Author: Tim Morris

360° Evaluation

Tim Morris 5 Comments

A great tool I came across a few years back is the 360° Evaluation. One of my mentors had me do this as we began a long relationship. It is a great tool for current evaluation of where you are in your life. These people may or may not know your goals and may or may not know what you are currently working on. The goal here is to identify where you are based on unbiased opinion (meaning anyone but ourselves).

We tend to lean one of two ways when we are evaluating ourselves. We are either… Continue reading →

Aggressive Influence

Tim Morris 2 Comments

Aggressive Influence LogoBeing aggressive in leadership is very simple in concept but more difficult in practice. The key is being intentional. Intentionality is not a difficult thing to grasp. I do not do things just because I have the opportunity but I create the opportunity. That is different. An aggressive leader does not just take what is handed to them but takes what is handed to them and creates more of an opportunity with them. For instance… When you are spending time with someone and working through a task together, you take the moment to talk to them and build the relationship. That is basic bridge building, an important part of leadership. What makes someone aggressive in leadership is contacting someone who you want to build a relationship or further a relationship with and taking them with you. You are intentional about who you take and why you take them. You have a goal in bringing them with you and look to meet that goal.

What does it mean to aggressively influence? What does it mean to be aggressive in leadership? Hitler was pretty aggressive, is that what I am supposed to be like? What about influence, isn’t that leadership? What is the difference?

The difference is all in approach. The approach to leadership is the foundation for your impact.

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What I am reading: Lessons from Wooden

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John Wooden was an amazing basketball coach. I always admired him because while he cared about winning he also spent much of his time helping his men develop character. His book helps frame up some of the things he has learned over the years and outlines his approach to his coaching career.  He hits 2 main points over and over again. While he does not list then in this way they are present throughout his writing.

 

  1. Lessons he learned from his father.
  2. Lessons he learned from observation.

These 2 types of lessons are extremely valuable when considering his definition of success. To Wooden success is doing your absolute best effort. Winning a game or even championship may come as a result of your best effort or it may not. Ultimate success however is not determined by the terms of points or sales. Those things may mean a goal was achieved but do not indicate the success that matters at the end of your life.

Lessons from his father.

You can see the influence of his father in this statement taken from page 145 when he says “my dad taught me not to measure in comparison to others but rather on the quality of my efforts to improve.” Clearly that impacted his understanding of what success really was. He speaks of it being an evolving concept that took a stronger hold as he got older.

Lessons from observation.

Throughout the book he speaks of times in his career when he did things wrong or when he adjusted things as he moved on as well as understood people. On page 146 he says, “For a period of years at UCLA I was guilty of worrying over some issues that I could do nothing about.” However, he continues, “Eventually, I overcame it…” This is the important because it lends to never stop learning. (That is another post altogether.)

Throughout the book He continually makes statements of wisdom that I believe come from one of either of these sources. Here are a few of my favorite.

  • If you can’t control your emotions, your emotions will control you. (27)
  • Self-control contributes to consistency in all areas that matter. (40)
  • In any context, what happens after a missed opportunity, mistake or failure is crucial. (71)
  • Effort is the measure of a man. (85)
  • While I could nourish and test character, give the young man a chance to show character, I was not able to instill character where it did not exist. (104)
  • Have the courage to be yourself; have the intelligence to make yourself as good as you can be. (146)
  • Adversity thins the ranks of your competitors. (153)
  • Passion is temporary. (171)
  • The force of character is cumulative. (192)

What is it to you?

  • Read the whole book. If you think any one of the statements above is true or applicable to where you are or where you want to go then you need to read this book. The value in it is tremendous.
  • Teachings of your father. Revisit all the things that you learned from your dad. Some he may have said and others he may never have said but were shouted loud and clear by his actions. These are sometimes the more important lessons that take us years to comprehend.  Revisit these lessons and think on them and how they have impacted your life.
  • Lessons from observation. Your observations could be in hindsight of any of your experiences or from those experiences that you have observed others going through. Thinks through those days and moments that shaped who you are and how they have impacted your life.

The Third’s Theory

Tim Morris 2 Comments

If you are anything like me, you have spent many days wondering why you work harder than many of your peers, who seem to be content with letting you be the best and them taking the back seat in the bus.

Which third are you?

The answer that many people provide to us is that we do it for ourselves, our name, a higher purpose, the list goes on. I do agree that these can all be true however there seems to be a truth here that they miss, or just fail to mention, every time. That is the focus on the other people, not to berate them or put them down but to understand what is going on so that we can lead them and help them perform to their fullest. This is where The Thirds Theory comes into effect.

I remember my father teaching me this principle growing up. Since then I have found it to be true at every step of my growth and development in my journey. My father saw it at the Police Department that he served, I saw it in the U.S. Marine Corps and again at school as I earned both my undergrad and graduate degrees, and every place of employment I have worked at.

OK so here it is…

The Third’s Theory states that in any organization…

  • 1/3 of the people should not be working there,
  • 1/3 of the people need to be retrained but have great potential, and
  • 1/3 of the people are right where they need to be and carrying the burden.

Why is this so important? Well that depends on where you are among the thirds.

If you are among the peers and realize this is not where you should be then, frankly, do everyone a favor and look for other employment or seek a transfer to a part of the company that might better suit you.

If you find yourself among your peers and realize you need to be retrained then seek opportunities to do so with either your supervisor or with those that you know among your peers who are right where they need to be.

If you find yourself in the third that is right where you should be then Congratulations! You need to find ways to start immediately training the other 2/3’s of your peers. You are in no place to decide who should go home, however if you know you are in the top third then so do they, therefore – Start retraining them on all the pieces of what you do to improve the overall performance of the team.

If you find yourself as the supervisor – then this should be quite significant to your operations during the next two weeks. If you can handle these 3 simple steps in the next few weeks you should see a raise in performance among your entire team. Here is what you need to do…

  1. Identify who are in the top third.
  2. Have the top third begin re-training the other two-thirds. At this point it is not necessary to label the third that needs to go home. Through the re-training they will identify themselves and you will have something to evaluate.
  3. Focus on re-training.

Take Action. After reading this – immediately identify which third you are in, decide what you are going to do to help the team, and then speak to your team about how you can help them grow as well.