Noah Plumb is an inspiring GoDaddy.com employee. When Eric Keosky-Smith arranged for the Fountain Hills Leaders Institute to meet with Warren Edelmann, COO of GoDaddy.com and to tour the facilities last year, we had no idea that we would still be thinking about Noah. Noah gave us the tour.

It occurred to us that we rarely hear an employee so enthusiastically rave about their company, passionately engaged with the success of GoDaddy.com as he constantly offers up suggestions to grab more market share, expand products and boost morale even more. And GoDaddy.com has had something to do with this relationship as they warmly embrace and encourage even more suggestions from Noah. Noah proclaims that he is a lifer at GoDaddy.com, he drank the cool-aid!

Noah is a Contagious Leader!  Congratulations, Noah!

If you would like to nominate someone, feel free to send us an email by clicking here, and we would love to consider them!  Please tell us a bit about them and what makes them Contagious in their leadership.

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So, don’t be surprised if, in the beginning, the people in your organization appear nervous and cynical about any changes you want to introduce, even if they clearly are for good.

In order for you to build endorsement towards the change to a contagious leadership culture, you must be receptive to the attitudes of others and put into practice a contagious leadership program that will encourage participation.

Take GE for example.  When this company launched its Work-Out program to give workers, managers, and leaders the opportunity to get together, share ideas, and get barriers out of the way, in the beginning it was a voluntary program.  It seemed (like) a town meeting, and many people showed up with healthy disbelief. 

Before anyone was willing to take an active part in it, they had to confirm it was a safe setting, a place where they could voice their opinion without taking the risk of being accused later, and they had to believe that the ideas they were presenting were being considered seriously; thus, Jack Welch and his team defined a strategy to create endorsement.

To begin with, they asked people to wear khakis and t-shirts so that no one would look superior to others, and the leaders were directed to address ideas right there in one of three ways: approve it, reject it, or request more information. 

Very soon, everyone noticed that they were serious about the program, and eventually, it was a requirement to attend.

Getting someone to get your back takes time and honest effort.  If you don’t walk the walk and talk the talk, you will kill any program you start.

These are some strategies to build endorsement, right from the files of the top leadership speaker on the topic of contagious leadership:

-      Define clear goals and ensure everyone on your team knows what you are planning, what you wish to achieve, and why.

-      Start a vibrant communication program, in other words, communicate early, regularly, and harmoniously; and make sure everyone is informed about:

-     What you are doing

-     Who is doing it

-     Why you are doing it

-     How well you are doing

-     Who is doing well

-     Ensure communication is internal and external.

-     Focus on successes, not on failures.

In the end, your goal should be that everyone in your organization gets your back… not for your sake and personal interest, but as every contagious leader believes, for a greater and general good.

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Contagious Leaders know that they have to help their teams find passion, energy and excitement for the vision. People get excited by people who are excited. So, find ways to get excited and you’ll see the excitement around you change. It really is that simple.

Be Well & Be Contagious,

John

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We recently traveled to Baltimore to visit relatives and participate in a fund raiser for the Baer School, which Bev’s sister Debbie Kastendike, her uisband Graham and their sons Eric and Christopher and his wife Ashley are deeply involved with.  The plan was to have an affair at the Legends of Sport Heroes right near Camden Yards where to Baltimore Orioles still play. A special treat would be an appearance by Joe Flacco, Quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. With all the controversy about and around “star athletes” these days I wasn’t so sure that the QB’s appearance was anything worth getting all excited over. Boy, was I wrong!

Joe Flacco impressed each of the 200 people there, including the biggest doubting Thomas of all, me.

Joe Flacco and the Kids of The Baer School

Joe and more Kids

Eric Kastendike, Joe Flacco and Christopher Kastendike

Joe Flacco and Ashley kastendike

Joe and another Baer School Charmer

To watch him was to learn about him. He began quietly, appearing a bit shy at first. Then as we entered the room where the kids were he began to be more lively. For the last picture above he actually asked if the little girl would like to have a picture taken. He didn’t presume she wanted the shot, nor did he walk away relieved that he avoided yet another inconvenience. No, he asked if she would like a picture.

Most of these kids had no idea who Joe Flacco is, nor did they care. They only knew that he enjoyed being with them, paying attention to them, talking with them, smiling with them. They loved him for that and so did the delighted people that came to help the Baer School.

That night, we all saw a side of Joe Flacco, and perhaps other “star athletes” that made us revisit our attitudes toward all athletes. Perhaps they are not all thugs and bad boys. Perhaps a few, like Joe Flacco, are really good guys that just dress up like athletes and happen to get paid a lot of money for doing so. This doesn’t make them bad. In fact, it just helped prove a really important point for all of us. Despite what the world may look like from time to time, good guys really do finish first.

Be Well & Be Contagious!

John

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The Leaders Institute

George Obst and Bob Ditta, former Chairman and President of Dental Services Group

George Obst, DSG former Chairman, and Ditta were there to contribute to The Leaders Institute, a collaboration between the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce and John  Hersey International. It’s mission is to provide business leaders with an opportunity to tune into a high level leadership conversation by exposing them to a variety of businesses and business leaders. The opportunity today was for these local leaders to learn from two leaders that led their team to purchase the Dental Services Group business and then grow that business, in a highly competitive category of 14,000 Dental Labs serving 118,000 Dentist, to double it’s size in fourteen years, without acquisition.

When Obst and Ditta, along with two other DSG executives, purchased the business through a leveraged buyout, it consisted of 34 Dental Labs across the United States doing approximately $30 Million in annual revenue. When the group sold DSG in 2005 it’s revenue’s were in the $60 million range.

This Livingroom Leadership session covered topics like:

• the 4 original partners are as different, behaviorally speaking, as different could be. How were they able to allow those differences and still run a successful company. George Obst offered that the solution was a clear delineation of responsibilities, largely tied to the individuals strengths. Ditta added that there was a remarkable consistency in values. Each of the partners was committed to growing the business through employee relations and development. Unlike many of their competitors, DSG took on training, at all levels, like no other company. The strategy was to help the employees learn more and achieve higher levels of knowledge and competence in their jobs. The belief was that it would actually lead to significantly lower turnover levels, more loyalty and thereby increased customer support and service. It worked!
• Creating Your Own ceremonies. Each year DSG spent gobs of money to put on it’s annual leadership meeting in Scottsdale (where else?). The teams would arrive with great expectation, primarily for the awards dinner. A pretty extravagant affair for nearly 300, the recognition awards always stole the show. Obst and Ditta agree that “recognition has always and will always be the key to motivation and employee loyalty.” Obst encouraged all  the Leaders Institute participants to create ceremonies, even if they were solo-preneurs.
  
• Performance accountability and reviews. Everyone at DSG, from the person working on a bench crafting, grinding and polishing the caps ordered by our dentists, to the Chairman and President, had annual goals. And, the leadership team, some 65 strong were trained to manage to those goals. Every employee had an annual review and the subject of goals was always discussed. As Bob Ditta put it, “Goals don’t lie. You either achieved the goal or you didn’t. If you didn’t, the why is relatively unimportant. How we can do better next quarter or next year is the key.”
• Educational goals. Everyone in the company had to have an educational goal. What were they going to do to get better at their job? DSG was willing to invest in these classes and seminars because, in keeping with the values of the 4 partners, training and development would pay dividends way beyond the cost.
• Listening. Listen to your customer, listen to your prospects, lost customers and employees. Then have a system in place where what you have heard can be acted upon. This is the bullet to excel, be the best. You will hear and observe  everything you need to dramatically improve on a regular basis.

Dental Services Group implemented strategies that were way ahead of the competition, at the time. We look at these strategies as sound, basic leadership habits that work every time. Well, I don’t know about every time, but these sure did work for George and Bob and Dental Services Group.

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Leaders know that to get what they want they need to take aim at the goal, passionately pursue it and every day set an intention to focus on it.

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While in the gym the ‘you can’t do this’ saboteurs showed up. The same thing happens to leaders.

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In the course of our life, we never stop looking for who we truly are, for our reason for being; it is our way of being the leaders of what we may become.  We are as big inside as our world is outside, and we look without end for the next frontier on self-improvement and self-knowledge.  The more we dig inside ourselves, the more we grow.

Developing your personal purpose involves a journey of discovery and learning. It is not a problem or situation you have to solve.  It can take you many years and countless hours of reflection to define what is truly valuable and significant in your life, however, one thing is certain, your purpose in life is tied to your vision and values.

In order to advance in your search for your purpose you have to ask lots of questions:

-    What’s in my dream list?

-    What does this list say about my inner desires and purpose?

-    What activities and work energize and excite me?

-    When am I my best self, most happy and alive?

-    What are my special talents and strengths?

-    How do I want to be remembered when I die?

-    What would I like to tell about my life when I’m older?

-    What would I like my family, friends, colleagues, and partners to say about me after I’m gone?

-    Did I contribute to society?

No dream should stay unaccomplished, no book unwritten, no love concealed, no bright idea discarded.  If anything, we all should live determined to find our purpose; this should be our strongest motivator to be our best and never give up.

It is not easy to state your purpose; after all, how easy is it to put in words your deepest inner beliefs and thoughts?  It can be truly frustrating; however, it is worth it.  Once you get there, you will have more clarity and will feel stronger emotions and passion for your purpose.

Once you know what your purpose in life is, use affirmations to strengthen it in order to center on realizing your reason for living.  Use quotes that inspire you and energize you, and consider these too:

-    Support it with your work
Does your work support your purpose?  If not, try to find ways to fit your purpose within your job before you decide to leave it.  Talk to your manager about aligning your purpose with your responsibilities; make a list of the positive good things your work offers you and review it regularly.  Stay in the loop about opportunities to practice your purpose within the organization and your team.  Once you start looking for the good things, you will find a huge amount of them all around you.

-    Support it with your family
Talk to your family and write a list of family values and mission.  Everyone has to contribute with their idea of the perfect future for the family.  Find common ground and a comprehensive view of what you want your family life to be.

-    It is not about setting goals
It is a common confusion to think of goal setting as the tool for envisioning your best life and identifying your purpose, however, goals are merely stages in the journey.  In order to make your purpose a reality and to advance towards your dream you have to set goals and reach them, but these goals are a means, not an end.  Goals have a beginning and a conclusion, while the process to find your purpose never ends.

-    Be authentic
Your purpose must be yours, do not let external influences manipulate it.  It is about what you wish, not what others think you should do or be.  Forget about impressing anyone, you are the only one who should be positively affected by it.  Keep it to yourself.

-    It is a process without end
You whole life you must work to refine the expression of your values, vision, and purpose.  It never stops, like the need for food; it is something you require, something you live on.

-    Spend time alone
Learn to meditate.  Get some time to be alone, to be still, to reflect and to look for spiritual connection.  During this time, between 30 to 45 minutes, you will clarify your values, mission, and vision, because you will be listening to your inner self.

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An effective leadership speaker will cause people who listen to speak in terms of ‘waking up’, or the speaker having ‘reached into my soul’, and inspire the speakers to ‘put their all’ into their endeavors.  Such a consultant will put forth workshops and presentations that change those who experience them on a profound mental and emotional level.

When an assignment is completed effectively, efficiently, and profitably, it is because the motivational factors behind that assignment have been properly evoked.  This can and does happen by accident or coincidence, but it is the job of the professional motivator to ensure that it can happen on demand.

Quite often, a company’s managers create a negative emotional atmosphere within their workplace for reasons that vary from personal failures to a perceived prejudice on the part of their superiors.  These negative vibes create a motivational vacuum that is all but invisible to upper management, but can ruin a company’s effectiveness.  The motivational consultant’s job is to overcome these unknown emotional hurdles and achieve an upbeat atmosphere capable of effective work.

The motivational speaker isn’t teaching his listeners anything that they don’t already know.  Rather, his goal is to ‘retune’ his audience to be more attentive to their latent talents and ingrained abilities.  By offering a variety of methods to develop and measure one’s inner spirit, and thus enhance one’s overall level of motivation, a leadership speaker can inspire a person to view — and tackle — his problems from a different perspective.

The most effective motivational speakers are able to get an audience of thousands to stop focusing on their problems and start focusing on their opportunities; to see the nadirs of their lives as the prequels to the zeniths which will follow.  This causes the audience to view ‘tomorrow’ as a source of hope and success rather than dismay and drudgery.

Such leaders never trivialize or deny the problems facing their audiences, but re-frame them as prospects for positive change.   By making this change in the minds of the audience, the motivational speaker changes very little in the listeners — but he creates the ability in each individual for that person to change himself…and therein lies the true miracle.

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