Let’s not waste any time getting at these three questions.
1. What do you need to do?
2. What are you willing to do?
3. Did you do it?
These questions lie at the heart of quality peer-based advising. They get asked over and over to the point they irritate, yet drive the executive leader forward to do what they say they will do. They are easy to ask of others, and often embarrassing to answer for ourselves, especially in front of others.
Yet, when they are asked persistently in front of others, with specificity of answer demanded by one’s peers (all vagueness is prohibited), the value begins to grow. Over time, that persistence of asking and answering these questions fosters transformation in the leader and within the organization they serve.
I was privileged to hear John Hunzinger speak recently. He made his fortune constructing large municipal facilities, including Miller Park where the Milwaukee Brewers play. He reported spending five years building a peer-based advising team among construction firm owners spread across the country. He invested those five years building it, not because it made him any money, rather, because he believes it saved him considerable expense from preventable mistakes he might otherwise have made.
He said, “Any leader unwilling to participate in a some form of peer-based work, yet who says they are committed to being their best, is not being honest!”
So…regarding peer-based advising:
1. What do you need to do?
2. What are you willing to do?
3. Did you do it?
And if you haven’t yet done what you declare you are willing to do, when will you do it? When specifically? Who will you tell that you did it?