Category: Leadership Development

Speaking To The Future

Are the leaders you're following having a hard time speaking to the future?  Is there an atmosphere of fear and reaction in your offices?

The best leaders are willing to go out on a vision limb and speak to the unseen.  In doing so they understand the following might (often does) happen:

  • Rejection
  • Misunderstanding
  • Anger
  • Ridiculement
  • Apathy
  • Denial
  • Sabotage

It's not so much that the best leaders are brave (even though that can be true).  The these men and women have an unwavering desire to lead and change the world.

But be careful in giving your trust away.  A leaders vision of the future should always be  rooted in reality and integrity.  In other words, the leader is always clear.

Everybody’s Self-Employed

As I caught today's announcement of December job numbers, I began to think about how serious things are.  Mind you, I didn't just start thinking about the seriousness.  But I thought about it differently today.

We are self-employed…whether we know it or not.

The fairy tale of retirement, security and prosperity has truly been the poison pill.  What's tragic is the pill was given to us slowly (intravenous like) over time.  Makes you wonder how careerists will find a new life.  A new life that looks different from the one they know today.  Your employer is moving on even if your office chair is still warm. 

Shouldn't you do the same?

I see things as permanently changed.  What looked stable yesterday has now been disrupted.  I'll save you the analysis of what I consider to be the catalysts/disrupter's (mind-numbing government debt, the over supply of money, leadership voids, fear) of what we've come to know.  I used to think life would be better is it were predictable.  I even, in a past life, tried to manipulate circumstances to try and block the threats (change).  The reality is we're better for a life that sometimes gives us smelling salts.

So how do you if you're a self-employed careerist?  Consider the following:

  • When you get to the end of your story, who will stand beside you and give a detailed report?  I have the answer; not your company, just you.
  • On the whole, who is paying/paid for all of that schooling you took?
  • Your employer requires some type of at-will agreement/contract.
  • Your share of health insurance premiums has grown significantly over the last 20 years.  This trend will continue, or your employer will get out of providing this benefit all together.
  • You carry a lot of risk working for your company.  This applies whether unemployment is 5 or 7%.

I could go on, and maybe you have some other ideas as well.  But one of the biggest reasons we're all self-employed is the implication of ownership.  You should be the owner of your career because you already are.

Don’t Institutionalize Everything

The cause of many of the ills your organization may be facing are rooted in the process of institutionalizing.  This is a process of making rules, creating procedures and locking down the process.  In some cases, institutionalizing is smart business (profit or non-profit).  For example, the idea of no hand guns permitted or firing an employee for falsifying documents would be something to institutionalize.

Unfortunately, it seems we've swung the pendulum way too far.  I would even argue we've done this in our relationships.  Think about your marriage, your business partner(s), your church, the homeless guy you pass on the way to the office. 

Let me unwrap this a little further.  In certain arenas of our culture homelessness and poverty is looked at as inevitable (this idea is part of the institutionalized mindset).  When you view people (magnificent art designed by a wonderful God) as "inevitable" you will easily look the other way.  But what if you looked at people as magnificent artwork?  Kind of hard to look past a Michaelangelo, no?  And yes, some people are bad/evil and will never change.  That's ok (not really), everyone makes their own choices.  My gut tells me that many just want to be seen as valuable and worth a fight.

The above describes how you can take an institutionalized view and change it to a liberated/fluid view.

Here is a list of some things organizations and people should not institutionalize:

  • People (see my thoughts above).
  • Policies and procedures.  Far too often this is a place of insanity in many organizations.  Creating these are often practices in fear management.
  • New ventures.  Don't think that what is new will look like what is old.  Be willing to be fluid.
  • Business relationships.  We've got to stop networking as a part of our business plan (another form of institutionalizing).  Network because you believe in sharing, giving and changing the world.  If the idea is great you won't feel compelled to take.
  • Marriage.  Fall in love and keep falling.

Don’t Give Up

Stormy Weather

Considering the level of concern on faces I've seen and the hearts and minds connected, I thought I would give you a link to a post I wrote some time ago titled "What Happen When I Was Told to Leave."  It deals with my personal journey after being asked to leave my last corporate America job.

My life is so different and better since that wounding (being told to leave).  I can only hope it encourages you (if it fits) to not give up.  I also hope it will encourage you that every story has tense moments and disappointments, but those are designed to help you to see the possibilities of a new life/career/calling.

Obviously, this is easier to write than to live.  But I can tell you that the above post is stamped with integrity (whole not part).  Know that you're not alone.

I Want My Leadership Development-Now

In times of crisis (economic or otherwise) organizations begin to think about leadership.  Actually, they think of it often.  What they do about it is another thing.

I feel for those organizations that neglected growing leaders when profits were up.  That would have been the best time to change the world.  But alas, those were the "best laid plans." 

If you run an organization that has never given much thought to leader development, then I would advise you to prepare for a great deal of pain (it is worth it).  The pain process goes like this:

  • The process of announcing an initiative that many will not believe or take seriously.  Shucks, you've rolled out initiatives as frequently as you lose employees.
  • After the above, you've got to lead your people thru the treacherous waters of change (the present state to the desired state).
  • If you make it past change, you've got to now make it a part of the organization's DNA.

This is not an easy endeavor.  I think you can understand why these organizations mostly hang themselves on leadership development as a talking point.  You know what I mean; it feels better when you say leadership development versus living it.

I don't mean to sound Grinchy, but best not to sugar coat.  It's sort of like a 62 year-old worker who started planning for retirement 5 years ago.  Is it too late?  No, but it will hurt.

I may be all wet about where we're at, so find out for yourself.  Ask this tough question:

What are we/you specifically doing to grow your leadership?

The answer to that question will reveal a lot.

The Two Paths to Great Leadership

 Two roads           

Had a great conversation with Marc yesterday.  We spoke a lot about future plans with our two companies, but it was his brief statement below that made me pause:

    "You have two paths you can go on in this environment.  One says this sucks, and the other says I see an opportunity."

Those words cconfirmed mmuch in my heart. 

Even when things have been bad, I have gravitated toward optimism.  No applause needed here.  Many (family, friends, and associates) have come to count on me for looking up.  This hasn't always been easy.

Even in the times where I wondered if Epic Living would make it, I wrote from the perspective of optimism.  Why?  You don't need another source/media that communicates how bad things are-in my life or the world as a whole.  Believe me, this is not lofty fee-good babble.  It hurts me when people fall into the quick sandd of pessimism.

I know that many are experiencing difficult times right now.  But could these hard times be the preparation ground for your greatest opportunity?  I fear that many could miss it because of that quick sand I mentioned.  Pure gold can't come about without some intense heat.

The real battle is in our heads.

 

Leadership Development and Your Authentic Wiring

There is a lot of emphasis in leader development on knowing who you are.  In other words, how you're authentically wired.  This is a good thing.

Analyzing a leader's wiring is effective in making sure the leader finds the work best suited for their strengths.  It helps organizations as they determine right fits for their structure.  I can't think of a more liberating place to be than to see oneself doing what makes the heart come alive.

There are some downsides though. 

As it is with a country who has lived under dictatorial rule for decades, so it is with leaders who've been squelched in their attempts to be authentic.  But sometimes liberation can lead to license, or worse, addiction to self-empowerment.  Almost like the liberators deciding that being a dictator is not so bad now that power is in hand.

The practical danger for leaders who discover they're authentic wiring comes when they believe the organization/team must submit to their way of seeing the world.  For example, I'm the type of leader who needs to connect emotionally, before any type of transaction can occur.  This is important to me.  However, I can't expect that a client or partner will give me this every time we meet.  I don't have to deny or give up my value (emotional connection), but I do have to practice the art of give and take.  If I never receive the emotional connection, then certainly I'm in the wrong place/organization. 

Here are some tips on how to prevent your wiring from overrunning your path to becoming a quality leader:

  1. Make sure you're organization is a fit with your wiring.  This is not about placing judgment on the quality or health of your organization.  It's about what is the right fit for who you really are.
  2. If you've just discovered your authentic wiring, don't begin to believe that the sun, moon and stars now revolve around you.
  3. Learn to be a better communicator.  You'll need this as you start to live out what was given within.
  4. As Stephen Covey has said; "seek first to understand, then to be understood."
  5. Focus on the needs of your followers, before your own.  Leaders who do this build trust and loyalty.

Exposed and Transperent

"Never trust a leader who hasn't suffered."

    -John Eldredge

I've heard it many times before that who we really are is revealed in crisis.  I didn't fully own that reality until I tasted my own crises.  Taste is a humbling thing.

I'm sitting at church yesterday and we're listening to a message on marriage relationships.  And it occurred to me that my wife is probably the only human on the planet that can speak with authority on who I really am.  I did think about running out screaming a few choice words, but I refrained.

Last night I asked my wife about what she saw when I was exposed and found transparent a few years ago.  She told me she saw change.  The foundation/core was consistent with who she knew me to be.  But there was a change being formed before here eyes-with pain included. 

So why the attempt at avoiding the crises?  More than likely most have never been mentored/taught on the benefits.  Let's face it, we tend to prefer the yellow brick road.  I think the road to ruin is paved that way.  It's difficult these days to dispense words like these because there are far too many messages to the contrary.  Competing with those messages authentically can be a challenge.  I'm glad my heart is in this.

The conclusion is this; leaders are defined in the times of exposure and transparency.  This applies to all of us.

Diminishing Return

If you're like me, a type A, then the idea of one more call or sentence is a lure.  But the reality is we reach diminishing return well before we think.  This is not only an issue for type A people.  It really flows through our culture (in America at least) the idea of time versus results.

I know a COO of a new non-profit start up that is instituting a 35 hour work week-mandatory.  He believes efficiency fades after 35 hours.  How innovative! 

I wonder how many of our working hours are made up diminishing returns?  I would say a minimum of 20%, and I think I'm being conservative.  Especially when you line up work hours with the stated mission of many organizations.

In the end, the most important thing is to know the following:

  • What's the most important thing to be accomplished.
  • Figure out how to get the most important things done.
  • Make sure you have the resources needed to get those things done.
  • Measure success.
  • Stop when you know diminishing return has set in.

How Inspiration Works with Vision

 

I watched this video and thought of how inspiration sometimes comes. 

I told my wife that I wanted to cook her dinner at our home served on white table linen, excellent food and excellent wine.

The video is also representative of how vision connects to inspiration.  If you are inspired by someone, or something, you will be able to see it occurring.  Seeing the outcome living out is essential.

The best sight is the one that comes from your soul to your mind.