Good Morning!
It is about that time of the year that the masterpiece that you have been visualizing is gaining substance and getting recognized as everything that "they" ever wanted...
For me that creates a wonderful visual image...
The talented artisan...toiling day and night...and finally after the finishing touches are complete...announces its availability and unveils the results to the anxiously awaiting public...and they gasp at its brilliance!
That in and of itself is a masterpiece! But I regress...
Masterpieces are "pieces or events" created by Masters...DAH!
And...as I think about it...
Masters are the real leaders of any endeavor!
So...We can logically conclude that...
The quest to create and unveil an object or event of epic or masterpiece magnitude is what a real leader should strive for...
This is an interesting thought isn't it?
Let's go a bit deeper...
Just meeting expectations is not a characteristic of a master or (by my logical replacement) a leader...
Said another way...if one calls himself or herself a leader a Leader or a Master and has not unveiled a masterpiece...they are not a Leader or a Master...
A Leader is someone that is out in front...A Master has created something unmatched by no one!
BUT...(one may argue)...that isn't doing simply and consistently what the public wanted a sign of a good leader?
No masterpiece has ever just met the public's expectations...it always exceeds it!
Meeting expectations it is simply surviving...which is something that a leader does not strive for...
Leaders do not survive...they strive!
Let's chase descriptive statistics for a moment...
"Meeting goals and expectations" is the performance of the 50th percentile...
Leaders do not live in the realm of the 50th percentile...they are in the 99th!
They are out in front...not the 50th percentile...they exist in the 99th percentile...
That is not true you may argue...
I argue that in a race the leader (by definition) is the first one across the finish line...
All of the others (by definition) follow that person and are followers...
They have lost the race...
In a race of 100 people...the winner is above the 99th percentile...the losers are everyone who is in the 99th or less...
If your performance is in the 50th percentile (in the middle of the pack)...you can logically conclude that you are among the losers!
The same holds true in the organizational race....the middle of the pack is for losers!
Sounds a bit cutting but it is true...
The Tour de France (TdF) really points this out...
I was listening to some commentators discuss the 180 or so remaining riders and they were describing one of the riders...and they said that he would finish at about 90th place...and they were commending him for finishing the race and what a fantastic accomplishment that was...but the fact is...he is expected to lose the race and lose it big time...even though half the people will lose the race worse than him...they all lost...
It makes no sense to me when someone says they "lost worse"
If you lost...you lost!
But some may argue...not everyone can compete in that race and they should be recognized for that ability...
I disagree...if you are called (are able) to compete in the TdF, you are no longer counted in the group who can not compete in that race...you can not compare yourself to those who can not...the only people that you can be compared to are the TdF competitors...and those are the ones that you are judged against...the participants of that race...in this case...you are called to strive to win...and create the Victory of the TdF Masterpiece!
That is like comparing the artwork of a 3 year-old to Rembrandt...it is art isn't it? Given the prior false logic...art is art...yet many a 3 year-old's masterpieces hang on refrigerators around the world...and perhaps some of those are masterpieces among the 3 year-olds...when you properly group and compare...
OK...I have ridden this horse to death...my message is...don't make the mistake of trying to define a masterpiece by improperly grouping your work...to make it look good...be realistic and call it for what it is...a true master knows who he is and who he should be compared to...
Now that brings up another interesting thought...
One is not "a master" until they have created a masterpiece...
Now let's play with that thought using my prior replacement logic...
You are not a leader until you have lead a group or organization...and...
A leader being the equivalent of a Master...having created a leadership masterpiece which is leading that group to a new level of performance and accomplishment...
If you have not done that...do not claim to be a Master or a Leader! Don't put it on your resume, business card or any place that the public can see it...you are lying to them!
You may be a Master hopeful...or a Leader in training...but you are not a Master or a Leader and should not be so arrogant as to claim such...
If you can not point to a specific accomplishment that has been lauded by your public as a masterpiece, then you are not there...
That is what bothers me...those who claim to be Blackbelts and have few (if any) projects of significant value...or those who claim to be Master Blackbelts and have yet to prove that they are the Master!
Show me your masterpiece! Show me the performance...or the lasting cultural change...prove to me with substance that you are a Master...
DaVinci challenged Michelangelo...and he proved it! Master proving to Master!
This is truly the crux of a MBB certification program...
Moreover, there are those who have the word "leader" on their resume...and can not show..."leading performance"...their masterpiece!
The words Master and Leader have become so diluted! It is sad! They are meaningless...and just another worthless title...and in many cases a joke!
Back when recognition as a Leader or a Master meant something...the title and recognition was protected...(long before me! The middle ages to be exact!)
Often under the threat of death!
Moreover...Being a Master or a Leader meant depending on others...
Think about it...
Leaders need followers...(a King needed subjects)
Masters need benefactors...(Artisans need to eat! LOL!)
This is an interesting relationship and only those who survived as Masters learned that lessons...many did not!
There were many Masters...(those who were highly skilled) that went off on their own...trying to create the masterpiece of their calling...and they usually starved and died!
Masters who were able to create masterpieces of their benefactor's desire...ate and survived...
Masters who were supported by a benefactor and did their own thing rather than what was the desire of the benefactor...most often were jailed or executed! (mostly executed or cast out to starve, in either case...they died)
You can see the importance of the relationship between the benefactor...and the Master!
Critical to survival...
From the onset...
And throughout the generation of Masterpieces!
This hasn't changed...although we would like to believe as such!
You have benefactors...and learning the lesson of the Masters is critical to your survival...
But hidden within that lesson is the real lesson...
It is about listening to the desires and needs of the benefactor...
When Michelangelo was commissioned to sculpt the statue of David...his mind envisioned the end result. It was not for himself...but for his benefactor.
Before he began hammering on stone...he took samples of different marbles to his benefactor and drawings to ensure that he was providing what was expected...
The interesting thing about the results of that first meeting was that...
...the marble that the benefactor desired...was not what the artisan was going to use...
...the statue that the benefactor wanted was larger than the artisan intended...
...the statue's position that the benefactor wanted was not in the position that the artisan had drawn...
...the time frame needed by the benefactor was sooner than the artisan had planned...
AND...
The artisan changed and provided his benefactor with what he wanted and it was a masterpiece!
The artisan was still able to far exceeded every expectation while still meeting every one of them...
Michelangelo proved that he was a Master...through the creation of a masterpiece!
Not on his terms...but on those of his benefactor...
No excuses...
No delays...
Enough said!
***************************************
The greatest lesson to be learned from the Masters is that the recognition comes from the outside...
That recognition is the result of outstanding performance...not on the Master's terms...but on those of the public and the benefactors...
Learning these lessons are important to success...
Have a great weekend...
Go to your benefactors and find out what they want and give them a masterpiece...earn the right to be called...Master or Leader!
Pura Vida!
Breaking the Chains of Paradigms that keep us from Success and Authentic Happiness...
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