Leadership Perspective – Doug Dickerson on Leadership

Embrace The Interruptions

Posted May 28, 2020May 28, 2020
by admin

The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life–the life God is sending one day by day. – C.S. Lewis

I have a small collection of autographed baseballs. Aside from being a fan of baseball, I’m not exactly sure how I got started on the collection. But several autographed baseballs from Hall of Famers are set atop one of my office bookshelves.

The most prized baseball I have was given to me by my father. It was a birthday present. Growing up a St. Louis Cardinal fan, the autograph ball is from none other than Stan “The Man” Musial.

Musial broke into the Major Leagues at the age of 20. His 22-year stint with the Cardinals, the only team he played for, earned him a spot in Cooperstown. Musial ended his career with a .331 batting average, 3,630 hits, 475 home runs, and 1,951 runs batted in.

Unfortunately, I never got to see Stan Musial play. His days in the game preceded my birth, but as a Cardinals fan, his legacy is still sacred.

Musial was off to a fast start in his career. In 1943 he won the first of seven batting titles. His career was on a fast track–until it wasn’t.

Like many of his teammates in that era, duty called and in 1945, Musial joined the Navy. While that season was lost. He rejoined the Cardinals in 1946 and went on to play a stellar career.

Life, like Musial’s and countless thousands of others, is filled with curveballs that are thrown our way. Things that we didn’t see coming. Interruptions, if you will.

The past few months may seem like one colossal interruption that you’d soon rather forget. I get it. Yet, here we are.

As a leader, how you handle interruptions is important. Consider this the next time you are faced with interruptions.

Interruptions give you time to regroup

It’s easy to see interruptions as a nuisance and get frustrated. But it’s how you react during this time that will cause it to be beneficial or a waste of time. As a leader, it’s up to you to make it happen.

Interruptions give you time to rethink

What you learn and the lessons you apply during times of interruption can be invaluable going forward. It’s exactly what many have had to do during this pandemic. Learning how to pivot and make adjustments have caused many to get out of ruts and old ways of doing things that they may not have been comfortable doing prior. Click To Tweet Not all interruptions are setbacks if you use them to your advantage.

Interruptions give you a chance to re-emerge stronger

While your interruptions may have been seen as delay and loss, maybe now you can see it as a part of a greater plan to position you to be stronger than before. How you use your time of interruption can be beneficial only as you change your attitude towards it. Click To Tweet

Final Thoughts

What have you learned during these past few months? How have you learned to pivot and what other lessons have you learned? Permit me to encourage you to embrace the interruptions that come your way. What you can learn and how you re-engage will make all the difference.

For Musial, his interruption was a call to duty. When his service ended, he returned as strong as ever and finished a Hall of Fame career. Your interruption is not the end, it’s just a pause. Embrace it and learn from it.

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Putting Your Leadership in Perspective

Posted May 4, 2020
by admin

Perspective is everything when you are experiencing the challenges of life. – Joni Eareckson Tada

Winston Churchill planned his funeral before he died. His wishes called for a bugler, positioned high in the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral to play taps after the benediction. The taps were meant to represent that his physical life was over. But then came the most dramatic turn: as soon as the taps were finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played notes of reveille – it’s time to get up. It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up in the morning

That Churchill would choose both taps and reveille to be played at his funeral is a reminder to us about the importance of our perspective. So often we tend to dwell on only the negative. Perhaps Churchill chose Reveille to remind those who mourned that it was now their time to step up.

We’ve all been learning how to make adjustments during this pandemic. The old ways of doing things seem like a faded memory. Pivot seems to be the new buzzword as businesses acclimate to teleconferencing, zoom meetings, and social distancing.

As a leader during this time, it’s important that you take time to reflect on what all of these changes mean to you and how you navigate going forward. Here are a few perspectives to consider going forward.

What lessons from the past apply to the present?

You’ve heard the old adage, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. And there’s an element of truth to that, I suppose. But more importantly, when the pandemic is over, what foundational principles of leadership will help you navigate your new paths? What truths and principles of leadership will always be true and stand the test of time and pandemic? These are the ones you will stand on. Click To Tweet

What practices of the past will be obsolete?

You’ve heard the expression “new normal” and that is what we are living in. While bedrock leadership principles will stand the test of time, not all practices will. In a new normal will come new ways of doing things. Click To TweetYour perspective as a leader will be measured by how you differentiate between the two. The path forward today may look nothing like it did six months ago. As a leader, you have to put it in perspective for your people.

Will your vision be recast or rebuilt?

As a leader, you must assess what your vision going forward looks like. For many, it will mean picking up where you left off by putting your hand to the plow and grinding it out. For others, it will need to be recast based upon new circumstances. Either way, it won’t look the same. You may be one of the many who’ve had to lay off employees or closed entirely and so now your journey begins anew. Be it recast or rebuilt, your perspective as a leader determines what the future is going to look like.

Will you lead with confidence or with fear?

In the end, your perspective as a leader matters like never before. It gives you clarity of mind in the midst of turmoil and gives your people a sense of much-needed hope and confidence. How you communicate as a leader is in part based upon your perspective. It’s during this time you need to engage in purposeful reflection and sound judgment.

Final Thoughts

Your perspective as a leader will be challenged in ways like never before during this time. Take time to reflect, pray, rest, and engage. Be careful to stay grounded and connected to the realities of what is happening while charting your new normal with hope and courage.

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It’s All About Your Perspective

Posted September 1, 2019
by admin

One person’s craziness is another person’s reality. – Tim Burton

After a particularly long and bumpy flight, the crew was tired. This was even made more apparent by the rough landing. This particular airline had a policy that the pilot must stand by the door as people exit to thank them for flying with the airline. The pilot was dreading this because of the landing but he stood faithfully by. Surprisingly enough, the people filed off and none said a word. Then came the last passenger, an elderly lady walking with a cane. As she got up to the captain, she said, “Can I ask a question?” “Sure,” answered the captain. “Did we land or were we shot down?”

I’ve been on a few flights when I felt the same way. And in leadership, there have been many times when I felt like maybe I had been shot down.

Our perspective in leadership is shaped by many factors. Often our perspective is driven by our own experiences or biases. It can be driven by the opinions of others. But one thing is certain, we all have perspectives that influence us.

As a leader, the accuracy of your perspective is important. You want to be accurately informed and make decisions that reflect sound judgment. But sometimes our perspective turns out to be wrong. Here’s how.

Your perspective can be wrong when our attitude is wrong

Nothing alters our perspective like our attitude, especially if it’s a bad one. Your perspective is what you see and your attitude determines how you see or interpret it. If your attitude is one that is predisposed to being negative then that’s the lens through which you see things.

This can have unintended consequences for you as a leader. If your attitude bends toward being a bad one or is predominantly skeptical, then do the people around you truly get a fair shake from you? If your attitude bends toward being a bad one or is predominantly skeptical, then do the people around you truly get a fair shake from you? Click To Tweet

Having a good attitude is important to you as a leader. But it takes discipline to work on it and keep it positive. You may have a dozen reasons a day to justify a bad attitude. I get it. But the effects of your attitude determine your perspective. So don’t let a bad attitude reflect in a bad way on your leadership.

Leadership Takeaway: Your people are looking to you for leadership and the right perspective to guide them. Watch your attitude.

Your perspective can be wrong when your assumptions are wrong

How many times have you made a wrong assumption about a person? How many times have you made a wrong assumption about a goal or project within your organization? I know I have. And thank goodness I was wrong!

The mark of sure and steady leadership is found in not rushing to judgment and in not making wrong assumptions. It’s giving other people the same benefit of the doubt you’d want to be given yourself. Click To Tweet

The thin line between your perspective and instincts can be a hard one to differentiate at times. On both counts, you want to get it right. One is innate and learned over time (instincts), while the other is fluid and should never be rushed.

Leadership Takeaway: Your people are looking to you for leadership and for someone to believe in them – not someone to write them off because of a wrong assumption you’ve made about them.

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