Wearing baggy pants doesn't make you a skater, wearing spandex doesn't make you a cyclist, looking at the world through Oakley shades doesn't make you a snowboarder, saying, 'dude' doesn't make you a surfer and-in business—printing 'leader' on your card doesn't make you lead. Real leaders take us to places we've never been, turn nothing into something, transform good into great, help us grow as human beings and change the pieces of the world that they touch for the better. Real leaders are, in other words, Extreme Leaders. This site will help you make the choice to be one of them. So spend some time, poke around, and when inspiration strikes, chime in on the blog below...
“ Raising someone up does not reduce your stature—in fact, it exalts you in ways you have to experience to believe. Greater Than Yourself shows how you can begin improving the world by giving of yourself. It’s a wonderful message wrapped in a highly entertaining, well written story.”
- Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Leading at a Higher Level
Continuing with Kineticom’s stellar example of incorporating LEAP into their own culture and language, here’s a sampling of Energy, Kineticom style:
“Charge a room and elevate everyone to their ‘A’ game…ravenous quest to produce and to not be boxed out in the marketplace…sassy style of dishing it out and keeping it fun…bringing high levels of energy to her personal game…ability and desire for personal development and the development of others…unique brand of energizing comedy…willingness to expand role and reach…reinvention across the function…unrelenting drive for financial success…inventive and creative ‘blitz’ leadership…frenetic energy crucial to a winning environment…infectious energy with a work pace and attitude as a powerful force for change and action.”
Taking a lesson from Kineticom, here’s a good exercise to get this decade started right:
In your own voice, your own words, describe what you and yours are going to do to embody “infectious energy” in the way you work and live.
The inspiring folks at smokin’ hot  Kineticom (whom I’ve written about many times on this blog) have done a remarkable job of integrating The Radical LEAP into the fabric of their company. For one thing, they give a yearly award for Love, Energy, Audacity and Proof to the team member who best embodies each quality in the way he or she approaches work. This plaque honoring the past recipients hangs in their company’s lobby:
The magic, I believe, is in their ability to identify and describe the behaviors associated with each element of LEAP and put it in their own cultural framework. To illustrate, I’ve pulled some examples from the plaque. For today’s installment, here are some of the specifics of Love as described in Kineticom-ese:
“commitment to our company…willingness to take on any role and additional responsibility…big heart and friendly personality…diligence and willingness to go the extra mile…spreads her own brand of sunshine…beaming smile and infectious laughter…understanding the critical importance she plays as the centralized voice & attitude of the Kineticom brand…heart and soul and desire to elevate our mission and vision…throws her heart and soul into every challenge and opportunity…unwavering passion for our cause and our people…capacity to develop, evolve, inspire and lead…exemplifies Kineticom’s culture…actively demonstrates love of who we are and what we can be”
What does/should Love look like in your actions and in the behaviors of your colleagues, coworkers, and management?
As you’ll see from the previous posts, the principles of Love, Energy, Audacity and Proof are an integral part of their culture, and, once again, they’ve been kind enough to share a bit of themselves with the rest of us.
Here, then, are the Kineticom LEAP awards for 2007. They may only look like little plaques to you, but believe me, these awards are a big honor for the participants.
Consider doing something like this in your company, maybe? Just a thought…
Click on each image to see and read the full picture:
A 2 or 3-minute version of this new “mini-documentary” on Extreme Leadership will play on public TV nation-wide. I don’t know the schedule yet, but you can be sure I’ll post it as soon as I hear.
The company profiled, Kineticom, is based here in San Diego, and they’re the real deal. I’ve written about them several times on this blog. (Read this post, for example).
The live footage is from my speech to a conference of 17,500 wonderful, enthusiastic Arbonne consultants gathered together at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
A key theme inThe Radical Edge is the need to foster the desire to fully understand your colleagues and customers by developing the qualities of fascination and gratitude.
From page 78 in the book:
“If you’re fascinated with [the people around you], you’ll discover how to add value to their lives; and if you’re genuinely grateful for their patronage, partnership or friendship you’ll show them in ways that are sincere and meaningful. Those are the essential elements of a fabulously productive business relationship–or any relationship, for that matter.”
The folks at Kineticom (if you’ll permit me one more glimpse at their performance evaluation) address it under the heading of “Attentive Listening” which they describe as “Understanding that listening carefully and attentively to colleagues, contractors and clients yields productive insights that move Kineticom forward and ultimately change the world.”
Their highest rating reads like this:
“Incredibly ‘dialed.’ Fascinated with teammates, contractors and clients – grateful for who they are and what they are; actively pursues good qualities, points of view and insights in others and applies appropriately to foster positive relationships and fuel business growth. Highly skilled in questioning techniques (moving from implicit to explicit needs).”
Okay, enough (for now) about the Kineticom gang. How about you? What ways can you–or do you–incorporate the principles of Extreme Leadership into your life and work?
PROVIDING PROOF: Proving love of Kineticom and commitment to colleagues, contractors and clients through measurable results.
(The scale is 1 to 5 where 1 = Unacceptable, 2 = Passable, 3 = On Par, 4 = Strong, 5 = Extraordinary)
1. Performs tasks and gets things done primarily out of a desire for completion; doesn’t tie daily tasks and contributions to a greater commitment to and love of colleagues, contractors and clients.
2. Generates measurable results and, to some extent, ties daily tasks and contributions to a greater commitment to and love of colleagues, contractors and clients. Looks for opportunities to fulfill Kineticom’s business objectives and provide feedback to improve those objectives.
3. Seeks to provide unequivocal proof that supports the values of extreme leadership & Kineticom in everything they do. Is intolerant of behavior inconsistent with our values and is prepared to be heard.
4. Proves commitment to and love of colleagues, contractors and clients through strong performance results. Is a key contributor to creating the goals, values and objectives of their department and through own actions, causes those goals, values and objectives to be realized.
5. Consistently and powerfully proves commitment to and love of colleagues, contractors and clients through exceptionally strong results. Performs every deed as though their every action has a direct impact on our brand and the world of our colleagues, contractors and clients. Willing to make personal sacrifice to prove their love.
INSPIRING AUDACITY: Demonstrating a bold and blatant disregard for normal constraints in pursuit of the good of the team and the world of our contractors and clients.
(The scale is 1 to 5 where 1 = Unacceptable, 2 = Passable, 3 = On Par, 4 = Strong, 5 = Extraordinary)
1. Stays within the lines or doesn’t demonstrate the ability to discern when it’s appropriate to disregard norms and perceived limitations in pursuit of changing the world of our teammates, contractors and clients. Struggles to overcome the barrier of fear of failure.
2. Demonstrates the ability to discern when it’s appropriate to disregard norms and perceived limitations in pursuit of changing the world of our teammates, contractors and clients; occasionally acts on it. Understands the difference between OS!M’s and reckless abandon. Can let fear of failure prevent audacious actions.
3. Sees obstacles as simply something to be overcome in the pursuit of the OS!M. Accepts that fear is part of the package for the extreme leader and embraces it as a symbol of the potential for personal development & growth. Demonstrates a consistent personal commitment to carving out own future in line with understood company objectives.
4. Has a good sense of when to disregard norms and perceived limitations in pursuit of changing the world of our teammates, contractors and clients and acts courageously to make the right things happen. Inspires and supports audacious behaviors in others & demonstrates success at helping people learn from OS!Ms.
5. Inspires & supports audacity in teammates. Demonstrates a bold and blatant disregard for normal constraints and acts courageously to make the right things happen. Willing to fail miserably and enthusiastically share learnings with others in pursuit of changing the world.
Kineticom’s performance evaluation around Generating Energy reads like this:
GENERATING ENERGY: Demonstrating an enthusiastic belief in people and their capacity to do the awesome and the capacity to generate excitement, momentum, and meaningful action.
(The scale is 1 to 5 where 1 = Unacceptable, 2 = Passable, 3 = On Par, 4 = Strong, 5 = Extraordinary)
1. Exhibits enough energy to complete tasks, but isn’t always fully engaged and isn’t a catalyst for generating energy in others. Can sometimes be a source of negative energy.
2. Can be a good source of energy and team momentum at times, though not consistently.
3. A constant source of resonant energy and force for team momentum. Has developed the emotional maturity to manage disturbing emotions in the face of tough times or new challenges to stated goals.
4. Enthusiastic, creates momentum on projects. Fuels positive energy in others through attitude, heart and pace. Can be relied on in isolation of other extreme leaders to be the force for positive energy.
5. Consistently generates infectious energy and acts as a powerful force for change & action in all situations. A positive fireball of energy that simply cannot be disheartened.
I first talked about Kineticom in an earlier post, and I promised to write more about them. First, for context, download their background document. Download file
This extraordinary team of people have incorporated the principles of Extreme Leadership into the culture and fabric of their company in many ways, not the least of which is the performance evaluation process. All employees are measured in part on their ability to cultivate Love, generate Energy, inspire Audacity and provide Proof in the way they conduct business with their clients and with each other.
Over the next four posts I’ll share with you (with their generous permission) the actual language from their evaluations. Today’s selection is on Cultivating Love. Their language follows…
CULTIVATING LOVE: Demonstrating love (of the future we’re working together to create) in the way they work with, serve, and lead the people around them. (Leadership includes peer level.) Love in this sense is a feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; preeminent kindness or devotion to another. At its core, being an extreme leader means doing what you love in the service of those who love what you do.
(The scale is 1 to 5 where 1 = Unacceptable, 2 = Passable, 3 = On Par, 4 = Strong, 5 = Extraordinary)
1. Views daily actions and efforts as part of a job, not part of a broader future that employee has a key role in creating. Does not understand or connect personal or organizational opportunity to make a difference in the world.
2. Acknowledges personal role and on some occasions, exhibits love of the future we’re creating together through tangible actions in working with teammates, contractors and/or clients.
3. Consistently demonstrates infectious passion for activities that positively impact the future. Takes full personal responsibility and ownership for their individual contribution toward that impact. Understands the role of business in society and recognizes the importance of leadership at all levels. Consistently and proactively backs up strong beliefs with actions and results.
4. Puts heart into daily work and often cultivates love of the future we’re creating together in teammates, contractors and/or clients through tangible actions.
5. Fully and actively embodies love in the way they work with, serve, and lead the people around them. Consistently cultivates love of the future we’re creating together in teammates, contractors and/or clients through tangible actions.
Kineticom is a San Diego-based “talent agency” that’s redefining the staffing world. I’ll be writing about them quite a bit, I predict, partly because they’ve adopted Love, Energy, Audacity and Proof as their company values and are perpetually building their culture on the principles of Extreme Leadership.
They are the winner of the 2005 American Business Awards in the category of Best Agency, Brokerage, or Satellite Office or Facility. Here’s an excerpt from the report:
“Kineticom has built a culture of risk-takers who believe in themselves and put everything on the line to make things happen. The company has become a talent center where freelance technical experts flourish. They have established lasting, two-way relationships with the contractors who are fully engaged, love what they do and readily communicate their enthusiasm to their peers.”
Present This Document to Your GTY Project: "With this Certificate, I Dedicate Myself to You and Your Success."
Greater Than Yourself:
A Video Introduction
Farber on Twitter
Free Audio Series
Sign up to receive FREE downloads of Steve Farber's audio series, Extreme Leadership: In Pursuit of the OS!M. This 3-hour series normally sells in a CD set for $49.95--but it's free via download for a limited time.
