Push

Someone calls you with a problem that affects your area of responsibility and communicates a sense of urgency to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible.

Someone visits your office and describes an action by a subordinate which is in flagrant opposition to an established policy, one that you are charged with upholding.

You receive an email describing a situation which if immediate action is not taken could cost the company either a lot of money or possibly lose an employee.

All of these about a million other things like them are part of a normal day at work and what I label PUSH because they can feel like a push in the back.  What's worse is that in some of these cases what isn't perceived is that when the PUSH comes you are actually standing on the edge of a cliff.

How do you handle PUSH?

PUSH back!!!

P - Pause - more often than not what is being pushed at you as urgent, frankly, isn't.
U - Understand the full picture - not just the snippet that is being presented - look for the ramifications of immediate action versus a more measured response.
S - Solve the REAL problem, not just the presented symptom of the problem.  Don't get trapped in someone else's perception.   I've done this more times than I can count and it doesn't usually work out well.
H - Hold fast to your principles and don't allow anyone or anything to PUSH you past where you are comfortable going.  This will always work out badly.

Scaling Up Excellence - Book Review

Scaling Up Excellence by Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao

This has got to be one of the best books on Leadership and Change that I have read recently.  In some ways it was reminiscent of Switch, by Dan and Chip Heath in some of the innovative ways to approach change efforts.

I first listened to the book through Audible.com and was so impressed that I went out and bought a copy.  I'm working my way through the book now because it is FULL of the kind of useful information that has immediate applicability as well as providing excellent guidance for strategic thinking and planning.

This book is about addressing the "Problem of More," as in, "we want more: customers, orders, capacity, etc."  The perspective that Sutton and Rao bring to the discussion of "MORE" recognizes the complexity of the subject and tackles it through solid research and numerous examples. There is simply too much in this book to try to reduce it to a summary which you can then dismiss.  The book is well written and literally full of usable ideas.  If you are in any leadership position, and particularly if you are CEO, you need to read this book and discuss it with your decision team.  If you have ever struggled with what it takes to expand your business, company, church, and/or how to to implement effective strategies for growth, you need to read this book and discuss it with your decision team.

This is a must read.