Do You Know?

I was about to be introduced by Blair Upton, a Senior Executive with General Motors Canada, to deliver the keynote address to all their senior leaders and dealers. The room was packed with over 600 highly successful people. The energy and anticipation was high, and I knew it was going to be a very special day.

We had been contracted to write, implement, and deliver a nationwide certification program for their entire network. We were launching GMTV on our Woople eLearning platform, and today was the big day as everyone had much at stake.

A Leadership Initiative

My intention was to create an immediate awareness of one of the most important lessons a leader will ever learn. I believe lessons are best learned through the use of direct and candid questions that start a thoughtful conversation. If you can make people think and get them to be aware of their current state, you can activate thoughts about creating a better future state. The entire presentation was based on this premise.

It's Your People

Any business owner with capital at risk must realize their most valuable asset and resource is their people. These people have decided to join business owners in their mission. No one of us will ever be able to accomplish as much as all of us working together. This is a "we, ours, and us" initiative, and a leader needs his or her team's loyalty, support, and best effort to achieve amazing results.

Inspiring Followership

How do you lead people in an inspired manner? What is the key to people showing up because they "get to" rather than being there because they have to be? You don't have to call a customer, you get to. You don't have to make a sale, you get to. You don't have to resolve a customer complaint, you get to. You need people who take delight in what they get to do for the organization.

Inspire Me and I Will Act

The moment had arrived to ask the questions. This experience has repeated itself all over the world with audiences I had addressed. Would today's outcome be any different?

I asked each person to stand if he or she knew the answer to these questions and to sit down if the answer was "no" to any follow-up questions. The only people who would be left standing would be those who could say "yes" to each question.

The Questions of Awareness

Do you know the most important personal dream of each of your direct reports?
Do you know the most important personal goals of each of your direct reports?
Do you know who were the three people who have been the centers of influences in your direct reports' life to date?
Do you know the attributes your direct reports admired about their centers of influence?
Do you know what your direct reports truly desire out of life?

When I finished, we had four people standing out of 600. The story played out just as it had in the past. The room was silent as people looked around, and the impact was made.

Get to Know Me

It is impossible to get anyone to work as hard for your dreams and goals as they will for their own. How can you inspire me if you don't know me? How can you lead me if you don't know what I deeply desire? How do you know what leadership style works if you don't know the attributes I admire in others?

Reality Check

Would you still be standing? Could you say "yes" to these thought provoking questions? If the answer is "no," you are a part of a larger crowd of leaders operating way below their potential.

Remember this message: Why would you decide to blend in when you were born to stand out?