I gave a lot of speeches during my 30 years at Kinko’s, and nearly every one of them included a reference to the tripod of work, love and play. I would rest three fingers on the podium and illustrate the strength and stability when all three legs of a tripod were of equal length. I didn’t tell coworkers how to find balance in their lives (Editor’s note: beneficiaries of Paul’s matchmaking habit might argue this point), but I constantly reminded them that it was important, and that the company KNEW it was important.

Most people think they can impress the boss simply by working harder, like the horse in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. But nothing impresses the boss like results, and the best results come from people with balance and perspective. Frankly, I would rather think hard than work hard.

At Kinko’s, the value of a balanced life was reinforced through our training and educational programs. An article by USC Professor Warren Bennis was an important document in defining the Kinko’s culture. It was about the “Four Competencies of Leadership.” We held workshops on the four competencies at Kinko’s University, and I still believe they provide a great touchstone for people who wish to be good leaders, regardless of their title, scope of authority or personal style.

The four competencies are

1) Managing Attention,

2) Managing Meaning,

3) Managing Trust, and

4) Managing Yourself.

In a nutshell, managing attention means that you cannot lead people who aren’t listening, so you need strategies for getting their attention. Some leaders use outrageous antics, like Mo Siegel of Celestial Seasonings entering a company meeting on the back of an elephant. Others use the quiet authority of visible day-to-day competency in the workplace. Whatever your style, you have to get people’s attention.

Managing meaning requires communication skills that help followers understand the purpose of the organization and their role in it. Leaders achieve this by viewing communication as a covenant rather than a contract. In a contract, each party might take a 50% share of responsibility, so if communication were a contract, I might speak and consider my work done, since it’s your job to hear and understand. But if communication is a covenant, each party carries 100% responsibility, so the leader not only speaks, but must also ensure understanding. 

I define managing trust as doing what you say you’re going to do, pure and simple.

My tripod speeches were about managing yourself. Too many aspiring executives work themselves haggard and anxious, but most of us do not aspire to be haggard and anxious, so why would we want to follow such people? It’s okay to take a lunch break. It’s okay to go pick up your dry cleaning. It’s okay to go on a date and turn off your cell phone. A good business shouldn’t kill you.

Some people emphasize love or play too much, but usually it is work that comes to dominate an individual in our culture. Please remember that an unbalanced tripod is inherently unstable, and when it tips too far, it is the entire tripod that falls.