ness talent in your organization as you possibly can. That is the ultimate resource you will be converting into value for customers in the future. Steward, Donít Steal Over the past 11 years Iíve written at least one 1,500 word article each month as well as three 70,000-word books. So Iím up to something like 400,000 words on management effectiveness. But if I had to narrow my advice on how to be a great manager down to three words, they would be: steward, donít steal. In the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, stewardship means ìthe careful and responsible management of something entrusted to oneís care.î In a nutshell, thatís the job of a business manager. Think of your main job as stewarding resources in ways that will enrich them and create more value for customers. <strong>The</strong> greatest managers Iíve ever witnessed embraced this concept of stewardship, applied it skillfully, and always worked to improve at it. A magnificent new book on the idea of being a great steward is Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life by John Bogle. I encourage you to buy this book and really study it carefully. It is a beautiful explanation of old-time values delivered by a person who has truly lived them. Of course, you want to, and you should, be paid a reasonable fee for guiding these resources to better results. However, this is where the tricky part comes in. What is a reasonable fee for your efforts and how should you get that fee? <strong>The</strong>re are two ways to go about it: earn them or steal them. Stealing is on the other end of the management effectiveness spectrum from stewardship. Stealing can come in a variety of forms of which some are legal and some are illegal. You can simply take what is not yours, or you can take what is available to you for the taking. <strong>The</strong> former is obviously stealing, and the latter is where you have to decide on what you think is the right thing to do. I encourage you to ask yourself, ìAm I being a good steward, or am I simply taking as much from the organization as I possibly can?î Stealing is not always crystal clear, and many times you will have to decide for yourself whether youíre acting as a steward or a thief. If your goal is to be a long-term great manager, I encourage you to stay on the side of stewardship every time. My father passed away last week. He was truly a great and humble person. He and Mom taught me a great deal about the concept of stewardship. <strong>The</strong>y guided everything they had to help each of their six kids to do as well as we could do in whatever we were trying to do at that given moment. To Great performers are patient beyond short-term results. <strong>The</strong>y are patient beyond great failures and great successes. <strong>The</strong>y are patient beyond being laughed at or being given false praise me, they were absolutely perfect examples of being great stewards. <strong>The</strong>y never stole the credit, the glory, or the riches from another person. <strong>The</strong>y carefully and responsibly managed the resources that were entrusted to them to raise children who hopefully are delivering strong value to other people. Get Better I havenít met every manager on the planet, but of the ones Iíve met Iíve never seen anyone be a perfect manager on day one. <strong>The</strong> very best managers Iíve ever seen simply started on the road as a manager, and then worked to get better each day. Hereís an interesting quote from a new book called, Genius 101: Creators, Leaders, and Prodigies by Keith Simonton: ìGeniuses are those who have the intelligence, enthusiasm, and endurance to acquire the needed expertise in a broadly valued domain of <strong>The</strong> Noble and Necessary Job of a Manager achievement and who then make contributions to that field that are considered by peers to be both original and highly exemplary.î Iím not a big fan of the word ìgenius,î but I do think that definition applies to great managers. <strong>The</strong>y always had the ability to become great managers, they had the passion to stay the course long enough to hone their craft as managers, and they applied their skills in ways that made an exemplary difference for their customers and organizations. You may or may not become famous or fabulously wealthy as a business manager, but always remember that you perform the critically important role in making our economy strong and successful both over the short term and the long term. Great Performers are in the Patience Industry Shift your focus for the moment away from the recession and other bad news. In your mind, put a spotlight on the greatest performers youíve ever known. Visualize them. Take it all in. Step back and look with a panoramic view at how they got to where they were able to deliver an amazing performance. It doesnít matter their age level or type of activity or industry or title. Just step back in awe and let their performance teach you the lessons for your lifetime. This is one of my favorite activities. I just love, and have always loved, studying extraordinary performers. Iíve done it since I was eight years old. Iím not nearly as interested in what life is like at the top of the mountain, but rather what happened on the way up the mountain. One of the reasons I do this is because for truly great performers there is no mountaintop, there is only the next mountain to climb. Over the past nearly forty years Iíve landed on a few common traits of superior performers, and the most common one, the one that every single truly great performer has mastered, is patience. Great performers are patient beyond short-term results. <strong>The</strong>y are patient beyond great failures and great successes. <strong>The</strong>y are patient be- SEPTEMBER 2009 22 EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE
GIC SEPTEMBER 2009 23 EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE