Leadership Value of the Day: Time

Leadership Value of the Day: Time

Time it’s the thing we all complain we don’t have enough of. It seems like in our busy lives we never have enough of it to adequately go around. So we pinch a little from here and a little from there and try our best to make do. What we as leaders need to understand is not only must we manage time, but we must learn make it our friend. In an earlier post I spoke about moving with a since of urgency. Yes, it is true that we all should strive to move without hesitation on a decision that has been made. However that is not the topic here. What we are really learning today is that we need to be hyper aware of the amount of time that is needed to complete our goals and develop our people. This means being aware of the competition and a timeline of what it will take to compete on the same level, and or surpass them. The things we should know about time are basic. One of the first things is to enter early. Do the work ahead of time so that you are not taken by surprise. A later start forces you to allocate more resources to the objective, which really means it is going to cost you more money and time. Try to use simultaneous action to make better use of time. Make decisions in a timely manner because procrastination changes the effectiveness of the decision. No one likes last minute decisions, and people like last minute changes even less. We should stay ahead of the curve, and to do this we must learn to manipulate time and make it a tool that we embrace not fear.

Leadership value of the Day: Courage

Leadership value of the Day: Courage

There are those who would have us think that courage is only found in the elite few, and that many of us lack the courage to do what is necessary to change our lives for the better. I would argue very differently. First let’s just define courage. Courage is moving forward in the presence of fear. That seems simple enough right? Believe it or not we all do it everyday. In the presence of an under performing economy many of us still go forward. However some of us push even harder and have the courage to lay it all on the line to change our lives for the better. This means going though the rough patches, when it looks like there is no way forward at all. Keeping the faith is an important part of activating courage, because with out faith, you will find it hard to push forward. It takes courage to go against the grain; it takes courage to believe in your dream even when there isn’t someone to back you. Finding your own truth and holding on to it no matter what takes courage. We all have it some of us just use less of it because it seems safe to travel the road that everyone else is on. Don’t be made later when the people that traveled a different road have the things you wanted but didn’t have the courage to even try to obtain. We are the leaders of tomorrow have the courage and faith to face the challenges that will form you into who you are destined to be.

Leadership Value of the Day: Will

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Leadership Value of the Day: Will

So many people say that they want this and they want that. They want to be the best at their craft, or perform at the highest level in the office. Here is a secret; no one says they want to be second best. No one wakes up in the morning and says I’m just going to do enough to get by, or today they win and I am not going to try so hard. We all want to be, or do, or achieve more than everyone else. The catch is that everyone is not willing to do what it takes. Everyone is not willing to make the sacrifices that it will take to be the absolute best. Most people when they feel a little adversity, a little resistance, they stop. When most people feel the pressure pushing pack against them, keeping them from making any further progress they stop. That moment is the moment of their defeat. My mother and father may have disagreed on a lot of things, but the one thing that they agreed on was that if you want to be successful you have to want it. You have to make the effort to do something. It’s not just showing up, it’s showing up everyday even when you think you don’t have anything left to give. It is willing your body and mind over the have not’s and neigh sayers. I have this memory of watching Rocky IV with my father in the movie theater. It is the only movie I can remember us seeing together, it’s still one of my favorites to this day. That movie is all about will. Having the will to push beyond what anyone says you can, or can’t do. Not to mention a sweet training montage. (LOL) In life you have to decide, are you going to give in at the resistance, or pressure or are you going to will yourself to work harder? Are you going to live in the dirt or are you willing to die for the dream? I’m dying for the dream. I am giving it all I have until I can’t breath, and then I’m coming back for more. If you want to achieve things that have never been done before you have to be willing to lay it all on the line, with one knee in the dirt and find the will to stand, when everyone else thinks you’re finished. The tools you have acquired are only good if you have the will to actually put them to work. Experiences, education, morals, and strategies, only work if you have the will to execute them, and keep executing them even once you succeed.

Okay, so here is a little bit of the movie I mentioned if you have time and need some inspiration to help activate your will.

Leadership Value of the Day: Are you the weakest link?

Leadership Value of the Day: Are you the weakest link?

In order for us to ascend to a level of greatness as leaders and in any craft we pursue there needs to be an assessment of the things we bring to the table.  As a leader it becomes our responsibility to be accountable for the strategy’s we use. In deciding which route to take we must first be fully aware of our strengths and are frailties. There is an idiom about a chain, which most people are familiar with, it speaks about the weakest link. Any organization is only as strong as the leader of that organization. This is because the leader should be the one that knows his or her people and their skills and capabilities. It is part of a leaders job to help his or her followers to be the best that they can be within the confines of the organization. So I wonder, and you should too, am I the weakest link in my organization? Have you done everything you can to fully prepare yourself and your people to succeed? We often find it hard to accept the weight of our own shortcomings, many times we choose instead to heap it on to a pile or spread it around to others. However it is not until we choose to confront our own faults and lack of knowledge that we are truly able to begin to lead others. This is true of any leadership role. Understanding that you are the weakest link will help you to make changes and foster your people and each of their skills in the most useful and practical ways possible. A strong person in a position to lead, who runs from task to task cannot be considered a leader, we must strive to be as the single link in the chain and bridge the bond between others in an effort to strengthen us all as a single unit not individual links.

The leadership value of the day: knowing your craft and tools

As a leader or someone striving for greatness it is important to move with a sense of urgency. However it is more important to be fully prepared before you do so. Moving with a sense of urgency does not mean moving without proper knowledge of your craft or tools. You can only truly move with a sense of urgency if you know your craft and tools. Let me explain why this is true. Moving with a sense of urgency takes into account the goals you have set out to achieve. It takes stock of your resources and your limitations. If you have not done the work it will be impossible for you to be motivated in the right direction with the right directives in mind. Using the right tool for the job and knowing what you are trying to achieve is the only way to move with any sense of urgency.

Leadership Value of the Day: Time Management

Leadership Value of the Day: Time Management

When I say time management most people think of having enough time in the day to accomplish the goals that they have set for themselves for the day. This is an important part of time management but it is not the foundation of it. For you to fully appreciate what time management is, we must first understand energy. The energy you expel is an important part of time management, because you want to move fluidly with a since of urgency to reach your goals. Staggered movement is not effective movement, and while it is true that slow progress is better that no progress we are not striving to be average, we are moving to be exceptional, and thus more is required. Moving with a sense of urgency generates energy that is contagious to others. This will allow you to work with people as excited about the possibilities of growth as you are. That being said do not waste your time with people that will not meet your efforts with an elevation of their own efforts. Greatness is not achieved by mediocre effort. It can only achieved by those willing to give it all and move like they don’t have enough time in the day. Because the truth of the matter is there is not enough time in the day if you want to be great. Something will always be left to do the next day. The trick is to do so much that you no longer measure your time by the hour; you begin to measure your time by the success of the projects you complete on the highest level possible. It is important to realize that time is a construct that you will never be able to get back, so once you waste it on something it is gone. Having the self-discipline to align your goals with your actions is the hard part of being a leader. The people that choose to follow you will emulate you, so you have to lead by example. Be conscious about how you spend your time, how you move when you are on a task, and whom you spend your time with.

Leadership Value of the Day: Controlling your Emotions

Leadership Value of the Day: Controlling your Emotions

The one thing that we all have in common is that we are human. We come in all shapes, sizes and colors. We use all of those things to separate and group us into categories that help us to cope, and try to give order to something that we cannot comprehend on this plane of existence. We do all of this subconsciously, and we accept it as the norm. However with all that said, no matter how much we would like to separate ourselves, we are all the same. One of the many things that tie us together is our ability to feel. Our emotions help us to act and react to situations, and circumstances. However if we allow these emotions to dictate our reactions we can end up in situations with no way out. In order to lead others you do not have to be perfect. You do however need to attempt to lead from a place of clarity. Free from the knee jerk reaction to the initial emotion of a situation. There will be times when you feel frustrated at circumstances, and the ability to control that frustration and channel it towards a positive progression is the only way to not allow the emotion to control the outcome. You should strive to think about what you are feeling prior to action. Without this clarity of mind, free from the fog of emotion we all have the capacity to make a decision we would not have other wise made. Learning to focus your emotions toward change will help keep you ahead of the fray. If necessary embrace the feelings to learn from the situation that has evoked the feeling, sometimes this is the true gift of emotion. The bottom line is to control the emotion and use it, not letting the emotion control your actions.