8.30.2011

Leadership Doesn’t Require Facts.

Life can be intimidating.

As you sit behind your executive desk and review the options about which strategy to pursue, it can seem like everything is gray. It’s hard to tell strategies and results apart from each other.

It’s tough to know what to do.

So it’s only natural that you just want to deal with facts.

The facts are black and white.

The facts are the truth.

The facts do not lie.

The facts are your path to success.

But maybe that’s not true.

Maybe the facts are holding you back from real success — especially when it comes to leading sales and marketing success.

See, even though you might find comfort in the facts, buyers don’t really care a lot about the facts.

In fact, they have a whole different set of facts than you do. And just because you introduce your facts in a convincing way doesn’t mean that they ever stop believing that their facts are the only ones that matter.

Which brings us to the idea of leadership.

Since when did we only start leading when things are only black and white? Since when did leading mean that we educate instead of inspire?

Buyers, your employees, your industry — they don’t want the facts.

The facts just get in the way.

They want to be inspired.

They want to know that in spite of the facts there might be a way out. There might be an option that hasn’t been considered yet.

Which is why you have to lead.

The facts don’t bring hope.

The facts just make it clear that as bad as it is, the odds were always stacked against you. You never had a chance.

The facts tell you that no one has ever done it before. And that no one is likely to ever do it in the future.

The facts are brutal. The facts are cold. The facts are emotionless, soulless, and uninspired.

And the facts might not really be facts anyway.

A few years and a few scientists later a lot of what we think of as facts turn out to be just opinions. And wrong opinions.

It was a fact that blood letting with leaches was the best way to cure diseases two hundred years ago.
It was a fact that homosexuality was a disease one hundred years ago.
It was a fact that your diet had no effect on preventing illness less than twenty years ago.

And all the facts were wrong.

Leading doesn’t require the facts.

It requires soul.

Leadership isn’t about you reading facts off the page.

Leadership is about understanding the facts. And in spite of the news, in spite of the predicament, in spite of the worst that can happen — leadership is you standing tall and looking the facts square in the eye and doggedly pursuing a passionate outcome for your future.

Leadership isn’t about spreadsheets, analysis, and and strategic initiatives, it’s about understanding the fear that drives you to believe that the facts can’t be changed.

Leadership is about you beliveing in your soul that you are able to do what you were meant to do:

To do the impossible.
To overcome.
To stand where others fall.

That is your destiny.

Let the facts say what they may. Rise above.

Lead from your soul.

Not Getting The
Results You Want?

Our marketing gets 500 times better results than industry average.

Find Out More »

Got EDGY?

An Edgy Audit Helps You Understand Your Business Strengths And Weaknesses.

Take The Audit »

Anonymous

Dan, I like simplification but I am afraid with this piece, brilliantly written it is, you may be crossing over to over simplification. While agree that one of the functions, and an important one, of leadership is to inspire, it is certainly not the only one nor is it as singularly dominant as represented in your blog. In addition, facts do matter and facts can be but are not necessarily identical with truth – two different concept often mistaken as being the same. Fact are certainly based on a snapshot of time. At a certain point in time what we knew were the current facts. As we learn and discover those facts may change. That is why we know to play the game better on Monday versus Sunday…
My definition of leadership is creating results through people. Key word being “through” which is the collection point of an unfolding complexity of which inspiration and facts are just two elements. These are my unsolicited 5 cents to the “facts”…
An inspiring article, as always, with lots to discuss about!
Manfred
http://www.qli-international.com
Anonymous

Dan, I like simplification but I am afraid with this piece, brilliantly written it is, you may be crossing over to over simplification. While agree that one of the functions, and an important one, of leadership is to inspire, it is certainly not the only one nor is it as singularly dominant as represented in your blog. In addition, facts do matter and facts can be but are not necessarily identical with truth – two different concept often mistaken as being the same. Fact are certainly based on a snapshot of time. At a certain point in time what we knew were the current facts. As we learn and discover those facts may change. That is why we know to play the game better on Monday versus Sunday…
My definition of leadership is creating results through people. Key word being “through” which is the collection point of an unfolding complexity of which inspiration and facts are just two elements. These are my unsolicited 5 cents to the “facts”…
An inspiring article, as always, with lots to discuss about!
Manfred
http://www.qli-international.com
- http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com/ Dan Waldschmidt
  
  Manfred,
  
  I like your definition of leadership. We’re on the same page. I just think your definition demands inspiration.
  
  People don’t do the right thing (usually) because of a logical understanding of the facts. Inspiration drives that performance. That or fear, right?
  
  The challenge is the balance between leading and looking for validation. We’ve got the needyness pretty well mastered on our own.
  
  It’s leading that we need some help with. (At least I do….)
  
  Dan
  
  p.s. Great insights as always…. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com/ Dan Waldschmidt

Manfred,

I like your definition of leadership. We’re on the same page. I just think your definition demands inspiration.

People don’t do the right thing (usually) because of a logical understanding of the facts. Inspiration drives that performance. That or fear, right?

The challenge is the balance between leading and looking for validation. We’ve got the needyness pretty well mastered on our own.

It’s leading that we need some help with. (At least I do….)

Dan

p.s. Great insights as always…. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
http://twitter.com/barrykahan Barry Kahan

OK. I probably should not comment because I will probably get hammered. And…. Manfred is almost certainly brighter then I could hope to be. I am just a small biz guy making his way. (although I did raise three kids on my own so that counts for something? ) I get a bit tired of the leadership through people. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it does have it’s place. If you are solo you can’t be called a leader…. not yet anyway. But you can have all the facts, all the “I want to help you succeed” karma in the world, but without inspiring others, you can not lead. Patton may have had all the facts, and to be successful his men had to follow his lead as well. But without respect and inspiration…forget it. “You need me on that wall. You want me on that wall”..why was that a powerful scene in A Few Good Men? It was inspiring even if you didn’t like the character. Again, I am not saying you don’t need to help others succeed to be a leader. You do. But, I am saying without inspiration, the facts will make the eyes gloss over. Facts tell, stories sell. Inspirational stories….bestseller list. Just the facts ma’am….
http://twitter.com/barrykahan Barry Kahan

OK. I probably should not comment because I will probably get hammered. And…. Manfred is almost certainly brighter then I could hope to be. I am just a small biz guy making his way. (although I did raise three kids on my own so that counts for something? ) I get a bit tired of the leadership through people. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it does have it’s place. If you are solo you can’t be called a leader…. not yet anyway. But you can have all the facts, all the “I want to help you succeed” karma in the world, but without inspiring others, you can not lead. Patton may have had all the facts, and to be successful his men had to follow his lead as well. But without respect and inspiration…forget it. “You need me on that wall. You want me on that wall”..why was that a powerful scene in A Few Good Men? It was inspiring even if you didn’t like the character. Again, I am not saying you don’t need to help others succeed to be a leader. You do. But, I am saying without inspiration, the facts will make the eyes gloss over. Facts tell, stories sell. Inspirational stories….bestseller list. Just the facts ma’am….
Anonymous

Interesting point Barry! I would claim that everyone of us leads at some point every day independent of the fact of being “alone”. The moment we interact with others one either leads or follows. Leading is not dependent on formal structures like an organization chart. Ben Zander says “One can lead from any place in the room.” If one does not create results through others one is not leading by definition. The real question is how can one lead most effectively.
Dan, if I follow your argument you seem to be pointing to the overall concept of motivation. There are certainly a number of external motivators (all of them are short lived!), the most prevalent being fear, joy, pain and money or other material rewards. Sustainable motivation is not external but comes from within. Effective leaders create an environment where people can motivate themselves. Ingredients of that environment are inspiration, passion, enthusiasm, an engaging vision, clarity of goals, etc. My point is certainly not to disregard the concept of inspiration, however it is important to recognize that inspiration is just one puzzle stone in the picture.
Anonymous

Interesting point Barry! I would claim that everyone of us leads at some point every day independent of the fact of being “alone”. The moment we interact with others one either leads or follows. Leading is not dependent on formal structures like an organization chart. Ben Zander says “One can lead from any place in the room.” If one does not create results through others one is not leading by definition. The real question is how can one lead most effectively.
Dan, if I follow your argument you seem to be pointing to the overall concept of motivation. There are certainly a number of external motivators (all of them are short lived!), the most prevalent being fear, joy, pain and money or other material rewards. Sustainable motivation is not external but comes from within. Effective leaders create an environment where people can motivate themselves. Ingredients of that environment are inspiration, passion, enthusiasm, an engaging vision, clarity of goals, etc. My point is certainly not to disregard the concept of inspiration, however it is important to recognize that inspiration is just one puzzle stone in the picture.
- http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com/ Dan Waldschmidt
  
  Great point, Manfred.
  
  Sustainable motivation comes from within. The courage to build that motivation (the “environment”) is what I was pointing out.
  
  BTW, I think that “we” are the environment — not processes.
  
  Dan
  - Anonymous
    
    I am with you there!
http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com/ Dan Waldschmidt

Great point, Manfred.

Sustainable motivation comes from within. The courage to build that motivation (the “environment”) is what I was pointing out.

BTW, I think that “we” are the environment — not processes.

Dan
Ann Larson

Wow, if only my superiors could read this!! lol I work in an environment that pushes facts in my face daily. As one sits at his desk, two states away and basically negates everyone’s hard efforts, the other one whines in daily e-mails from a stand point of ‘his’ overall numbers never being good enough when it’s apparent that his lofty goals are ludicrous at best. I tire easily of being ‘lead’ by facts and figures only. I can do the math myself, interpret the trends and lead….by inspiration. My superiors recognize that I run my business differently-and successfully- than others surrounding me. They just can’t figure out what is different….inspiration, baby!! Inspired employees make ALL the difference in business.

Ann ; )
Ann Larson

Wow, if only my superiors could read this!! lol I work in an environment that pushes facts in my face daily. As one sits at his desk, two states away and basically negates everyone’s hard efforts, the other one whines in daily e-mails from a stand point of ‘his’ overall numbers never being good enough when it’s apparent that his lofty goals are ludicrous at best. I tire easily of being ‘lead’ by facts and figures only. I can do the math myself, interpret the trends and lead….by inspiration. My superiors recognize that I run my business differently-and successfully- than others surrounding me. They just can’t figure out what is different….inspiration, baby!! Inspired employees make ALL the difference in business.

Ann ; )
- Anonymous
  
  Ann, not knowing the circumstances I can only speculate that you may be enrolling people in an exciting vision?! Great going!
- http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com/ Dan Waldschmidt
  
  We all need a reason to leave. We all want a reason to live better.
  
  Dan
  
  p.s. Thanks for the wonderful story. Keep kicking ass!
Anonymous

I am with you there!
Anonymous

Ann, not knowing the circumstances I can only speculate that you may be enrolling people in an exciting vision?! Great going!
http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com/ Dan Waldschmidt

We all need a reason to leave. We all want a reason to live better.

Dan

p.s. Thanks for the wonderful story. Keep kicking ass!
Pingback: Why Education-Based Marketing is a Fraud. | Edge of Explosion | Edge of Explosion!
Pingback: Misfit Leadership Awards. | Edge of Explosion | Edge of Explosion!