Life Always Requires Intervention
Life always requires attentive intervention. Death arrives on its own. Do nothing you die. Do something you may live.
Products, people, and organizations follow predictable life/death cycles.
The organization I lead is positioned on a recent three year reinvention. It’s an exciting time where teams dare to think new thoughts and embrace new challenges. The ideas floating around scare me. That’s a good thing!
Personally:
Writing Leadership Freak was an intervention in my life – an expression of reinvention. The “Leadership Freak Life Cycle” is on the upward side of the curve. At the current pace, views exceed a million a year – and growing. I’m thankful and thrilled.
But, I know the curve inevitably turns downward unless there’s intervention.
Mission and vision aren’t altered. I want to encourage leaders along their leadership path in small daily doses.
Some of you intuitively share and participate in that vision with your comments. I’m thankful and thrilled. By the way, I love the multi-layered conversations the regularly pop up.
Intervention?
Is there a next level or intervention for Leadership Freak?
Your insights, suggestions, warnings, and observations can help me explore what’s next, if anything.
Questions:
Do you see an evolution of the Leadership Freak community?
Do you see next level opportunities that help leaders reach higher?
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Without giving it some serious thought, and I don’t have time right now, I have no valuable insights, but I DO know that I don’t want you to go-away. I have gleaned so much from these columns/blogs.
Keep it up!
Linda Williams, Training Focus
Hi Linda,
Thanks for your quick note and any future insights you might share.
No plans to go away. I love writing the blog and reading and participating in the conversation.
Have a great weekend,
Dan
Hi Dan, like Linda said please continue. LF is something I gravitate to everyday with a smile kinowing I will be surprised and awed (is that a word?). I have learned so much duirng this time and also found solace when sharing my skirmishes. The LF community is very special indeed with unique individuals who willingly share their personal experiences. How can LF evolve? Well on my bucket list I would dare to dream that one day we all could meet somewhere and have a firside chat doing exactly what we do here but with the added dimension of each other’s company. We are missing “tone” and “body language” which speaks a lot more about ourselves. I know it’s utopic but hey you asked and we can dare to dream, yes? Have a great weekend y’all.
Hi Al,
As always, great seeing you here. As you look for me, I look for you and enjoy reading your insights.
I’m definitely in this for the long term.
Your thought about a LF get together sounds like a blast. We’ll have to toss that around.
Great weekend to you to my friend.
Cheers,
Dan
Al is a featured contributor on LF. Read his bio at http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/al-diaz
Needs to happen Al–‘the gathering’ (not the Highlander gathering where there can be only one, because LF is a community) but some sort of either real time (probably preferable for baby boomers and maybe gen X) or virtual (gen Y, Z & the oughts?) which may be more cost effective).
Being a Colorado guy, when I look at the product life cycle wave it reminds me of our ski slopes. It takes a lift, using lots of energy to drag you along the uphill side of the slope but when you unload at the top gravity takes over and you find it no struggle at all to glide along in the downhill direction. Your only choice on that side of the wave is to adjust speed by traversing and thereby choosing to delay or accelerate your descent. The good news though is that if there is still some daylight left you can choose another lift at the bottom and give it another go! Enjoy the journey and accept the fact that no venture (no matter how spectacular it is) is going to last forever.
Hi JT,
I’m wishing for a long summer day!
Thanks for a great illustration.
Cheers,
Dan
Continuing your analogy JT, the Leadership Freak Community is also a way to not get too far out of bounds as we are carving our leadership lines. Course the fresh powder is the most fun, but often feels like uncharted territory. If anyone has done that and ended up below the fall line of the last lift, you know you have a lot of hoofing to do to get back in bounds. LF sometimes provides a path back too!
Dan – it is great watching you climb the curve. A new intervention/innovation – perhaps some video. It would be great to get to sit in on some of the wonderful interviews you have been doing. Joan
Hi Joan,
First of all, your generous encouragement and support are one of the reasons LF enjoys a growing readership. Thank you.
I’ve been mulling over the idea of a conference call-in. The idea of a group of people sitting in on a call sounds like a blast.
Cheers,
Dan
Dear Dan,
I am excited to hear the evolution of leadership freak as I am perhaps one of the regular contributors of this blog. I have seen the evolution of leadership freak horizontally and vertically both. Horizontally, readers and contributors have achieved much by the way of mental and moral development. Vertically, viewers and other readers have tremendously grown over years. This is the real growth of leadership community. I think and believe that I have learned more and achieved more in terms of enhancement of my knowledge and my thought process. I believe that the next level opportunity that can take this blog to higher level is “Inflection point”. Now, how we can make infection point. I think we have enough collections of thoughts, insights and ideas about various topics on leadership and management. Now is the time to select some insightful and important ideas and make into book or compendium form with the relevant suggestion by particular people. This effort will surely boost the morale of contributors and bring leadership blog to inflection level. This will also provide a sense of self identity and self esteem.
I appreciate your effort to bring leadership freak to next level. This is a great intervention. Intervention is a leadership attitude. And I hope to see much more development of community and affection among members.
Dear Ajay,
Yes, you’ve been around for a long time. Your words of encouragement are helpful to me. Thank you.
Regarding a book: I’ve chatted with publishers and am currently in very preliminary explorations with one that seems to be a good fit.
I’ve also thought about downloadable ebooks.
I’m thankful for your contributions and support. I look for you when I log in.
Best,
Dan
Ajay is a featured contributor on LF. Read his bio at http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/ajay-gupta
Dan, I agree with all of the comments already expressed. Especially Linda’s, we definitely want you to continue! Al’s suggestion of a face to face retreat is a great idea, as well. Adding a video of your interviews would be an enhancement suggested by Joan. Considering the wealth of knowledge I’ve been able to use from your posts in such a short period of time, I think it would be beneficial to set up a facebook presence. After reading the posts and assessing my surrounds, I am quickly noticing a wider gap between my generation and the current “Y” generation. They are not exposed to these ideas and therefore are falling farther and farther in the depts of mediocre heading on the downward slope of this cycle of learning and being equipped to lead their peers, student organizations, and community events.
LaKenya,
Your comment opens a window of interesting opportunity. I’m passionate to encourage young leaders and work with college students and young adults. It’s very fulfilling.
I set up an experimental facebook page http://www.facebook.com/LeadershipFreak
I’m still learning how to best leverage that channel. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Cheers,
Dan
Hi Dan!
I’m a new reader, just started reading in the last week or so, so I’m afraid I can’t give you much long term insight.
I really liked your post today! I was a business major in college, so we definitely learned about the product life cycle. As I was reading your article, it made me consider what products have been around for ages because they recognized their maturity and intervened to stay relevant. Here are a few that I came up with: Barbie, Dodge Charger, Nike Shoes.
What I have noticed as common between all of them is two things.
1. The creators pay attention to the changes in society that matter. For example. Can you imagine if Barbie had maintained her former measurements (they changed them to make her seem more realistic, slightly anyway)? Or if she hadn’t adjusted to be capable of careers such as veterinarian, business woman, etc? Chargers are obviously upgraded with a few more amenities than they had before, mostly, I think because they appeal to a group that can now afford a bit more for a car they loved as young person. NIke is updating all the time, they have different ads different offerings relative to what sport is in season.
2. At the essence, these products are offering something that people truly want more than just stuff. The barbie offers an imaginative outlet for kids, the Charger offers a sense of freedom and a reminder of youthfulness, the Nikes offer inspiration for personal fitness and well being (or winning, I guess, given the name of the shoe). And they stay true to their essence, even though they make changes to the actual product.
So now to my point – discussion of leadership is something that is ongoing. People have been talking about it for centuries. The discussion itself has evolved over time to consider different theories – traits, behaviors, abilities, relationships, authenticity, positivity, etc.
A simple intervention that you can perform regularly is learning about leadership. Scholars and authors are always coming up with new stuff to say about how to be a better leader. Be aware of what’s new, what’s different, what sounds basically the same. Share your insights! Keep the essence of your brief encouragements!
Again, I really enjoy your blog! Keep up the great work!
Dear Dan,
First of all, you deserve our sincere compliments for successfully carrying an interesting, very useful blog on practically a daily basis without any break. LF community is indeed indebted to you for your singular efforts and the variety of topics covered with innovation. Many of us have become addicted to read and post of our immediate views/comments quite regularly and mind well, we really enjoy participating & contributing our bit. I can go to the extent of saying that we wait for your reply comments to get inspired further.
I distinctly remember your state of mind about 15 months before. You have certainly achieved what you must have desired and the manner in which the popularity graph has grown with every post. I don’t believe that you have reached a saturation point and an intervention is required at this stage. It’s good to have an intervention to get some new ideas and suggestions to grow further and reach the peak.
You have been doing quite well in the recent months with good variety of topics and newer ways of incresaing the readership and widening the comments coverage by keeping the discussion open by inviting the community members to even share their wxperiences, Giving free books and arranging for interviews with the leading CEOs, consultants and authors have made your blog much popular.
You may consider making a series of videos of all writings and even publish it as Pocket Books with a price tag to sustain the growth phase. But, continue your writings under different skill set of leaders like communication, motivation, humility, decision-making, team-building etc.
Never think of a satuaration or a decline stage unless you feel that monetarily you should benefit. Keep up the spirit of creative writing and fulfil the basic quest of numerous LF community members. A good lot of them actualy look for the basic tips from your end in shaping their careers at the corporate, eduaction and society levels. Forget about the Life Cycle Curve and concentrate on your inner urge to be exemplary to many others by sharing your knowledge and experiences. You have been doing a great job. Three cheers to you for all your quality efforts.
“Hi, my name is Doc and I am a LF addict” Okay all together… “Hiii Doc” Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Don’t know if it intervention, evolution or permutation Dan, first off, props for not adhering to ‘what is’ and for looking toward ‘what can be’ While currently blurry, fuzzy, out of focus, sans dialogue, won’t know where we are going even if we are making great time (Yogi Berra variation).
Even on the upswing with this process, this is the time to be looking ahead…when, where and how to make the leap. It will get more dizzying the higher up the cycle’s curve and may even feel like we are on the edge of chaos (Kostas N Dervitsiotis, 2003). As Kostas points out, most organizations (and LF is an organization of sorts) wait until they mature (ripen too much?) and then it is too late to leap. “We are doing what made us successful, let’s keep doing it.” It isn’t just the doing, but the philosophy underneath. To not just sustain, but advance may be a future focus.
Of course, definitely like the meeting option in some way. (Besides Croadie still owes me a beer.) The FB page works, not so much real time, but still is an alternative. Like the ebook idea, Dan, yet that keeps things flowing through the communication tube more one way than free flowing–which LF here does some. (Seth G might be a good resource for the ebook with his Domino Project.)
Sat in once on a virtual fishbowl which was very helpful and interactive. We were about 20 miles away from a linked site so had audio/video both ways and the main site did a presentation (actually a low key directive therapy group) and then at the end feedback, discussion, etc.
Wonder if an ‘accredited’ workshop/seminar that had that a/v linkage component to it might be a variation to consider. Have an opening keynote of sorts with the topic/problem/opportunity and then smaller break out sessions and report backs at the end of the day for summary and next steps folks could commit to. It would be somewhat tech heavy and bandwidth consumptive to be sure.
Let’s keep the brainstorming flowing here and see what comes up! (was going to write, keep spitballing and see what sticks…eww)
Thanks for asking Dan and as always thanks all for jumpin’ in!
Yes I know this is very late! LOL but I was reviewing old entries and came upon one that sparked something NEW. I never threw spitballs Doc but certainly am willing to learn. How about a frisbee. Hey the SG domino book sounds good. All Dan has to do is print everything on LF from the beginning and let it rip. Seriously how about a sky session one day with plenty of notice, not sure how many folks can get on, I am not a techie but am willing to learn. Hey Doc, now that Dan has hit the big times will simple folks like you and me still be allowed? JK of course, Dan might not agree with me but the one trait that rings through in his every word is his humility. Cheers Doc and yes I do like the Police and Cervantes and Fleming and Buddha and Britney and Oprah. Well suffice it to say I will cover the brew and I do mean cover it to protect it from the rain. Did you guys read the last alert from the FDA how alcohol prevents dementia? I am not drinking enough………. 🙂 Doc in case you don’t see this it was censored by Dan……….AD
Hi Al,
The only thing I see in your comment is “brew” 😉 and how it prevents dementia. I’m running out for brain food!
Who knows what the next steps are?
Cheers,
Dan
I agree with Joan’s recommendation. I also subscribe to a few other blogs and a couple of them use video to conduct interviews. I have found that these add a whole new perspective to just the written word (sometimes they even do a video blog instead of a written one).
Hi Dan
I certainly appreciate where the thought comes from, but given where things currently are, I can’t think of an action you might need to take in the form of intervention that will enhance the life cycle. What is not to be underestimated is that what you are offering is timeless, so while some of the community might check in less, there is still a need by people out there for your mission and vision “I want to encourage leaders along their leadership path in small daily doses.” So what might evolve is your community as more people come on board and the dynamics shift from there. The fact that you have such an engaged community says it’s working so your intervention is effective in checking that your community is not losing interest in your offering.
In My Humble Opinion!
Dear Dan,
I am really grateful for every word you wrote, it is really helping shape my career and leadership journey as a young leader. I am also addicted to it. Mind me i contribute with few comments coz i feel my experience is so little compared with others, after reading your post i got in the mood of amazement and excitement, and really feel your posts are nearly perfect 🙂 and then I wait for readers comments to explore new dimensions.
Here are some recommendations, i thought it can be helpful,
– make an in-depth study on the value LF creates for its readers, i mean what are the success factors, I mean on value creation, marketing and tools. Personally I adore your creativity, wisdom, the spirit and attitude, high values and principles, your solutions on technical terms. (try to hire someone for this task, I don’t know the effect on too much analysis on your creative and insight driven abilities !)
– make an in-depth study on the readers characteristics, what factors common across these leaders, who are the audience and why they are interested! it will be helpful if decided to go for other segmants or just reach others of same audience.
– make study on various communication channels, and their effect on increasing readers and contributors, and look for ways to increase their value and effectiveness, some online channels e.g Facebook, twitter, Linkedin, conference calls (webinars) ..etc. and other offline interviews, seminars, adventure trips . .. etc.
– make an ongoing process for studying leadership trends (maybe also hire some for the task of this ongoing survey)
– make an ongoing process for finding new ways of inspiring the development of leaders, perhaps a good idea is to look at other fields for ideas of inspiration, leadership is about life, huge volumes of insights can be derived from human experience in other fields through history, they can be shaped to inspire leaders in modern times leading profit and non-profit organizations and communities.
– start to form a team of people who have the spirit, experience, wisdom, and the skills needed to contribute by high value posts (or people of some of these traits on multiple processes and activities ) and arguments for new trends and posts, they need to contribute to brain storming sessions and focus groups and take LF to new levels.
The ideas mentioned here are great, some look to improve the tools and this is important and worth developing, we need to also look to sustain the essence value that made LF so successful, maybe this need further resources (involve risks and ROI analysis).
Maybe it is good to forget all about it and just repeat what you did, you did great work and this ensures you have what it needs to continue the work.
Just few words live your life to its fullest, always experience life with an eye of wonder and source of getting more insight, enjoy new experiences, meeting new people, travel to new places of the world, get involved in pains and aspirations of others in other communities or other places of the world or other times and great moments of nations
May God bless you with happiness, health and greater wisdom,
Wish you all the best,
Huda
Dan,
Still quite new here and so far I have learned many insights from you and those here contributing. A hardy thank you for your blog and by all means keep on!!! I do completely understand the process you are engaged in and I am all for the intervention but as the saying goes don’t look past the forest trying to find the trees. Look intently here to see what is effectively working. Ask these questions: “what has brought these leaders here to my blog and why do they continue to come back?, then do your intervention to enhance the up hill growth.
Thanks again for challenging us to grow!
By the way…speaking of this LF family where is Greg? No voice on this one?
I totally agree that this is a valuable resource that I also hope continues for a long time.
I would agree with the thoughts and recommendations for increasing the level of engagement with weekend workshops, seminars that are face-to-face as well as the VODs.
I would also offer the option to consider online workshops that would cover a specific topic or could be a weekly seminar series. These are easy to host and are gaining in popularity with the ease for the audience in fitting one into an already overbooked schedule.
Another option that could increase the level of engagement is creating a forum for those that attend a series of online seminars of workshops. This would increase the networking resource that is often captured at a face-to-face event.
Off the top of my head, what if you would design an answering structure (as an example, What? So What, and Now What + # of word limit), and ask provocative questions on the verge of irritating? You could askus to answer in the suggested format. You could then respond or join in as you feel the urge. Or something on this order.
Hey guys,
Sorry, sometimes don’t even look at things on the weekend. Of course, I echo all of the supportive thoughts. I learn a great deal from the blog, and a lot of magic happens with the dialogues we get going in the comments. I like the people I’ve met here. It’s worth thinking about what should happen when the momentum slows, but I don’t think you’re there quite yet.