from chapter 8 -Lead from the Middle

"To date, ‘Frank’, the site's superintendent over us, is the worst, most corrosive person who has progressed into a leadership role I have ever encountered in my professional career. In all my years in the blue collar and executive world, I have never met anyone so blatantly obstinate, manipulative, and ignorantly hateful. I am convinced that this story would never have happened, had it not been for Frank. And so Frank, I thank you because I learned so much of what not to do from you. I am in your debt for the hard lessons learned.

It was not only our staff who hated him, but the entirety of his own staff as well. On many occasions when striving to fix things at the site, I would labor to repair the relationship, send the guys to fix the issue, only to find out later our guys didn’t even create the problem. His guys did. Frank knew it, we fixed it, and he relished in this kind of continual manipulation. He would make your life a living hell.

Rule #1: I must have an insatiable desire to see everyone in the room win! This is my number one rule for every leader. This must be at the heart of every action you take. If you don’t have an insatiable desire to everyone in the room to win, you are making a huge mistake! If you don’t have an insatiable desire for everyone in the room to win, that means you are in this for the wrong reasons. If you don’t have this desire, it shows clearly that you don’t understand servant leadership and you are not an at-all-cost-winner. That’s harsh. I realize that. For me however, I have learned the more I serve, the more I carry the sword and shield of my endeavor or the endeavor of others, the more I care about those with me on the field of battle.

I could formulate a plan for each individual area and strive to execute that plan accordingly. That’s right, I even had a plan for Frank to win!"