Leadership Law 10-80-10

My good friend, speaker, and author, Craig Hillier (http://www.craighillier.com ) often talks about Leadership Law #1 10-80-10. It is a simple law that really speaks to strategies for developing leadership in your club or organization. This law divides people in to three groups. 10%-80%-10%. 10% of the people you meet will not like you, they will not like your ideas, and it doesn't matter how you present them they for whatever reason will not like it. The really difficult about this "bottom 10%" is that sometimes they are loud, bold and can be confrontational. Their whole purpose in life seems to be on making things not work. They want school initiatives to fail, they want their to be chaos because as long as there is chaos then we don't have to do anything to make a difference. Their mantra in life is: "It is not going to work anyway, this is dumb, so we should all just give up." Since the bottom 10% has a tendency to be so loud with their negative voice we have a tendency to believe that they represent the majority when in reality they are simply a loud minority. They are not a representation of the rest of your organization or school, but they want you to believe that everybody thinks the way they think so all of your effort is really for nothing because it doesn't matter what you do you are not going to change.

Compare and contrast that 10% with the other 10%. This "upper" 10% will love you will love your ideas and they will have a strong desire to support you and your initiatives. It really doesn't matter what you do because they are in your corner and they will be your life long friend and supporter. In their eyes you can do no wrong.

Then there is the 80%. This is the percentage of your organization, school or community who has not made up their mind yet. They are open to influence, and they are waiting to be led. The question becomes which way will they go? Will they move toward the often loud and negative 10%, or will they move toward the upper positive 10% who want to impact their school/organization for the better. Craig Hillier asks this profound question. As a leader what "percentage of the population" should I focus my efforts?

Craig says, "If you are going to focus on the bottom 10% I suggest you buy a big bottle of aspirin because you are going to need it." Often times leaders see opposition and we think that we will never be able to make a difference if we don't change their minds first. While this strategy seems reasonable, it is not very practical. This group of people will spend all their efforts trying to sabotage your every initiative and your efforts will be all for not.

The upper 10% is already on your side so they are not in need of your attention. They are working with you. We should appreciate the fact that they are with us, and the most useful thing we can do as leaders is to work together to focus on the 80%.

Remember, the 80% is neutral they have not decided which way to go. If we spend all of our time on the bottom 10% we will lose the 80%. Our job as leaders is to focus on the 80%!

While at a retreat at Union High School in Tulsa I had the opportunity to hear one of the senior leaders Bob Lind speak about the importance of living like champions. He talked about those who had gone before him and spoke about Todd Cook a young man from the Class of '95 who campaigned to keep people from walking across the Union High Redskin Logo that is in the middle of their school. He said it was wrong and people should not be walking on that logo. He felt that it should be roped off, and even though not everyone agreed with him at first, he eventually took an idea and made it into reality. Today, when you walk into Tulsa Union High School the logo is roped off, and no-one walks on the Union High symbol.

How did this happen? It happened because he had a good idea, developed some initiative and focused on the 80% to have his idea come into fruition.

As leaders we need to do the same thing. We need to take the initiative and focus on the 80%.

Hopefully, by now you are thinking, "What is something that I can do in my school or organization that could make a difference." This is a great question and it is the starting place for greatness. Maybe you would like to see more school spirit in your school, maybe you would like to see a service initiative started in your school, maybe you feel that there is too much negativity, maybe you feel that the freshman in your school are not being treated with respect, maybe you feel that there needs to be a mentoring program in your school or organization, maybe there needs to be more scholarship opportunities for graduates in your school. Your school is your world, and you have the power to affect change. I guess the question now becomes what am I going to do, and who am I going to focus on so that I can affect change in my school and community!

For more information about Craig Hillier go to http://www.craighillier.com/ if you are an athlete and you want to make a difference on your sports team go to http://www.highschoolsportsleader.com/ for an excellent resource on how you can positively affect change on your sports team!

For more information about programs by Bill Cordes go to http://www.billcordes.com/ or simply click on the picture of Bill Cordes on the bottom of this post.

Lean to the Left - Lean to the Right!

When I was in grade school I remember going to the football games and sitting in the stands, and it was always so cool when the crowd got involved and cheered during the games. The cheer I remember most was: "Lean to the Left, Lean to the Right, Stand-Up, Sit Down...Fight, Fight, Fight." As part of my talk we did that cheer at the District 7 Leadership Conference in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma today. We didn't do it because we were cheering on our favorite team but because there it is a great leadership message. As leaders it is important that we are not singular in our perspectives, but that we have the ability to see things from different perspectives. "Lean to the left, lean to the right." (I am not talking politically here, but it would do all of our politicians a lot of good if they sought truth instead of being partisan.) The second part of the cheer says, "Stand-Up, Sit-Down". To stand-up, sit-down is to suggest the importance of being involved in the leadership process. So many people want to complain about the state of their lives, the state of the economy, the state of the public school system, but those whiners are often the last people to get involved. Rather than, complain, why not get involved, seek solution, and work for understanding.

"Stand-Up" is also a metaphor for the importance of standing up for what is right, standing up for justice, standing for others, and taking a stand and being recognized for your beliefs.

"Sit-Down" is an opportunity to reflect, to draw on wisdom, to listen, and to be patient.

"Fight, Fight, Fight". Notice there are three fights. Not just fight, but fight, fight, fight! Resilience is an important part of leadership. Learn to make mistakes, adjust, figure out what works, adjust and keep adjusting until we get our result. "If at first you don't succeed...Stop, Adjust and Go For It Again." (As many of you have heard me say so many times.)

Lean to the left, Lean to the Right, Stand-Up, Sit-Down, Fight, Fight, Fight!!!

Top 10 from Tulsa Union High School Retreat

As a professional speaker who speaks to over 70,000 people each year, I get the opportunity to teach a lot. I love the privilege of teaching, inspiring and all of the accolades that come from my profession. Every once in a while I walk away thinking I learned as much as I taught. This weekend was one of those weekends. I may get in trouble for saying this but Tulsa Union High School is one of the top large schools in the country. In a world that is filled with bad choices, drugs, violence and a lot of negativity they just seem to be doing things right. Oh, they have their challenges, they would be the first to tell you, but what they do in their school in regards to leadership is amazing! If you know anything about high school sports you may know a thing or two about Tulsa Union High School. They consistently do well in all sports, their football team has an amazing tradition in which they have set a first class standard of excellence. However it is my belief that their stellar sports program is a symptom of all the other things they are doing right. I spent 2 days with 200 hundred of their leaders. This is what I learned.

Top 10 Things I Learned at the Union High School Retreat

10. When faculty members just jump in and get involved with the students without having to be coaxed it makes a huge difference in the fun factor and the student learning. It also sends a message that this is so important and so much fun that everyone is getting involved!

9. Two days of hearing students talk positively about their school is refreshing and it gives me hope about the future of our education!

8. Students want to be involved in creating positive school environments and they need to be led there by powerful examples.

7. When mutual respect is a priority it becomes the norm.

6. When a school gives value to its' students those students will freely want to give back to their school.

5. Be humble. Don't seek credit for successful initiatives. We all got where we are today because ... We are all standing on the shoulders of giants.

4. When placed in a leadership role we need to inspect what we expect.

3. Positive leadership is not that complicated. It is not being the boss, or being in charge...Leadership is Service! When we lead with a humble heart and a willingness to give people what they need we will capture excellence.

2. Obstacles create opportunities to adjust. In this life we have reasons or results results are more powerful and more fun!

1. None of the above happens by accident. It all happens by design and by being purpose driven. Denise Vaniadis and the administrators and staff at Tulsa Union High School expect excellence and that is what happens daily at their school.