Money has
been a taboo topic in many circles and families. It is often an unspoken subject
for many while growing up, as a result many today give money a negative connotation.
Why is this? Is it the money that is evil, or what the holder intends to do
with the money that is evil?
In my opinion money is a
tool, nothing more nothing less. It can be used to do great works for better,
or squandered away and kept for selfish reasons. Money is a token, a token that
is used to show appreciated for value added. We no longer live in small isolated
villages, where a token of gratitude may be a simple good in exchange for a
service, but we currently live on a larger scale where we still contribute to
others just often never being in touch with the customer on a personal level
like we once were.
I believe money is an amplifier, if you are
a good person deep down you will continue that path and only increase the good
you are capable of with the more money you possess. I also know it is a huge
responsibility, before one takes the path to pursue riches they really need to
identify who they are deep down and their overarching why in their behavior and
goals.
Many say good
people do not need to be rich, but I would much rather see them with their
pockets full than the other side of the spectrum.
Decisions are one thing in this universe that can determine
and create totally opposite futures depending how they are called. The right
decision can vault you towards your goals and lock your bearing down towards what
you want to achieve, while a bad decision can take everything you hold dear and then drop you to the bottom. So the question is how do we make the best decision
possible while taking into account all the variables involved?
The Source of
Indecision, FEAR
There are many elements that go into a well-chosen decision
such as timing, manner, counsel and the list goes on and on. Without the right
perspective a leader may become overwhelmed and fall into the greatest decision
killer of them all, Fear. An indecisive leader is an oxymoron; there is not
such thing as a passive leader. Leaders must make decisions!
Decision-making
not only affects you, but every single person around you, and can continue far
into the future. That is why it is so important to use your assets wisely and
make the right decision the first time.
Why Loyalty is
Imperative For a Leader
Making a decision as a leader should not be a lonely process;
you should seek counsel from many around you. “One of us is never smarter than
all of us.” Now after you have talked it over with your peers and those who
work closest to the pulse of the problem, take the appropriate amount of time then
“Make The Call.” Even if it 180 degrees from what has been suggested from
everyone else, if you truly believe that is the right decision, Make The Call!
This is
where as a good leader you have a tool in your pouch so to speak, and it is
called loyalty. If you have done your job as a good leader, a good “ServantLeader,” you will have developed loyalty between you and those you lead. This
loyalty allows your team to know without a doubt you have the best interest for
them and the mission. Loyalty means you expect your team to tell you
exactly how they feel about a situation with true honesty, but after everything
has been said and a decision is made, Loyalty means everyone walks out of the room and embraces that decision made like it was their own.
Decision Making
Steps
1.Take time proportionate to the outcome of the decision
As Dave Ramsey would say, do not spend an hour
at the checkout trying to decide which pack of gum you want to purchase, make
the decision and move on! Now in the other hand, if you are deciding on
something that will effect your next 5 years you will want to take a lot more
time to come to a conclusion. A good rule of thumb is looking at your risk profile per the decision and gauging when it will increase, this will give you a good idea when a decision must be made.
2.Get
Good Input From Your Team
Bring in the best to talk about the decision, both Pro’s and Con’s. This is the point where you as a leader need to step up
and ask good questions. The goal is to encourage good debate among your
teams. The better the disagreement and debate the more information you get on the
subject and a better understanding.
3.Find
some quite space
Now that you have had plenty of time and
lots of great input on the decision, it is time to break away to find somewhere
you can truly be alone with your thoughts. This will allow you to really take
in everything you have learned on the subject and make a good call on the
decision. This is a very important step. Many great leaders find an activity to do, one that allows them solitude but keeps their hands busy, this allows their subconscious to really go into overdrive and for them to make a great decision.
4.Defeat
Indecision and procrastination.
Leaders may get stuck in analysis paralysis,
at this point after you have weighed all the inputs and spent the necessary
time thinking about the decision, put a day on the calendar down to the hour, this will signify the moment you must make the call. When that day and hour arrive do not push it back but
stick to your choice and pull the trigger!
This has been an ever-growing question of mine, how can I
use the majority of my day for good and stay focused on the tasks that will lead
to my goals. This has become harder to accomplish in the distraction-ridden
world we live in today. I have heard the average adult is distracted once every
three minutes; this was frightening to me as a self studied psychology nerd I
know we need around 15 minutes just to get into a flow state, a flow state
allows us the most focus and is necessary for us to do our best work. Hopefully
my insight along with a few tips and techniques will help you get more out of
your day.
Wake Up With A
Purpose
This idea is extremely simple yet tremendously effective.
Think about it like this, imagine you were walking in your city and were in a
residential area. Passing a construction site a team of workers is in the
beginning phase of building a house. You being interested if the new house
would stick to the older antique look the surrounding houses held or did the
owner’s request the build look more modern and up to date? Seeing the building
process was at a stand still you asked this question to the team lead. To your
astonishment he states, “We will worry about what the house looks like when we
are finishing up, right now we have the important job of getting this house built.
Please leave us alone we are in a hurry.”
I’m sure like me you would
automatically come to the conclusion that house is going to fail, the team has
no focus on the end goal, they do not see it clearly and without a clear
defined vision, they will just end up adding brick after brick aimlessly
until their walls fall over.
How To Wake Up
With A Purpose (action plan)
I ask that you give me 21 days of commitment on this next
action, many psychologist believe after 21 days a behavior turns into a habit
and if you can build the following habit you will see tremendous change in your
life for the better.
I am asking
you get up 45-60 minutes earlier than you normally do, so instead of waking up in
a hurry. The key is to not start the day running around juggling coffee, breakfast, and beginning
your day in frenzy. Try this instead, wake up with time to sit back and really think
about a handful of things that will make this day a success, for me I look at
my goals and say what things can I do today that will get me one step closer to
my goals. This time of quiet is also a great time to prepare for the manic rush
of the day, create a few actions you can use when distractions come up that draw you away from being focused. These
can be very simple but are always very powerful in the long run. For instance
if you are tethered to your cell phone, checking updates every 3 minutes make
it a point to only check you phone every half hour, after that becomes
tolerable extend it to 45 minutes and continue pushing that time until you find
the sweet spot that works for you.
You say you have trouble getting up
with energy? Give this a try, the moment your alarm goes off do not push the
snooze button but actually jump out of bed in a way that would startle your
spouse, it may sound a bit crazy but who wants to be normal anyway, not me! If
you still find yourself staying in bed try this last resort effort I promise
it will help you leave your warm comfy bed in a hurry, get about a mason jar worth of
marbles and put them in the freezer, ask your spouse or roommate to dump them
on your bed under your blankets in the morning you wish to get up, that nice
warm comfy bed will no longer be an option allowing you to get up and with a
bit of pep.
I could write so much more on this subject, I really believe
it is a key to sucess, and I will write more on this topic in the future. For
now I want to honor the teachings from Michael Hyatt and keep my post around
500 words even though I busted that a while ago, sorry Michael.
Question
What are some morning rituals you’ve used and seen
improvements in you life from? How do you feel about the ice-cold marble wake
up call? I promise your get out of bed energized!
Without trust societies are surely doomed for failure. The
Absence of trust means no matter how well educated, diverse, or prepared a team
may be, they will never achieve the quality of success a group made up of
members with fraction of the talent but would die for each other could get, I
know that’s a little extreme but you get my point.
How A Leader Gains
Trust
Great leaders are great not
because of their position but rather the fact people respect and trust them; it
has nothing to do with their power, actually when a leader must rely on his
power frequently it is often a sign they will not be in that position much
longer. There are a few traits a leader must show their tribe before they grant the respect and trust needed to become a great leader. I broke these down
in the following four traits.
·First Capability,
leaders must show their tribe they are capable of doing the job, this is easy
if the leader is truly aligned with the tribe’s vision. Knowledge and capability
are a byproduct of passion, when the leader is truly on fire and on board with
the organizations mission he will surely be capable or learn very quickly if not.
·Second is integrity,
does the leader follow through with their promises, do they walk the walk? Nothing
kills morale in a tribe more than a hypocritical leader.
·Third is Caring,
if a leader begins to treat their tribe members like interchangeable parts the
company will soon erode from the bottom out. Great leader know it is the
members that make the tribe great, no matter how loud they yell they will never
get the same results they could have from a tribe of inspired members. Take
care of your people and they will take care of you.
·Finally Reliability,
Great leaders know how important it is to keep the small promises, to often
leaders make the mistake of just paying attention to what they deem “is a big
deal” but after falling through on the small things time and time again they
soon lose credibility and are deemed no longer reliable. Even worse, whatever trait
a leader exhibits often spreads to the members of the tribe, soon you have an
organization of members who cannot follow through on the small stuff which will
also result in overall failure.
The Trust Killer!
A leader is the head of the tribe,
and the biggest mistake someone appointing a leader could do is place a leader
who is not 110% congruent to the tribes Why or Vision. Education, resume, or
any other qualification will not matter if the leader is not bought in and
believes what the tribe stands for. You cannot fake excitement or enthusiasm
and tribe members will catch on quickly and realize you are a non-sincere leader.
Question:
What are traits you notice in leaders that build and
breakdown your trust? Do you think a leader can do their job and get the
mission done with minimal trust from the people they lead?
As I attempt to sharpen my leadership skills I often look to
other great leaders, no matter what industry or area great leaders are always
very successful in almost anything they attempt. My question became what are some of the common traits they
share?
A Trait All Great
Leaders Share
The more I
studied the more I began to see a pattern, everyone of them were very diligent,
and the type of diligence I am referring to can be summed up by a quote from
Abraham Lincoln who said, “Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree, I will spend the first 4 sharpening my ax.” To me this is the essence or what it is to be
Diligent. Some may argue that diligence is no more than just being persistent, but I
believe it is much more than that. To me diligence is about taking the time to
approach a problem or opportunity in attempt to achieve the greatest outcome.
We can often be tempted in either reacting to a problem or running head first
into an opportunity but of these approaches will only hinder our results.
Diligence Can Be
Learned, But You Need to Slow Down
The great thing about diligence, it
is a learnable trait one that combines creative persistence, a smart working
effort rightly planned and rightly performed in a timely, efficient, and
effective manner to obtain the results and gain the purest form and highest
quality of the results you are after. Successful
people do not react to crisis but rather put the crisis on their timeline, I
just listened to a Dave Ramsey podcast which explained it is never good to make
a hasty decision when presented with a dilemma even if the presenters are
threatening in attempt to gain a quick action, it is always better to let
yourself calm down and make the decision at a following time after you seek
counsel and have had time to think it over.
So the
question becomes how do I become more diligent so I may get closer to achieving
my goals? I believe becoming and holding
the virtue of humility will be very valuable while developing diligence. Great leaders must be able to put pride aside and ask those
around them good questions, the leader is nearly only as good as the counsel
they have around them. Humility will also allow for growth; if you cannot ask
questions and seek knowledge it doesn’t matter who you are you will fail soon. "One of us is never as smart as all of us."
Finals Thoughts
Diligence is not
exactly just persistence but more importantly looking at the challenge in front
of you and figuring out how to best approach it, and to get the most out of it. Seeking knowledge and counsel from many will help immensely, I am sure if I do not find great
people to surround myself with I will soon fail, the good thing is reading a book or
listening to a podcast is a great way to seek the counsel of tremendous
leaders!
Question:
What trait do you think is the most important for a leader
and successful entrepreneur? Like I said before I am doing this to learn from
others and would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
Culture is a daunting thing to think about as a leader even
more so when you ponder how you personally can affect it for the better. Culture
is absolutely necessary to get right if you want to have a truly successful
team. So the question remains, how can one person affect his working
environments culture for the better?
What is culture
and why is it so important?
I believe it was in Simon Sinek’s book “Start With Why” he
describes culture as a group of individuals that come together and have common
values and beliefs. I think this is a great description of culture.
Culture is so important because it shapes the individuals in that society to
act a certain way in one form or another.
For instance I grew up in a very small town in
Indiana before I joined the military I never had any other job other than a
farm hand and on many different types of farms. I truly believe that culture I
was placed in while growing up instilled good hardworking traits and
habits into me and I greatly benefited from the cultures I was apart of.
Here is another
way to think about culture, imagine it as the root system of a tree. Each root
is your companies, squadrons, or families core values, ethics, and valued traits.
The stronger the culture/roots the more your society will withstand and hold
strong. If you company does not stand for anything it will be blown over by any
adversity that comes its way.
How to maintain
Culture
A strong culture can be a lifeline to a company facing
difficulty; it is not uncommon for a leader to make rash hasty decision under
the gun. This is when a strong culture helps, one that a leader can fall back and it can be very comforting. Creating a strong culture will aid the group to build those
strong roots, the stronger the roots grow the more support you will get from
the rest of your members. Another Reference from “Simon Sinek’s Book Start with
Why” (I apologize for not doing the story justice I am currently righting this
blog offline and do not have the book handy).
Basically
the story explains a time when the entire world had not been completely explored,
and a captain sent an ad out to recruit men for a very dangerous mission to
explore Antarctica, the mission was very risky and chances of survival were
minimal. They began their voyage and soon enough they were caught in ice they
ended up drifting for months with limited supplies and under horrible
conditions, many assumed few would come back as the ingredients to that environment
often meant mutiny. Finally the ship was rescued and not a one person lost
their life. This was to the astonishment of speculators who had estimated most would
have died, how did they do this?
The captain
of the boat before they left was very cunning, when he created his ad for the
newspaper he created an add that ensured everyone responding would have the
same values, traits, and ethics and that would make his culture extremely strong on the boat.
He explained in the ad the trip would be extremely dangerous, and odds were
they would not make it back. But in the chance they did survive every man on
the boat would be famous and do something that no one else could.
Take Away
Build a strong enough culture and no matter the trials or
difficulties your society will stick together through pain and be there to celebrate triumphs.
Question:
Do you think culture can be taught? Or do you believe it is
a Nature vs Nurture phenomenon?
Being in the military I have been surrounded by leaders over
the last 12 years, some great leaders and honestly a few who have taught me
what not to do. This got me thinking what are some of the practices that make great leaders and some common mistakes that make others not as strong in
the leadership department?
Leaders Must Be
Clear
When a leader must decide between kindness and clarity it is
much bigger benefit to both the leader and team member to be favor clearness
over kindness. Team members want to know what you are saying, especially if it
is a correction. It is a common mistake to attempt to coat a correction in
kindness and this will cause the member to leave confused, all they heard was
how good they are doing three times and missed the correction. This is no good
for anyone and will not solve the problem and even add to confusion when you
have to go back and readdress the problem.
Deal With a
Problem Immediately
In my experience in the Military I have seen this common
mistake happen time and time again, something will occur a senior member will
then take his time write up paperwork (what we commonly use as a discipline
tool in the military) sit on that paperwork for a week and then blind side the
member.
By this time the person being
corrected most likely has vague recognition of why they are even being
reprimanded in the first place. one reasons in my opinion why this occurs, some
leaders just do not like confrontation, this actually is why it is better to
simply pull off the band aid and get it over with. Plus it is never as
bad as you think it is, just pull the member in and talk to them most of the
time it was just a misunderstanding or miscommunication that can be dealt with
easily.
Recognize
Positives Right Away
On the opposite side of the coin good leaders must recognize
good behavior immediately, that is if they want to see more of it. I read a
short story in a book (I’m having trouble remembering which one exactly) where
a man sat in on a elementary school class his child was enrolled in, at first
the classroom teacher was by his side and all was well. Unfortunately for him
the teacher stepped out and asked the man to watch the class, this was when
pandemonium ensued. Kids were running with scissors, dumping glue everything,
and no matter what he tried they would not listen.
Finally the teacher came back and
soon the man saw a master at work, without raising her voice or showing any
sign of anger the women simply started praising the children that were
amplifying good behavior. As other children recognized their peers being commended
they soon followed suit mimicking the behavior of the children gaining praise.
I thought this was a powerful story and have no doubt it works on not only
children but also adults of all ages.
Question
What are some of the common leadership mistakes you have
noticed your leadership make? And what are some of the good traits they have
that made up for their bad? Also what traits would make a perfect leader in
your eyes?
