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.
Proper leadership requires power, but positional power should not be used often and for good reason, if a leader must rely on positional power
alone the organization can soon expect decreased output and possibly notice troubles
arise in the future. So the question remains what type of leadership is best? I believe the answer to that is servant
leadership which in my opinion is by far the most effective form of leadership out there, that is if your goal is to have an organization with a rich culture full of members that want to excel.
Does Servant
Leadership Mean a Weak Leader? NO!
Many may hear the term “Servant Leadership” and get confused
and picture a leader who is not strong, but the word they are actually thinking
of is subservient leader, and is not what I am referring to. A Servant Leader is by no means
a doormat.
Now the meaning of Servant Leadership stands
for a leader who cares about their team so much they want to serve them and
do everything possible so that they may succeed. This is not just a supportive
role, but also a teaching and disciplinary role as well. The leader does
what they need to do for the best interest of their members no matter how hard that may be.
Common leadership
misconceptions
Myth - You must be socially disconnected from your
team so they will respect you.
Truth – If you’re
the type of leader who hides away in his office and knows very
little about the team you lead you
may get compliance but will never have a team that wants to do more than the
status quo or minimal expectations for you.
Myth – Young employees need strict micromanaging
leadership to keep them inline.
Truth - If you
are the type of leader that embraces servant leadership even young
employees will form a bond with you
and will want to do great work; all they need is guidance and expectations for them
to achieve that. For instance at Chick-Fil-A they manage hundreds of teenage workers all of which are extremely well mannered, polite, and do an excellent job, compare that to other fast food restaurants you frequent, that is a testament of servant leadership and what it can accomplish.
Myth – Employees
need constant over watch and managing to stay on track and
mission.
Truth – This
causes huge a bottleneck for any organization, your job as a leader is to
set goals and explain the culture
and principals the organization stands for as
a guiding light. From their it is
important to allow your members to make
decisions and become more and more
self reliant. If you continue to be a micromanaging boss you will find your
days full of office drive-bys consisted of questions and scenarios your team is
more than capable of fixing but wont.
Great Leader Know Their People Matter
Our brain is an amazing machine, capable of much more than
we will ever realize. It can help or hurt us depending on how we use it. One
thing our brains do great is creating small programs to run tasks we do daily, this can be to our benefit but also lead us to our downfall let me
explain.
The first
time you ever drove a car it was likely nerve racking, and nothing like jumping in the car for
a drive today. You had to worry about checking your surroundings, checking
your mirrors, putting the key in the ignition, changing gears, pushing the gas
being ready to press the break… and the list goes on and on. So the question is
why is driving a vehicle today so easy? Well your brain actually created a
program called a TOTE, “Test Operate Test Exit” which in short puts your brain
on autopilot and allows you to focus on something else.
As a leader
a TOTE can be a huge hindrance, when you start categorizing talking to your tribe
under a single TOTE you take the authentic interaction between you and your
people out. So you need to concentrate on each interaction and focus on staying “in the
moment” and not allow yourself to go on autopilot, especially when meeting and
communicating with the workers that will make or break your company.
Question
Who was one of your best leaders in your life, what leadership type did they use?
-Remember to take care of others you must first take care of yourself, before you can become someone else's hero you must first become your own. Be your own Hero!
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?
