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A professor of mine was a fine curmudgeon in his own right. He had a bunch of sayings that he'd fling out at us like Ninja death stars. One of his favorites was when he was talking about people who went through life without a clue. He'd say, "He's like a penny looking for change." I find so many people like that as I move through my life. I find bright intelligent people with ideas and energy, but not a single clue about how to make things happen. So all they ever do is talk about making thing s happen.
Yesterday I met with a client who is definitely not in that category. This little corner building housed a real estate office, insurance office, engineering firm, construction firm and they are about to open a restaurant. Four people work in the office and yes, they all looked a bit overwhelmed, but that's understandable.
These folks make things happen. They take an idea and they plan it out and they make it happen. They don't sit around and look for books about how things should happen, about theories of leadership, about all that crap. They just make a plan, make mistakes along the way, save their money instead of spending it on seminars with Tony Robbins, and they make things happen.
It's about action, it isn't about talking about planning to talk about action. It's about talking that leads to action. It's about making plans that lead in a series of logical steps to a goal or a resolution or an outcome or an opening.
Some people if put in charge of a soccer team would sit the team down on the sideline and talk to them about how to score a goal and then never put them on the field to do it. The other team would blandly run up and down the field looking curiously at the rapt attention that the players sitting on the grass were paying to their mentor scribbling designs and Venn diagrams on an erasable board.
It is so much more comfortable to sit on the grass, sip a cold drink and not have to achieve anything. So many people are like that. They love the sideline, they want to score, but they don't like to leave the sideline. It is more comfortable to sit idly and study or design or analyze plans for action and never be held responsible for putting them into action.
A mentor of mine told me once long ago that entering into your own business is like letting go of the side of the pool. He said I'd never want to hold on to it again once I was out there swimming. He was right but there have been times when I yearn for that security, that solid side of the pool to hold on to. But most of the time I agree with him, I love the swimming.
So what's the point of this mini-rant I wonder as I get here. I guess I just find it frustrating to run into people who are in charge of something and really have no clue about what their position means to the organization, or what the organization means to them. They've learned all the lingo, they can recite the Seven Effective leadership principles and even regularly dust the leadership posters on the walls. But when it comes to leading, they race for the safety of the sidelines and they grab on white-knuckled to the edge of the pool. They're pennies out looking for change.
I loved that--'like a penny looking for change'. I must be really slow, this is the first time I have heard that and I've heard a lot of descriptions for people without a clue, but this was new to me. Great article, by the way, ML
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