International MBA

This week, I was able to chat with Matt “Whiz” Buckley, author of From Sea Level to C Level. This Navy pilot turned CEO has some powerful lessons to share about leadership.  When he’s not running his company, Matt shares leadership insights by speaking professionally.  If you’re wondering where the ‘apple polisher’ comment came from, read on…here are some ways we can learn from Matt’s ability to translate leadership in the military to the business world.

LISA: As a fighter pilot, you put your life on the line for your job and your teammates. It’s the ultimate story of passionate work.  How can today’s professionals identify this type of purpose within themselves?
MATT: The day you think of work as work you’re in the wrong business. I never worked a day in the Navy. Sure there were long hours, separation from family, missed holidays – oh and flying combat sorties over Iraq. But I would’ve paid the Navy to fly fighters and serve my country. I approach the business world the same way – if I am not passionate about the work I’m doing, it’s not going to get my full effort. And if your heart isn’t in it, you’re not going to succeed. Find a business that you’re passionate about and you’ll never work a day in your professional life.

LISA: Many MBAs assume that they cannot be CEOs if they do not follow scripted career paths.  What tips and tactics can you offer for helping people demonstrate their potential?
MATT: An MBA can demonstrate their potential to command in several ways. When I first entered the business world after leaving the military, I would sit in a “meeting” and hear great ideas or action items flying around the room. The problem was, no one was stepping up to own these ideas and action items. That didn’t last long. I started capturing them on a white board and assigning them an owner and a date before anyone ever left the room. Or if I heard something pop up that was an action item I should do, I would step up and take it for action. I would ask myself, “If not me, then who? If not now, then when?” Step up and be what I call a “SPA,” or Single Point of Accountability. An MBAs business star will rise if they are viewed as someone who stands up, seeks out responsibility, executes what they say they would, and holds themselves accountable.

Another way to stand out is by never having what I call an “I told you so” moment. People in the business world who speak up after something has failed don’t last long in my company. You need to speak up the moment you see something wrong, not after. I tell my employees, “If there’s any doubt, there’s no doubt.” Speak up. The fastest way to not make command in my business is to be a “yes man or woman.” I don’t need “apple polishers,” I need someone who will speak up when they feel something is wrong.

LISA: You’re trained in six sigma.  How does process improvement relate to continuous personal improvement?
MATT: I am always looking to get better. I learn something everyday. One of the ways I seek continuous improvement is through what fighter pilots call “debriefing.” After a mission, we get in a room to review the execution. No punches are pulled. We review what went well and what did not. We are brutally honest with each other. Why? Because our lives depend on getting better after each mission. In a debrief, it’s not who’s right, but what’s right. I do the same thing in the business world. After we complete something in my company we all get in a room to debrief how it went. And I lead the debrief by admitting what I could have done better during the execution. This lowers the barriers to communication and allows those under me to express where they also could have done better. We determine lessons learned in this debrief that will improve our execution the next time we try this mission. It’s extremely powerful.

LISA: Do you believe that leadership is learned or born?  Tell us more about your philosophy.
MATT: This question is as old as time itself. Many of us have encountered a natural-born leader along the way, that person who just has “it.”  Some of us have seen people mature on the job and grow into the role.  We have also seen people develop into great leaders simply because circumstances propelled them into a leadership role. I doubt any of us will ever forget Todd Beamer, the account manager for Oracle who rose up in a time of crisis to rally the passengers on United Flight 93 that horrible day on 9/11. His words, “Let’s roll,” will go down in history as a shining example of leadership in action as he and his fellow passengers willingly ended their lives to save so many others.

A shining leadership example from the military occurred on March 20th, 2005 when Leigh Ann Hestor, a 23-year-old shoe store manager from Bowling Green, Kentucky, was escorting a supply convoy in Iraq when her squad was ambushed. Recognizing that her troops were in the “kill zone,” she maneuvered the squad to the attacker’s flank and sealed off their escape route. Along with her squad leader, she attacked the insurgents in the face of withering AK-47 machine gun fire and RPGs(rocket propelled grenades). The two cleared trenches with grenades and fought off the enemy with small arms fire.  When the smoke cleared, 27 enemy combatants were dead, six were wounded, and one was captured. Sgt. Hestor was awarded the 4th highest military honor, the Silver Star. She was the first female since World War II to receive this award. The citation stated, “Her actions saved the lives of numerous convoy members.” Not bad for a manager of a shoe store.  Proof positive that all of us have the ability to rise up and take on a leadership role.

In most cases, leadership is a long, in-depth journey, characterized by failures and successes. But a true leader has what I call “successful failures.” A true leader may fail, but he or she takes the lessons learned from the situation and applies them down the road. They add to their personal leadership manual.

I have experienced absolute failure as a leader, as well as soul-lifting success.  I have learned from both. And one thing I learned very early on is that there is a clear distinction between leadership and management. Is a good manager a good leader? Is a good leader a good manager? In my experience, it depends on the person. I’ve seen good managers who couldn’t lead a team. And I’ve seen good leaders who were horrible managers. People can be trained to be better managers, but it’s harder to train someone to be a better leader. I believe that leadership and management have an inverse relationship.

I have learned the more managing I do, the less I lead. Conversely, the more I lead someone, the less managing I have to do.  General George Patton said, “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” This is a quote with considerable merit. A manager sits on top of his or her people making sure they execute. A leader sits to the side of his or her people watching them execute, providing rudder corrections as necessary. The leader chooses the star that a manager has to navigate towards.

LISA: Finally, in your book From Sea Level to C Level, you compare leadership in the military with leadership in the business world.  What mindsets and disciplines can you share with MBAs who were not in the military?
MATT: Your business could have the best processes, procedures, and systems in the world and still fail. The thread that binds all of those things together is leadership. Without a solid leader at the helm, the business will have a hard time executing. I believe leadership is an AART. A leader must be accountable. They own it. They have 51% of the vote and make the call when the chips are down. A leader needs authority. Without formal authority, you won’t be viewed as a leader. People will look at you like you have two heads when you tell them to do something so this authority needs to be known to all in the business. A leader is responsible. They’re responsible for the success or failure of an objective, responsible for their own actions, along with the actions of the folks under them. And the last essential element required to be a leader is trust. That trust needs to come from 3 directions – from those above you, your peers, and your employees. Lose one of those and it’s over with.

AART – 4 essential elements to being a leader. If you don’t have one of them you’re not a leader, you’re a manager. I’ve also noticed that leaders have the following characteristics:

A Leader:

• Is Calm Under Pressure
• Leads by Example
• Demonstrates Exemplary Behavior and Values
• Has the Desire to Achieve
• Motivates Others
• Knows His or Her People
• Is Open to Change
• Delegates
• Operates in a Vacuum

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To learn more about Matthew Whiz Buckley, be sure to check out his company Check6 LLC and look for his new book From Sea Level to C Level.