Head and Heart Vol. 1
“Give me people whose head and heart are in the right place, and I will give you a winning team!” These words exploded from my mouth to a Senior VP in the late 1970’s .
I was interviewing for a District Sales Manager position in our Los Angeles District office. We had a prestigious downtown address but, “the inmates were running the asylum.” The organization was out of control. It was the Sodom and Gomorrah of the 1970’s. No exaggeration!
“What does it mean to have your head and heart in the right place?” the Senior VP asked.
A fair question! This was the spontaneous birth of the M.A.S.K. acronym:
Mindset: Where is your head ?
Attitude: Where is your heart ?
Skills: How do you analyze, and articulate your skills, strengths, and weaknesses?
Knowledge: Are you a critic of yourself and our business?
“If I work for you, specifically what does this mean?” the Senior VP asked.
My responses included:
1. I work a full day every work day. No exceptions.
2. I frequently self-assess and update my strengths and weaknesses.
3. I speak truth to my clients, managers, peers, and myself.
4. I continually improve and grow my skill levels and results.
5. I continually set goals for personal growth and development.
6. I honor my commitments to my team, my boss, and my customers.
7. I take accountability for my own performance and growth.
8. I regularly review my top three areas for personal and professional growth.
9. I contribute to our team. We are a team. I am one of the players.
I asked the Senior VP: Is this fair?
My next question was: “Will you support me if this is how I
lead and manage this organization every day?
His answer to both questions was “yes.”
I got the job. Now I had to practice what I preached! How could I take the mess someone else had created and put “Humpty Dumpty” back together? There is more, but you get the idea .
Certainly, I did not have the education or experience for such a challenge. That said, in the following two years I got a decade of leadership survival training and experience.
For the balance of my 33 years tenure, I utilized this acronym for myself and my teams. We were transparent at every organizational level and function.
The result of this experience was being a student of head and heart in all areas of life: Marriage, family, faith, work, and yes, my own leadership. My results were inconsistent and mixed. I frequently strayed. Keeping head and heart in the right places required candor, humility, discipline, commitment, understanding, and learning.
Further, MASK was a two-way street. If I set lofty standards for individuals, they should expect the same from me as their manager. I made that commitment.
My reputation as the “Head and Heart Guy “ became my identity for over three decades.
“You’re the head and heart guy, right?” Right!
If I had a “do over” would I do this again? Absolutely!
Not everyone bought into these values and principles. That is okay. I Interviewed candidates with head and heart as core principles . If I started over today, I would start with MASK.
This was a two-way commitment:
1. A persons commitment to our company, our team, me, and their peers.
2. My commitment to individual professional growth and success.
While I did not bat a thousand, my last field team lead our division for five consecutive years. MASK was key to our consistent achievement . Starting over today, would I lead with MASK ? Absolutely!
I originally shared M.A.S.K. with you in our November 23, 2023, letter.
The Head and Heart System require
- Self-assessment
- Commitment
- Courage
- Resilience
- Self-discipline
MASK is not for the faint of heart.
Looking in the mirror of my spiritual life, I began to examine how my actions, decisions, and attitudes measured up. How pervasive were my MASK behaviors. How much of my spiritual life was consumer versus contributor?
Does MASK hold up under biblical scrutiny? We will explore this question. Our starting point is
Philippians 2: 12-14:
“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, For it is God who works in you to will and to act According to his good purpose, Do everything without complaining or arguing so that You may become blameless and pure children of God….”
Working out our salvation is essential. MASK demands commitment. When we do our part, God leads us, correct us, love us, and show us the way.
Mindset: Where is my head? Am I thinking clearly?
Attitude: Where is my heart? Am I being honest with myself?
Skills: Where is growth required?
Knowledge: Am I committed to a lifestyle of disciplined spiritual growth?
Here is the irony: I trained hundreds of others in MASK professionally without specifically applying it to my own spiritual life. I am correcting this now!
Moving forward, we dive into each element and its relationship to our individual spiritual health and growth.
My hope is you will share this journey with me.