MONDAY MORNING LEADERSHIP 8 Mentoring Sessions You Can’t Afford to Miss David Cottrell Cornerstone Leadership Institute, 2002, 112 pp. www.cornerstoneleadership.com

David Cottrell is a speaker, consultant, and educator and the president and CEO of CornerStone Leadership Institute. This is one of several books by the author. It is a simple story of a struggling manager spending eight sessions with a consultant. I read it in an hour but it will take me months to adjust my attitudes and behaviors to line up with a few key things I learned. Passengers are free to do things the driver can’t do. The same principle applies to leaders. “You lose the right to blame others for a problem in your department when you are a manager and leader. You are the person responsible for everything that happens in your department, and that can be pretty hard to swallow.” “…a real leader spends his time fixing the problem instead of finding who to blame.” “You have control over how you react to situations. You can make some positive changes.” (21-22) “I once worked with a manager who would remind us daily to ‘keep the main thing the main thing.’ The ‘main thing’ was our purpose or priority. Then he would ask us, ‘So, what is the main thing?’ And because every person on our team knew the main thing, this helped us focus on what was important.” (28) “If someone asked us to do something that was not part of our main thing, our manager would support us when we said that we couldn’t get it done. We were a focused and productive workgroup because there was a clear understanding of our purpose.” (29) “People leave because their manager is not meeting their needs. People quit people before they quit companies. …in most instances the boss is the principal reason people resign.” (29) “I can understand why you think it’s [your boss’s] responsibility to develop a positive relationship with you—and you’re right. However, if it’s not happening, it’s up to you to make some changes to make it happen. I suggest that you take the time to manage your boss the same way you manage your subordinates. Find out specifically what she needs from you and tell her specifically what you need from her.” (30) “One of the ‘main things’ for a leader is to eliminate confusion.” (36) “You simply cannot ignore performance issues and expect your superstars to stick around for very long.” They need you to coach everyone on the team and to dehire those who don’t carry their share of the load. (40) Get in touch with your people. (42) “Do what is right even when no one is watching!” “Doing the right thing is always right.” (47) “EVERYTHING counts when it comes to your leadership.” “What matters to your team is what you do. And, everything you do matters because your team is watching….and depending on you to do the right thing.” (49) “Ignoring issues puts your own integrity at risk. And if you lose your integrity, you won’t be able to develop or maintain trust, the very basis for relationships.” “You must guard your integrity as if it’s your most precious leadership possession, because that is what it is.” (50) “The most important asset in your company is having the RIGHT PEOPLE on your team. If you have the right people on your team you have a great chance to be successful. The greatest liability in your company could be having the WRONG PEOPLE on your team.” “The most important thing you do as a leader is to hire the right people.” (56-7) “The first mistake some people make in interviewing is lack of preparation.” “Every question should be prepared in advance so you spend your time listening and evaluating instead of trying to figure out what question you want to ask next.” “The Three Rules of Three in hiring are: interview at least three qualified candidates for every position; interview the candidates three times; and have three people evaluate the candidates.” “Never lower your standards just to fill a position! You’ll pay for it later.” (58-9) “We spend our time doing the main things or doing the wrong things…and we spend our time doing things right or doing things wrong.” (64) “Set aside some uninterrupted planning time every day.” (65) Work your email deliveries into your personal schedule so they don’t control your day. (66) Focus on how you can coach every member of the team to become better, by recognition of, and communication to, everyone on the team. “Your scorecard as a leader is the result of your team. You are needed; you are important. But you get paid for what your subordinates do, not necessarily what you do. You need your team more than your team needs you.” “Every person has a bucket of motivation. That bucket can be filled to overflowing, or it can be empty and desperately need filling.” “Every person also has a dipper. In fact some people have these great big, long dippers that they enjoy putting into other people’s buckets. Their dippers represent cynicism, negativism, confusion, stress, doubt, fear, anxiety, and any other thing that can drain someone’s desire and motivation. As a leader, your job is to keep everyone’s bucket filled. You are the Chief Bucket-Filler, and the best way to fill buckets is with excellent communication.” (76) “A full bucket requires knowing what are the main things that are important to doing a good job.” “Second, …provide the bucket holders with feedback on how they’re doing. People need to know how they’re doing all the time….” Be sincere, specific, and timely. “The third thing…is to let them know you care about them and the job they do.” (76-77) “Involve people in major decisions. Listen to them—they often have the best ideas anyway.” (78) “A forceful enemy to your potential is your comfort zone.” “You need to be reaching for improvement. To fulfill your potential, you need to move out of your comfort zone and into ‘the learning zone.’” There are three rooms in the learning zone: the reading room, the listening room, and the giving room. Read every day. Listen to your people. Go to seminars and listen. Give. You cannot succeed without giving back. (85-87) Make specific, measurable, obtainable goals. People fail to set goals because they don’t realize the importance. “Every great accomplishment I know about has begun with a goal written down on a sheet of paper.” “If you have no goals, you’re not risking failure.” “Fail faster and more often.” (88) “Stay positive! Just don’t give up.” (89)