Building Fierce Loyalty: A Choreography [Day 2- 28 BFL]

This is Day 2 of 28 Days of Building Fierce Loyalty. Yesterday I talked about preparation and commitment. Without these two things in place, the remaining 27 days will have little impact, so get on it!. Today, my insanely smart friend Les McKeown starts us off with his incredible gifts of insight and creativity.

Building Fierce Loyalty: A Choreography

By: Les McKeown | @lesmckeown

F ind people that you care for.

I nvest time to learn what they love.

E ngage on the basis of their needs.

R evel in feedback, good and bad.

C are enough to admit when you screw up.

E xperiment enough to screw up.

L ove the weakest you serve, not (just) the strongest.
O pen the box. Let them see how the sausage is made*.
Y ield easily to the pressure of their great ideas.
A sk, when in doubt.
L et go, not of control, but of direction.
T ear down whatever should not stand.
Y ou will be loved. Fiercely. Loyally.

*Even better, let them make the sausage themselves.

What steps will you dance first?

Les McKeown is president and CEO of Predictable Success, the leading advisor on accelerated business growth. He is the author of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-seller “Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track – and Keeping It There.” and The Synergist: How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success.

P.S. If you aren’t already signed up and don’t want to miss out on 28 Days to Building Fierce Loyalty, please sign up here. (Yesterday, I gave away Les’s book, Predictable Success, to someone on the email list!)

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at 3:51 pm and is filed under 28 Days to Building Fierce Loyalty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

http://dougleavy.tumblr.com/ Doug Leavy

* Note to self – print this out and put it right behind notebook screen to see, read, memorize and act on daily!
- http://twitter.com/rmukeshgupta Mukesh Gupta
  
  Will do the same as well
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Thanks, Doug – glad it helped.
- http://twitter.com/AmandaLKinney Amanda Lane Kinney
  
  Absolutely, me too! Note to self… read “Predictable Success”
  - Anonymous
    
    TOTALLY read Predictable Success. And hang out on Les’s blog too.
    - Jenny
      
      I’m going to, it’s an important topic and Les writes it so well.
- http://www.thesoulmap.com/ Lissa
  
  Don’t know why my Gravatar’s gone MIA – sorry folks.
- Anonymous
  
  I was thinking the very same thing.
- http://twitter.com/Shauna_LeanOnUs Shauna Smith
  
  I am printing it out right now.. Love it!!
- Niraj Popat
  
  I have made the note of it too..this is where the journey begins..
http://twitter.com/ClaudiaC ClaudiaC

I love the clear simplicity of your acronym! Since I hear a lot about marketing, book marketing in particular, I love having something so clear to focus on.

I particularly like “let go of direction.” That’s been part of the magic in my serial fiction Denver Cereal (almost 4 years in the running!). When I get stuck, I ask the audience and let go of what they say. It’s hard because they don’t always say what I want them too and it’s a fabulous, miraculous process.Thanks. Really. This is tremendously helpful. (I scoop.it under BookMarket too!)
- http://www.janetgoldstein.com/ janet goldstein
  
  Claudia – I saw your name here, but took me a second to connect to #BookMarket. Waving. (Sarah and Les have both been an important part of BookBreakthrough.com and I’ve learned a lot from them.)
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  You’re right, of course. You can’t write good fiction without letting the characters go in the direction *they* want. Good lesson!
- http://tictokva.com/ Shelley McKenzie
  
  Sometimes we just need to follow the direction of the meandering path don’t we, Claudia!
http://www.lisarobbinyoung.com Lisa Robbin Young

Les, all kinds of jokes are abounding in my brain about “sausage” now. Thanks for that.
Oh, and do you mind if I make a poster of this?
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Make a poster of your sausage? Sure
  - http://www.lisarobbinyoung.com Lisa Robbin Young
    
    Just one more reason I love you so much. So generous.
  - http://twitter.com/DooneyPug Lori Finnigan
    
    Oh my word…naughty thoughts abounding now.
- http://www.facebook.com/shannon.bednowicz Shannon Bednowicz
  
  LOL Lisa, I so got stuck on sausage too!!!! Love it!
  - http://www.lisarobbinyoung.com Lisa Robbin Young
    
    Les and I have had several conversations regarding “the making of the sausage”, which is why it makes me chuckle. P.S. Les, is there a time when revealing how the sausage is made is NOT a good thing?
    - http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
      
      Can’t think of one. Maybe if it involves showing something negative about another person?
      - Anonymous
        
        Maybe you should open a sausage factory Les. That has a gift shop that serves Ice Cream.
      - http://www.facebook.com/shannon.bednowicz Shannon Bednowicz
        
        ew! Sausage ice cream?
http://twitter.com/rmukeshgupta Mukesh Gupta

So simple, so basic, yet so difficult! I think this is a great start to the month! Looking forward to getting to learn a lot more!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Cool. What’s coming next will be brilliant, if I know Sarah and her tribe.
- Anonymous
  
  Oh – we are just getting started. Though, as always, Les sets a really fast pace for everyone to follow.
http://www.brucebarone.com/ Bruce Barone

This is so wonderful. I, too, plan to copy, paste and print! I am reminded of a saying “Let Go. Let God.”
- http://twitter.com/AmandaLKinney Amanda Lane Kinney
  
  Hi Bruce, so happy to see a familiar name here. Let’s encourage each other over the next #28days
- Anonymous
  
  I thought of the same saying Bruce.
http://www.janetgoldstein.com/ Janet Goldstein

Les – This is a keeper and so wonderful to see you dancing and playing with how you share what you know in your bones (and dancing feet). I love: “Love the weakest you serve, not (just) the strongest” and “Experiment enough to screw up.”
- http://www.lisarobbinyoung.com Lisa Robbin Young
  
  That’s what resonated most with me, too, Janet. So often we focus on the biggest/strongest/wealthiest in our tribe and miss out on all the other gems that have just as much sparkle as the bigger ones.
  - Anonymous
    
    Sometimes even more sparkle when we are conscious of them….
    - http://www.lisarobbinyoung.com Lisa Robbin Young
      
      Yes. Exactly.
- Lissa
  
  Wow. The whole thing’s poster-worthy, creative-curve-ball brilliant, AND like you Janet, I adore “Love the weakest you serve, not (just) the strongest.”
- Anonymous
  
  Makes me happy to see you here Janet.
- http://twitter.com/DaniellaRudoff Daniella Rudoff
  
  Janet- these are the 2 phrases that I liked the most, too!
http://twitter.com/elansocial Élan Barish

i adore the idea of not letting go of control, but of direction. not sure how that works though. especially as the leader of the team. i would think it would be the opposite: assure direction and let others take some control. hmm.
- http://twitter.com/lina003 Sherrie Rohde
  
  Agreed. There is a huge difference in relinquishing control and keeping focused on direction.
http://www.lydiapuhak.com Lydia Puhak

so concise and wields such powerful permission to be VULNERABLE! fabulous!! Thank you, Les!
- Anonymous
  
  I’ve found that being vulnerable in front of others does more to build fierce loyalty than just about anything else, Lydia. We get to be “not perfect” in public.
  - http://twitter.com/lina003 Sherrie Rohde
    
    This is something I try to do all the time. Lack of authenticity is one of my biggest pet peeves.
  - http://twitter.com/DaniellaRudoff Daniella Rudoff
    
    I absolutely agree with you sarahrobinson! People relate to me b/c I don’t put on a “show”. This is one reason that we feel so connected.
http://mattreport.com Matt Medeiros

I should be able to relate sausage to web sites no problem!
http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown

Ditto
http://www.idanceiwrite.com idanceiwrite

I love how all these things add up to….Be A Good Person. Do these things with integrity. Keep focussed on serving and believe in the outcome. Thanks for this Les.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  You’re welcome, Megan!
http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown

Nice
http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown

God knows, I’ve done enough of the second.
http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown

Whatever works for you – just don’t try to do both
http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown

Any time
http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown

Mmm – looks like some of my replies to individual comments haven’t been linked to the original commenter. You get to chose which reply you want (see below)
http://www.facebook.com/shannon.bednowicz Shannon Bednowicz

So much content in such a concise delivery! Kind of like a complex movie, when you look at it again, you see a whole new set of goodies! I’ll admit, I am slightly distracted by the sausage
I think my biggest takeaway is the love I see in every bullet point of the acronym.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Glad it’s helpful, Shannon. Bet you’ll think about sausage all day now.
http://twitter.com/lina003 Sherrie Rohde

This is such a good reminder, I definitely need to print it out and keep it somewhere prominent. I think C are enough to admit when you screw up. & E xperiment enough to screw up.
are my favorites — mostly because we spend way too much effort trying not to screw up and instead end up stuck in inaction. Thanks Les!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Go screw something up, Sherrie!
  - Anonymous
    
    Now that is something you don’t hear everyday AND it is so freeing! Hmmm. I’m thinking the more comfortable we get with screwing up (and not apologizing for it) the better off we will be…. (as a society as well!)
    - http://twitter.com/lina003 Sherrie Rohde
      
      I totally agree!
http://twitter.com/DooneyPug Lori Finnigan

Hi Les!

It was hard to choose a favorite letter but I think I like “O” the best:

O pen the box. Let them see how the sausage is made…including the **let them make the sausage themselves.

Withholding information or knowledge does not make one more valuable. I’m always dumbfounded when I see someone not take the extra few minutes to share/teach when given the opportunity. And the opportunities are there all of the time.

Thanks for the choreography. As always, you are a true delight.

P.S. I like bacon.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Me too!
- Anonymous
  
  I like bacon too! And maybe you can just *show* them how the bacon is made too…
  
  I really like “O” too. I love teaching/showing people the doing & making of things rather than just handing it over.
  
  Like how the saying goes, you can give a man a fish or you can teach him to fish- or something like that. We don’t need to be the great all-seeing, all-knowing Oz.
  
  Oh geez, I’m getting my saying all jumbled together. Guess I messed that one up! : )
http://www.foundationbirmingham.org/ Erin Stephenson

Hi, I’m Erin Stephenson, with the Community Foundation in Birmingham, AL. Slap my wrist for not commenting yesterday. But, moving on …

What really resonates with me most about this, Les, is the challenge to let our partners see how the sausage is made. In the context of the Foundation, we have been pretty reticent in the past to do this, lest we confuse them or give them too many options, or show our warts. With some of our community convening and fundraising for big projects in the past couple years, however, we’ve had to draw the curtain back and it has resulted in some of the most solid partnerships I think our organization has ever had. Now we’re trying to translate that to our board and donors … to ask for help where we’re stuck, or the organization is lean, or exploring something sticky. Thanks for this affirmation that IT’S OK to do this.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Sure, you’ll lose people by showing them the inner workings, but they’re probably people you *should* lose. Appreciate the comment, Erin.
  - http://www.foundationbirmingham.org/ Erin Stephenson
    
    Well said, Les.
Lissa

Shazam, honey! Going on the wall. Eager to share. Sarah/Les – may I ? P.S. Point peeps who feel called to serve leaders in the direction of Predictable Success regularly. Thanks for the example and the straight talk.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Very kind of you, Lissa. Appreciate the support very much indeed.
  - http://www.thesoulmap.com/ Lissa
    
    Thanks, Les. It’s a perfect companion piece within an event I’m hosting, so I appreciate it. Shared your & your ‘show them how the sausage is made’ and it got a lively chuckle.
Ava Diamond (@feistywoman)

Love this…and especially love “experiment enough to screw up.” I’ve learned, for me, that when I’m out on the edge and scared that’s when I’m doing something really big and new. And it doesn’t always go well, but I learn and improve along the way : ) Thanks for a great post.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Thank *you* for stopping by, Ms Feisty!
- http://tictokva.com/ Shelley McKenzie
  
  I’m with you , Ava. It can be scary standing on the ledge but it’s great to have a community to give us the push we sometimes need!
  - Ava Diamond (@feistywoman)
    
    I so agree, Shelley! And Sarah is a master at building a supportive, awesome community!
Anonymous

ohmyword. Of course I get here and there are already 50 comments on the board. Because Les is that brilliant.
http://www.artist-at-large.com/ kimba

Oh good. Building my online community from zed to beta while the site was live wasn’t a mistake! (Looking at letter “O”)

This is a nice list of things that I need to be reminded of daily.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  That’s how to do it
- http://www.artist-at-large.com/ kimba
  
  I also realized while building the structure of my community that I had
  to “let it go” to be what it (the folks *in* the community) want rather
  than exactly what I wanted. I realized that this will also attract a
  larger audience in the long run … although it’s not about numbers for
  me – more about quality. I used to be heavy into curating the work on
  the site and accepting members, now I’ve chosen to curate projects
  instead and let everyone who wants to participate in the day to day stuff do so.
Anonymous

Hey Les,

Hope you are FIERCELY happy and well. Thanks for sharing here!

I nvest time to learn what they love.
E ngage on the basis of their needs.

These two resonated with me SO strongly I’m honestly not even sure what to say about them.

“Learn what they love. Learn what they love. Learn what they love.” It just kept repeating itself.

Yep. Sounds so simple. But it’s not so simple. Until we Let Go of the Direction of our work and let it be guided by what they love, based on thier needs. It sounds so simple. Time to practice and focus and let go.

#thatisall.

Shannon
- Anonymous
  
  Love that you are here Shannon!!!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Love that it worked for you, Shannon – come back and share with us what you discover, won’t you?
Sharon E. Greene

Hi, Les, thanks for the beautiful choreography (including
the sausage:). What I really like about this poem/reflection/challenge and your
“invitation to the dance” is that it starts with our love, care and compassion
for others that circles back to their (or someone else’s) fierce and loyal love
for us. That by planting seeds in other people’s gardens, our own garden
flourishes.
The first steps of my dance for today is to
F ind people that you care for.
I nvest time to learn what they love.
Sometimes we are so centered in our own concerns, we don’t take time for those who we
care for most. (So, along with posting invoices today, I need to call my
sister!) Thanks, Les and Sarah, for a great start to a very promising month.
Sharon
- Anonymous
  
  An excellent beginning Sharon!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Say hello to your sister for me
Pamela Morse

Big fan of letting go of direction .
- http://twitter.com/DaniellaRudoff Daniella Rudoff
  
  Hi Pamela! I am also a big fan of letting go of direction. It is always interesting to see where the unplanned direction takes you. Right?
http://twitter.com/JennaAvery Jenna Avery

Les, what are your favorite ways to:

Invest time to learn what they love.
Engage on the basis of their needs.

It would be great to hear about some examples that you’ve seen.I’ve done surveys and personal interviews in the past and I need to do more investing and engaging as you’re suggesting.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Reading, listening, watching – I have no special tools, tips or techniques, I’m afraid.
  
  Just paying attention, I guess
http://twitter.com/BlairGlaser Blair Glaser

“C are enough to admit when you screw up.

E xperiment enough to screw up.”
I find that people, especially women, need permission to make mistakes in order to unlock the full creative potential of their leadership.
- Anonymous
  
  I always love the question: “What would you do if you had permission to do it VERY badly?”
  - http://www.facebook.com/shannon.bednowicz Shannon Bednowicz
    
    ooohhhh I like that question!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Then I must be a woman.
Ivana

I’m not sure whether to comment or not, since most of you are leders of grown ups and I’m trying to lead children, but I’m noticing something – this akronym works for leading children very much (beside the sausage insinuations in the comments ) joking ofcourse!
C are enough to admit when you screw up.
L ove the weakest you serve, not (just) the strongest.
- these 2 work the most and I’m acctually trying to hang on to Leses words for years now, but haven’ been aware of them till today!! Les tnx for revelation!Btw, I’m a teacher!
- Anonymous
  
  Oh – I think everything you learn here will be especially applicable to children. Lucky them that they have a teacher who cares so much.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Well, I write at the four-year-old level, so I’m not surprised Thanks for sharing.
Anonymous

Oh… Les & Sarah, Les & Sarah, Les & Sarah!

I am going to practice E xperiment enough to screw up… bear with me and Les, if you abhor this thought, I will revel in the feedback. Here goes:

I just read this again, after reading the comments and here is what occurs to me: that final line…Y ou will be loved. Fiercely. Loyally. (almost like an amen (so be it)… could be used as a responsive reading

In other words, read it aloud after each and every other statement. Instead of hanging this on the wall, add it to the beginning and end of your day.

My heart warms up as I read it that way….. wow.

F ind people that you care for.
Y ou will be loved. Fiercely. Loyally.
I nvest time to learn what they love.
You will be loved. Fiercely. Loyally.
E ngage on the basis of their needs.
You will be loved. Fiercely. Loyally.

etc… etc… etc…
- Sharon E. Greene
  
  Hi, Julie,
  I love what you’ve done to make this a responsive reading and affirmation of the positive effect one person can have in the world – if we put ourselves “out there.” even if we make mistakes along the way. Beautiful work…
  - Anonymous
    
    Love this Julie. Each day, make the post your own.
- http://twitter.com/lina003 Sherrie Rohde
  
  Oooh, I like that! Good call!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  That’s lovely. Truly lovely.
- http://tictokva.com/ Shelley McKenzie
  
  Clearly, you “get it,” Julie! What a great addition to Les’ post!
rmsorg

Love the simplicity yet the difficulty of your advice! I especially loved reading the comments & chuckling about the sausage!!

I am so pumped for the remainder of the month!

RMSorg
WallStreetBranding
- Anonymous
  
  It will just get better and better.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  So you should be – this is just the amuse bouche.
Anonymous

LES!!! This is amazing and pure. I knew I would be blown away by your amazing insight but this. Just WOW!!

Oh, as for my first steps….I am going to start with one that I keep stumbling on…Let go, not of control, but of direction.
Thank you, thank you! Big Hugs!
- http://twitter.com/DooneyPug Lori Finnigan
  
  Oh Nicole I didn’t realize you would be here too. WooHoo!
  - Anonymous
    
    Hi! :) Yep….I always love a good party and a party with LES and Sarah! *swoon* Now you are here!!! Putting on my dancing shoes!
    - Anonymous
      
      NICOLE!!! Hey
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  That’s a pretty good place to start, Nicole – enjoy
Niraj Popat

Beauty to be applied as a practical tool in Life..better the seeds sown..sweeter the fruits grown..well this gives me a feeling of soul to soul connection..”Feel it, Express it, Create it, share it, & finally expand it…oh yes I am learning..This is truely a juicy fruit.. Thank you sir Les Mckeown & Sarah
- Anonymous
  
  I like the images you conjure Niraj.
  - Niraj Popat
    
    Thank you Sarah..tht was the feeling of my heart craving to learn extra ordinary phases of Life..
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Very welcome, Niraj. Thank you.
Mark Sherrick

Plain and simple advice, great way to start it off, Les.

Nothing to it but to do it, 100 percent. Bring them along with you any way you can.
- Anonymous
  
  Hey Mark – so glad you’ve come around for the next round of 28 days.
  - Anonymous
    
    Highlight of my year as always, Sarah. I may not be using all of this great info for my own business, but I better myself and my team with it all, every year.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Well, I’d probably draw the line at bribery, or taking my clothes off, but I get your point, Mark
  - Anonymous
    
    There’s always a line for sure…but that’s the beauty, Les. Everyone has a different line…lol.
Thesnowlegacy

What a brilliant way to keep the principles as simple and to-the-point as possible. Thank you, Les! I look forward to internalizing and sharing this acronym. I also want to read Predictable Success. Success CAN be predictable. It’s a frame of mind. Thank you, again!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Well, my. That’s something an author likes to hear. Don’t forget ’The Synergist’ too
  - Thesnowlegacy
    
    I’m looking it up now. Thanks! I have a lot to learn.
http://thechoiceeffect.com/ Shana

I love this- it’s simple, but amazing!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Thank you Shana.
http://www.lisarobbinyoung.com Lisa Robbin Young

I cobbled this together for those of you that want to have a graphic of this wonderful post: http://pinterest.com/pin/138696863494026773/
- Anonymous
  
  VERY cool – thanks for doing this for everyone Lisa.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Very lovely, Lisa. Thank you.
- Thesnowlegacy
  
  This looks amazing! I’ll show my wife. She has a pinterest account.
Anonymous

Holy Lord God- way to go, Les. That was just beautiful.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Gosh, thank you, Aziz.
  Many remembrances went in to it.
  - Anonymous
    
    You remembered! So sweet. The full deal is “Abdul’aziz” – “Slave of the Divine Strength.”
http://www.twitter.com/Safan_Momin Safan Momin

Best To Do list ever. I was going to quote one line that I really liked but as I read it again and again I realized that I couldn’t choose just one. I refreshing to see how soo many important points were said simply in so few words. Epic 13 lines.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Hey Safan – glad it helped!
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah – I can’t pick out a favorite either Safan. Each is brilliant in its own way.
Jeff Lescouflair

I like the breakdown of acronyms – I have two questions? Under “Loyalty” – acronyms “L” & “O” can u further elaborate what they mean. Esp. The metaphorical reference to “sausage” as well
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Hi Jeff!
  
  L = Sometimes we repsond only to the strong, the insistent, and miss the quiet, reserved, the weak.
  
  O = Be transparent about as much of what you do as you can bring yourself to be.
  
  Sausage metaphor = Sausages traditionally were made from cast-off bits of meat (if you were lucky), offal and other icky bits of animal. Butchers weren therefore somewhat reluctant to let their customers see the sausage being made.
  
  Hope this helps.
  - Jeff Lescouflair
    
    Ah ok. Understood! By the way – I like the excellent reference to the sausage. I didn’t think about it like that – the best way to put it. Thank you for the insight.
    - http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
      
      Cool! My pleasure.
Anonymous

I love how you described this as a dance Les. As business people I think we sometimes try to work within a bubble, trying to perfect things before we let anyone even peek at them. Thinking of it as a dance is the perfect reminder that we’re not dancing by ourselves so why should we function as if we are?

Beautiful in its simplicity. And disarmingly powerful when you feel the message at its core. Love it!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  You’re very kind, Annette – thank you
http://twitter.com/DaniellaRudoff Daniella Rudoff

Les, thanks for this great poem and dance. A dance of life. A dance of relationships. Second to second there are precise steps for one dance, but change the step accidentally and you have a new dance. A beautiful dance. A better dance. Or if you don’t like this new dance, you can just switch back to the original dance. It all works. It is all a dance. A dance of life. A dance of relationships.

Turn on the music.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  That’s a lot of dancing, right there. Love it.
- Anonymous
  
  I like the idea of “there is no wrong dance. ”
KarenW

Good evening all,

Les, thank you for a very thought provoking post. I do love a juicy acronym.

I wonder if you could say a bit more about the distinction between letting go of direction versus letting go of control. Intuitively, I would have actually come down on the side of providing direction/guidance and giving up control.

I’d welcome and appreciate further thoughts and insight on this distinction and how you use it in your own community building.

Thanks so much,

Karen
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Hi Karen -
  
  It’s a matter of personal preference. I believe in leadership that has a vision and wants to see that vision realized. Personally I’m happier setting the vision and then letting people I trust realize the vision however they will (ie keep control of the vision but let others decide how to get there).
  
  I recognize there are others like yourself who prefer to reverse the process- get people they trust around them, let those people choose the vision (control) then work with them in setting direction to get there. That’s perfectly fine.
  
  I find communities settle around the type of leader they want – it only gets problematic when they want one thing and get another
  
  This is a very interesting article on the control / direction issue from Peter Block:
  
  http://www.pegasuscom.com/levpoints/block.html
  
  Hope this helps..- Les
  - KarenW
    
    Thanks Les. This is tremendously helpful – the distinction is much clearer for me now. And I appreciate the additional resource.
    
    Karen
http://www.CaroAyre.co.uk/ Caro Ayre

Revel in feedback, good and bad sounds good to me, along with doing all that experimenting.
The rest are perfect too.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Thank you Caro.
http://www.shoebox2keepsake.com Donna De Vries

Wow, what a great opening by Les McKeown to this month of learning & connecting! And then I read the comments… what an awesome community and tribe! I love knowing there are so many people willing & wanting to dance!! WooHoo & Wow & Thank you!!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  They are good people here, Donna – and very generous too, as you wil have seen.
Anonymous

Wow, that’s great stuff. I guess this is business plan 101. I can’t pick one as a better starting point over another, but I have fallen in love with allowing your team the flexibility to excel as opposed to boxing them in to avoid mistakes. I would also add though not nearly as eloquently, to not expect subordinates to see with your eyes, instead decide if you can accept what they see with their eyes.

Iambic pentameter tomorrow?
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  No, I can’t do those .
http://www.TexasLivingPure.com/ Kathy Burden

Les, your Building Fierce Loyalty: A Choreography, is beautiful and thought provoking. Each line engaged my mind and I found myself almost painting a picture about its meaning.

My difficulty is narrowing down the people that I care for…I care for mothers with young children and how to teach them about healthy nutrition, I care for athletes looking for the cutting edge and the so-called healthy things they put in their bodies, I care for the Baby Boomers that are sick and tired of being sick and tired, I care about anyone-any age that is ill and can’t fight the disease because their body isn’t in optimal health.

Let’s see, where should I start my dance? I think my first steps or the steps I dance first will be with mothers with young children. Building a strong solid foundation with young children will help to grow-up healthy adults that will produce healthy children. This seems like a good place to start.

When I think about dancing, I am reminded that my husband gave me (us) dance lessons one year for Valentine’s Day. We had so much fun! We laughed, met new people, made mistakes, ventured out of our comfort zone and grew both individually and as a couple. I’m counting on my dance with my business to produce the same results!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Better to pick one group and help than love all and not? Glad the piece inspired your thoughts
http://www.facebook.com/kimmackeylarocque Kim Larocque

Very inspiring and applicable to both “team” environments as well as for those of us who work with clients. I read it first from my perspective (self-employed) and then again from my old employee mindset (when I held a full time job as an administrative assistant). The employee part of me felt that every executive, boss, and manager out there should have this tattooed on their arm!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Excellent point, Kim. Appreciate you stopping by.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremie-Miller/100002294498460 Jeremie Miller

C and E stick out in this post for me.

When I was teaching high school so many old school teachers would tell me to never let my students know when I had made a mistake, and to cover it up. The thing is, you couldn’t, the students knew you made a mistake, and covering it up just made them trust you less. Plus, some of the best learning occurred for the whole class in figuring out how to fix the mistake.

Experimenting is another huge one I think for keeping your community interested and engaged. Your community wants to see you grow and evolve not just stay the same. They don’t get to benefit from all the cool new stuff you come up with if you don’t experiment. And if you don’t experiment you don’t get to learn from all the great stuff your community creates.

If you are comfortable with admitting when you screw up, then experimenting and screwing up isn’t nearly as big of an issue or as stressful. One of the keys to building community is to not just say things, but to model them. People want to see you do, not just talk about doing, so if you can get comfortable with “C” and “E” it will be a fabulous start to building your community.

“O”, “Y”, and “A” can then be a great addition. Experiement, admit when you screw up, let your community see this, let your community have great ideas not just you, and ask your community for help.

Great acronym Les! Those are the letters that stand out for me.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Appreciate your contribution, Mr Wheelie, as always. Thanks for dropping by.
Jenny

I have certainly printed it off and I did print off the chapter from December and loved it. Thank you Les for writing it and thank you Sarah for sharing it. As business owners, employees or whatever, I do feel it is exceptionally important to understand the curve of growth that can occur and be ready for it! Thus, allowing clear decision making and integration that creates an effective unit. I have ordered the book – albeit, I so wanted to be able to thumb the pages and highlight things, not a great ebook reader.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Thanks, Jenny.
Peter Mis

Les…Thank YOU for sharing! I’d like to buy a vowel, please…E…as in “Engage on the basis of their need”. For me the key word is “their”. Building a great business or community means reaching beyond me, beyond what I want, and shifting the focus onto others. I am thinking of an expression I learned over two decades ago when I began my sales career: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Only when we care enough about others will others care enough about our venture, our blog, our community. Thank you for your wisdom and your contribution.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  I appreciate that, Peter. I guess it’s all just an iteration of the old Zig Ziglar quote: “No-one is buying your hammer. They’re buying a picture of their kids on a wall.”
  
  Thanks for dropping by.
Sarah

Thanks Len,
your choreography has its pleasing movements, but I guess what I have most to
learn is in the steps I don’t care for.

Let go
of direction? I’d sooner let go of
control than see my year-old organization change direction at this stage. Guess
you are talking mature organizations here.

Experimenting enough to screw up: we artists do that all the
time. However from an organizational POV
where we are using public money, I guess we choose where we experiment. Experimenting on some levels – who manages,
how, where individuals can take responsibility, various ways of giving autonomy
– yes. I’d like to hear some of your examples.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  You’re right – letting go of direction comes later (the choreography is sequential, with lapsed time between each step).
  
  Insightful observations.
http://tictokva.com/ Shelley McKenzie

Such an inspirational post, Les, thank you. I’ve re-read your list several times now throughout today and have been reflecting back on my life while thinking of these different “dances.”

I’d like to dance, “Experiment enough to screw up” more often. To not let fear stop me from trying new things and breaking out of my self-made box. Then I’ll need to, “Revel in the feedback, good and bad.” This would be the next logical step following experimentation, I believe.

I like the idea of printing these dances and keeping them visible.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  What a lovely response, Shelley. I’m so glad the post was helpful to you.
http://twitter.com/karlkovacs Karl Kovacs

Like many other comments on this post. I’ve posted it on my wall. The FIERCE part is easy to digest. The LOYALTY has been churning around in my brain all day. It might take another 27 days to finish process this one.
Thank you Les for forcing me to reprogram part of the way that I think.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  I’m glad to have done that, Karl. Come back and tell us what you learn – please .
Janet Gallagher

I anticipated Les was going to share something great with us. This is really profound. Thank you!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Cheer, Janet – I appreciate that.
http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

Dammit, I have to follow Les?!?

Solid stuff, sir, and something we can all adhere to. Cheers!
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Thanks, Danny. You’re probably the only person who could read it through my accent.
http://www.giuliettathemuse.com/ Giulietta Nardone

Hi Les,

Short and really sweet, especially this line that made me stop and think.

L ove the weakest you serve, not (just) the strongest.

That’s who needs us the most! Thanks, Giulietta, Creativity Activist
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  ‘Short and really sweet’…just like me! (Well, half of it is, anyway
  
  Thanks for dropping by, Ms Activist.
http://twitter.com/duffy_catherine Catherine Duffy

The delicate balance of life – so succinctly put. Knowing when to ask the question and to change direction.
- http://predictablesuccess.com/blog Les McKeown
  
  Thank you, Catherine – I appreciate that – nicely put as well
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Escaping Mediocrity

Building Fierce Loyalty: A Choreography