Skip to main content

Chess Not Checkers


Do you remember playing checkers as a child?  Checkers is a fast paced, highly reactive game where the pieces pretty much have the same purpose and usage.

What about chess?  It's a little bit different, isn't it? The board has the same layout as the game of checkers, but the pieces have different shapes, sizes, and abilities.  There's much more strategy involved in the game of chess.  It's important to think ahead, see the whole board, and move strategically in order to win.

This book, by Mark Miller, takes the reader on a journey through changing a culture in a business from reacting, like playing checkers, to behaving more strategically, like playing chess.  Here's a quick peek at what they mean:




This week, at ADMO, we started to look at the first move, "Bet on Leadership".  By working through the Chess Not Checkers Field Guide in conjunction with the Videos taught by Randy Gravitt, we are embarking on a culture-changing adventure.

We learned that Leadership is like an iceberg in that only 10% is what you can see (Leadership Skills) while 90% is below the water line (Leadership Character).  WHO we are as leaders is far more important than WHAT we do.

One important distinction to make is that everybody can lead.  A title doesn't automatically endow someone with leadership skills.  We are all leading someone, whether we realize it or not.  This is valuable teaching for life outside of work as well as something that can drastically change our culture internally.



We learned that Great Leaders Start with the HEART.  They:
Hunger for Wisdom
Expect the Best
Accept Responsibility
Respond with Courage
Think Others First

We learned that the Secret to Success is to SERVE.  Great Leaders:
See the Future (Vision)
Engage and Develop Others
Reinvent Continuously
Value Results AND Relationships
Embody the Values (of the organization)

At ADMO, our Values look like this:



And, finally, we learned that Great Leaders GROW.  They:
Gain Knowledge
Reach Out To Others
Open Their World
Walk Toward Wisdom



These ideas can seem counter-intuitive.  A leader should SERVE?!?  Yes!  As we move forward into this idea, it's exciting to see where we we will go. Our leaders are challenged this week to:

1. Consider one thing they can do to gain knowledge in the area of leadership
2. Find one way to help another leader grow this week
3. Find one way to open your world
4. Identify one practical step that can be taken towards wisdom

We've made the "Bet on Leadership" by beginning this journey together.  I can't wait to see the dividends it pays!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Communication and Building the Bench

Have you ever found yourself keeping busy with something insignificant because you were procrastinating on a big project or afraid to tackle something difficult?  How often do we confuse activity with accomplishment?  Sometimes we just need a win, so we get busy with something that can be completed.  But, without clarity of purpose, we can find ourselves having spent our days without achieving anything at all.  Purpose is important because it gives us a goal and singular vision. At ADMO, our purpose is to produce quality parts and develop and maintain strong relationships with our customers, vendors, and each other.  Mr. Krieps , The President of the company gave us a litmus test this week that can be applied in our decision making.  When trying to decide a course of action, ask the question, "What is in the best interest of ADMO?". This should point us to that purpose and give us clarity as we proceed.  Hopefully, we begin to understand that eac...
Post a Comment
Read more

Be Determined to Learn

  Are you coachable? Are you a life-long learner? Do you want to be the expert in your field? All of these desires make you someone who makes a difference, no matter what you do for a living.  "If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you" - Zig Ziglar Which are you? Are you someone who doesn't like change or says, "This is how we've always done it"? Or, are you someone with a curiosity that demands you find out more? Do you hunger for wisdom and respond with the courage to learn something new? What can stoke that hunger? What do you think it would take to stir up that desire to learn? If you knew that learning was the key, would you see it differently?
Post a Comment
Read more

Welcome to ADMO's Blog

Thank you for visiting ADMO's blog.  This site will be used for articles related to our life and learning at ADMO, Inc. You are welcome to share these articles as you'd like.  I'm hopeful that we can learn from one another in this space.
Post a Comment
Read more