The Fine Art of Showing Up
Part Three of “The Intangibles:
They Make You Or They Break You”
By David Drury
Film director Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success
is showing up.” In this pithy quote he
captured the essence of one of the intangibles: the fine art showing up. People spin around on the hamster wheel of
success but still undercut much of their work by simply not showing up when it
counts. Showing up to something
important in your organization can make you… but missing it can break you just
as surely. Why?
When you don’t show
up…
You may be a great leader in a bunch of other tangible
ways. Your resume may include
accomplishments and awards and fancy titles.
But when people talk to others in your org about your leadership one of
the first things that comes to their minds is how well you show up. If you’re not
around much at the office—no matter what your results are—people will privately
wonder about your work ethic. If you
have a “clock in—clock out” attitude about work, and you never show up to put
in some extra elbow grease—the team around you will wonder if you really
believe in sacrificing for the mission.
If you only show up to your own events and meetings—and rarely support
someone else’s by showing up (and showing up on-time) then they’ll begin to
believe you’re in it only for yourself.
If you never have time to go out to lunch spontaneously, or you forget
someone on your team had major surgery, then the team will treat you like a
one-dimensional robot with no heart. And
if you’re not around to strike when the iron is hot—if you didn’t show up when
the organization was at a major turning point… well, you can’t take that
back. You haven’t learned the fine art
of showing up when it counts if any of these are true of you. If you don’t show up you get shown up by
those who do.
When you do show up…
Sometimes it’s not what you say or do—it’s the fact that you
show up. My neighbor is the postmaster
for a large city. She rose to this
prominence in the Postal Service in training other leaders to respond to the
new Post 9-11 world. She now travels all
around the country to consult others.
One day while we were working in the yard and chatting she mentioned
that she had just been to a funeral.
“Who for?” I replied, assuming it was one of her distant family
members. “It was for the parent of one
of our line workers” she told me. I was
surprised. Being a pastor, I show up to
a lot of funerals. But pastors are often
more common at funerals than flowers.
It’s a part of the expectation for us.
I was a bit amazed that this woman who had hundreds working for her, and
who traveled all the time, had taken the time to show up at a funeral like
that. But it’s because she has this
intangible. She knew that was a moment
to show up. She also knows that it’s not
really what you say, it’s that you show up in the first place. I’ve never been able to say something at a
funeral “that makes it all better.” In
fact, trying to say something profound at that time usually does more harm than
good. Instead—just being there is what
warms the heart of the hurting.
There are several categories to showing up that demonstrate
how it expands and multiplies your leadership influence in an organization:
The Minimum Show Up—You don’t have to be an “office
rat” (always there like a gym rat on the basketball team). However, accessibility is easy to
underestimate in an organization. You
may need to work out of the office to get something done—but can people reach
you by e-mail or cell-phone when they need you?
And when you’re out do you tell others where you are so they don’t have
the chance to assume you’re at the beach?
The bare minimum show up is different in each organization—but if you’re
in the top half of the “show up quotient” in an org then you’ll be more
respected and counted on when the chips are down.
The Extra Mile Show Up—Then there’s going beyond the bare
minimum, showing up for that that little extra bit of work that shows you
care. Others will know that you’re
giving it your all. I’m not suggesting
that you need to burn the candle at both ends in order to have this
intangible. I am suggesting that if you
just show up for the bare minimum then over time others will question whether
you’re committed or if you’re coasting.
The Supportive Show Up—The funeral my neighbor-friend went
to was a supportive show-up of the most heart-felt kind. But others kinds of supportive show ups
count. When someone else puts on an
event or holds an informal meeting—if you show up “just to show support” then
it gives you much better clout with that person and the others at that
event. They “appreciate you coming” to
show your support. They feel your
presence, even if you’re not doing anything other than being another positive
supportive presence in the crowd. As a
point leader or manager in an organization these supportive show ups can go a
long way. Just coming at the beginning
or end of an event can do a lot to show your selfless ownership (like the first
intangible) for that other leader’s area.
The Relational Show Up—Beyond your job description it’s
important to show up relationally. If
you’re available to grab a bite to eat, or to go out for a movie from time to
time with co-workers, then the relationships with your co-workers will be more
than one-dimensional. It’s not like you
have to be best friends with those you work with—but it does help to really be
a human every once in a while—not just a title.
The Right Timing Show
UP—Sometimes your
org goes through a crisis or a significant decision making season. There are a variety of ways to show up during
this season that can make or break your future with the org. Leaders who have mastered the fine art of
showing up make sure they apply this intangible during these seasons like no
others. When the going gets tuff it
takes something intangible to get going and you never really know who in your
org has it. This tough, resilient
attitude often amounts to simply showing up and taking orders from the “org
bunker.” Other times it’s seizing the
moment to take your organization to the next level—they “strike while the iron
is hot.” Shakespeare explained this kind
of trend in Julius Caesar (Brutus’
speech in Act IV:)
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
This fortune tide, as my father called it in his
“Strategetics” leadership lessons, helps someone who knows how to show up the
most. They are the ones you always seem
to end up being at the right place at the right time.
How to develop the
fine art of showing up:
If you’ve determined you could really work on the fine art
of showing up within your organization here are some starting tips:
q
Who
is hurting or in need in your organization right now? How are you “showing up” in their life? Drop a note or drop by their office this
week.
q
When
you’re out of the office let people know where you are. Put a post-it note on your door about where
you are or be accessible by phone or internet.
q
Sacrifice
family or project time every once in a while to show up to a significant event
in someone else’s life in your org.
q
Come
in early or stay late every once in a while.
q
Don’t
schedule a lunch every day—sometimes keep one open and spontaneously go out to
lunch with anyone free that day (CEO’s take note of this one!)
q
Consider
the key seasons in your organization in the past? Who “showed up” and delivered in those times
best? What’s coming up that might be
that again?
How to spot &
reward someone who shows up:
I work with a guy who seems to show up like few others I’ve
met. His name is Dave Horne. He works with Global Outreach at our
church—so his work has little to do with the everyday lives of most of us. He’s working to send people, money and
prayers to places on the other side of the planet in missionary work. However, few people are more “present” in our
organization than Dave. He seems to “add
value” to our team in a way that his job description and résumé don’t
show. That’s because he has mastered the
art of the show up. He has that
intangible ability to show up and make his presence felt in supporting what’s
happening or making things better with just a bit of encouragement or a bit of
help. He doesn’t go overboard—in fact,
I’d say he’s exceptionally balanced with his family and work—he doesn’t do
everything. But he does do the things
that count.
Rewarding a guy like Dave who “adds value” to the
organization in ways that don’t show up on paper as well is crucial. He should be coaching others, making decisions,
participating in major projects. And he
does all these things on our team. An
outside consultant might not suggest those things—but anyone on the inside
knows that this intangible goes a long way toward making all the pieces in an
organization fall together.
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_________
This is part three of The Essential Intangibles. Come back for more on each intangible. Click here
for the introduction to this series.
© 2006 by David Drury
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