Sage Lewis

From Harvard Business Review in the March 2006 book, they discuss a 12 question survey Gallup uses to assess the emotional bonds between workers and their companies. These are those questions:

• I know what is expected of me at work.
• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
• In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
• My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
• Someone at work encourages my development.
• At work, my opinions seem to count.
• The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
• My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
• I have a best friend at work.
• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
• This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

To me, these seem like crucial questions.

Leadership is where even the biggest companies fall down. This is because leadership has so much to do with ego and survival.

Training someone for a leadership position means that you very well might be training your replacement. It also means that you might train someone that will do a better job than you. Consequently, any kind of leadership training is expected to be handled by Human Resources. Unfortunately, HR is not known for its innovation.

SageRock is setting out to create the finest leadership development program in the world.

The leadership training at SageRock has got to be ongoing. Every leader at SageRock should have some base requirements and then continual training… maybe something like 2 books or two classes a year on leadership. There should also probably be SageRock Leadership meetings… possibly every other month or something.

• Amazon.com: Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder: Books: Marjorie Schiller,Deanna Riley,Bea Mah Holland
• I haven’t read this yet. However, I’m learning the concept of appreciative leadership and I believe it is representative of exactly what I’m trying to achieve.
• There is also a teacher here in Akron that teaches this concept. Possibly he would be a good resource.
• Amazon.com: The Leadership Challenge, 3rd Edition: Books: James M. Kouzes,Barry Z. Posner
• This book has so many great thoughts and concepts.
• Amazon.com: Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness: Books: Stephen R. Covey,Robert K. Greenleaf,Larry C. Spears
• Also, I have not read this yet. But from what I’ve read on the topic, this is exactly where we are heading.

These might be the jumping off point and we’d go from there.

This is the very early stages of leadership training at SageRock.

In order to instill the SageRock Core Value of Concern, Respect and Empathy for the SageRock Team into the leaders of SageRock, I’m toying with the idea of creating the 10 Commandments.

These would be principles that all SageRock leaders would be required to live by. Everyone would know them. And any leader not living up to them would be called out.

Keep in mind that this is all very early thinking. And I haven’t discussed this with anyone. Very often, something that seems great in my head gets quickly modified by others into something much better. But I’m interested in starting here and seeing what happens.

So, here are some possibilities. Again, keep in mind, that you are my personal journal here. What you are reading is directly off the top of my head and a first draft.

1. Being a leader at SageRock is not an opportunity, it’s a calling to help others.
2. The Concern, Respect and Empathy of each individual team member is my greatest mission.
3. I will be an inspirational leader. There is little worse than following a boring leader.
4. I will be a visionary. My focus is on what’s possible.
5. I will be the best leader my team has ever known. People don’t quit jobs, they quit leaders.
6. I will make everyone feel welcome and an integral part of my team. If there is an outsider on my team, either they shouldn’t be on the team or I’m not leading them well.
7. I will focus on what is right with my team members and minimize what is wrong.
8. I will praise each team member in public, in private, in writing, in talk, in any way I can creatively think of.
9. I am open and grateful for respectful criticism that helps my team grow as a group and as individuals.
10. I am continually looking for and training the next leader of my team.

One of the great things about spiritual thoughts is that you so often can make them apply to your situation. And, generally, that’s OK because that’s what the thoughts are meant to do and be… general guides for your life.

Terry Pluto is talking about Pontius Pilate here:
Beacon Journal | 04/08/2006 | Doing right is required every time

He was the guy that “washed his hands” of Jesus which ultimately got Jesus strung up on a cross.

Apparently, Pilate says, “What is truth.”

At the end of the piece, Pluto writes:
“But in some situations, we know truth, and we know what we should do.
And we have to keep telling ourselves and praying for the power to do
it not one time, but every time.”

This is of particular interest to me from a business perspective. It’s not that I’m cheating on my taxes, or cheating my customers, it’s that I often have to fight with my customers to tell them the truth about their situation. I have to fight to do my job.

What I’m saying is, people don’t want to hear the fact that they can’t get a certain position on the search engines, they have to spend more money if they want it done right, they don’t understand how web marketing works. People want to be told what they want to hear.

This was just a nice little piece to remind me that in certain situations there is “truth” and I have to adhere to it no matter whether it will get me yelled at or fired. I’m hired to not be afraid. I’m hired to do what is in the best interest of the client, whether they want to hear it or not.

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