Sal's Reflections

It is amazing how academic learning and key research often begin in the simple environments of life. For years I have witnessed great performance in large and small organizations where the Leadership moves from one person and department to another. It was evident over and over that no one person had all the knowledge and that when truly persons were respected sand boxes and silos were minimized. People felt not only comfortable putting forth their ideas, but loved working together and realized that they were collectively creating legacy. I first witnessed this in my own family. Though born in Italy my father was not the typical macho male ,and it was evident that he and my mother were partners. Major decisions were not made from on high and in isolation ,but  were the results of open conversations and we as children were often asked for our input. On Father’s day I celebrate the model of that Leadership and rejoice in all of the other wonderful fathers like Bud Murray, my son John, my brothers Russ, Mark Tom, Jay,  Frank McNulty,Charlie Hudson ,Jack Murphy,and all those who along the way helped me understand the joy and responsibility of caring for children.

When I had spent months working with Viktor Frankl I was dumbfounded by his lack of hostility toward the Nazis.One day I asked” Viktor how can you not hate the Nazis”?He placed his hand on my shoulder and said”Salvatore they stole my wife,my parents,my relatives,my homeland and my occupation.I am not naive and saw things beyond human comprehension but if I hated them what would I have left? Hatred always runs its course and love is more powerful than hatred.”I could not believe his response because it was at a level of humanity far above what I thought was possible.
Yesterday in a Charleston courtroom despite unimaginable grief I witnessed that same level of humanity. The loved ones of the murdered somehow found it in their hearts to pray and forgive the one that had changed their lives forever.With so much hatred in the world I am grateful to Viktor and those wonderful people in Charleston who remind me that love and caring in the long run create meaning despite the circumstances.

Had an interesting conversation while pitching a topic to a business executive for a keynote address. After listening to his needs and expectations I explained my concept of “Roving Leadership” and outlined the benefits for his organization.His immediate reaction was that sounds like “Kumbaya drivel”, and it would not work here. Undaunted by his no I explored why he thought my approach was too soft.After sifting through his legitimate concerns I tailored my responses based on a major study done by the Boston Consulting group. The key findings over a decade were that the companies that employed a “Roving Leadership”philosophy were consistently in the top ten best places to work,they had the lions share of business in their markets and had the greatest rise in their stock price during the ten year period
At the end of the conversation we had moved from a definite no to a maybe. To be continued..

In most Western movies there is a scene where the townspeople organize a posse to go after the bad guys. This almost always has some positive effect because the responsibility and leadership are shared among the members. All of us have goals and aspirations that can rarely be met by the Lone Ranger approach to meeting these goals.I need my posse because they provide me with energy,inspiration ,suggestions and a host of ideas that enable my dreams to come true. My suggestion to all those that are in my network is to widen the workload.incorporate the input of others and together with your posse the dreams will become more than castles in the sky.

The culture of many organizations often prevents employees, from top management on down, from trying anything new, anything out of the ordinary. They are too often trained to be simply caretakers, climbing the corporate ladder, not by being innovative, not by being creative, but by sticking rigidly to the status quo, unwilling to take the slightest risk lest it fail.

Why? What is the underlying factor that disallows managers the freedom to have either themselves or their staffs put forth their best effort? Most organizations would agree that the employee herself, whether manager or line employee, is the single most important element in the corporate environment. There is general agreement that the relative significance of those easily measured particulars in the corporate plan, the operation costs, the feasibility studies, the market surveys, etc., those elements of the business that can be readily tracked and recorded pale when considered alongside the importance of the people the company employs. And yet, Corporate America often seems obsessed with studying, refining and improving those other bottom-line components while cultivation of that more important resource, the human resource, goes begging.

Is this simply because few managers know how to study, analyze and improve the human factor? Is human behavior so complex and measuring, evaluating, or tracking it with any traditional paradigm is impossible and the creation of a new standard too baffling? And, therefore, can American Corporations be accused of attempting to take the easy road when addressing key internal issues, the road that appears easiest to repair, while leaving the highway that carries the greatest traffic in a state of ruin because the task to fix it is viewed as either too difficult or as too enigmatic to attempt?

Unfortunately, this dilemma forces many companies into the trap of trying to regulate the elusive human component by imposing stricter and stricter controls upon it. In my opinion this is a great waste of a business’s number one resource. Managers have to manage, of course, but too many controls blunt creativity. I have seen time and again that instead of creating order, arbitrary authoritarian policies create fear.

I am always amazed that my reaction to many situations immediately is the.same as it was when I was twenty tears old.Hard to admit it but the city kid sometimes automatically responds like push me and I push right back. However, I have learned that there can always be a secondary response to situations which is far healthier and much more productive.We need not close our minds and hearts to new ways to behave. I have always referred to this as the principle of the second response. An example of this is shyness. Many persons first response to new social situations is to avoid them, or to drift into the background. It can be learned through a series of positive self talk.new beliefs and a real understanding of one’s worth that a secondary response is to participate in the settings despite the feelings. We need not always respond because of the way we feel and I know that I am a broken record but there are many wonderful experiences right outside where our comfort zone ends. Each of us deserves to be needed.understood and loved .

I have completed re-writing” Roving Leadership-a narrative of transforming Business Culture” and will use it as a platform for securing keynotes,workshops and coaching.I have segmented my approach to complement my work on the Holocaust.Thanks to my son John one of my presentations is now up on YouTube.It is rather long but will give a sense of what my style is, and what are some of the messages

Some of the topics that are available are:
What I learned from Viktor Frankl that could change your life
Roving Leadership- the path to getting everyone to have purpose and passion
Retirement is the ultimate promotion
Is their life after you have been downsized.?
Leveraging your dissatisfaction into new personal and professional growth

One of my favorite plays”the Man of La Mancha”is filled with haunting music and powerful lines that deserve serious meditation.One of the lines that consistently has an effect on me is spoken by Aldonza a woman of the street who is completely baffled by the caring and generosity of this strange man. She in a moment of great frustration asks Don Quixote”Why do you give when it is natural to take?”My answer to that question is that in giving we become more and more the person we wish to be. I have found that the giving is like placeing seeds in fertile ground. The rewards far outweigh the effort.I have also learned that giving without pondering “what’s in it for me” creates a tidal wave of purpose and passion because it models caring in the concrete allowing others to give of themselves.

One of the gems I gleamed from the two day conference was that “yes” is the destination but”no” is how you get there.Rejection is something all of us wish to avoid at any cost ,and when we hear no to something we desire there is a natural tendency to stop the search.There are levels of past failures that prevent us from hanging tough ,and continuing to move toward yes.There is an enormous difference in failing at something and being a failure.This sparkling piece of data will enable me to be more resilient when I seek speaking engagements or opportunities to acquire ongoing consulting or coaching gigs. I would invite you to keep seeking the no’s because if you hang tough yes will happen.