Leading Like WD-40
Sometimes it really is “rocket science.” Pretty much everyone knows WD-40® is the go-to product for silencing squeaks, displacing moisture, preventing rust, and loosening stuck parts. You probably have a can sitting in your house, garage, or bike toolkit right now. You can find several cans in multiple locations here on our farm. Back in the day we even used more cans than now when we had to regularly pop distributor caps off and spray in WD-40® to displace condensation. In fact, WD-40’s nickname is “toolkit in a can.” What a great product!
The product itself was invented in San Diego back in 1953 to stop corrosion in the umbilical cord of the Atlas space rockets, so the product actually came out of the space era. So, yes, it is rocket science. It’s called WD-40® because there were 39 formulas that didn’t work and the 40th one did, so that’s why it’s called water displacing 40 formula. A few years ago at a leadership development gathering I was doing where participants were to bring pictures of leaders who had influenced them, we had a participant bring a picture of a can of WD-40. I loved it! What a great leadership metaphor.
The participant explained how WD-40® could help you solve almost any issue around the house. Great leaders help us and stand with us on all the everyday issues. Also, the product has stayed consistent over the years with improvements and innovations on how to best deliver, such as the Smart Straw™️ (so you don’t lose the little red straw) and No-Mess WD-40 pen. Or, my personal favorite: WD-40 EZ Reach™️ (check out the featured picture in this post). Remind you of any great leaders you’ve been associated with?
Do you have sticky sticky/rusty/inactive levers or individuals in your organization. Consider leading like WD-40® and help disperse the distractions keeping those you serve from achieving greatness.
Gaps In Our Consistency
At one of our most recent gatherings of 3D Leadership, a topic came up that the participants were calling “gaps in our consistency.” When I asked about these gaps they said they were the things that really kept them from being great teachers and the schools which they taught from being as great as they could be. One of the most important tools in effective schools is consistency. Research and practice have proved that school leaders and teachers must be consistent every day in carrying out their duties if they want to improve student performance and conduct. Here is what the teacher leaders said the gaps were:
- Being Reactionary
- Everything done short term/constant change
- Lack of training to make sure initiatives/processes could be implemented
- Relationships must be in place for there to be the trust for everything to be going well
- Besides the why, there needs to be the what and the how
- Teachers need to teach and not be auditors
Really, what any teacher wants is to be able to get to work and feel like what he/she is doing are the right things to be doing. What teachers don’t need are things constantly changing or different expectations or directions. These result in confusion. It is really about being on the same page and staying on the same page. Consistency really can be the protagonist or the villain of great accomplishment. There is a difference between being agile and continually changing focus, priorities, and behavior patterns.
One of the biggest problems that inconsistency brings on an organizational and personal level is a loss of trust. Judgement becomes not trusted, follow through on initiatives is not trusted, and trust that what is being implemented today will even be important as soon as tomorrow. The administration and staff must operate like a single coherent unit. If we are able to build this consistency in any organization we can build what researchers have called a “culture of consistency.” We need to recognize our gaps in consistency; delivering consistently can have a profound impact on our effectiveness.
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