Category Archives: Vision

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A Leader’s Legacy

Anna“With great sadness in my heart I must tell you that…” was the opening of an email message I received last evening informing me of the closing of another life. I was shocked, confused and all that my quivering lips could utter was a pained “No!” It was a legacy refined, one that began in life and shall forever be immortalized.

I still remember these words that I wrote to Anna back in December 2011. “You are what I call the Swedish Iron Lady. Your attention to detail is unrivaled! I always knew that you would spot any full stop I omitted in my work. You provided an opportunity for me to prove my worth. You mentored me, trained me, and above all believed that I could become a better communication specialist. In you, a platform existed from which I could launch myself into the future. Thank you Anna for giving me the opportunity.”

She had a beautiful smile that let me know all things would work out even in the most bleak of situations. She was gentle as she was tough is her expectations of me. Resilience was her hallmark and she would not stop until she was sure that I was close to my potential. Her inspiration allowed me to bridge the gap and reach out to that potential.

As I went through all these emotions, it dawned on me what a great leader she was to me. To date, every work I do has her imprint on it. I can’t stand bad writing. My temples pulsate every time I receive a poorly punctuated email message. I think structure any time I hear ‘content’.

Anna leaves behind a few lessons for all of us aspiring to be better leaders.

Smile often: It communicates warmth and the humanity in you [TweetMe]. It is amazing the effect a smile has on someone else. It breaks down barriers and helps unlock the magical door into their hearts. A smile shows a healthy dose of optimism that all will be well, regardless.

“We become what we think about most of the time, and that’s the strangest secret.” ~Earl Nightingale.

Gentle is okay: Leaders do not have to lead by fear [TweetMe]. Temper your firmness with love. You are leading people, not robots. In your toughness, your followers need to remember that you have their best interests at heart. It helps to build trust between you and your followers. That will always win the day.

“The glue that holds all relationships together – including the relationship between; the leader and the led is trust, and trust is based on integrity.” ~ Brian Tracy

Inspiration is possible: I don’t need to be a great orator to inspire others towards their potential [TweetMe]. All I need to do is to figure out their potential and partner with them to realize their innate ability. Once we are both on the same page, difficult situations become learning opportunities.

“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay for the price the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.” ~ Vince Lombardi.

Seize the moment: The last time Anna was in Kenya, she invited us to join her and her daughter on a holiday. It was an impromptu proposition. My silly excuse was that we could not afford the trip. I have learned a heavy lesson, and I will now invest more in meaningful relationships. That is what legacies are made of [TweetMe].

Anna, you lead, cared and built. You are gone in body but your legacy lives on in many of us. Your legacy is built not on what you are, but who you are, and the hearts you touched.

Are you reaching out to people’s hearts?

 photo credit: Paul Mundy
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Design With the End in Mind

DiscoverSweetSpot

Guest Post By Scott M. Fay

Author, Discover Your Sweet Spot

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What do you plan on doing with the new space?” I inquired with genuine interest.

You’d be surprised how few of my clients know the answer to this question.

“I’m not sure I know what you’re asking,” he responded back with equal sincerity. “I thought you were just going to pick out some good- looking trees and shrubs for us. You’re the professional. Isn’t that why we hired your team?”

“I’m definitely up for advising you along the way,” I said reassuringly. “But trust me, designing with the end in mind will help tremendously. Think about it this way: as you imagine the new space we’re designing for you, what do you see yourself doing in that space? Are you hosting garden parties with friends? Do you see yourself sitting next to a small waterfall feature in the evenings while reading your favorite novel? Or maybe you picture your grandkids playing Frisbee with you in the backyard on a plush green lawn?”

A warm smile slowly spread across my client’s face.

“OK, I get it now. You know, come to think of it, I can see myself doing all three!” he chuckled.

“One thing though, Scott,” he shot back.

“Sure, what is it?” By this time, I anticipated a little humor. “Before I give you my final answer, I just have to ask…do you have any additional options besides those three? After all, I don’t want to limit any fun.”

At this comment, we both started laughing. “Now you’re getting it,” I grinned.

I start every job the same way, helping my clients design with the end in mind. It’s always better to talk through their desires in the design phase than to work them out in the build phase. Designing with the end in mind saves them money and it saves me time. Although my landscaping team is always happy to help, and we can do almost anything, most clients don’t have an endless supply of money. A little intentional thinking on the front end saves everyone time and money on the back end.

But this principle reaches far beyond waterfalls and flowerbeds. In fact, it touches every single one of us. Although we might not be able to literally design the environment around us, we’re each given the responsibility to design a conducive environment within us.

Are YOU designing your environment with the end in mind?

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Excerpt taken from Discover Your Sweet Spot by Scott M. Fay, published by Morgan James Publishing, available here via Amazon. More info:  www.thesweetspotsystem.com .
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Hacking Leadership

Hacking-Leadership-Book-Cover-678x1024“Nothing impacts our world like leadership,” says internationally acclaimed author Mike Myatt in his latest book, HACKING LEADERSHIP: The 11 Gaps Every Business Needs to Close and The Secrets to Closing Them Quickly. Poor leadership cripples businesses, ruins economies, destroys families, loses wars and can bring the demise of nations. Unfortunately, today’s leadership practices are too often inadequate to meet the challenges of the 21st century.  What must leaders do today to be successful tomorrow?

HACKING LEADERSHIP shows leaders how to bring their leadership skills up to speed to meet those challenges by helping them identify weaknesses or gaps in their leadership skills and thereby empowering them to achieve their true leadership potential.

Core leadership principles need not be abandoned. They are still as valid as ever. But they must be transformed to close the gap between perception and reality, between intentions and outcomes. Myatt gives readers the tools—the hacks—to do just that.

“Hacking Leadership is a thought-provoking, shattering jolt of leadership wisdom that can propel anyone in the direction of their full leadership potential,” General John E. Michel, Commanding General, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan.

Myatt sets forth eleven leadership gaps, which if not properly identified, understood and addressed can be fatal not only to leaders but to those whom they lead. Among them are:

  • The Leadership Gap: Leadership isn’t just a role or a title. It’s a choice [TweetMe]. With principled effective leadership, all things are possible. The best leaders understand leadership is the key to unlocking and realizing limitless potential. The only limits are the ones you submit to. Discover the three critical leadership gaps you must be aware of and how to remedy them.
  • The Purpose Gap: Great leaders have a clearly defined purpose, while average leaders just show up for work [TweetMe]. Purpose fuels passion, which creates focus and in turn fuels high performance. The secret sauce to purpose is found in a leader’s ability to scale personal and professional purpose into a cause embraced and evangelized by others.
  • The Mediocrity Gap: The best leaders don’t play it safe they don’t look the other way when something is wrong, and they don’t compromise on values. They do the right thing. Doing the right thing means never settling for mediocrity [TweetMe].
  • The Culture Gap: A company’s corporate culture is its heart and soul [TweetMe]. It must be part of the ethos that describes why the enterprise exists, what and who it values, and how it will behave.
  • The Knowledge Gap: When it comes to leadership, knowledge isn’t about being right. It’s about achieving the right outcomes. Great leaders keep their egos in check  and do whatever they must to ensure that their organization has ability to access information and convert that information into successful outcomes [TweetMe].
  • The Talent Gap: Recruiting talent is one thing, strategically deploying talent is quite another. If leaders spent less time trying to retain people, and more time trying to understand them, care for them, invest in them, and lead them well, the retention problem would take care of itself [TweetMe].
  • The Innovation Gap: If your organization doesn’t innovate in response to market-driven needs and demands, it will fail. It’s just that simple. Leaders who don’t know how to hack the innovation gap put their organizations on the fast track to obsolescence [TweetMe].

HACKING LEADERSHIP will help leaders understand how to hack not only these gaps but also other blind spots such as dealing with organizational complexity, fear of failure, and making sure expectations are understood and met. Myatt also devotes a chapter on the importance of hacking your family life. Career successes you have, while nice, are fleeting and don’t even begin to compare to the significance of those who build into your life on a regular and consistent basis. If you cheat your family to invest in your career, your loved ones will pay a very heavy price.

***About the Author: Mike Myatt is the CEO at N2growth, a global leader in providing leadership development services to Fortune 500 companies. He is widely regarded as America’s Top CEO Coach. The author of Leadership Matters, he is also a Forbes Leadership Columnist, and a senior fellow at the Gordian Institute. His website is www.n2growth.com.***

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Leadership is HOPE

We all need a hand from time to time

I was walking by a boy who was munching away at a delicious doughnut topped with glossy chocolate goodness. What made me notice this five-year old were the ’empty’ signals that my stomach was beaming to my mind. Then I spotted him drop his paper napkin into an adjacent flowerbed.

As much as there was an urgent need to sort out my nagging hunger, I managed to suppress it and respond to a more pressing need. Right before me was an opportunity to help this youngster and guide him towards taking more responsibility in life.

I stooped down to his level and gently asked him to pick up the paper napkin. But that was not all. I helped him to figure out what to do with the napkin, to find a rubbish bin.

What does this have to do with leadership? It is because leadership responds to HOPE, Honoring the Opportunity to spur People on to Excellence. Hope is at the core of leadership as it provides the grounds for believing that something good may happen.

1. Honor

Leaders need to fulfill an obligation or stick to an agreement. This is regardless of how you feel, where you are, or whichever excuse that may creep into your mind. It may come at great personal cost, but a leader always keeps his word and sticks to a vision set.

“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor,” said Aristotle.

2. Opportunity

Be present in time and place, as opportunity is a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. If you are too busy building the big vision, when will you be able to work with your team to realize that vision?

“Leadership develops daily, not in a day,” notes John C. Maxwell in ’21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership’.

3. People

Anyone who thinks they are a leader but has no followers is just taking a walk. For people to follow you, they must trust you and feel that you are adding value to them. They must have faith in your leadership. If they can’t feel your heart and see your intentions, you’ve lost them.

“The true test of a leader is whether his followers will adhere to his cause from their own volition, enduring the most arduous hardships without being forced to do so, and remaining steadfast in the moments of greatest peril.” ~ Xenophon.

4. Excellence

The quality of being outstanding or extremely good is key to leadership. It means that you are in a state of constant learning and re-calibration; not only to better your leadership, but also to build other leaders around you. Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters.

Colin Powell noted this: “Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”

Q: How do you support others for their skills, competence, and expertise to shine through? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

photo credit: Wetsun via photopin cc

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Leadership is the WE in ME

medium_2557846393When selfishness is banished, that is, we cease to continuously place ourselves on a pedestal, then tables are turned. An “M” in me is immediately mirrored into the “W” in we. This brings people into our lives and with that the opportunity to lead and inspire hope. We begin to build a vision. “Part of our destiny is to claim the vastness of our vision.” Brendon Burchard

So, how do you grow your leadership by claiming the vastness of your vision? |TweetMe|

Presence/Persona: A leader can’t be accountable to no one. Make sure you have at lease two people you are completely open to and can question your actions at any time. Being available to critique means you are dependable. It communicates that you can be found when people are in need; when they are vulnerable and when they want to celebrate. Being accountable helps you to connect with people as you can readily step in and help.

Persistence: When you claim your vision, you live in the moment of decisive passion. You can’t hide from the truth in your heart. What happens in this state is magical, as you are filled with a determination and renewed commitment to stay on course. Persistence opens up the vaults to patience and work ethic. You then become one of those fortunate to invest in a rare commodity also known as life.

Prosperity: Investing in doing what is right is an expression of impact. Under intense pressure, you can only manifest what is in you. The quality of success in my life not only depends on the seeds I sow, but also in the quality of harvest I reap. Don’t worry, sow quality seeds and nurture them. The return will be there. Just be persistent in doing what is right, as opposed to doing the right thing that yields the bare minimum.

Position: Finally, leadership is about a legacy of hope, peace and unforgettable memories. Legacy is the ultimate yardstick of your position in life and community. Many measure prosperity on the premise of the value of the material possessions they have or own. I peg my position on the value of relationships I have cultivated. As mentioned in my previous blog post “When you are not in the room”, others determine your position, not you.

“The axe forgets but the tree remembers.” Shona Proverb |TweetMe|

A leader responds to presence, persistence, prosperity and position with three “Rs”; a Refusal to cease doing good, a Reason to remain even-keeled even in challenging times, and finally a Righteousness that transcends the deepest and widest divides of the heart.

Leaders are not judged by how much material gain they make as harshly as by the sacrifice of their choices, the seeds they cultivate, and the connectedness within their hearts to nurture more leaders. “Material possessions don’t hold bedside vigils when your end is near: they can’t cry with you in your pain or laugh at shared stories,” says Dr. Kevin Lehman.

That is legacy… And what will yours be? Shall we start now?

photo credit: fragmented via photopin cc