Leadership Demands Authenticity
Filed under: Core Values, Leadership Callling, Leading Churches, Personal Development, Servant Leader
There are many generational issues that have to be resolved between the Baby Boomer generation of existing leaders and the Next Generation workforce that is coming onto the scene. The old positional power model of simply telling everyone what to do and they automatically follow with no desire for involvement in the process is gone.
Potentially the single greatest leadership quality new leaders are looking for from those in positions of responsibility is authenticity. They place a high value on working with people that are real and genuine compared to others who like to play mind games.
A leader must know who they are personally and what they believe are the core values for themselves and the organizations they lead. Then when the hard decisions must be made and there are many of them today, everyone on the team will trust their motives instead of questioning them.
Jack Welch placed a very high value on authenticity for his top leadership team. In his book Winning he wrote, “Leaders can’t have an iota of fakeness. They have to know themselves-so that they can be straight with the world, energize followers, and lead with the authority born of authenticity.”
There is nothing better at the end of a long day than to look back and know that all your actions were consistent with your character. No more playing games just keeping it real.
Leadership Demands Courage
Filed under: Core Values, Leadership Callling, Leading Churches, Personal Development, Servant Leader
A legend from India tells about a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fear until he met a dog, so the magician changed him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content until he met a tiger—so , once again, the magician changed him into what he feared.
But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. “I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse.”
Courage is defined as the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger and pain without fear. In the economic environment we find ourselves in today there are many things that we could choose to fear.
What we desperately need today are leaders who possess the character to make the hard calls that will help us move through this crisis and into a brighter future. In this day when the pace of change seems to be moving at the speed of light there will seem to be a new danger around every corner.
When Jim Collins describes the type of leaders that led their organization to greatness they possessed two key qualities. They are individuals with extreme personal humility and an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long term results, no matter how difficult.
Great leaders are certainly human but on the inside they possess the heart of a lion and not of a mouse.
Separation From Crowd
Filed under: Core Values, Customer Service, Leadership Callling, Personal Development
I really don’t like average, maintainence, mediocere, or status quo. I like over the top, excellence and the absolute best that can be done. Simply reason for me I am a Christian what else can I do in response to all that He has done for me.
The last place you normally look for greatness is at a fast food business. Most of the time the core values are price and speed without any serious thought for high end customer service. The one major exception for me is Chic-Fil-A where I always see a culture that values people over pricing and not a common get you out the door mentality.
I have been a regular customer at one fast food place lately and about once a week I have interaction with this one person who is always very friendly and makes sure to call you by your name as you leave with big thank you. Now that was all just nice because he was reading my name right off my debit card and that was more than usually get but still not really big deal.
That was until yesterday when I pulled up and he was in parking lot going home and I spoke to him about leaving so early. Then he did it, a major nice response with my name right where it has always been and no debit card in his hand. Wow, now I am impressed and big fan because he was going way beyond what is expected and taking it to max not at Ritz Carlton but at a hamburger stand.
In the impersonal high tech fast paced world we live in today you can really make a major impression by simply being nice to people and going the extra step to personally connect. It always has been about giving that last 10% of effort that separates greatness from simply good.
Next time I go back I am going to get his name and remember it. He has really inspired me and set the bar where it needs to be and I really hate just being one of the crowd. I want to be like Him!!!!!!!!!!
Integrity
The battle for our personal character is won or lost based on our integrity. This means that there can be no hypocrisy between what we say we believe is important and what we actually are doing on a daily basis. It is more than simply walking your talk becasue your talk is based on truth and core values that add value to others.
It is the keeping of promises and commitments to ourselves and then to others. When you have it people can trust you because they know you are genuine, real and authentic.
Integrity is demonstrated in personal relationships with other people in two critical ways. One is that we maintain confidentiality when dealing with others in matters where discretion is important. Instead of using other people’s failures to get what we want we help them to get what they need. In essence we never use their acknowledged weakness to hold it over them to get them to act in a certain way and we would never betray their trust by talking to other people.
We also make sure that we never fall into the trap of saying negative things about other people publicly that we have not first talked with them about privately. When people hear you saying bad things about people who are not in the room, they know one day they will not be in the room either. Being critical of other people in public never helps them and it creates a culture of positioning people in conflict with each other.
If something is not important enough to say to another person privately then it is certainly not important enough to criticize them openly in front of other people.
Leaving Legacy
Filed under: Core Values, Family Ministry, Life Balance, Marriage, Personal Development
The real question is not will you leave a legacy but what kind will it be? An even more important question is what do you want it to be?
It is amazing how proficient we have become in establishing clear and attainable goals in the business sector. We can break down our plans into daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, and beyond to ensure that we accomplish what we have determined is important.
I am convinced the reason we do not give the same amount of passion and excellence to our private lives is that we have never taken the time to define what is really important. This lack of prioritization leads to a hope it all works out mentality that would not last for one week in the hit your numbers or else corporate sector.
Most people I have talked with over the years will tell you that in the end the personal part of their life that includes family and friends is really more important to them than the public part. If so, then why this huge disconnect?
It all goes back to understanding Covey’s time matrix in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Almost everything in our public lives fits into the urgent category. They demand that we respond even though many of the things we do every day are not really important at all.
The people we care about the most fit into an important category that is not urgent. Ball games, piano recitals and dates with your spouse will not scream in your face but they are the things that make up your legacy.
Don’t wait for the heart attack or cancer, have the courage to take a major time out and define in very specific terms what really matters so that in the end you will leave this world a better place than you found it.
Courage
Filed under: Core Values, Leadership Callling, Personal Development
One of the most important character qualities of effective leaders is courage. It is the ability to act in the midst of adversity and seemingly difficult circumstances.
Courage flows out of our core values as individuals because they give us clarity when we are in the midst of conflict and confusing situations. When you believe you are doing the right thing for the right reason then you can make good decisions.
It takes courage to pay the price to change the culture of any organization because you know there will be resistance. However, when you know it is the best interest of the people involved you can act with conviction because you know they will be benefited when the transition is complete.
It takes courage to admit you were wrong and did not make the right decision. When you keep it real people will not lose respect for you their trust level will increase in you as leader.
It takes courage to terminate an underperforming employee that is liked by everyone and who does not want to go. You must believe that it will benefit your team and that it is ultimately for their good to get them to a place where they can be successful.
It takes courage to walk away from all the good things that you could be doing to concentrate only on the best things. Leaders with courage can say no with emphasis although all the rest of the world is saying yes.
Calendars and Checkbooks
Filed under: Core Values, Financial Stewardship, Life Balance, Personal Development
We all want to accomplish the things that are really important in life and learn the discipline to walk away from everything else. Most of us have not taken the time to write down specific goals in a life plan that involves everything personal, family, faith, friends and our professional lives.
So how do we know if we are just filling our schedules with things to do without any serious evaluation or if those are the things that should even be done at all? We don’t want to get to the end of our lives and look back realizing that a lot of our time was totally wasted on things that don’t really matter.
A great place to start is to evaluate how we are spending our time and our money. Calendars can tell us a lot about our core values and priorities because they reflect the choices we are making. No doubt some of our time is not our own to schedule but how we are spending a large percentage of it reflects what is really a priority and what is not.
Are you making time for the people and relationships that you care about the most or are they getting the leftovers at best? If you really want to know take the time to track how you are spending your time for at least a month. You will be amazed how much of it is scheduled based on what appears to be urgent at the time but in the end is not really important at all.
The next big indicator of what is a priority in our lives is to look at how we are spending our finances. If we are living beyond our means and accumulating unnecessary debt then we have a major character problem that must be addressed.
More stress is brought into marriage by this one area than almost anything else. The only solution is again to write down a budget that includes all of your expenses and then have the discipline to post all your transactions and make necessary adjustments to live within your income.
You may think this sounds like way too much work to me and I am already busy enough. Trust me you are already using calendars and checkbooks anyway but you may not be gaining any of the benefits of leading your life instead of just letting it happen.
Priority Of Personal Development
Filed under: Core Values, Leadership Callling, Personal Development, Servant Leader
I was attending a conference many years ago and heard for the first time this life changing quote, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I made a commitment on that day to apply this principle in my life.
The people you meet part of this development applies to all of life. There is great wisdom in finding people who know more than you do about your area of expertise or interest and asking them for a meeting so that you can learn all that you can from someone who has already been where you want to go. Every year you should have a list of at least ten new individuals that are successful and willing to invest in your life.
Please do not limit this to your professional life because you can find people everywhere who are great spouses or parents or involved in church and community work. Some of the greatest connections I have ever made were in the normal flow of life because I was always looking for someone who could teach me something.
In the area of reading I have found that for every ten books that I read on a particular subject I will find at least one that will permanently change my life for good. These become the books that you read at least once a year just to remind yourself of all the truths that you need to make sure you are applying in your life.
One of the disciplines I have developed over the years is that I will write the power statements or great quotes on the inside flyleaf of every good book so that I can always go back for a quick review. If you will set a goal of at least one new book a month to start you will be amazed by how much your life will change because as you read your capacity to understand and develop new skills will be exponentially multiplied.
I am sure if this quote were made today it would include some reference to the incredible amount of information on the web. Today you can read blogs and watch videos by some of the greatest communicators on life’s most challenging subjects whenever you want and usually without any cost but your time.
All learning that enhances personal development is an investment in your future that will give you an incredible return on your investment.
The Role Of Contentment In Simple Living
Filed under: Core Values, Financial Stewardship, Life Balance, Personal Development, Physical Fitness
We are reminded in scripture that we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can take nothing out when we leave therefore having food and clothing we should be content. This does not mean we should all take a vow of poverty and live in a monastery.
We have all been given gifts and talents and we should with passion and excellence use them to the best of our ability to impact the world for good. The point is that regardless of wealth or poverty we should learn to lead a life that is not driven by things that don’t really matter.
In Richard Swenson great book on Margin he list several characteristics of simple living that are helpful:
1. Voluntary—If the simple life is forced, it ceases to be simple. This is a choice based on core values not something that is demanded.
2. Free—One of the key features of simplicity and at the same time, one of its principal advantages is that it is a life of freedom. It is being controlled by that which is life-giving and refusing to be controlled by that which is destructive.
3. Uncluttered—Emotionally we release our worries, we reconcile our relationships, we forgive our enemies and we begin anew each day.
4. Creative—Life is not boring just because it is simple. Simplicity sets the imagination free to work and to enjoy.
5. Authentic—A simple lifestyle must distinguish between the spiritually authentic and spiritually inauthentic. Biblical authenticity includes those things God has told us to focus on, those things that have eternal, God-assigned value: people, love, service, worship, prayer, self-denial, relationships, contentment, freedom, and rest.
6. Disciplined—Restraint is necessary for successful living, and all the more for simple living. Comfort is not a legitimate primary goal—authenticity is.
All Christians have made peace with God through their faith in Jesus Christ but all Christians do not live on a daily basis with the peace of God. This kind of peace only comes as the fruit of a contented life.
The Nostalgia Of The Past
Most of us are over scheduled and have way too much stress in our lives. As a reaction to the pressure of the present we often find ourselves looking back and longing for a time when life was simpler and slower than it is today.
What we selectively seem to forget is that the past had its own set of problems and even though things may have been slower that does not mean they were better. When we live in the past we also are blinded to the blessings of the present and are not able to enjoy what we have that is good in our lives.
In Richard Swenson’s book entitled Margin he deals with this romantic mentality of turning back the clock to a better time. He writes, “The analogy of a clock is not helpful. It is not the question of a clock, but a compass. The issue is not chronology, but direction.”
It is impossible to create more time in any given day. With that reality clearly in mind then we are only left with two options. We must know what is important each and every day and make sure those are the things that get done.
What is not so clear is that this does not mean adding these important things to an already full calendar. The ability to know what to say no to on a moment by moment basis is the only way we will have the emotional, spiritual and physical margin we need to live today without regrets.
Clocks can only tell you what time it is while your personal compass can tell you what to do with your time. Big Difference!!!!!!!