impulsive can be learned.  Rejecting perfectionism frees you up to execute with speed.
  2. Speed – Speed is better than perfection.  A good solution executed quickly will have a higher probability of success than a great solution executed too late.  Speed puts you on the offensive.  It allows you to set the pace of innovation and service.  This also means that it puts your competition on the defensive forcing them to react.  He who sets the pace gains the advantage.
  3. Growth – Speaking of mistakes, you will make them too.  Understand that you will and prepare.  Don’t waste your mistakes — learn from them.  The key to learning from your mistakes is debriefing after decisions are made.  What went wrong?  Why did we fail?  Why did we succeed?  What could we have done better?  How could I have done that presentation better?  If you do not pause and reflect, you will waste the benefits of your mistakes.  You will not grow as a leader.  You will not develop better decision-making skills.  You will repeat the mistakes.
  4. Success – Wayne Gretzky said that, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”  This is obvious but so important.  Being decisive with 70% confidence will lead to more success than hesitating due to lack of confidence or information.  As you grow from experience and learning from your mistakes, your success rate will improve.  Over time, this growth can allow you to reach your potential.  Perfectionist straddled by procrastination never reach their potential — never.
  5. Prevents Impulsiveness – Colin Powell is a proponent of the 70% Rule.  He also stated that 40% confidence requires more information gathering and planning.  Going with your gut is often a bad idea.  The 70% Rule acts as a guard-rail for the impulsive who Fire before they make Ready and Aim.

I invite you to share your thoughts below.  Are you a perfectionist?  How would the 70% Rule change how you do business?

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The 7 Rules of Conference Call Etiquette

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Recently, I’ve been on a number of conference calls with groups of people scattered across the United States.  My preference is to do video calls.  Especially now that there are so many good technologies like Google+ hangouts, GoToMeeting, WebEx, and others.

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Alas, the conference call is still sometimes a necessity.  On a recent call, there were 2 different people trying to lead the call (one of them was me).  There were over a dozen people on the call from 4 different time zones.  I couldn’t tell who was speaking.  People were talking over each other.  It was a free-for-all.

I had another conference call that I led two days ago that went like clock-work.  26 minutes and we were done.  What was the difference?  I followed these rules.

The 7 Rules of Conference Call Etiquette

  1. There must be a clear leader/moderator of the call – This is the person that keeps the call on track.  Time is valuable.  When you multiply the time spent on a call times the number of people on the call, multiples of hours are spent on a conference call.  There has to be a driver of the bus.
  2. There must be an agenda – Not only must there be an agenda, but it needs to be in front of everyone.  The agenda keeps the meeting on track, and allows all on the call to know the purpose of the call.  It gives direction.
  3. Announce yourself – This was the single biggest difference between the “free-for-all” call and the quick and efficient one.  Announcing yourself when you speak has two huge benefits.  First, it is polite to let those on the call know who is speaking since they can’t see you.  Don’t assume people know the sound of your voice.  Second, it almost entirely eliminates interruptions. I was surprised by this, but think about it.  You aren’t as likely to cut someone off or talk over someone if you are announcing who you are first.  “This is Jack from Ohio and I’m going to interrupt you now.”
  4. Keep the group as small as possible – This is common sense.  So what do you do if you have a large group?  Divide them up.  We are planning a national conference with over a dozen people on the call.  One of our team had the brilliant idea to break into smaller teams depending on which day of the conference you had responsibility.  We now have 2 calls instead of 1, but the groups are smaller and it is so much easier to make decisions and get off the call quickly.
  5. Practice impeccable phone etiquette – There is nothing worse on a call than background noise.  Typing is heard.  A side conversation is happening.  The background noise kills the mojo of the call and is simply rude.  It is so easy to be distracted on a call like this and start checking email, etc.  I get it.  Just make sure your line is muted.
  6. Make sure you have a good connection – Cell phones are tricky.  Regardless of my love for Verizon, sometimes I will still have a bad connection. If at all possible, dial in from a landline.  I am not a fan of VOIP in this context.
  7. Set these ground rules and the beginning of the call – This is the leader’s job.  At the beginning of the call, the leader should welcome everyone and then lay out the ground rules.  Don’t assume that those on the call understand the guidelines for a quick and efficient call.  The leader’s role is huge in setting the tone, keeping the call on track, and making sure that everyone is engaged.  If someone is not speaking up, call them out and invite them to share their thoughts.

A parting thought – if more than one person is in charge of something, then no one is.  I’m sure that is someone else’s quote, but I don’t know who.  It is so true.  A conference call is held because a group is trying to accomplish a task.  Ensure that each part of that task is owned by someone.  Then hold them accountable for the results.

I want to hear the horror stories of terrible conference calls that you have been on.  What rules have I missed?  Share with us!

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Why the Biggest Problem with Your Business is You

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I hope that you have a mentor.  I have been blessed to have a number of men in my life that have fulfilled this role for me.  You can learn so much from mistakes and experience.  You can also learn from the mistakes and experiences of others.  I prefer the latter.

Having problem concept

A couple of years ago I was having lunch with one of my mentors.  This guy has been wildly successful.  He owns numerous businesses.  He has a great marriage – great family.  Like my dad, he is someone I want to emulate.  I was peppering him with questions.  He told me a story that surprised me.

Years ago, he had somewhat plateaued in his businesses.  He was working too much.  Progress was not being made.  He felt like he had hit a brick wall that he couldn’t break through.  He had a conversation with a mentor of his and asked him what he was doing wrong.  The mentor replied, “The problem with your businesses is you.”

Sobering statement.  My mentor was initially angry.  How could he be the problem?  No one worked harder than him!  He was the leader of these businesses.

I think that every entrepreneur reaches this point.  Characteristics like passion, vision, integrity, hard work, and others are what lead to initial success.  After a while though, the entrepreneur or leader of a business becomes the log-jam.  Nothing gets done with his/her touch. John Maxwell calls this the Law of the Lid.  The business cannot grow past the leadership ability of the leader.  The entrepreneur ends up being his own biggest problem.

At this point, two options exist:  enjoy the plateau or learn to replicate yourself in your business.  In other words, learn to delegate.

I am going to assume that you chose the second option.  The best organization at delegation and reproduction is the Marine Corps.  The Marines regularly take 18-year-old kids and turn them into the best fighting force on the planet.  While you might think that the Marine Corps has a very traditional hierarchical system, it is actually very decentralized.  Twenty year old corporals on the front lines have the training and ability to make decisions on the fly.  Here is how they do it.

Commander’s Intent

I want to acknowledge up front that the Military in general is not good at communicating the “why.”  I rarely knew the big picture.  I suggest that you run your business with the “why” constantly out in front of your team members.

That said, the commander’s intent is the “what.”  This is the directive that comes from on high that says take that hill.  The Commander does not come and tell anyone how to do.  He simply gives the directive.

We recently built a database of all the Dollar Stores in Kentucky.  I gave the directive to my executive assistant to find me the location, physical data, owner, and contact information on every store.  She had the training and tools to accomplish this.  She did not need me hawking and micro-managing.

Rules of Engagement

Remember in the movie Top Gun when Maverick and Goose were in the dog fight with the fictitious MIG-28 at the beginning of the movie?  Their Commander kept telling them “Do not fire unless fired upon!”  (You can see the cigar in his hand, can’t you?)

Rules of engagement tell you what you can and can’t do.  This is where delegation really works.  The best kinds of rules for a team member are the ones that explain what is not acceptable.  In other words, if you can define the boundaries of what is not OK, then everything in that box is OK.

Now your team members have the “Commander’s Intent” or the task to accomplish, and they understand the boundaries.  Within those boundaries, they are free to accomplish the task with great creativity and resourcefulness – and without you staring over their shoulder all the time.

How would these principles of delegation impact the team that you lead?  Are you the lid on your business?  I invite you to share with us in the comments how you could implement these principles in your business.
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Top Posts for November – And The Dollar Shave Club!

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In case you missed them, here are the top posts from November.  I have also added a bonus Saturday post at the bottom that is guaranteed to improve your daily life – if you shave.  Be sure to check it out at the bottom!

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The 17 Rules of Email Etiquette – My biggest beef with email is its ability to interrupt me.  The nature of my business requires me to be doing multiple things.  I am not a natural multi-tasker.  I much prefer to hone in on a task and focus all my energy on it.  I rarely get to do this.  I am also easily distracted.  The ding and notification that announces every email can cost me 5 – 60 minutes  Read More…

The Difference Between Top Producers and the Others – How many times have you heard brokers complain about how the market has sunk their business?  Maybe I’m talking about you?  You have heard the cliché, “a rising tide lifts all ships.”  The reverse of that would be, “a sinking tide sinks all ships.”  That seems to be the mantra of the CRE industry of the last four years.  Read More…

How the 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits Apply to Your Business – Part 1 – Today, I was organizing my closet.  Hanging there next to my ties and dress shirts were my old Marine Corps uniforms.  They caused me to think back 8+ years to my former life.  So much of my life now is influenced by my enlisted years.  Just as the old meets the new in my closet, so much of the USMC leadership traits apply to running a business.  Read More…

How the 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits Apply to Your Business – Part 2 – I was born with bearing.  God just knitted this one into my personality.  When I was a PFC (private first class), I had duty for the first time.  This meant that I stayed up all night manning a post in the barracks.  I was part of a 3-man team.  This was my first time “on-duty,” and I made a mistake…  Read More…

How to Turn Failure into Motivation – You will experience failures in your personal and professional lives.  It should not be the failed goal that defines the experience but the way that we respond to the failure.  Consider reflecting on these questions…  Read More…

My Salute to Our Fighting Men and Women this Veteran’s Day – Today is Veteran’s Day.  Today is the day that we remember and honor all the men and women who sacrificed.  They sacrificed years. Some sacrifices limbs.  Many sacrificed their lives – for you and me.  We understand freedoms not known by most throughout history.  My brother, who is a Marine Aviator, is this day protecting the freedoms of Americans to burn the flag or hate our country.  That is sacrifice.…  Read More…

Bonus Post

I remember when I was in college, I would shave every 3 to 4 days.  There was two reasons for this:  every guy hates shaving, and I was lazy.  Then I enlisted in the Marine Corps.  They require a clean-shaven face every morning.  It is called “scraping your grape.”

Five years of “scraping my grape” every day has two unfortunate consequences.  The first is that I now prefer the shaven face.  The second, and worse, is that my wife now can’t live with my scrubby face anymore.

Since I have resigned myself to shaving every day for the rest of my life, I now hate the razor racquet.  I can buy the razor handle for pennies, but the razors cost a fortune.  I’m in a bad mood every time I have to buy razors.  And since I have to pay so much for them, I use them longer than I should.  This causes me to hate shaving even more.  This is a vicious spiral.

Enter the Dollar Shave Club!

This is the coolest idea I’ve seen in a long time.  Additionally, this video is genius and hilarious – though unfortunately more raw than it needs to be.  Regardless, enjoy the video.

So here is how it works.  You sign up for one of the 3 levels of razors.  They send you every month the razors you need – automatically.  This rocks for the following reasons:

  • The razors are comparable to the Gillette Fusion I used before.
  • The price of the razors are way less.
  • You no longer have the negative experience of actually purchasing over-priced razors from the store – the razors are shipped to your door!
  • You don’t have to stretch the use of each razor.  This improves your overall experience.

In a word, the Dollar Shave Club rocks!  Sometimes it is the simple things in life.  This is one of those things.  Do yourself a favor and check them out.  And have a great weekend!

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How to Turn Failure into Motivation

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This is a guest post written by Major Mike Arnett.  Not only is Mike a world-class Army doctor, he was also my college roommate and easily one of the best friends I’ve ever had.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with my old friend, Bo Barron.  Bo was on the way to the airport in Nashville.   He was flying to Connecticut where he would be speaking on the use of technology in the commercial real estate industry.  Bo is my only friend from college who has served in the military, and there is a bond between those who have worn the uniform of our country – even between Jarheads and G.I.s.  It was an ideal way to spend Veteran’s Day evening: eating great deep-dish pizza, drinking a great beer, and telling war stories with a great friend.

Major Mike Arnett and Bo Barron. Taken by Mike’s 6-year-old son.

In reference to his upcoming speaking engagement, Bo told me of his passion for speaking to groups.  He then asked me if I remembered a Beta Club speech competition in 1993.  I honestly have no recollection of that district round.  Quite conversely, Bo has an extremely vivid memory of the event.  He clearly remembers me beating him in the districts to deprive him of a trip to Louisville.  This was two years before we would become friends and roommates at Murray State University.

Bo responded to this defeat by committing to his public speaking skills, seeking out opportunities for speaking engagements, and building his confidence in front of a group.  Now, he travels from his corner of Western Kentucky to New England (among others) for corporate speaking engagements.

I have a very similar experience with an 8th grade football teammate, David Campbell*.  David was scrawny even by middle school standards.  Considered that I topped out at 5’7″, it takes a diminutive form for me to use the label “short.” During the football banquet that year, I was surprised to hear that the academic award for highest GPA went to David.  It turns out that my good grades were still short of his 4.0 GPA.  I knew that I would never be the offensive star, but I figured that I could study harder than David and get that award in 9th grade.

That is exactly what I did.  With a 10×14 wooden plaque supporting a plastic football player as my only motivation for academic excellence, I made a 4.0 and received that academic award.  Holding that award was extremely gratifying, and I took much pride in achieving my goal. Spring semester of my freshman year, I continued taking the same classes and it was not particularly difficult to maintain the same study habits so I kept making As.

During my sophomore season, David did not try out for the team but there were some smart upper class-men, and I really wanted another award.  So, I committed myself to winning the academic award again.  I studied on the J.V. bus during away games.  I used the time in between school and practice to complete small sections of homework.  It went as planned.  I received another 4.0 for the fall semester and another plastic football player.

At the end of our sophomore year, the school released the class standings.  I was surprised to see that I was tied for class valedictorian.  The potential of a much greater accolade motivated me for the next two years.  The study habits and decision-making patterns that I developed out of pursuit of an award with a plastic football player resulted in a full academic scholarship to college.

You will experience failures in your personal and professional lives.  It should not be the failed goal that defines the experience but the way that we respond to the failure.  Consider reflecting on these questions:

  1. Why did I not achieve my goal?
  2. What do I need to change or improve?
  3. What do I need to give up in order to spend my time more productively and succeed?
  4. How can I get better?  Be as specific as possible.

To this day, I consider my disappointing 8th grade football banquet as one of the pivotal moments of my life and David Campbell has my eternal gratitude for his unintentional influence on my academic career.  Likewise, I am glad that Bo Barron holds no grudges.

So what failures in your life have led to pivotal moments?  What failures have you wasted?  We would love to hear from you!

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How the 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits Apply to Your Business – Part 2

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This is part two of a 2-part post on the 14 leadership traits of the Marine Corps, and how they can apply to your business.  You can find Part 1 here.

I was born with bearing.  God just knitted this one into my personality.  When I was a PFC (private first class), I had duty for the first time.  This meant that I stayed up all night manning a post in the barracks.  I was part of a 3-man team.  This was my first time “on-duty,” and I made a mistake.
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I let a female Marine into her boyfriend’s room allowing her to catch him with another woman.  Chaos ensued, and first thing Monday morning, I was in front of the Company Gunny at the POA (position of attention).  I would classify that butt-chewing in the epic category.  Yet I stood there unflinching.
That Gunny loved me from there on out.  For the next year, he would pull me in his office, shut the door, and have me take a seat.  He would then give me a tongue lashing while smiling at me.  He believed this tactic struck fear into the other students at that school.
Here are the final 7 leadership traits of which one is bearing.

The 14 Leadership Traits of the Marine Corps – Part 2

8.  Endurance – I love this quote from Marine.com regarding endurance.  “It is impossible to lead from the front when you are falling behind.”  Endurance is seeing things through to the end.  In the context of battle, endurance refers to a mental and physical willingness to press on – beyond what is believed possible.  In your business and mine, endurance is not only going the extra mile, but convincing your team to do the same.  Does your company typify going the extra mile?
9.  Bearing – Bearing is the ability to keep your cool – and professionalism – in the face of extreme stress.  Bearing in business is the ability to take a tongue lashing from a client, say thank you, and continue to work towards the client’s best interest.  That is true professionalism, and I hope it describes you!
10.  Unselfishness – The trait of unselfishness describes the team-first ethos of the Corps.  It is a part of the DNA of Marines to put the warrior to the right and left above himself.  In business, this looks like servant leadership and client-first decision-making.  Servant leadership is the idea the leader serves the team trying to make them successful.  In so doing, the leader succeeds.  Client-first decision-making is when the client’s interests always win out.  This is a huge problem due to the opaque nature of Commercial Real Estate.  Brokers often serve their own interests over their clients.  What about your company?
11.  Courage – When you think of courage, you often think of Maximus in the movie Gladiator or William Wallace in Braveheart.  These characters showed courage on the battlefield.  Courage is much more that this, however.  Courage is having the fortitude to do the right thing when there will be adverse consequences.  The easy path rarely has a sign that says, “The Right Thing for the Right Reasons.”  Only the person with moral courage will travel that path.  Will you?
12.  Knowledge – Knowledge is about personal growth – consistent daily growth.  Know more than you did yesterday.  Have a better grasp on your market.  Know who owns that building – and that one.  “Without knowledge, judgment is reduced to intuition; decision-making becomes nothing more than a guess.”  Are you guessing?
13.  Loyalty – Loyalty is an unyielding commitment to others.  In the Corps, this is mostly felt towards the Marines in your fire-team, squad, or platoon.  In the eight years I’ve been back in the civilian world, this is the trait I see lacking the most.  Companies are not loyal to their employees.  Employees will take a better offer without batting an eye.  Fathers bail on their families.  The world needs more loyalty.  Why don’t you let it start with you?
14.  Enthusiasm – Passion!  I believe that God created us all with a unique skill set and purpose.  I do not believe that we can do anything that we put our minds to.  I believe that we can truly excel when we find our sweet spot.  That is where passion explodes.  I remember in boot camp being able to pick out the recruits that I thought would be career Marines.  They had found their sweet-spot, and they knew it.
So there are the 14 leadership traits of the Marine Corps.  I challenge you to evaluate your business in light of these time-tested principles.
What other leadership traits would you add to this list?
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How the 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits Apply to Your Business – Part 1

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Last week marked the eight year anniversary of my honorable discharge from the Marine Corps.  It also marked the eight year anniversary of the start of my career in Commercial Real Estate.

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My family also moved into a new home last week.  It has been a while since we last moved.  I feel like a bomb exploded in my new home.  The important thing, however, is that my wife and I are both parking in the garage!

Today, I was organizing my closet.  Hanging there next to my ties and dress shirts were my old Marine Corps uniforms.  They caused me to think back 8+ years to my former life.  So much of my life now is influenced by my enlisted years.  Just as the old meets the new in my closet, so much of the USMC leadership traits apply to running a business.

There are 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits.  You can remember them by the acronym JJ DID TIE BUCKLE:  justice, judgment, decisiveness, integrity, dependability, tact, initiative, endurance, bearing, unselfishness, courage, knowledge, loyalty, and enthusiasm.

How the 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits Apply to You – and Me

  1. Justice – Think firm but fair.  Everyone in your organization needs to know that the rules apply across the board.  Massey-Knakal, the number one CRE firm in New York City, is a great example of this.  Everyone has the same split.  Remember Barry Bonds as a San Francisco Giant?  He had a special recliner – a special trainer.  The rules did not apply to him.  The rules and expectations must apply justly to everyone.  The alternative is a crumbling organization.  How do you rate your organization?
  2. Judgment – Judgment is the ability to quickly make good decisions under duress.  Everything in our experience is speeding up.  You must have the ability to make good decisions with available and incomplete information.  You will make the wrong call, but can you own it and lead through it?
  3. Decisiveness – The Marine Corps operates on the 70% rule.  This states that decisive action based on 70% information is better than a slow decision based on complete information.  Complete information, in my opinion, is a fallacy.  It never happens.  Speed kills.  Your ability to out outmaneuver and out-flank your competition is dependent upon you being decisive and fast.  I just hired a landscaper for the sole reason that he got back to me much quicker than his competition.  Can this be said of your business?
  4. Integrity – My mentor was lamenting recently that integrity has come to mean that people do what they say.  Is that not sad?  Integrity is so much more than doing what you say.  Integrity is absolute consistency – whether all eyes are on you or not.  Integrity is the bedrock of a person’s character.  It is what earns the respect of your team members and peers.  Does this describe you?
  5. Dependability – I read somewhere that, “Marines develop solutions – not excuses!”  This perfectly defines dependability.  Can your clients depend on you to do what you were hired to do?  Can your team members depend on you to be prepared and ready to exceed expectations on a task?  I hear Dave Ramsey say all the time that a contractor who shows up on-time, every time, will never lack for work.  How dependable would your clients say you are?
  6. Tact – Marines are misunderstood when it comes to tact.  Tact is delivering a message in an appropriate way.  In other words, how a message is communicated is as important as the message itself.  My father-in-law was an outstanding coach.  He had tremendous tact and the ability to read his players.  He had players who responded to positive encouragement.  He also had players who responded to a boot up the rear-end.  He communicated with them accordingly.  What about your clients?  Do you pay enough attention to do the same?
  7. Initiative – Someone with initiative never needs to be told what to do.  Initiative is always looking for ways to improve – customer-service, internal systems, etc.  In my opinion, initiative is the single most effective way to get promoted – or get hired.  Couple initiative with the practice of giving value upfront for free – unstoppable combination!  Is initiative a core part of your company’s DNA?

Let me hear from you.  Of these first 7 traits, which one describes your leadership the best?  Which one could use the most improvement?

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