L.e.a.d.e.r

Happy New Leap Year!!!


I want to spend the 1st Quarter of this Leap Year delving into the subject of Leadership because last year, God gave me quite a leaping opportunity.

The idea for this topic as a series came shortly after someone off the cuff asked me, "What do you think the attributes of a Good Leader are?" I didn't have much time to think about the question - so I truly made it up as I went. Since that conversation, I have refined it and use it in training/mentoring a pair of new leaders. Because I believe Leadership and leadership skills evolve and the individual experiences transformation, I'm using pictures of letters that include butterflies... you can become a beautiful Butterfly Leader and lead others to fly high. Let's start:

For me the "L" stands for Listener. If you want to be a good leader, you must be a good and active Listener. You must listen to what is being said as well as ALL that is not being said. You don't need to be a mind-reader to hear it all - you just need to be willing to be silent.
God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth - and I'm sure He expects us to use it in the same proportion. If that wasn't the case, how else can you explain the fact that "SILENT" and  "LISTEN" use the exact same letters? Can you?
Now let's be careful not to assume that whenever someone silent they are listening but if you truly want to listen, be silent.


Another important aspect of listening is listening with your heart (i.e. with feeling aka being empathetic) & acting with your head (i.e. being firm/emphatic) in a caring way.

12 things Successful Women do differently*

Here's the rest of Emma Gray's article. My comments are in purple.

12 things Successful Women do differently*

Casually surfing, I found this article by Emma Gray - Senior Editor of HuffPost Women. I decided to share an abridged version of it in 2 posts - and my comments will be in purple. I believe that they are tips that we can use as we build our plans for Leaping in the Leap Year ahead... 

1. They are deeply passionate about what they do.

"Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft," wrote dancer Twyla Tharp in her book, The Creative Habit. If you don't love what you do, you're probably not going to be motivated to go above and beyond, to innovate and to stand out in the workplace. But if you're passionate about your career, it will make putting time and effort into it pleasurable, not a chore.

2. They don't expect perfection - of themselves or those around them.
Research has shown that wasting time and energy trying to be "perfect" only leads to unhappiness. Successful women know that that they can't do everything well all the time. Beating yourself up for your perceived flaws will only dampen your abilities at work, not to mention your mental health. "We each, if we're lucky, will have our chance to leave a mark on the world, but we are trying too hard to be perfect," wrote Barnard president Debora Spar in an op-ed for Glamour magazine. "So don't emulate Wonder Woman; think about what's wonderful to you instead. Then boldly, audaciously, joyfully, leave the rest behind."

3. Often, they become the boss.
Many successful women have figured out that if you're the boss, you can set your own rules. As editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Joanna Coles said at the Third Metric Conference in June: "The higher you go in a corporation, the easier it is ... The truth is you get more control." And when you're in control, you have the ability to create a more sane, happy and balanced workplace for yourself and your employees. EW: If you ask me, I prefer the word "Leader." Leaders inspire while bosses instruct. We should aim to inspire & empower more people.

4. They marry well -- or not at all.
Successful women know the value of a true partnership. As Sheryl Sandberg observed in Lean In: "I don’t know of a single woman in a leadership position whose life partner is not fully - and I mean fully - supportive of her career." And many successful women forgo marriage all together. Despite not being wed, women like Oprah Winfrey, Condoleeza Rice and Diane Keaton seem to be doing just fine. EW: Indra Nooyi (PepsiCola CEO) who I wrote about** attributes her success to her husband. For any married woman to be successful, she needs a (very) supportive husband. Having said that no woman should hold up her aspirations and drive to success because she's not (yet) married.

5. They believe that they will be successful.
Not to go all "If you build it, he will come," on you, but believing in your own success - no matter how crazy your idea might seem - is integral to achieving it. Kay Koplovitz, founder of the USA Network, echoed this sentiment in a July interview. "You have to be comfortable that you can think your way through and actually execute your way through to the desired outcome," she said. "I expected to be successful." Bottom line? Confidence - and faith in yourself - is key.

6. They're not afraid to take risks.
Sheryl Sandberg says that all women should ask themselves the question: "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" Affecting change - in your career and beyond - requires the ability to stop playing it safe every once in awhile. Successful women don't make reckless decisions, but they do know how to take a calculated risk. Sandberg took her own advice, and wrote the bestseller, Lean In.


References:
* http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/26/things-successful-women-do-differently_n_3787406.html
** http://empowered-women-excel.blogspot.com/2014/06/behind-every-successful-woman.html

Resilience...

...not resistance, is the right (and best) response to change.

I'm sure we've all heard the unchanged adage that

"Change is the only constant thing in life."

Now, whether or not you agree with it doesn’t change the nature of Change...

It remains the same - i.e. "Change."

An equally important thing to know about Change is that:

"Whether or not you resist change, change will still occur."

Change doesn't take any human being's permission in order to occur. For instance, every time you blink, or don't, change has occurred - at least the time has changed from a minute or even second ago.

With that as our backdrop,  we know it's human to (try to) resist change. This fact became even more evident when I had to manage and lead others through a significant Change Journey. As the changes unfolded and the related challenges surfaced, I kept telling myself and others that we needed to be resilient, not resistant to it. It wasn't the easiest thing to do but I know it was the best thing to do.

Being resilient energizes you from within and you show up better and more effective as a leader and even as an Individual Contributor. Being resistant to change drains one's energy and erodes the value one could have added to the future - your future.

A lot has been said by many people about Change and Resilience...but I like this one by  Jamais Cascio:

Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.

As I wrote this piece up, it occurred to me is that a seed will never "grow" up to a plant if it resists the changes that occur to, in and/or around it. The Palm tree doesn't resist the wind, nor does it let the wind uproot it - it just stays rooted and resilient. Likewise, if you want to thrive not just survive, be (rooted in God) and resilient in times of change.

How do you show up?

Last month, this question came up in my mind after I read this verse:

 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.” (Matthew 5: 13 - MSG)

So I had to reassess how I "show up" at work; let me explain...

Be inspired...

...and inspire others

Two weeks ago, when I was doing some writing for another purpose, I stumbled on this quote:

If you always hurt people with intimidations instead of encouraging them with inspirations, the world will change, but you will not be the reason for it.*

"Good enough" is not good enough...

Welcome to the last quarter of the year.

This is usually the time some of us start to look back on the past months/passing year and assess our performance - if we don't, our Managers definitely do.

Consequently, I felt it imperative to share on "Good enough is not good enough...

Too many times people give themselves what I'd call "a good reason" not to be or do their best. Actually it's an excuse and as we know in our personal and professional lives, excuses never take you very far. 

In my opinion, the reason why "good enough is not good enough" is because "The enemy of 'best' is not 'worst,' it is 'good enough'." "Good enough" is the phrase that keeps us from stretching ourselves. In fact is it is the phrase (excuse) that we come up with when we start comparing ourselves to others instead of comparing ourselves to ourselves. The only person you MUST always compare yourself to and be better than is yourself.  You must take personal responsibility for yourself as Galatians 6:4-5 says:

⁴ Each person should judge [examine; test] his own actions [or achievements; work] and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. ⁵ Each person must be responsible for himself [will carry their own load]. (italics mine, Expanded Bible)

We are each responsible for ourselves - so focus on going beyond "good enough" and be your best self ever. God, not the sky, is your limit.

 

Have an impactful 4th Quarter.