Monday Morning: Blues or Jazz?

Friends,

Monday morning has a beat to it - like a funeral dirge, some would say. Many of us were taught by parents, radio stations, and popular culture to dread the hour. The relative few who are blessed by having a vocation, and not just a job, welcome Monday morn. Those who “own” their work - literally or at least metaphorically - don’t mind Monday morning. For most people I have known, Monday comes like a long-awaited bill in the mail; somehow they hoped it wouldn’t arrive, but here it is and the bill must be paid. And Mondays bring customs, habits, rituals. As individuals and groups we often repeat our steps, our approach, dressing ourselves in yesterday’s attitudes and expectations.

Meanwhile the world about us changes, is never the same. Our little girls “suddenly” have boyfriends. People quit buying Big Macs, cassette tapes, or Blue Light Specials. The Chinese have launched their own internet, Iran is developing nuclear technology, and the insurgency in Iraq keeps evolving. What worked yesterday may not work today.

Leaders - whether titled or not - lead change. Here in Michigan, for instance, my wife as Governor is constantly trying to get people to see that our old way of life - in which low skilled factory jobs were readily available - is over and gone. So she’s declared the goal of doubling college graduates by 2010, and is urging the legislature to mandate a serious statewide core curriculum in place of the current one which only requires that students take civics to graduate high school. Such changes are vital, both in themselves and as a Monday morning call: “Wake up! It’s a new day. There’s a different (and challenging!) world out there!”

In times of change, leaders bring new eyes to Monday morning. They see the new day. They really want to see this day, these circumstances; they welcome reality, unphased that it will require change. They exude an openness to today’s new stuff, and that openness spreads to others. How open are your people to bringing you this reality? Do your big kids trust you with their big kid problems? (It doesn’t happen automatically. You must prepare the way.) Is your staff awake to the changes in your industry or field? Are they terrified of change (and perhaps mirroring your fear that you thought you were hiding)? Great leaders want to know what’s happening, encourage their people to share the news, and are consistently ready to change their behavior and the behavior of the group to meet new challenges. Is that you?

It’s Monday. Tell them your door is open, your eyes are open, and your mind is working - ready for whatever the day may bring you, and ready to bring your best to the day. In some measure, you can decide whether or not it will be an upbeat day, whether you’ll be singing the blues or getting them jazzed for the week, if you . . .

Lead with your best self,
Dan