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Four Secrets of Winning Ways

November 19, 2002

1. "Make people feel stronger rather than weaker as a result of your interactions with them.
* Forget about pecking orders of any type.
* Recognize people's strengths.
* Honor people's efforts.
* Involve others in planning, problem solving, and decision making.

2. Camels are okay.  In fact, today's camel builders will be tomorrow's leaders.
* Some racehorses win and some lose, but a camel will cross the finish line every time.
* Collaboration is better than competition over the long term.
* Camel building should not be left only to committees.
* The shortcut most often turns out to be the long cut in the long run.

3. Avoid two-valued thinking traps, because very few decisions are choices between right and wrong or good and bad.
* Keep egos out of it.
* Most decisions are multi-valued, depending upon the situation.
* Almost every situation can be analyzed properly if viewed from a variety of perspectives.

      4.  Influence for the Future, rather than the present or the past.
* Develop a common vision with your colleagues.
* Solve problems in the future.
* Create a shared sense of identity and responsibility (Lyles, 2000, pp. 48, 62-63, 75, 86-87)."

Reference:  Lyles, D. (2000).  Winning ways.  New York:  Berkley Books.

How well do you use these four secrets?

Winning Ways is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  A complete listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu/  FYI: The OSU Leadership Center is funded by Ohio State University Extension.

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Created: 2008-12-13, Updated: 2009-01-06