by Larry Johnson

While President Obama and the congress debate healthcare reform, not much has been said about the dedicated people who work in healthcare and the incredible differences they can make in the lives of their customers.

During a bicycling vacation through Napa Valley in 2003, CJ, my wife of 34 years was involved in an accident that changed our world. Despite wearing a helmet, she sustained a traumatic brain injury that put her into an eight weeklong coma. This was followed by a persistent vegetative state in which she was almost completely unresponsive (think Terri Schiavo). She could not move the right side of her body, she could not talk or respond to

questions, and she was completely incontinent. She was unable to swallow any solid food or liquids, and had to be fed through a stomach tube. Essentially, she was like a living corpse.

Little by little, however, she started to respond.

About two months after the accident, while visiting her at the first of three nursing homes in which she would reside, I kissed her goodnight and for the first time since the accident, she actually kissed me back. A few weeks later, against doctor’s orders (that were written for fear she might choke,) I fed her a Popsicle that I’d snuck into the nursing home and she ate it without a problem. It dawned on me that if she could eat a Popsicle, she could probably handle ice cream, so I smuggled in some Häagen-Dazs® the next night. It wasn’t long before I was sneaking in full meals from Boston Market® that I would mash up and feed her when the staff wasn’t looking.

About the same time, she also started making grunting noises that sounded like she was trying to talk and one night while an aide and I were putting a brace on her arm that she hated and always resisted, she blurted out, “Take that damn thing off!”

Today, CJ lives at home with me. The right side of her body is still paralyzed, and she still requires 24 hour care, but with the help of Connie Gunderson and Lucia Holmes, two wonderfully dedicated home-health care professionals, we live a happy, and close to normal life. CJ can converse with anyone, can feed herself with assistance, and she can engage in her life long passion of playing bridge (on a computer now with me moving the

mouse.)

In looking back at CJ’s journey from emergency trauma care on the day of the accident, through intensive-care hospitalization, through nursing home residency and finally to home-health care there were many SNAFUS and failures of the system.

There was the neurologist who told us she would have a full recovery, and the neurosurgeon who later that same day told us that her recovery was hopeless and that she would be a vegetable for the rest of her life. Both were wrong.

There was the Ear Nose & Throat specialist (hired by one of the nursing homes) who didn’t bother to bring his instruments when he came to assess whether her tracheotomy tube could be removed to make it easier for her to speak. He told the nurse to not bother

scheduling another visit because, given her “mental state, it wouldn’t make any difference.” In other words, “she’s just a vegetable, so why bother doing a real evaluation?” Another ENT later did a thorough exam and removed the tube, which in turn, contributed greatly to CJ regaining the ability to talk.

There was the nursing home aide who prepared her to go out todinner with me by putting CJ’s hair up in pigtails and placing a child’s doll under her paralyzed arm. I was appalled. CJ was a 56 year old successful business woman who had maintained 4.0 GPA in college; had been a brilliant mortgage banker who managed a team of 10 loan officers; who had achieved Life Master status as a tournament bridge player; who was an active contributor to various political causes; and was the mother of a successful adult daughter - and this aide saw her as only as a little girl.

There was the night shift nurse who refused to call the on-call doctor to get a prescription for CJ’s yeast infection because she didn’t want bother him for such a minor matter. I angrily asked her if she’d ever experienced the kind of itch that accompanies a yeast infection and would she be willing to wait until the next day to treat her own discomfort. She ignored me but, thankfully, she was fired later that week after complaints from other residents and their families.

And the list goes on. Let’s face it, the healthcare system, like any other system, is not perfect - in fact it’s highly flawed. On the other hand, we had many more positive experiences than negative, and its those we remember most.

There was Sister Rose, a nun at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. CJ’s mother and several of her sisters flew in from Phoenix to stand vigil with our daughter Meagan and me in the intensive care unit until she came out of the coma. Sister Rose went out of her way to find us a small home to rent so we wouldn’t have to pay hotel bills for a month.

There was Richard, the night shift nurse in intensive care who, after passing his meds and doing his charting would come into the room and sit with us for hours, reassuring us that CJ’s brain was healing and that she would get better. He never gave us false hope, but he sure made us feel better.

There was Dr. Christina Kwasnica, who has treated CJ from the beginning and was the only doctor to express realistic optimism that CJ would improve.

There was Pam, the evening nurse at one of the nursing homes who noticed that two of CJ’s medicines were stimulants and wondered why she was receiving them at 8:00PM. It turns out that a doctor contracted by the nursing home had prescribed them to be given twice per day and in a nursing home that translates into 8:00AM and 8:00PM. No wonder CJ wasn’t sleeping well at the time.

And there was the kindness of Mavis, a nursing home aide who took a special interest in CJ. She would talk to her like she would to a sister or a best friend, kidding CJ about small matters, and telling CJ all the latest gossip in the nursing home: who was getting in trouble and why; who was fighting with whom; and whowas sleeping with whom - stuff I’m sure the nursing home administrator would not have wanted Mavis to discuss with her - but given that most people treated CJ like a child or like she just wasn’t there, Mavis’ sisterly banter was a blessing.

Most of all, there are Connie and Lucia, the two home health professionals who, for the past five years have helped me take care of CJ at home. They work extra hours without hesitation, they bring presents to CJ, and they call in on their days off to inquire about CJ’s health or to tell me about something CJ had said: “Did she have a bowel movement? Is her stomach still upset? Did I tell you that CJ asked about the healthcare debate she was watching on TV?”

The point is that the flaws of the healthcare system are numerous but can be outweighed by those in the system who perform with professionalism and care. Our hats go off to the Sister Roses, the Richards, the Dr. Kwasnicas, the Pams, the Mavises, the Connies and the Lucias. My hope is that they go home every night with the satisfaction of knowing they’ve made a difference in someone’s life, for that can be very rewarding.

Question: Regardless of your field of business, do you make a positive difference in the lives of your customers? Your friends? Your family? The strangers you meet as you pass through this life?

To view a video demo of the presentation CJ and I do about our experiences, go to: http://thereisnothey.net/index.php

To purchase the full presentation on DVD, go to:

http://larry-johnson.com/products.shtml

Larry Johnson, Author & Certified Professional Speaker Tel:

800-836-6599 Web: http://www.larry-johnson.com E-mail:

larry@larry-johnson.com

Meagan Johnson, Author & Certified Professional Speaker Tel:

800-836-6599 Web: http://www.MeaganJohnson.com E-mail:

Meagan@MeaganJohnson.com Web: http://www.larry-johnson.com E-mail:

larry@larry-johnson.com

Early in my career, I was working for a government institution, and was assigned a new manager. We didn’t know each other except by reputation. We were as different as dirt and water. I had long hair and a beard; he was clean-shaven and sported a crew-cut. My politics were liberal; he was a Nixon Republican. I attended protests against the Vietnam War; he had completed two tours of duty there and was a decorated Marine Corp officer. I liked to wear Navajo shaman shirts and moccasins; he was never caught without a sport coat and tie.

You get the picture.

Shortly after he started, he questioned why I’d taken so long to go to another building to attend a meeting.

I was furious. Who was this “soldier boy” to question how I spent my time getting my job done. I was a professional with a masters degree, for gosh sakes. Of course, the logical thing for me to do was to ask Mike what he had wanted and clarify why I needed to take two hours. It also would have been a good time to discuss our mutual expectations about how I manage my time.

But did I do that? Nooooooo. I was much too immature at the time. So I sulked and stewed about it for weeks without saying a word to him. I was civil, but not friendly. I avoided him when I could and avoided eye contact when I couldn’t. I did the minimum required and became disagreeable to the point of belligerence whenever we discussed an issue. I also bad-mouthed him to others whenever I got the chance. I was well on the way to becoming an “Employee From Hell.”

A few weeks later, Mike walked into my office, closed the door. “I get the feeling you’re ticked off at me. Is that true?” he asked. I did my best to look puzzled and denied there was anything wrong. He looked me in the eye and said, “B—s—. I can tell when something’s wrong. I want you to level with me.” When I told him, he was dumbfounded. It turns out that he hadn’t meant to accuse me of slacking, which is how I had interpreted his asking about the time I’d taken. He then apologized and asked that we start off on a new foot.

From that day forward, Mike and I got along just fine. Looking back, I realize that I acted so childishly was because I was feeling a little paranoid because Mike was my total opposite. I had created such a negative image of him in my head before I ever met him that I was ready to jump on anything he did.

It makes me realize that as managers, our employees watch us closely. We have power over them. We can affect their careers and their lives. Consequently, they watch us closely and our actions can take on meaning for them that may get distorted or blown out of proportion. For example, in one of my management seminars, I made mention of the CEO of the company that was sponsoring the event. A woman in the front row, who worked for that company let out a disgusted gasp and rolled her eyes. I asked her later in private about her response and why she seemed to dislike the man. She replied that she thought he was stuck up. (Yeah, sounds like high school, right?) When I asked her why, she replied that the two times she had ever had any contact with him was in the hallway where she had said “good morning,” and he had not replied to her.

I happened to know the fellow and I found him to be a charming, kind and considerate person who would never intentionally blow someone off like that. He did happen to be an absent minded professor type, and my guess is that he hadn’t even heard her say “good morning” because he was preoccupied with another matter.

The scary part here is that as managers, if we don’t take action to intervene, like Mike did with me, the perceived insult can fester into a sore worker who can eventually become an Employee From Hell. So I suggest practicing some vigilance watching how people respond to you. If you sense trouble in the waters, don’t be afraid to have one of those difficult conversations where you bring the issue out in the open. The worse thing that can happen is that the person denies any problem, but at least he knows you’re interested.

1. Determine the purpose. People are quick to judge something
as stupid if it wastes their time. Holding a Friday afternoon
meeting every Friday because it’s Friday is stupid. Having a
clear purpose for the meeting that contributes to everyone’s
success is smart.

2. Consider alternatives to meetings. Can the purpose be
accomplished equally well through a less time-consuming method
such as email, Twitter, Facebook or through audio or video
conferencing? If the purpose is simply to keep everyone
informed, maybe so. If it’s to discuss a complicated matter,
generate enthusiasm for a new plan, or brainstorm solutions to a
problem, maybe not. The bottom line is not to hold meetings just
for the sake of holding meetings. It will drive your productive
people crazy.

3. Create an agenda. Be sure to identify who, what, and when.
In other words, each item on the agenda should describe who’s
responsible for presenting the issue, what they expect to
accomplish (decision, solution, information dissemination, etc.),
and how long they expect to take (e.g., 2:00pm-2:15pm).

4. Start on time. How often have you arrived at a meeting at
the scheduled time only to have it start fifteen minutes late?
The problem with starting meetings late is that they then tend to
run late. It also insults the people who made an effort to get
there on time and rewards the people who got there late. Finally,
it teaches those who are concerned about their time to arrive
late on purpose. If you want your meetings to start on time,
start them on time, even if people are missing. As people learn
that a 2:00PM meeting really starts at 2:00PM, they will begin to
get there on time. Either way, proceed whether they are there or
not.

5. End on time. How often have you attended a meeting that was
scheduled to end at 3:00PM only to have it drag on to 4:00PM or
5:00PM or later? There is only one reason meetings don’t end on
time: they don’t end on time. If you want your meetings to end on
time, end them on time. If you stick to the ending time, a magic
thing will begin to occur. As the ending time approaches, people
start talking faster. They come to the point quicker and they
digress less. It follows the famous Parkinson’s Law, which says,
“Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

6. Stick to the agenda. This will help keep the meeting from
getting off track.

7. Assign responsibilities. People like to know what they are
responsible for. If a meeting ends and there is not clarity about
who’s going to do what by when, people will often assume it’s
someone else’s responsibility. When they’re asked later why they
didn’t produce, they will blame you for not clarifying that they
were supposed to do it.

8. Take notes and publish minutes with assigned
responsibilities clearly defined. That way, when the people get
the email with the minutes, they know what they’re supposed to
handle and they can act accordingly. Start every meeting by
reviewing who was supposed to do what and ask for their status
reports.

Jack Welch, the legendary CEO of General Electric, has often said of his time at GE, “My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too.” He believed that one of the primary roles of a manager is to teach others. Consequently, Welch presented more than 250 lecture sessions to over 15,000 managers at GE’s training center.

So what makes a good teacher? Meagan and I have conducted seminars all over the world and we’ve discovered some basics of teaching that seem to raise the odds a seminar will be successful. We believe you can apply these basics to teaching subordinates and colleagues as well.
 
1. Capture the listener immediately. Back in the 80’s, I was on the faculty of a  seminar company that marketed it’s programs in cities across the US via direct mail. In addition to teaching these seminars weekly, the faculty met annually to discuss how the business was going and to exchange ideas for improving the programs. And every year, to remind us of how much it cost to entice customers to sign up for the seminars, we were told by the company’s management that the typical response rate to a direct mailing campaign was about .3 percent. In other words, the company had to mail 1000 brochures for every three customers who signed up for the session. This seemed interesting, but not nearly as impressive, however, as the year they rolled in a 4×4 foot pallet, stacked five feet high with brochures and told us that this was how many they had to mail in any particular city in order to fill a seminar room with 90 registrants. Wow! That really captured our attention.

The experience taught me to lead off any lecture or presentation with a powerful story or vivid demonstration that grabs the listeners’ attention and creates a picture in their heads of what I want them to remember. Doing so resulted in an immediate jump in the evaluation scores of my programs.

2. Engage the learner. When I’m teaching a management class, I’ll often ask the audience to write a list of words describing the best and worst managers they’ve ever had. Then we discuss these characteristics in a back-and-forth. This allows the audience to participate in the learning process so they contribute while they learn. Once the audience is engaged and has a framework in their minds of what good managers and bad ones look like, they are ready to hear about how they can put to work whatever management theory you are trying to convey.

3. Show rather than tell by using stories. Stories are powerful ways to show concepts, which is why books and movies are so popular. You can tell someone that a one percent reduction in the interest rate on a home loan will result in a significant savings, or you can show them by working out the numbers on their own mortgage so they can see for themselves what the savings will be. You can tell someone how to drive a car, but it’s better to show them so they can see how you do it. You can tell someone that if you never say “no” to a child, you will likely create a monster, or you can show them by telling a story about someone you know who created their own little monster.

4. Have them try while you watch. In many cases, showing is not enough. You can tell someone how to swing a golf club until the cows come home, but until he experiences it for himself, he will never be able to do it. No amount of discussion prepares him for actually doing the deed. Until you watch the student perform, you don’t know if he truly understands how to correct his mistakes.

I’m offering a new tele-seminar this month for supervisors,
managers, and those who plan to take on those roles in the future.
It’s titled “How To Be A Great Boss.”

Here are the details:

PREMISE:

“Good employees don’t quit their companies - they divorce their
supervisors.” Larry Johnson

DESCRIPTION:

This lively presentation will give you tools to use with your
team that will raise their productivity, increase their
customers’ satisfaction ratings, reduce staff turn-over, and
enhance employee morale. The program is based on solid research
that shows you what you can actually DO to make a significant,
positive impact on the performance of your team.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will learn how to:

o Nurture the top six proven workplace factors that will
maximize employee performance

o Apply three Critical Do’s and Don’ts that can make or break
your team’s spirit

o Build a team culture where people will want to excel

o Challenge your employees to exceed expectations

o Apply the principle of mutual reciprocity to employee
relations

o Utilize the one secret principle that will create employee
loyalty toward you and your organization

INCLUDED: You’ll get a comprehensive handout in pdf form,
e-mailed to you prior to the program for which you will have
permission to print copies for all who listen in with you on the
day of the program.

BONUS: You’ll get your specific questions addressed in a live Q&A
immediately following the presentation. Larry will stay on the
line as long as it takes to answer everybody’s questions.

ADDITIONAL BONUS: Your fee includes everyone in your office who
can listen in on your speaker phone.

What People Have Said About Larry Johnson and his How To Be A
Great Boss Seminar:

“Very practical and concise - lots of fun.” Tom Donovan, VP of
Distribution, Koch International, Port Washington, NY.

“Excellent speaker, great content. Simple conversation, simple
advice, simple rules.” Theresa MacPhee, Customer Service
Manager, MTT, Halifax, NS.

“Larry was passionate and involved in the presentation. BEST
SESSION SO FAR AT THIS CONFERENCE” Ruth Ginsberg, President,
California Closets.

“Great presenter! Excellent use of humor & story to make
presentation come alive. Thank you.” Kim Kelley, Customer
Service Manager, Avista Advantage, Spokane, WA.

“It was great to hear from other about ways they reward and
motivate others. It was also good to learn about the
INTANGIBLES!” Deborah Pollock, System Analyst, Texas Comptroller,
Austin, TX.

“Larry is very inspirational. Great humor!” Ruth Clark,
Director of the Call Center, Bodek & Rhodes, Philidelphia, PA.

“I appreciate the real-world examples and the audience
interaction - an excellent speaker - motivational and engaging.
Thank you for allowing us to share ideas.” Mary L. Clement, Sr.
Program Manager, Nortel Networks, RTP, NC.

“Great energy for an end-of-day session. I liked the interaction
with the group. Took back motivational ideas and DO’S AND
DON’TS.” Loralee Stickel, Mgr. of Business Development,
Interactive Data.

Date: November 18, 2009,

Time: 1:00PM to 2:00PM Eastern Standard Time

Cost: $99

Sign up link:

http://www.larry-johnson.com/great-boss-teleseminar.shtml

Please come join me for what should be a very worthwhile learning
experience.

Richard Nixon told us he wasn’t a crook. Bill Clinton said, “I never
had sexual relations with that woman.” Baseball star Jose Canseco
admitted to using anabolic steroids. John Edwards had an affair
during the Democratic primary races. And Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC)
disappeared from his post for five days with no word of where he was.
Upon returning, he said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, and then
admitted he was in Argentina, having and extra-marital affair.

We often hear that “to err is human.” And let’s face it, we have all
erred a time or two. And many of us have been tempted to do what
these men did. To want to win an election so badly that we’d consider
breaking the law, or desire to have an affair so intensely we’d think
about betraying our wedding vows, or want to become a star in our
field of endeavor so badly we would consider cheating to get there

So I can understand Sanford’s falling from the “holier than thou
pedestal upon which he placed himself in 1998 when he criticized Bill
Clinton for doing the same thing he has been caught doing. It simply
makes him a hypocrite, in addition to being a philanderer. From my
perspective, as a student of corporate culture however, the more
egregious sin committed by all five men is the arrogant disregard
they displayed for those who had placed their faith and trust in
them.

Nixon let his staffers lie for him. Clinton, thus putting their
careers in jeopardy. Canseco, and his entire cohort of sports stars
who’ve cheated by using steroids, betrayed the trust of every starry
eyed kid who’s dreamt of following in their footsteps. Edwards was so
selfish that he chose to have his affair when there was a chance he
could win the Democratic primary. With all the scrutiny that comes
with being a presidential candidate, the truth would have surely
emerged, and millions of democrats would have lost the first chance
they’ve had in eight years to win an election.

Besides his family and the citizens of South Carolina, Sanford
arrogantly displayed an incredible disregard for the employees of the
State. He blatantly broke a state policy, which would get any
employee fired on the spot. The South Carolina Budget and Control
Board Disciplinary Policy, which, according to Mike Spanhour,
Director of Public Affairs, serves as the personnel policy guide for
South Carolina State employees reads:

SECTION VI, ABANDONMENT OF POSITION “An employee who voluntarily
fails to report to work for three consecutive workdays and fails to
contact the appropriate supervisory authority during this time will
be considered to have voluntarily resigned from the Budget and
Control Board. The resignation is automatically accepted. A voluntary
resignation is not a grievable issue.”
(http://www.state.sc.us/dio/DisciplinaryPolicy.pdf)

But will Sanford be “fired?” Of course not.

Spanhour went on to say, “It’s not clear that the Governor has to
abide by the rules that employees must follow.”

So there’s probably no legal standing for canning him. But that’s
little comfort to the supervisor in the field who decides to
discipline an employee for the same infraction, and is confronted
with, “If the governor can do it, why can’t I?”

Everything a leader does demonstrates what is acceptable or not.
Sanford’s behavior told the State of South Carolina employees that
it’s ok to abandon your position and it’s ok to lie about what you do
on state time. Of course, everyone knows that’s not true. The
Governor gets to behave according to a different standard that the
rest of us. Is it any wonder government employees are sometimes
perceived as having an “attitude?”

The bottom line is that people follow leaders because they trust
them. When leaders are dishonest, when they lie, when they act
without integrity, when they adopt special rules for themselves, they
betray that trust. Think about the last time someone you cared about
betrayed you. Did your level of cynicism about the world not go up a
notch or two? Keep that in mind the next time you are treated rudely
by the clerk the DMV.

Of course, few of us are state governors. Most of us are supervisors
and managers doing our best to lead and manage our folks - and that
includes me. And none of us would ever act in a way we wouldn’t want
our employees to act - would we?

I’m offering a tele-seminar on this topic on May 6, 2009. Click here for details:

http://www.larry-johnson.com/employees-from-hell-teleseminar.shtml

SUMMARY

Who takes up more of your time than any other employees?
Who keeps you awake at night, wondering what they’ll do next?
Who distracts you and your team from its mission?
Who do you wish would “get with the program?”
Who do you wish would just “go away?”

That’s right - difficult employees we call EMPLOYEES FROM HELL. Want to do something about them? Join us for a 60-minute audio conference where you and your managers will discover:

• A simple method for diagnosing aberrant employee behaviors
• Three positive actions you can take to turn these folks into great contributors
• Six key steps to confront unacceptable behaviors
• Follow-up tactics that ensure problems get solved for good

I presented a tele seminar last month on dealing with difficult employees from which I received several questions. Here’s one I thought interesting:

Dear Larry,

On Wednesday, March 11, I attended your Webinar on Handling Difficult Conversations. I have a question for you on handling a difficult conversation with a direct report of mine. He generally does good work and meets his deadlines, but he’s not always the hardest worker. He’s quiet and you won’t see him in the casual conversation at the water cooler like most of the rest of us do. However, he surfs the web on non-work related sites more than I would like to see. (At least what appear to be most of the time without snooping over his shoulder).

I cut him a little slack because you don’t see him discussing the previous night’s ball game or TV show like many (including myself) do around the office. And pretty much everyone in the office will do a little personal surfing from time-to-time. I’m OK with that.

But I was looking for some advice how to approach him to discuss with him that I’m seeing too many personal web sites up on his machine. I also want to put him on notice that I’m wise to his practice of creating a web browser small in the corner of his computer screen so that he doesn’t appear to be surfing (I’ve seen him do this on occasion).

I want to be very careful when I approach him on this and keep it as “positive” as possible. We’ve had some issues in the past where he didn’t take criticism like this well. And I realize I could have done a better job presenting it. (Part of the reason why I attended your webinar).

Puzzled.

Dear Puzzled,

If I were in his place, and I could complete all my assignments on time, at an acceptable level of quality, and still have time to surf the web, I’d surf the web too. If he has all this extra time on his hands, it sounds like he needs more work to do and/or more challenging assignments. I suggest you give him enough work assignments that are challenging, so he’ll have to put in a full 40 hours or more to get them done. Hold him accountable for results.

If he rises to the occasion, praise him and reward him with whatever your system will allow. If he fails to perform, and the surfing continues, then tell him your concerns about his surfing, just as you have done in your question. Continue to hold him accountable for the work and explain that not performing could adversely affect his career. Be sure to document this conversation in case you have to defend taking disciplinary action down the road.

By now you’re probably aware of Alaska’s ex-senator Ted Stevens’ conviction on seven counts of filing false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms. You’re also probably aware that Attorney General Eric Holder asked U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to drop the charges. Why? Because in reviewing the case, Holder’s team discovered that the lawyers who prosecuted the initial case withheld critical information from the Stevens’ defense team[i] – a major no-no in the world of criminal proceedings.

This case is remarkable because Holder could have ignored the egregious behavior in which his department had engaged, and let the conviction stand. Instead, he chose to act with integrity, honesty, and transparency, and do the right thing – even though the costs would be high. It put a black mark on the Justice Department, it moved a win into the lose column (something prosecutors hate to do,) and, it robbed the Democrats of an opportunity to embarrass the Republicans (something both parties love to do.) Regardless of my politics, which I won’t discuss here, my hat is off to Holder. It was an act of true leadership because he behaved the way he wants his staff to behave – and the way most citizens would want them to act – with honesty, integrity, and by the rules. With that kind of principle-driven leadership, it seems less likely that there will be the kinds of scandal in this Justice Department that plagued the previous one.

So what can we learn from Holder’s courageous act? I think it comes down to a simple question: Am I acting the way I want my employees to act? Whatever they see me do is a signal to what is the right thing to do. That’s what leadership is all about.

The last time I posted on this blog, I talked about a lesson I learned on one of my daily bicycle rides last week. On today’s ride, I learned about change.

I follow a route that takes me up a gradual, six-mile climb, and then I turn around and go home the same way. It’s not steep enough to coast, but if I peddle hard, I can average better than 35 mph coming back. For a wanna-be cyclist like me, that’s what it’s all about.

As I started the ride this afternoon, I noticed that I was making great time. Within six minutes I passed a land-mark that usually takes me eight minutes to reach. I gave myself a psychological pat on the back and told myself that my daily workouts were paying off. I reached the turnaround point a full five minutes ahead of my normal time.

As I turned to go home, I realized why I had made such good time. The wind, which was now in my face, had been at my back on the way up. Despite going down hill, the ride home was painfully slow. I ended up completing the trip one minute slower than usual.

In retrospect, I realize that when the wind was at my back, I never felt it. I assumed my improved performance was due to my skills and abilities. It was only when I changed direction that I felt it. But that’s typical of change. When times are good, we assume it’s because we are talented, we are good workers, or we’re just lucky. We don’t feel the wind on our backs so we take credit for our good fortune. It’s when things change, when the market shifts, when demand for our products goes down, or when the economy craters, that we realize the wind had been at our backs and we never knew it.

In his compelling book, Only The Paranoid Survive, ex-Intel CEO Andy Grove pointed out that it pays to be a little paranoid in business, because you never know when your market is going to shift. He called these changes “strategic inflection points.” I call them “shifts in the wind.” Whatever the term, the lesson is clear. Don’t get too comfy with the way things are, because you never know when the wind at our backs will become the wind in our faces.