Drag your thoughts away from your troubles…by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it. – Mark Twain

A story is told of Somerset Maugham, the English writer, once wrote a story about a janitor in St. Peter’s Church in London. One day a young vicar discovered that the janitor was illiterate and fired him.

Jobless, the man in vested his meager savings in a tiny tobacco shop. Where he prospered, bought another, expanded, and ended up with a chain of tobacco stores worth several hundred thousand dollars. One day the man’s banker said, “You’ve done well for an illiterate, but where would you be if you could read and write?” “Well,” replied the man, “I’d be janitor of St. Peter’s Church in Neville Square.” The lesson here is not that the man didn’t have troubles but in the way he handled them. He was treated unfair, but his attitude proved to be his greatest ally.

Whether you like it or not all leaders face troubles and perhaps more than most. What troubles do you face as a leader? A Mind Tools article (http://bit.ly/eznpz9) revealed the 10 most common leadership and management errors or mistakes to avoid. The list included: lack of feedback, not making time for your team, being too “hands off”, being too friendly, failing to define goals, misunderstanding motivation, hurrying recruitment, not “walking the line”, not delegating, and misunderstanding your role.

Keeping up with all of the dos and don’ts of management and leadership can be daunting. But knowing which troubles will cause you the most trouble is important. Here are three that you should not overlook.

The troubles that you ignore. Ignoring troubles don’t make them go away. It only prolongs the inevitable likelihood that the problem will only get worse the longer you delay action to correct it. Leadership by denial will ground you. The troubles you ignore can create animosity, hurt morale, and weaken your standing as a leader. Don’t let your desire for popularity blind you to the realities that you must see. Better to go through short-term pain and deal with the trouble than suffer the consequence of ignoring needed solutions. You owe it to yourself and your team to face your troubles, find solutions, and work together to prevent them in the future.

The troubles that you create. Some of the troubles you face might be inherited while others you create. As a leader, I’m not suggesting that you purposefully set out to create trouble, but it might be the unintended consequence of your inaction, or perhaps your micromanagement. When dealing with troubles you should honestly evaluate whether your actions in any way contributed to the problem (poor communication, etc.) and if a different approach is needed going forward. What you create you can correct but only if you acknowledge it.

The troubles that you keep. The troubles that you keep are most commonly relational in nature. It can be the result of holding onto a grudge or resentment towards someone who has wronged you. Perhaps it’s anger for being passed over for a promotion or any other personal disappointment that you haven’t dealt with. You are not responsible for how others treat you or for their behavior, but you own your response. The janitor was on the receiving end of bad treatment. His response was his choice. He chose a path that was prosperous. What you choose to do with your troubles is up to you. Keep them or let them go – it’s up to you. The baggage you hold onto will only weigh you down. If you want to go up there are some things you will have to give up. Why not let go of the bad attitudes that would hold you back?

As you give reflection to the troubles you face as a leader here the three important questions for your consideration: 1) What troubles am I ignoring, and why? 2) What troubles have I created and how can I correct it? 3) What troubles (a bad attitude, unforgiveness) am I keeping that I shouldn’t?

What do you say?

© 2013 Doug Dickerson

If you enjoy reading Doug’s leadership insights you will especially enjoy reading his books.

Visit www.dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com to order your copies today.

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Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitudes and in actions. – Harold S. Geneen

In his book the 360° Leader, John Maxwell shares a story about President Harry S. Truman speaking at the National War College. In the speech, Truman said, “You know, it’s easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you-and on my desk I have a motto which says ‘The Buck Stops Here’- the decision has to be made.”

On another occasion Truman said, “The president-whoever he is- has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.” For the leader, the weight of responsibility can be heavy burden to carry. Seldom do others see behind the scenes the struggles many leaders deal with on a regular basis.

To be sure, stress in the workplace is something to reckon with on many levels. The Huffington Post (http://huff.to/14YHA6L) reported on recent finding from the third annual Work Stress Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive. The results last year found that 73 percent of Americans were stressed at work. This year, that number jumped to 83 percent. Only 17 percent of workers said nothing about their jobs causing them stress.

Regardless of your present station in your organizational structure there are things you can do to lift your leader. Why is this important? When you commit yourself to lifting your leader you are crating the kind of culture within your organization that can have residual effects that ripple through your organization in a positive way. Consider these five for starters.

Lighten your leader’s load. When you lighten the load of your leader you are freeing up his or her ability to focus on larger and more consequential things for your organization. Lightening the load happens as you look past just what is good for you and look at what is good for the organization. When you lighten the leader’s load you increase his capacity to grow.

Listen to your leader’s concerns. The “Buck Stops Here” responsibility weighs heavily on your leader. You can lighten the load of your leader as you listen to the verbal and pay attention to the non-verbal communications. When you know what is on the mind of your leader you can do your part to put his mind at ease.

Leverage your leader’s strengths. You always want your leader in a position of strength in any given situation. Leveraging the strength of your leader can also include finding creative ways of assisting in his weaker areas. When you are contentious of this it can be a real boost to your leader and can give your company extra leverage it may need. Strong leaders make for strong teams. Lift up the strengths of your leader and everyone benefits.

Learn from your leader. You can lift, encourage, and empower your leader when you commit yourself to learn from him. The investment he or she has made in you should be cause for enough consideration that they feel you have some potential. Succession in leadership is not a birthright, it’s earned. You can lift your leader by showing respect and learning from their experiences and expertise.

Laugh with your leader. Leadership is a journey filled with many surprises. It’s filled with joys and heartache and a little bit of everything else in between. Charles M. Schultz said, “If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself.” Never underestimate the power of laughter in leadership.  You can lift your leader when you laugh with your leader.

Lifting your leader is a matter of strong intuition, being a little less selfish, and realizing that one day you may be a position where you’d like to call upon these acts of kindness. When you lift your leader you are growing as a leader.

What do you say?

© 2013 Doug Dickerson

If you enjoy reading Doug’s leadership insights you will especially enjoy reading his books, Leaders Without Borders & Great Leaders Wanted! Visit Doug’s website to order your copies today.

Website: www.dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com

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