Jon Rennie - I Have the Watch: Becoming a Leader Worth Following

Foreword

Most forewords tell you about the book youre about to read, but this isnt most forewords and this sure isnt like most books. So instead of telling you about the book youre going to read, Id rather share a personal story with you that illustrates precisely why you should zero in on what Jon Rennie has to say in this book.

My dad used the expression Got Your Six all the time. He was a fighter pilot in World War II and when I was little, I asked him what it meant. He explained its a military term that fighter pilots use with one another to reference their planes rear, the six oclock position. In other words, its your most vulnerable position because you cant see whats behind you. Its why pilots have wingmen and travel together. If your wingman says, Ive got your six, it means Ive got your back.

The expression also speaks well to the loyalty and cooperation you find on any type of successful team. Great leaders like Jon Rennie have their team members six.

Its also the most powerful leadership lesson I learned my senior year in college as a varsity lacrosse player at Fairleigh Dickinson University. After a series of injuries as a junior, I was finally healthy and was expected to be one of the best players and leaders on my team. Before I came back for my senior year, I set goals over the summer that I would be one of the leading scorers and a team captain.

One particular preseason practice is permanently etched in my memory. It was early morning on a Saturday. Practice always ended with the team collectively having to finish the dreaded sprint-ladders under a prescribed amount of time. If everyone made the cutoff time, conditioning was over. If someone didnt, EVERYONE ran it again until they did. (If you dont know what a sprint-ladder is, its a series of ten timed sprints starting at 20 yards that get 20 yards longer each time, up to 200 yards.)

As you can imagine, its easier in the beginning and gets progressively harder, especially if youre out of shape, and its really tough if youre overweight to boot. One of our walk-on players, Jason, fit both descriptions.

A sophomore defenseman, Bill Hickey, and I were pushing each other in sprints at the end of practice. About halfway through the ladder, several of us knew, based on our experience, that we were going to finish ahead of the 42-second 200-yard cutoff. So as we were lapping some other players, wed yell at them to hurry up and run faster. When Bill didnt pipe up and join us, I immediately began judging him and wasnt impressed.

Then, an interesting thing happened. After almost everyone on the team finished the sprint ladder, Jason was still plodding away down the field. Everyone was shouting at him (some positive, some negative) everyone except for one person. While the other teammates were running their mouths, Bill went back for Jason and ran with him. He talked to him, made him laugh, and encouraged him as they finished together. Simply put, Bill had his back while everyone else was talking about him behind his back myself included.

I learned a lot about what leadership REALLY was that day. Much like youre about to learn what leadership really is as you read Jons book. Lessons like:

• Leadership by example isnt everything. People need you to verbalize it and do so in a positive way. Leadership is coaching, and a lot of times coaching is actually coaxing. What I mean is that it isnt just about strategy or simply setting the right example. Its also about providing encouragement and positive reinforcement.
• Leadership isnt about pushing people; its about pulling people. You cant push a rope.
• People dont follow titles. They follow courage.
• When you have someones six, you may be located behind that person, but youre still leading. You can lead by making sure others feel safe because they trust you wont let anything blindside them from behind.
• You need your best players to also be your hardest workers. As a leader, your work isnt done when your work is done. Its also your job to help others succeed.

When I wasnt named one of the team captains that year, I knew exactly why. The long, hard lesson I learned was that its more important to be the best player FOR the team than the best player ON the team. Quite frankly, I was neither. Bill Hickey was definitely the best player for our team.

Fast-forward 24 years: Bill Hickey is now Sgt. William Hickey of the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, police force.

I share this with you because he and Jon Rennie remind me a lot of one another. Im honored to know them because they are both selfless leaders who put their people first and proudly serve their communities.

If youre reading this, youre a member of Jon Rennies community and I want you to know hes definitely got your six. Jon walks his talk and is a man of high moral character in an industry rife with charlatans. The world needs more Jon Rennies because we are in an era where many leaders are more worried about covering their own six than having someone elses back.

As Jon so aptly says, leadership is indeed a people business. Which begs the important question: Whos got your six in your organization? And more importantly, whose six do you have?

Thats the test of whether or not youre a leader worth following.

If you want to elevate and separate yourself from the competition, youve got the right book in your hands. Through his experience as an officer in the U.S. Navy and the CEO of a highly successful company, Jon delivers a series of very compelling, powerful lessons in this book.

I promise this book will do two things for you: It will challenge you and it will change you. It will challenge you to take a long, hard look at the way you lead and see things through a different lens. And thats precisely the point: In order to achieve a level of success you havent had before, you have to be willing to lead at a higher level than you ever have before. And, if you apply Jons timeless wisdom, it will change you. You will transform into a heart-centered leader who walks your talk and puts the organizations most valuable resource first its people.

So grab a highlighter, a pen, and plenty of paper to take notes. Youre about to learn some incredibly valuable strategies to tangibly show your teammates and customers youve got their six. And in the process, youll see that Jon has yours.

Be Your Best,

John Brubaker

CoachBru.com

Introduction

Leadership is all about people. It is not about organizations. It is not about plans.

It is not about strategies. It is all about people motivating people to get the job done.

You have to be people-centered. Colin Powell

Almost 30 years ago in December of 1990, I walked into the engine room of the nuclear submarine USS Tennessee . With a little apprehension, I entered an area called Instrument Alley and met my team for the first time. Instrument Alley is the nickname for a set of two long electrical panels that sit behind the reactor compartment, and they contain all the reactor instruments. My job was to lead the small team who maintained and operated these complex reactor systems. I was their leader. I had the watch.

This was my first leadership job. I went on to serve five years as a Naval Officer and led dozens of sailors in the high-paced, complex, and often dangerous world of underwater warfare before leaving for the corporate world. In business, I worked in several department management positions at ABB, a multinational engineering company, before being promoted to my first manufacturing operation. At just 32 years old, I moved my family to South Carolina to became plant manager of a small manufacturing operation with 160 employees, and Ive been leading industrial businesses ever since.