Tag Archives: leadership

All of us are Smarter

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“All of us are smarter than any of us.”

-Douglas Merrill, Organizational Guru

Image from teamworkandleadership.com

Image from teamworkandleadership.com

Today’s quote got me thinking about teamwork and Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. In this leadership fable, Lencioni tells the story of an imaginary technology company struggling to grow and secure new customers.

Three key take-aways from this book will almost certainly make today’s quote true. In most cases, if the group of individuals does not demonstrate these characteristics, there may be good reason for going it alone:

  • Team members engender trust in one another by being vulnerable and open.
  • Healthy teams encourage respectful debate and dialogue to reach optimal decisions.
  • Team environments in which everyone’s ideas and thoughts are considered almost always generate heightened levels of buy-in and mutual commitment.

EXERCISE:

How and where can you foster enhanced teamwork to optimize the collective smarts of the groups with which you work?

Powerful Leadership

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“The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.”

-John Wooden, late UCLA Basketball Coach

Image from en.wikipedia.org

Image from en.wikipedia.org

Would you like to be like you when you grow up? How and when do you set an excellent example for those in your personal and professional world? How happy would you be if your children turned out just like you?

John Wooden was one of the most admired basketball coaches to ever step foot on the court. The impact he had on great players and championships is legendary. Nothing he ever said to his players had more impact than the example he set for himself, as he led his daily life.

EXERCISE:

Consider your answers to the questions asked in the first paragraph. How can you set an even better example to those around you, to become the kind of person and leader you desire to be?

Raise Your Words

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“Raise your words not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers not thunder.”

-Rumi, 13th-century Persian poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic

Image from www.stuckindc.com

Image from www.stuckindc.com

A fundamental conversation I have with each new coaching client involves the qualities and characteristics of effective leaders.

The characteristics describing effective leaders include: visionary, passionate, inspiring, empowering, service-oriented, having integrity, and being approachable. The words these leaders use to speak about their views of a better future are like the rain to a flower. They help people and organizations grow.

Alternatively, we have all seen the “Thundering Taskmaster” types who repress and suppress those around them and often create environments of fear, intimidation, and retribution.

EXERCISE:

What can you do to be the kind of leader that attracts followers by raising your words rather than your voice?

Leading the Pack

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“Throw me to the wolves and I will return leading the pack.”

—Author Unknown

Image from www.fanpop.com

Image from www.fanpop.com

Today’s quote makes me think of the times my clients state that a colleague, coworker, or client “threw them under the bus.”  In almost all cases, they say it was in an unfair, unjust, and detrimental way.

Blaming, bullying, one-upmanship, and office politics are common occurrences. How we respond to such attacks, and how we rise above their potential negative impacts is a skill which we could all benefit from time to time.

EXERCISE:

A book that I have read numerous times over the years – The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz – points to fundamental ideas that can help us all return, leading the pack, when we are thrown to the wolves. They are:

  1. Be impeccable with your word
  2. Don’t take anything personally
  3. Don’t make assumptions
  4. Always do your best

“Be a voice, not an echo.”

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“Be a voice, not an echo.”

-attributed to Albert Einstein

Image from Flickr by Shawn Harquail

Image from Flickr by Shawn Harquail

For many years I have been a fan of TED talks. The subtitle for these 15-20 minute presentations is “Ideas Worth Spreading.” In recent years, this format has expanded worldwide through the TEDx format. Most major cities have held numerous conferences where local leaders and influencers give voice to their best ideas.

In a world of social media and sound bites, many of us often find ourselves reposting and retweeting, echoing ideas from others that certainly inform and entertain.

EXERCISE:

Where and in what ways can you better capture your voice and share your best ideas with others in your professional and personal communities?

If you were asked to give your own TED talk, what topic would you choose?

“Success is never owned…”

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“Success is never owned; it is only rented. And the rent is due every day.”

-Zig Ziglar, American author, salesman, and motivational speaker

Photo from zazzle.com

Photo from zazzle.com

When was the last time you had a really tough day? Have you ever found yourself saying things like:

    • After all these years, I expected things to be easier.
    • It’s time for my ship to come in. Surely I’ve earned it with all my hard work.
    • I’m pretty tired. I was hoping to slow down by now.
    • Life sure feels like a roller coaster.

Virtually no one lives a charmed life or stays on top of the success ladder perpetually. Perhaps it is these everyday challenges and adversities which actually make our self-earned successes so sweet.

EXERCISE:

How can you take a “Pay as you Go” attitude to suit up and do what is necessary so that you can experience the success you’ve earned when the day is done?

“Managers light a fire…”

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“Managers light a fire under people. Leaders light a fire in people.”

—Kathy Austin, Management Consultant

Photo from freehdw.com

Photo from freehdw.com

Leadership and Management are two of the most highly valued skills necessary to be truly effective in our professional and personal lives.

I feel strongly that these skills, along with masterful communications and effective supportive coaching, are the four legs of the solid foundation of soft skills that support our success.

When asked, most professionals usually view leadership as the more “evolved” and enlightened of the two, in that leadership involves the articulation of an inspired future for an individual or group. Conversely, management—particularly old-school management—is perceived as pushy, aggressive, and often domineering, in order to achieve desired results.

I’d suggest that they can actually work together in an empowered way with inspired leadership as a foundation for effective alignment and a desirable form of self-management. This involves the individual or group sharing a strong commitment with the leaders, willingly promising to give and keep their word to take the actions necessary for eventual success.

EXERCISE:

How can you develop and master inspired leadership and empowering management capacities to move yourself and others forward, professionally and personally?

You Can Do Anything

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“You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hope rise to the stars.”

—Henry Ford, American Industrialist

Photo from Flickr by Soren

Photo from Flickr by Soren

When I was in my late teens, I worked at the Country Club bakery/restaurant in Philadelphia. My first job was to wash pots and pans in the bakery. It wasn’t such a bad gig, since I got to eat a lot of sweet treats and good food from the restaurant.

I’ve always been motivated and driven, so it didn’t take me long to realize that being a baker was the “cool” job.  With that realization, washing the soiled pots and pans was not in my cards for long.

I made a deal with the bakers. If I could complete my dish washing duties quickly and completely, they would teach me how to bake.

The good news is that it worked, and one of my first duties as a baker’s apprentice was to make what we called water bagels. This meant putting the yeast-filled dough rings into a vat of boiling water to create the rapid rise that makes bagels so tasty and popular.

EXERCISE:

Summon your intense eagerness for an important task or job today. Allow this heated enthusiasm to help you achieve new heights in either your professional or personal worlds.

“People participate in that which they create.”

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“People participate in that which they create.”
—Barry Demp

Photo from Flickr by dalioPhoto

Photo from Flickr by dalioPhoto

I’ll wager that anyone in a management or leadership position for any length of time has had the experience of bringing a new policy or program to life and finding that, despite their own enthusiasm, the rest of the team or the family are either ambivalent or outright resistant to the change.

One of the most powerful ways for business or family leaders to exact commitment from the team or family members on any project is to draw them into the plan from the start— to make it a “we” rather than “me” endeavor.

When those whose lives are impacted in some way are drawn into the development process, when they know that their insights and concerns are welcome and necessary, they participate with a sense of ownership. This is true whether they are motivated by something they want, or something they don’t want.

EXERCISE:

Consider one aspect of your professional or personal life in which you have made decisions that affect those in your department or family.  How might their participation in the decision have made a difference in the outcome?

“Be enthusiastic as a leader. You can’t light a fire with a wet match.”

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“Be enthusiastic as a leader. You can’t light a fire with a wet match.”

-Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Mark Tighe

Photo from Flickr by Mark Tighe

Take a moment to generate a list of great leaders you have seen and been inspired by over the course of your life.

Fundamental to all of these individuals is the passion of their beliefs and convictions – the enthusiasm that helps them ignite the flames within themselves and those they lead.

EXERCISE:

Give yourself a rating from 1 (a wet match) to 10 (a blazing bonfire of passion) for both your professional and personal worlds.

What can you do today to find the fuel that sparks your passions and enthusiastically brightens up your world, and that of others?