Innovation in Storytelling

<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OascBdxFRC8/YN9oefXndGI/AAAAAAABUgs/YdqmwXkul68VoG4h9r4fNUNEgjyfVzAEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Jules%2BVerne%2B-%2BVol%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="987" data-original-width="1600" height="394" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OascBdxFRC8/YN9oefXndGI/AAAAAAABUgs/YdqmwXkul68VoG4h9r4fNUNEgjyfVzAEQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h394/Jules%2BVerne%2B-%2BVol%2B4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://flic.kr/p/7BBA6r">Illustration from Volume 4 of the Works of Jules Verne, published in 1911</a></em><span style="text-align: left;">. (Flickr - George Oates)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div class="captioned-image-container" data-pm-context="[]"><figure><figcaption class="image-caption"><br /></figcaption></figure></div><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>“I care not how humble your bookshelf may be, or how lonely the room which it adorns. Close the door of that room behind you, shut off with it all the cares of the outer world, plunge back into the soothing company of the great dead, and then you are through the magic portal into that fair land whither worry and vexation can follow you no more.”</strong> </em></strong></em></div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Arthur Conan Doyle, 1907</em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br />One of the great joys of life is immersing ourselves in stories that transport us. Whether a short story, a novel, or a movie, there are talented individuals who can bring worlds to life that are strange and different, or eerily familiar.</p><p>To me, those familiar ones are the most creative. Shows or stories that seem plausible, but stretch our imagination just a little further.</p><p>I’m talking about science fiction.</p><p>While stories have always been with us, at some point, someone had to innovate and determine that they wanted to incorporate science into adventure stories.</p><p>These go beyond the classic mythology of ancient cultures — stories that fused man, nature, and religion that in many instances provided fanciful explanations for natural phenomena. Science fiction done well is so plausible as to cause us to suspend our disbelief.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h3><strong>Forced innovation</strong></h3><p>When he was a teenager, Jules Verne’s father sent him to law school. An attorney himself, the elder Verne thought that a respectable and profitable career lay ahead for his son.</p><p>But the young man, while he was a decent enough student, found his joy in literature. He was a devotee of Victor Hugo’s work, reading the corpus multiple times. And he was beginning to explore his own writing skills through an association with Alexander Dumas’ son, writing some short stories for publication, and an appointment as secretary of the Théâtre Historique, where he wrote some comic operas with his friend and flatmate, a young composer named Aristide Hignard.</p><p>He knew that a career in literature was his future, and the additional pressure he received from his father—including an offer to set him up in a lucrative law practice—was enough to cause him to make his move.</p><p>These influences caused Verne to spend time at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, conducting research for his stories and inspiring a passion for science, recent discoveries, and especially geography.</p><p>During that time, Verne met Jacques Arago, a renowned explorer and geographer, who continued to travel extensively despite going blind in 1837, nearly 20 years previously. They struck up a friendship, and Verne was inspired by  Arago’s innovative and witty accounts of his travels. This led Verne to develop a new genre of literature: travel writing.</p><p>But not any just kind of travel writing. While Verne’s tales took us all over the globe, they were adventure stories that incorporated fantastic use of technology—technology that didn’t yet exist.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h3><strong>Technologies predicted by Verne</strong></h3><p>His novel <em>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</em> introduced us to electric submarines, as Captain Nemo’s <em>Nautilus</em> traversed the oceans.</p><p>In <em>Robur the Conqueror</em>, we find a character who builds a contraption out of pressboard with high-speed rotors that propel him into the sky: a helicopter.</p><p>In <em>The Carpathian Castle</em>, Verne tells a story in which villagers live in fear of a mysterious castle that produces odd voices and projected images. The people later discover that the images were a hologram, paired with recorded sounds.</p><p>There are many other examples of Verne’s inventiveness. This creativity sprung not only from his mind, but from the careful research Verne did at the library. He was careful to combine the known with what he saw as trends, piecing them together in a way that made them seem strange, yet familiar at the same time.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>This is exactly how innovation works.</p><p>We get inspired by people, books, shows, events, and everything around us, we juxtapose it with what we know, and, with the help of others around us, we develop the idea to something we can bring to market.</p><p>All it takes is a little imagination and perspiration.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><div><hr /></div><h2><strong>Are you ready to improve your speaking skills?</strong></h2><p>The last year has thrown the speaking industry for a loop. The best speakers were able to pivot and adapt to the new virtual settings, but there’s still so much to learn.</p><p>Together with Peter Shankman, I’ve created a course to help you <b><a href="https://shankman.mykajabi.com/speaking-and-storytelling-with-scott-monty-and-peter-shankman" target="_blank">become a better speaker</a></b>. Whether it’s breaking into the industry, mastering the administrative side (including contracts and pricing), or becoming a better storyteller, we’ve got you covered.</p><p>Learn more about the course, which includes a lifetime subscription to a growing online community of speakers and experts, and <b><a href="https://shankman.mykajabi.com/speaking-and-storytelling-with-scott-monty-and-peter-shankman" target="_blank">register here</a></b>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-71-563" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f0e6f32-773d-470a-b2ef-69f71efeb388_563x71.png" style="height: 0px; padding-bottom: min(12.611%, 71px); width: 100%;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6f0e6f32-773d-470a-b2ef-69f71efeb388_563x71.png","height":71,"width":563,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":5308,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f0e6f32-773d-470a-b2ef-69f71efeb388_563x71.png" style="max-height: 71px; max-width: 563px;" /></a></figure></div>

Innovation in Storytelling

  Illustration from Volume 4 of the Works of Jules Verne, published in 1911 . (Flickr - George Oates) “I care not how humble your bookshelf ...

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Character Defines Success Amid Uncertainty

<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0HUG9_iOuzo/YMtAXD5X_5I/AAAAAAABUTE/_XyMHyQI9w0axOn7QMyJRxgvRRPda2f6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s734/John%2BStrudwick%2B-%2BA%2BGolden%2BThread%252C%2B1885.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="734" height="372" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0HUG9_iOuzo/YMtAXD5X_5I/AAAAAAABUTE/_XyMHyQI9w0axOn7QMyJRxgvRRPda2f6QCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h372/John%2BStrudwick%2B-%2BA%2BGolden%2BThread%252C%2B1885.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moirai#/media/File:Strudwick-_A_Golden_Thread.JPG">A Golden Thread</a></em><span style="text-align: left;"> by John Strudwick, 1885 (public domain - Wikipedia)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>“We cannot insure success, but we can deserve it.”</strong> </em></strong></em></div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— <a href="https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760218ja" target="_blank">John Adams, 1776</a></em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br />Do you know what’s going to happen tomorrow?</p><p>Well, you may have an idea of a general set of events or expected occurrences. The news media keeps us on alert so we can tune in, and our calendars attune us to where and when we need to make an appearance.</p><p>But beyond that, we can’t say with certainty that we know <em>how</em> things are going to work out.</p><p>The future is uncertain.</p><p>The past four years—and without doubt, the last year alone—have been fraught with the ups and downs of a reality TV show (admittedly, it has seemed like we were caught in the midst of one) as we’ve lived on edge.</p><p>But isn’t that the story of all history?</p><p>We don’t know how things are going to turn out for us, and neither did our ancestors.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>When <strong>Dwight Eisenhower</strong> oversaw the planning for Operation Overlord in 1944, he had no way of knowing whether D-Day would be a success. In fact, <a href="https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/d-day-message" target="_blank">he drafted a short note</a> in the event of a defeat:</p><blockquote><p>"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."</p></blockquote><p>As the first three humans were set to land on the moon and safely return in 1969, we had no way of knowing whether NASA would be able to pull it off. Speechwriter <strong>William Safire</strong> prepared a speech for <strong>Richard Nixon</strong> titled "<a href="https://www.archives.gov/files/presidential-libraries/events/centennials/nixon/images/exhibit/rn100-6-1-2.pdf" target="_blank">IN THE EVENT OF MOON DISASTER</a>."</p><p>When we were making digital and social media progress at Ford, we didn’t have a road map; we paved the road behind us.</p><p>The point is, it is only upon looking back that we have certainty; looking forward, nothing is guaranteed.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>“History, I like to think, is a larger way of looking at life.”</strong> </em></strong></em></div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— David McCullough, 2017</em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br />I write a lot about history here. And it’s more than a hobby or side interest to me. History is the study of human nature, of character.</p><p>And character is what shapes our future.</p><p>The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “character is destiny.”  It was his supposition that fate is not some predetermined outside force (as much as Greek mythology credited <strong><a href="https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/the-moirai.html">the Moirae</a></strong>), but that our future is determined by our inner character.</p><p>Character defines who we are, and part of knowing who we are is knowing where we came from.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Our family gives us a strong sense of values; our education provides us with facts and (with any luck) the ability to think critically; the corporate history of our company tells a story of how and why the company came to be.</p><p>Those looking to make change—particularly in uncertain times—will often encounter someone of long tenure at a company dissuade them from disrupting things with one simple and dismissive phrase:</p><p><em><strong>“We’ve always done it that way.”</strong></em></p><p>“We’ve always done it that way” is the shield behind which the fearful cower. It’s an excuse for avoiding a difficult decision. It is the plea of someone who needs a roadmap in unfamiliar terrain.<br /><br /></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>If you’ve always done it that way, then you’ll continue to get the same results. </i>[<a href="https://ctt.ac/d6v5B" target="_blank">Tweet this!</a>]</span></strong></p><p><br />And if you’re satisfied with the same results, want to avoid conflict, and wait for the world to change <em>you</em> rather than you changing the world, then by all means, keep doing things the same way.</p><p><strong>Margaret McFarland</strong>, a child psychologist who mentored <strong>Fred Rogers</strong>, said “<em>attitudes aren’t taught, they’re caught</em>.”</p><p>Risk-taking, fearless leadership, transformational change—all of these things are part of a company’s (or family’s) culture—and we need to <em>live</em> these values as well as talk about them.</p><p>Even though we may be predisposed to shrink from a crisis or to avoid a seemingly insurmountable task—uncertain as they are—it is the very act of meeting them head-on that calls out our character, and therefore our destinies.</p><p>When <strong>John</strong> and <strong>Abigail Adams</strong> sent their son, <strong>John Quincy Adams</strong>, across the Atlantic to study in France, he was just 12 years old. The year was 1779 and America was at war. Transatlantic travel in a leaky boat was anything but a sure thing.</p><p>But the Adamses wanted their son to have an opportunity to associate with Benjamin Franklin and political philosophers in France and to gain from experience, as uncertain as it was.</p><p>In <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-03-02-0207" target="_blank">one of her letters</a> to her son, Abigail Adams reminded him that unfamiliar and uncomfortable scenarios help us become who we are meant to be:</p><blockquote><p><strong><i>“The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties... Great necessities call out great virtues.” </i>[<a href="https://ctt.ac/2U97Z" target="_blank">TWEET THIS</a>]</strong></p></blockquote><p>When faced with uncertainty, the character you display, either overtly or blatantly, tells others everything they need to know about you.</p><p>Deep down, you already know it to be true.<br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"></pre></div><div><hr /></div><h2><strong>Coming Up</strong></h2><p>Joining us this week on <em><strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership">Timeless Leadership</a></strong></em> is <strong>Carey Lohrenz</strong>, the first female F-14 Tomcat pilot and author of <em><a href="https://amzn.to/3zoO6pg">Span of Control: What To Do When You're Under Pressure, Overwhelmed, And Ready To Get What You Really Want</a></em>.</p><p>We’ll be talking about <strong>Control</strong> — how leaders respond amid uncertainty, how to remain flexible and comfortable, and control as much as we can in an uncertain world.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8byy4eFvEc/YMs_3cC-VCI/AAAAAAABUS8/xtNIx2_p2qQ95ejO35UZvl7ZcrSqhrLJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1665/Control%2B-%2BHeader.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="1665" height="236" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8byy4eFvEc/YMs_3cC-VCI/AAAAAAABUS8/xtNIx2_p2qQ95ejO35UZvl7ZcrSqhrLJQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h236/Control%2B-%2BHeader.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://lu.ma/3ecq7x9r" target="_blank">Set a reminder</a> to join us live at 12:00 pm EDT on <strong><a href="https://lu.ma/3ecq7x9r">Fireside Chat</a></strong> and be sure to follow the show on <strong><a href="http://bit.ly/timelesspod">Apple Podcasts</a></strong> or <strong><a href="https://pod.link/timeless">wherever you get your podcasts</a></strong>.</p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><hr style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links and stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday. And they get an audio version of this essay. Join the club by signing up below:</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="5999" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></p>

Character Defines Success Amid Uncertainty

  A Golden Thread  by John Strudwick, 1885 (public domain - Wikipedia) “We cannot insure success, but we can deserve it.”   — John Adams, 17...

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In It Together

<em><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Creation_of_man_Prometheus_Berthelemy_Louvre_INV20043.jpg"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQlTNYU45GE/YMJvdncf20I/AAAAAAABUHM/ACuZxL9DKL4_8r0RebZ87mK9F3OHcHtPwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Jean-Simon%2BBerth%25C3%25A9lemy%2B-%2BCreation%2Bof%2Bman%2BPrometheus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQlTNYU45GE/YMJvdncf20I/AAAAAAABUHM/ACuZxL9DKL4_8r0RebZ87mK9F3OHcHtPwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h400/Jean-Simon%2BBerth%25C3%25A9lemy%2B-%2BCreation%2Bof%2Bman%2BPrometheus.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Creation_of_man_Prometheus_Berthelemy_Louvre_INV20043.jpg">Prometheus creating man in the presence of Athena</a></em><span style="text-align: left;"> by Jean-Simon Berthélemy, 1802 and by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse, 1826 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons, </span><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/deed.en" style="text-align: left;">CC BY 2.5</a><span style="text-align: left;">)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></a></em><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”</strong> </em></strong></em></div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Abraham Lincoln, 1858</em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p>I recall a scene in the mid 1990s just after leaving Boston University: <a href="https://youtu.be/KVocY1CuaIM">David Letterman brought </a><em><a href="https://youtu.be/KVocY1CuaIM">The Late Show</a></em><a href="https://youtu.be/KVocY1CuaIM"> to BU</a>, and picked out a student to become Big Man on Campus.</p><p>He randomly chose Michael Hirsch from the Freshman Record (a literal facebook of enrolled students), whose interests were listed as “Business and people.”</p><p>Dave had a field day with that, remarking,</p><blockquote><p>“That’s a one-two punch. I mean, think about this: if you’re interested in business but not in people, well then you’re screwed.”</p></blockquote><p>And yet, how many times have you encountered a situation, either as an employee or as a customer, where things don’t feel people-centric?</p><p>We have to make a big deal out of human-centered efforts, because they tend to be the exception rather than the rule.</p><p>In our lust for technology and data, we seem to have forgotten that humans are thriving behind each email address, each Twitter account, and each profile. People matter.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2>Look What I Have Created</h2><p>In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus was the tyrannical king of the gods—a real control freak. He had things arranged just the way he wanted. Under his rule, the younger Olympian gods defeated the elder Titans, and Zeus ruled with an iron fist.</p><p>But Prometheus, one of the second generation of Titans, saw things differently. He is credited as the creator of humankind. Or at least with sharing secrets of the gods with humans.</p><p>In Aeschylus’ <em>Prometheus Bound</em>, we find him chained to a rock, sentenced to eternal torment as an eagle eats his liver. Overnight, his liver grows back, and the eagle returns the next day, in a perpetual Groundhog Day of a sentence.</p><p>When asked why he was being punished, he said,</p><blockquote><p>“I gave humans hope, so they may be optimistic, and taught them the secrets of fire, from which they may learn many crafts and arts (<em>technai</em>).”</p></blockquote><p>How fascinating that, in his desire to create collaboration between mortals and immortals, he used technology to make it happen!</p><p>While we understand this to be a myth, to this very day, we still honor those origins of hope, optimism, and technology with a torch race that heralds the beginning of the Olympic games.</p><p>Thanks to Prometheus’ subversiveness, we have a stark reminder of the importance of people in how we lead.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2>People First</h2><p>In his book <em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3v6ccSz">Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism</a></strong></em>, Tom Peters has a whole section called “People First.”</p><iframe frameborder="0" height="180px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/humanity-0tGCvpnjLca/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe><p><br /></p><p>And it’s no coincidence that the first tenet of Alan Mullally’s <strong>Working Together Management System™</strong> stresses  “people first.”</p><p>The mistake most leaders make—particularly when trying to execute a major transformation—is they focus on technology, metrics, and tracking.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><br />“Our success as an organization will ultimately be determined by our ability to work together as a team…to make the strategy succeed.”</strong> </em></p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Alan Mulally, 2020<br /><br /></em></p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>When he arrived at Ford, Alan used the WTMS principles in weekly meetings with his executive team, introducing them to the business plan review (BPR) every Thursday.</p><p>The executives responsible for Alan’s transition into Ford were prepared for the usual bloodletting as the CEO would eliminate dead wood and bring in his own preferred team. But Alan quickly disabused them of the notion.</p><p>The beauty of the Working Together Management System was that they could put their trust in the process.</p><p>Bryce Hoffman recreates the scene in <em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3x6mFOZ">American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company</a></strong></em>:</p><blockquote><p>“Alan, if the board offers you this job and you take it, you need to understand that there are no sacred cows,” [board member Irv] Hockaday told Mulally. “Any friends of Bill [Ford] that are in the wrong positions or you conclude are not the right guys, you can get rid of them—and Bill will confirm that.”</p><p>Mulally shook his head.</p><p>“That’s not an issue, because I'm not going to have to get rid of many people,” he replied.</p><p>Mulally’s response was a little worrisome to Hockaday and [board member John] Thornton. They believed the time had come for a little bloodletting at the top of the house in Dearborn. It was concern about the weakness of Ford’s bench that had prompted them to look outside the company for a CEO in the first place.</p><p>“How do you come to that conclusion?” Hockaday asked.</p><p>Mulally responded by outlining his system of weekly meetings for them, just as he had for Ford. He told them this approach enforced extreme accountability on a weekly basis and left no hiding place for anyone who was not entirely committed to executing his part of the business plan.</p><p>“It’s likely that a lot of people at Ford aren’t used to that, and they will self-select out,” Mulally said. “And I won’t have to do it.”</p></blockquote><p>And just like Prometheus, the BPR meetings were like giving fire to the executives. While they were a little skittish at first, they gradually warmed to them and the self-selection process worked as expected.</p><p>In particular, there were a couple of executives who didn’t seem to be team players and harbored a pessimistic attitude. This was anathema to what Alan needed in pulling everyone together.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/optimism","text":"Related: Optimism","class":null}" style="text-align: center;"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/optimism"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Related: Optimism</i></b></span></a></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>But there were three specific elements to the BPR meetings that ensured the changing culture under Alan’s leadership: enforced <strong>accountability</strong>, a spirit of <strong>cooperation</strong>, and relentless <strong>execution</strong>.</p><p>Together with the other principles and practices, while sounding simple, these behaviors are woven together through the complexity of an organization and its people to ensure working together works.</p><p>For all the people involved.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><h1><strong>Coming Up</strong></h1><p>The next guest on the <em><strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership">Timeless Leadership</a></strong></em> podcast is none other than <strong>Alan Mulally</strong>. He helped turn around an American and global icon in his work as an executive at Boeing before being tapped to become the CEO of Ford Motor Company in 2006.</p><p>We’ll be talking about <strong>Collaboration</strong> — specifically about Alan’s Working Together Management System.</p><p>Be sure to follow on <strong><a href="http://bit.ly/timelesspod">Apple Podcasts</a></strong> or <strong><a href="https://pod.link/timeless">wherever you get your podcasts</a></strong>.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links and stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday. And now, we're adding more audio content to the list! Join the club by signing up below:</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="6759" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></p></div>

In It Together

Prometheus creating man in the presence of Athena  by Jean-Simon Berthélemy, 1802 and by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse, 1826 (public domain - Wik...

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It's You I Like

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WYc22QZQ_yU/YLhULK9AxXI/AAAAAAABT9o/6ltu51ZLvds3JfkVWVLrgv9CEwuROj9LgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1137/Jean-Auguste-Dominique%2BIngres%2B-%2BPortrait%2Bof%2BMonsieur%2BBertin.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1137" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WYc22QZQ_yU/YLhULK9AxXI/AAAAAAABT9o/6ltu51ZLvds3JfkVWVLrgv9CEwuROj9LgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/Jean-Auguste-Dominique%2BIngres%2B-%2BPortrait%2Bof%2BMonsieur%2BBertin.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Monsieur_Bertin">Portrait of Monsieur Bertin</a></em><span style="text-align: left;"> by Jean-August-Dominique Ingres, 1832 (public domain - Wikipedia)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>“No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true.”</strong>  </em></strong></em></div><p></p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850</em></p><p><em><br /></em></p><div><hr /></div><p><br />For those struggling with the perennial “personal brand” development, one question you might ask yourself is “What do I want the world to see?”</p><p>Because of the ubiquity of online content—whether on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or elsewhere—we have an impression of what success looks like, as if a 15-second staged and edited video could tell the full story.</p><p>Weblebrities (not influencers, mind you) are no different than celebrities of decades ago, made glamorous by the Hollywood press machine, their reputations kept intact by an incestuous relationship between studio publicists and gossip columnists. We saw what they wanted us to see.</p><p>Everyone creating content online seeks fame, but authenticity and celebrity rarely go hand-in-hand.</p><p>Why?</p><p>Because people like a show. They like controversy. And we generally don’t live our lives being always “on.”</p><p>And this is why some people struggle with the ubiquitous advice to “be authentic.” They feel like they either owe people some kind of entertainment or that they’ll be ignored if they’re not controversial in some way.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>“This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”</strong> </em></strong></em></div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— William Shakespeare, 1601</em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br />Isn’t it liberating to just be yourself? To be comfortable with who you are, and to show up that way, every day?</p><p>Whether you’re headed to work, out with friends, or at a family gathering, you don’t need to be <em>on</em>, you just need to be <em>you</em>.</p><p>And when you’re yourself, you can live with less shame or regret later on. Edgar Guest wrote about this in his poem “<a href="http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=855" target="_blank">Myself</a>”:</p><p>    <em>I have to live with myself and so<br />    I want to be fit for myself to know.<br />    I want to be able as days go by,<br />    always to look myself straight in the eye…<br />    I want to go out with my head erect<br />    I want to deserve all men’s respect;<br />    but here in the struggle for fame and wealth<br />    I want to be able to like myself.<br />    I don’t want to look at myself and know that<br />    I am… bluff and empty show.<br />    I never can hide myself from me;<br />    I see what others may never see;<br />    I know what others may never know,<br />    I never can fool myself and so,<br />    whatever happens I want to be<br />    self-respecting and conscience-free.</em></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>How we decide to show up will determine how we feel about ourselves, and as an extension, how we then treat other people.</p><p>Have you noticed that bullies invariably have problems with self-esteem? They bully others to make themselves feel more powerful, in many cases because they’re powerless in some other area of their life.</p><p>They feel badly about themselves and extend those feelings onto others. Deep down, they may know that they’re being abusive, and that in turn may make them feel even more dissatisfied with who they are.</p><p>Your feeling about yourself influences your behavior, the behavior of others, and what you perceive of yourself.<br /><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><br />“Authenticity isn't about being someone else. It's about being the best version of yourself. ”</strong> </em></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Fred Rogers</em></div><div style="text-align: right;">[<a href="https://ctt.ac/77O6Y" target="_blank">Tweet this</a>]</div><p></p><div><hr /></div><h2><br />Just the Way You Are</h2><p>Perhaps most powerfully, Mister Rogers demonstrated how he valued authenticity every day on his program when he told his millions of viewers, “I like you just the way you are.”</p><p>It was more than words, though. Fred Rogers backed it up in the way he treated everyone, giving them the ability to be the best version of themselves.</p><p>One day, a little boy named Jeff Erlanger visited the neighborhood in his electric wheelchair, days before a risky surgery. Mister Rogers visited with him sang “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFmpfEFjdFM&feature=youtu.be">It’s You I Like</a>” to Jeff, who also joined in.</p><p>Later, the two of them would be reunited in a surprise visit that brings me to tears every time I watch it. Every. Time.</p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LFmpfEFjdFM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><p><br /></p><p>“These are lovely sentiments,” you might be saying, “but what do they have to do with leadership?”</p><p>I’m glad you asked.</p><p><br /></p><p>Think for a moment about the people who work with you. Are you giving them the ability to be themselves at work? To express their ideas, to be comfortable with who they are?</p><p>We post job descriptions that call for people who show initiative. But when they do, perhaps pursuing an unconventional idea at your company, are they castigated or rewarded?</p><p>When we say we’re okay with failure, but then we penalize those who fail, what does that do to those who would be authentic in their approach to solutions?</p><p>And particularly when we’re in Pride Month, how are you allowing people to be uniquely themselves? Perhaps even making it <em>possible</em> for them to be their authentic selves?<br /><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><br />“As different as we are from one another, as unique as each one of us is, we are much more the same than we are different. That may be the most essential message of all, as we help our children grow toward being caring, compassionate, and charitable adults.” </strong></em></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Fred Rogers</em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><h2><br />True Selves</h2><p>And what about you? Do you have the ability to be your true self at work?</p><p>Perhaps you’re afraid of people discovering something about you—some personality flaw or lack of ability. You’re not alone. <strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/im-flawed">We’re all flawed</a></strong>. And the only people <strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/ignorance-incompetence-and-impostors">without impostor syndrome are actual impostors</a></strong>.</p><p>The leaders I admire most are those who are consistently themselves (i.e., authentic) whether they’re in front of a camera, a crowd, a boardroom, or an individual in an elevator.</p><p>When a leader shows how they’re comfortable in their own skin and treats people with dignity and respect, is curious, has integrity, is patient and kind, and the dozens of other <strong><a href="https://pod.link/timeless">timeless leadership qualities</a></strong>, we trust them.</p><p>And as we know, trust is the foundation of leadership.</p><p>Why not be yourself? Give people a chance to see and trust the real you.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><div><hr /></div><h1><strong>Coming Up</strong></h1><p>The next guest on the <em><strong>Timeless Leadership</strong></em> podcast is <strong>Minter Dial</strong>, author of <em><a href="https://amzn.to/3piUvO7">You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader</a></em>.</p><p>Join us at 12:00 pm EDT on Thursday, June 3. <strong><a href="https://f.chat/HAPq">Request access here</a></strong>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cy4Eo3ySh4A/YLhWXkgNsSI/AAAAAAABT9w/tVeHubMV-cUdlboSV9hB5JfmZFHjF1jagCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Authenticity.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cy4Eo3ySh4A/YLhWXkgNsSI/AAAAAAABT9w/tVeHubMV-cUdlboSV9hB5JfmZFHjF1jagCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Authenticity.png" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links and stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday. And now, we're adding more audio content to the list! Join the club by signing up below:</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="28549" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></p>

It's You I Like

Portrait of Monsieur Bertin  by Jean-August-Dominique Ingres, 1832 (public domain - Wikipedia) “No man can wear one face to himself and anot...

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