There is little success where there is little laughter.  ~Andrew Carnegie

Oh so true!  Last week I facilitated a two-day training on effective presentations for a global manufacturer who has high expectations for professional presentation skills from all employees.  These employees were lower management so they had minimal experience giving presentations.  And as I had expected, many were in the class to find ways to manage their nerves around public speaking.

It was a small group, just a dozen, so they had plenty of opportunities to practice their presentation skills with no negative repercussions if things didn’t go well.  This was purely a learning and development experience.  After several fun exercises to work out some of their anxiety, the first presentation they had to give to the class was just one minute.

After several presentations, a woman got up to take her turn at the front of the room.  She was especially anxious; she was clearly fearful about that one minute.  She said a few sentences, but then her nerves got the best of her and she started to laugh.  She tried to compose herself, but to no avail continued to laugh.  The class was trying desperately to remain composed and support their colleague.  She continued to laugh, then she gave up and headed to her seat, and the pent-up laughter erupted.  Everyone was laughing, hard, there were even tears streaming down a few faces.  As I moved to the front of the class I told her that it was both unfortunate, and fortunate, that she has an incredibly contagious laugh.

The next day, several members of the class commented that they recounted the incident that night and laughed again.  One person even said that she couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed so hard.

This moment of unabashed laughter caused me to think about laughter in organizations.  Many times, when you ask someone why they married a person, a frequent response is because they make me laugh.  Laughter is clearly something we value in close relationships.  Given that we spend a significant amount of our time at work shouldn’t we want our organizations to be filled with laughter?  And what if it was the leaders in the organization who modeled the way?  Wouldn’t that be a place we’d all want to go to everyday?

Laughter, it may be a tool in every leader’s toolbox that doesn’t get used as often as it could, or should.  Maya Angelou said, “Laugh as much as possible, always laugh.  It’s the sweetest thing one can do for oneself and one’s fellow human beings.”

This week, let yourself go, laugh a little at the office.

Many of the qualities that come so effortlessly to dogs—loyalty, devotion, selflessness, unflagging optimism, unqualified love—can be elusive to humans.  ~John Grogan

I recently listened to an interview with Jono Fisher about mindful leadership.  His example of being truly mindful was dogs.  He said that dogs are very present and connected; two attributes of being mindful.  I can attest, firsthand, that dogs truly are very present and connected!  Today’s photo is my husky mix, Lily.

Fisher defined mindful leaders as those who are self-aware, authentic, and compassionate.  Others provide a very similar definition.  The website mindfulleader.org says “It’s about creating the space in your life to cultivate self-awareness and compassion, and leading with authenticity in a way that inspires others.”  The Institute for Mindful Leadership states “A mindful leader embodies leadership presence by cultivating focus, clarity, creativity, and compassion in the service of others.”

Early in 2015, an article in HBR by Congleton, Holzel, and Lazar, started with, “The business world is a buzz with mindfulness.  Recent research provides strong evidence that practicing non-judgmental, present-moment awareness (a.k.a. mindfulness) changes the brain, and it does so in ways that anyone working in today’s complex business environment, and certainly every leader, should know about.”

Part of what makes today’s business environment complex is the pace of change coupled with the many opportunities available to nearly every organization.  The ability to determine the most important opportunities and remain focused is one of the greatest leadership skills needed to maneuver organizations through the intricacies of the 21^st century workplace.

Bill George, strong proponent for mindful leadership says, “In order to gain awareness and clarity about the present moment, you must be able to quiet your mind.  Regardless of the daily introspective practice you choose, the pursuit of mindful leadership will help you achieve clarity about what is important to you and a deeper understanding of the world around you.”

Quieting your mind?  It may not be as difficult as you might expect.  Fast Company gives us three simple steps to begin to practice mindfulness.

1. Get into a good position. Take a deep breath and sigh it out.  Sit comfortably and relax your body as much as you can.
2. Get in touch with your breathing. Close your eyes and find the place in your body where you feel your breath most prominently.  Start to focus your attention in a gentle way to your breathing—this will be your anchor point.
3. Detach from your thoughts. Within a few seconds, distractions like thoughts, body sensations, or images will start to bubble up.  Realize that this is normal and gently return to the anchor point.  Continue this for eight minutes.

I can’t claim that my dog, Lily, practices mindfulness.  But I do know that her ability to be present and connected (mindful) is inspiring.  She can teach me a thing or two about mindful leadership.

If the need to win is the dominant gene in your “success DNA”—the main reason you’re successful—then winning too much is a genetic mutation that can limit your success.  ~Marshall Goldsmith

For all of you competitive types out there, this quote may have both gotten your attention and either confused you or made you a little angry.  After all, how could winning too much possibly limit success?

Marshall Goldsmith is someone I’ve admired for a number of years.  Marshall is an executive coach and best-selling author whose focus is leadership behavior.  He has helped successful leaders achieve positive lasting change in behavior for themselves and their teams.

Here’s how Marshall explains this idea of winning too much.

One big issue of successful leaders is winning too much. If it’s important, we want to win. If it’s meaningful, we want to win. If it’s trivial, we want to win. If it’s not worth it, we still want to win. Why? We like winning.

Winning too much underlies nearly every other behavioral problem.If we argue too much, it’s because we want our view to prevail (we want to win). If we’re guilty of putting down other people, it’s our stealthy way of positioning them beneath us (again, winning). If we ignore people, again it’s about winning—by making them fade away. If we withhold information, it’s to give ourselves an edge over others. If we play favorites, it’s to win over allies and give “our side” an advantage. So many things we do that annoy people stem from needlessly trying to be the alpha male or female in any situation….in other words, the winner.

If you’ve achieved any success, you’re guilty of this every day. When you’re in a meeting at work, you want your opinion to prevail. When you’re arguing your point, you pull out all the stops to come out on top.

And I really appreciate Marshall’s example of how winning too much really can limit our success.

Suppose you want to go to dinner at restaurant X. Your spouse, partner, or friend wants to go to restaurant Y. You have a heated debate. You end up going to restaurant Y. The experience confirms your misgivings. Your reservation is lost, and you have to wait. The service is slow, the drinks weak, and the food bad. You have two options: A: critique the restaurant and smugly point out to your partner that you were right. B: Shut up, eat the food, and enjoy the evening.

When I ask people: “What should you do, and what would you do?” the results are consistent: 75 percent say they would critique the restaurant. Yet they agree they should just shut up and have a good time. If we do a “cost benefit analysis,” we conclude that our relationship with our partner or friend is far more important than winning an argument about where to eat. And yet, the urge to win trumps our common sense. We do the wrong thing, even when we know what we should do.

Imagine how many times a similar scenario happens in your organization – when winning has a much greater cost than the benefit realized from winning.  So, maybe winning too much really can limit your success.

Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest.  ~Simon Sinek

In a recent team effectiveness training session I asked the participants if they needed to know their teammates, personally.  They didn’t all agree.  A number (probably most) said they need to know what their teammates’ technical skills are but they don’t need to know anything about them, personally.

I chose to push them on that idea a bit.  I had a copy of Patrick Lencioni’s book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and I read one of the questions from his 15-question survey to determine if you have a dysfunctional team.  Question #12 states “Team members know about one another’s personal lives and are comfortable discussing them.”  In other words, they care about each other.

Why does caring matter?  Here are only a few of the questions that were spinning around in my mind as I continued to unpack this idea in the training session.

• We spend a lot of time with our colleagues, maybe more than our families; don’t we all want to spend that much of lives with people who care about us?
• Aren’t we more likely to trust someone who cares about us?
• Don’t we all hope that as a person we are more than just our technical skills?
• We want to receive empathy in our workplace, but how can people be empathetic if they don’t care?

Author, psychologist, and executive coach Dr. Henry Cloud put it this way, “In the end trust is about the heart, and someone making an investment in you from his or her heart.  And if you gain people’s trust, their heart, then you also have their desire and passion.”

Maybe we have outstanding technical skills, and every team certainly needs skilled team members.  However, John C. Maxwell stated it well when he said, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

You could be like some of the participants in my training session.  You believe that knowing about teammates, personally, isn’t necessary.  You may even think it’s a hindrance to your team’s effectiveness.  There are few minds from history greater than Albert Einstein.  I’d certainly want his technical skills on my team.  Einstein said, “Strange is our situation here upon earth.  Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.  From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men.”

The simple act of caring is heroic. ~Edward Albert

Don’t ever let the pressure exceed the pleasure.  ~ Chicago Cubs Manager, Joe Maddon

I should start by admitting what might be obvious; I’m a fair weather Chicago Cubs fan.  Since the weather is quite fair (Cubs are in the playoffs!), I’m currently a fan.  When Crain’s Chicago Business recently published an article entitled “Leadership lessons from the dugout, courtesy of Cubs’ Maddon,” I was curious.  I’m not at all familiar with Maddon so when I learned about his leadership approach and creativity, I became a fan of the leader, Joe Maddon.

His demeanor is relaxed.  He watches games from the corner of the dugout.  Whether the Cubs win or lose, he responds to media questions in a calm voice, and gives an objective account of runs, hits, and errors.

These four characteristics are foundational to Maddon’s leadership approach.

Instill a smart, upbeat attitude.  He is described as having an “uncanny ability to remain positive.”  Tough defeats or bad plays don’t get him down.  When things don’t go so well, he highlights what they gain from the high-pressure competition.

Stay loose and productive.  Maddon says, “Don’t ever let the pressure exceed the pleasure,” true in baseball and organizations.  Prior to the postseason, Maddon organized what was called purposeful madness.  Players took a night flight in their pajamas and he turned Wrigley Field into a zoo of exotic animals.  Organizational leaders could learn from Maddon’s ability to create lightness in the midst of tension or even monotony.

Be old- and new-school.  It’s not just baseball that’s embraced computer analytics over experience and instinct, so too have organizational metrics.  Maddon uses both.  He’s data-driven, but he also has the confidence to go with his gut.

Avoid being the center of attention.   According to the Reeds who wrote the article in Crain’s, “Maddon consciously is not the star of the team or ‘the story.’  Instead he opts for a lower profile.”

Reeds also said:

Many bosses would gain from tapping into Maddon’s good-natured respect for colleagues and collaborators.  Too often human dignity is a workplace casualty of the “Get it done faster!” or “No excuses” management mindset.

Maddon demonstrates that playing it loose reaps its own rewards.  There’s a time for seriousness and all-out effort, but honestly, few company situations are so life-and-death that managers can’t afford to lighten up.  It’s called perspective and a little of it can go a long way in getting the best out of a team.  So chill the Maddon way.