Personal Growth – Page 8 – Doug Dickerson on Leadership

Living Your Purpose Through Your Priorities

Posted January 2, 2022
by admin

If you’re alive, there’s a purpose for your life. – Rick Warren

One of golf’s immortal moments came when a Scotchman demonstrated the new game of golf to President Ulysses S. Grant. Placing the ball of the tee, he took a mighty swing. The club hit the turf and scattered dirt all over the President’s beard and surrounding vicinity, while the ball placidly waited on the tee. Again, the Scotchman swung, and again he missed. Grant waited patiently through six more tries then quietly stated, “There seems to be a fair amount of exercise in the game, but I fail to see the purpose of the ball.”

Welcome to 2022 along with all the resolutions, diets, and goals that come with it. It’s a new year full of endless possibilities and a chance to hit the reset button.

As you contemplate this new year you don’t want to find yourself in a situation like Grant and see a lot of swinging and missing and failing to the purpose of the ball – or this case, the purpose of your goal. In 2022, you want to be focused, know your purpose, and hit your goals along the way.

Remember the line from Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland? It went like this:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where-” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

And this is precisely why you have to connect your purpose to your priority. With it, you can chart the course and get there, without it, you drift.

I would like to share with you something that I came across a few years ago by Gary Keller entitled: Goal Setting to the Now. It’s perhaps one of the most practical examples I’ve seen on goal setting that works. It goes like this:

Someday Goal

What’s the One Thing I want to do someday?

Five-Year Goal

Based on my Someday Goal, what’s the One Thing I can do in the next five years?

One-Year Goal

Based on my Five-Year Goal, what’s the One Thing I can do this month?

Monthly Goal

Based on my One-Year Goal, what’s the One Thing I can do this month?

Weekly Goal

Based on my Monthly Goal, what’s the One Thing I can do this week?

Daily Goal

Based on my Weekly Goal, what’s the One Thing I can do today?

Right Now

Based on my Daily Goal, what’s the One Thing I can do right now?

Goal setting and goal execution are two different things. By using this model, you can think and plan long-term while doing your One Thing right now to make it happen.

Final Thoughts

Living your purpose through your priorities is essential for your success. Who you surround yourself with is just as important. Make sure your priorities and the people around you are aligned properly for maximum success in 2022.

Please follow and like us:

2022 Is Your Year To Soar!

Posted December 28, 2021December 28, 2021
by admin

Eagles don’t flock, you have to find them one at a time. – Ross Perot

While walking through the forest one day, a man found a young eagle who had fallen out of its nest. He took it home and put it in his barnyard where it soon learned to eat and behave like the chickens.

One day a naturalist passed by the farm and asked why it was that the king of all birds should be confined to live in a barnyard with the chickens. The farmer replied that since he had given it chicken feed and trained it to be a chicken, it had never learned to fly. Since it now behaved as the chickens, it was no longer an eagle.

“Still it has the heart of an eagle,” replied the naturalist, “and can surely be taught to fly.” He lifted the eagle toward the sky and said, “You belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” The eagle, however, was confused. He did not know who he was, and seeing the chickens eating their feed, he jumped down to be with them again.

The naturalists took the bird to the roof of the house and urged him again, saying, “You are an eagle. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” but the eagle was afraid of his unknown world and jumped down once more for the chicken feed.

Finally, the naturalist took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain. There he held the king of the birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, “You are an eagle, you belong to the sky. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” The eagle looked around, back towards the barnyard and up to the sky. Then the naturalist lifted him straight towards the sun and it happened that the eagle began to tremble. Slowly he stretched his wings, and with a triumphant cry, soared away into the heavens.

On the brink of a new year, it’s time to decide – fly with the eagles or run with the chickens. I believe that it’s time for you to break free and remind yourself of some of the following truths.

Not everyone who picks you up will lift you up

The man who found the young eagle might have meant well in bringing the young eagle to his barn. But over time, his good deed turned the majestic bird, full of so much potential, into a common barnyard chicken.

If you want to soar as a leader you must break free from the good intentions of people who do not bring out the best in you. Click To Tweet

Your worth is not defined by those holding you back

As the young eagle grew its identity was shaped by the company that is kept. Instead of realizing its full potential to soar the heavens, it was grounded with the chickens. The eagle was being labeled as something it wasn’t. His future was being cast. And the man could not be more wrong.

If you want to soar as a leader you must never let the people who are holding you back define your worth. When you have the heart of an eagle, don’t allow the mindset of a chicken to hold you back.

You can only soar like an eagle when you start acting like one

Over time, the young eagle was persuaded by the naturalist that he was more than a chicken as led to believe. It was when the eagle embraced everything that was great about him that he took his rightful place soaring to the heavens.

If you want to soar as a leader you will have to shake off the labels of your critics and stop hanging out with the chickens. Surround yourself with those who bring out the best in you.

Those who believe in you the most will insist that you fly

The naturalist saw the eagle for the grand and majestic bird that it was. He knew that as long as it was confined to the barnyard it would never live up to its potential. He saw the eagles’ potential and he didn’t give up until it flew.

If you want to soar as a leader you will need people in your life who believe in you, people who will call out the best in you, and people who will never rest until you fly.

2022 is your year to soar!

Please follow and like us:

A Season For Reflection

Posted December 16, 2021
by admin

Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action – Peter Drucker

Somewhere at the beginning of each day, you probably find yourself looking at your reflection in the mirror. Many of us never give a second thought as to how that reflection is produced. All surfaces reflect some light, but only a special type of surface reflects light in such a way that it can form a mirror.

In 1835, German chemist Justis von Liebig devised a process for coating plates of glass with metallic silver. This was the beginning of the mirror as we know it today and helped it become a household item. The mirrors in our homes are made in a similar fashion by evaporating a very thin layer of silver onto a glass.

If you’re like me, spending a lot of time in front of the mirror is not a good thing–for the mirror. But during the month of December in the lead up to Christmas and when thoughts turn toward the new year, it is a time of reflection.

What about you? What are you reflecting on? What are you thankful for? What are you celebrating? What are you mourning?

Times of reflection as a leader are important and every leader needs to do it. Here are a few ways it can help you grow in your leadership.

It puts your past in perspective

When you look back on 2021, it will generate mixed emotions and responses for sure. But the lessons you’ve learned serve a greater good when you stop to consider all that you’ve been through.

While you may not have chosen every event that came your way, you found a way to face it. You found a way to pivot, improvise, and adapt. Was it easy? Certainly not. Were their setbacks and disappointments? Yes. But here you are, and you are here for a purpose.

Reflect on this: You are not defined by your past. You have a purpose to fulfill.

It gives context to your present

Reflection gives you the opportunity to put your present situation into context. One year ago, many would not have imagined they would be in the situation they find themselves in today. Think about the challenges you faced this past year. I’m sure much has changed as you reflect on it and look toward the promise of a new year.

Nibo Qubein said, “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go, they merely determine where you start”. And this is the point of reflection – not to see how far you’ve come but to get a good look at the starting line going forward.

Reflect on this: What actions do you need to take today to get a fresh start on your future?

It provides clarity for your future

Richard Carlson was right when he said, “Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success”. And this is one of the primary benefits of it. Not only does reflection give you the benefit of putting your past in perspective and context to your present, but it can give you a blueprint for your future. Click To Tweet

Every lesson you’ve learned this year has prepared you for this moment. You are not the sum of your failures, fears, or setbacks. I believe that you’ve been prepared by them for a future brighter than what you’ve imagined.

Reflect on this: What attitudes do I need to embrace and who are the people that I need to surround myself with going forward?

Final Thoughts

Times of reflection can be invaluable to you as a leader. It can give you the clarity you need as you lead your people who rely on it. Embrace times of reflection and develop it as a discipline. You will be the wiser leader for it.

Please follow and like us:

When the Cure is Worse Than the Problem

Posted November 28, 2021November 28, 2021
by admin

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself. – Groucho Marx

I’d like to share with you about the time I was passed out on the kitchen floor at my parent’s house. In my defense, alcohol was involved.

I was around 10 or 11, and my sister and I were in the big field out behind our house. As we were walking along, I was pulling weeds. We were headed back to the house and as we were making our way to the backyard, I reached down to pull one last weed out of the ground before going inside. This time when I did, it slit my index finger open.

As we approached the house, my instinct was to go up to the water faucet and start cleaning it up. Blood was everywhere and my blue winter coat was soaked in it which only created more alarm on the part of my sister who promptly went inside to tell my mother – not a good move.

Once inside, my mother did as I had predicted she would – she panicked! My dad was at work and so she was almost hysterical in trying to figure out what to do. She had me stand at the sink and put my hand over it so as not to spill blood on the floor. Then she left.

A few moments later she returned with a bottle of rubbing alcohol. I was under the impression that she would only pour just a little of it on my finger in order to “kill the germs”. In her panic and to my astonishment, my mother turned the bottle upside down and proceeded to pour all of it onto my finger!

For a brief moment I recalled letting out a scream – but not much after that as I then passed out onto the kitchen floor. In her desire to help me with my cut finger, I was now passed out on the floor that she didn’t want any blood on just moments before.

There are a few lessons I learned from that experience that applies to us in leadership. See how these resonate with you.

Sometimes problems look worse than they are

As a leader, you will experience problems and issues of varying degrees all the time. In those moments, be careful not to exaggerate the problem beyond what it is. It’s likely you will have others around you doing that already. Your job as the leader is to accurately define the situation and calmly convey the right course of action that’s needed. Not every problem requires you to dump the whole bottle of alcohol on it to fix it. Stay calm and think it through.

Sometimes the “cure” is worse than the problem

In a way that I am not fully capable of explaining, my sweet mother, God rest her soul, in the heat of the moment believed that an entire bottle of rubbing alcohol was the “cure” to my cut. There will be times in leadership when those around you may propose a solution to a problem that is not worthy of the problem. Click To Tweet In the heat of the moment, you need to be clear-eyed and accurately assess the situation and not make matters worse. The damage caused by the cure can make a very manageable problem much larger simply by doing the wrong thing.

Sometimes you have to hide the alcohol from your mother

I am now able to look back on that experience and laugh over what happened that day. But had I known what was going to happen before leaving the house to go on that walk, I would have hidden that bottle of rubbing alcohol from her.

As a leader, you will be exposed to people from whom you need to hide the alcohol. I bet you can name at least one of them now, am I right? But more importantly, as a leader, you need to be about training your people not to see “problems” but to see the opportunities before them and gear them toward a solution mindset versus a problem mindset. Then when they come to you, they don’t just come with a problem, they come with ideas on how to solve it.

Let’s be careful not to make the cure worse than the problem. There is a better way.

Please follow and like us:

Stop Assuming, Start Connecting

Posted November 7, 2021November 7, 2021
by admin

You can make more friends in two months by becoming more interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. – Dale Carnegie

In the book Leadershift, John Maxwell shares a story about being invited to a game by Pat Summit, the late head coach of the Lady Vols basketball team at the University of Tennessee.

He recounts how he was able to go into the locker room at halftime which served as a major “aha” moment for him. In the locker room, Summit and a few coaches gathered to talk about what took place in the first half of the game. The players gathered around a whiteboard in a semicircle to answer three questions written on it: What did we do right in the first half? What did we do wrong? What do we need to change? When the girls had answered all three questions, Summit and her coaches would then go over and talk about their responses, and then she would send them back out to warm up for the second half of the game.

Curious about this, Maxwell asked Pat Summit about this technique. She replied, “Too many lead by assumptions. They assume they know where their people are. That halftime exercise lets me find my players so I can lead them. That can only be done by asking questions and listening to their answers.”

In her remarkable career at Tennessee, Pat Summit won eight national championships. Her leadership on and off the court left an indelible impression upon many and she is greatly missed today.

Her insights into connecting with her players still have relevance today. Look at most any survey on employee-employer relations and you will consistently at the top of any list are complaints like not listening, favoritism, micromanaging, not showing appreciation, overbearing, and the lists go on.

It’s been said that assumptions are the termites of relationships. I believe this to be true in leadership. But as leaders why do we do it? What are some of the mistaken assumptions we make that hurt our leadership? Here are a few for your consideration.

We assume everyone shares our perspective

While you may wish it were true, not everyone in your sphere of influence shares your perspective and sees things your way. When you assume that they do, it can create misunderstandings that you caused but the shift in blame usually falls elsewhere. At the end of the day, if you want a culture of shared values, mission, and purpose, then you have to quit assuming it exists and connect with your people to create it. Click To Tweet A key to effective leadership is found when you purposefully connect with your people and respect everyone’s voice.

We assume everyone else will eventually come around to seeing things our way

In as much as we mistakenly believe that everyone shares our perspective, we can also assume that over time, everyone will eventually fall in line and see things our way. Let’s be honest – wearing your people down is not a good leadership strategy. However, when you listen to your people, as Pat Summit listened to her players, then you can connect and build relationships with your people which in turn elevates morale and creates wins for the team.

We assume everything is dependant on us

“It’s not about you,” is the opening sentence of the acclaimed book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. It pointedly encapsulates everything you need to know about living a life that matters and also your life in leadership. The assumption that everything is dependant on us or it all goes down the tubes is a misnomer. Perhaps we need to rediscover a renewed sense of humility in our leadership which makes the whole idea of connecting with others more meaningful when we understand that we truly need each other. Click To Tweet

Final Thoughts

Connecting with others and building relationship is one of the greatest privileges in leadership. We should never take it for granted and always remember that what we can accomplish together is greater than what we can do on our own. In order to do so, we need to stop assuming and start connecting.

Please follow and like us:

Influencing What’s Possible

Posted September 27, 2021September 27, 2021
by admin

When we succeed in changing someone’s mind, we shouldn’t only ask whether we’re proud of what we’ve achieved. We should also ask whether we’re proud of how we’ve achieved it. – Adam Grant, Think Again

I read a story not long that explained the process of mining silver from the ground. It is commonly mixed with a number of other elements. In order to get pure silver that can be used for commercial purposes, it must be refined.

Silver has an extraordinarily high melting point. It must be heated to nearly 2,200 degrees in order to be refined to complete purity. Only when it has been through that process does the silver become useful for its intended function. Beautiful service pieces, high-tech equipment, and collectible coins all become possible once the silver has been refined. Without that process, it is largely worthless.

As a leader, you have the privilege of influencing what’s possible in the lives of those you lead and in the life of your organization. Just as silver goes through a refining process, so too do you as a leader have the opportunity to develop and influence those around you. It’s a tremendous responsibility.

So how might you use your influence in leadership? How do you know if you are doing it right? Here are a few questions to consider when contemplating the power of your influence.

Are my motives pure?

If your motives aren’t pure then your leadership isn’t either. Click To Tweet Your motives and influence as a leader not only should be pure but known to the people that you lead. Transparency is essential to your leadership and if you are looking out for the best interest of your people and your organization then your people should never have to question why you do what you do.

Am I secretly playing politics all while claiming to help?

It is the responsibility of the leader to be out front, cast vision, and lead the organization. Sometimes the lines can be blurred when you confuse the role of your leadership which looks out for everyone with playing politics which only looks out a few. One style will build your people and your organization while the other will tear it apart.

Am I pitting people against one another or bringing them together?

The answer to this question will determine the effectiveness of your leadership. It always has and it always will. The consequences of your motives and whether you play politics – unintended or not, have ramifications that come back to haunt you. Be honest with yourself when answering this question. If you are dividing your people rather than bringing them together, your people will eventually part ways with you.

Am I truly committed to seeing people grow and reach their full potential or am I holding them back?

When you are genuinely committed to the growth and development of your people you will in no way seek to hold them back or stand in their way. Click To Tweet You want to see people take their God-given talent and run with it. You want to influence what’s possible by unleashing all the possibilities in them.

Final Thoughts

Albert Schweitzer was right when he said, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” Your influence as a leader is only as credible as your example as a leader. If you want to have a positive influence as a leader, you must be honest with yourself and with your people.

Please follow and like us:

Three Ways To Know If You Are a Directionally Challenged Leader

Posted September 17, 2021September 17, 2021
by admin

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. – Lao Tzu

The voice of my daughter on the other end of the phone was one of panic. “I’m leaving the outlet mall and I’m lost,” she said emphatically. That she may have found herself lost was not a surprise. So I took her through a series of questions about her surroundings and what may or may not have been familiar landmarks to help me help her navigate her way home.

Even before GPS and the ability we now have to navigate, I have always been good with directions. If I’ve been someplace once, generally speaking, I will never need directions again to go back, even if it’s been a long time between trips.

Once when I was about five years old, my family was visiting relatives up in Evanston, Illinois. One day we left the house and went several blocks up the street to watch the 4th of July parade.

Remembering that I had left something at the house, I ditched my cousins and the rest of the group and headed back to the house. By the time they realized I was no longer with them, it was too late.

To their amazement, not only did I remember which house was theirs but I made my way back to them. Thankfully for my family, I developed my sense of direction at an early age.

For many, being directionally challenged is not fun. Being lost isn’t either. It can generate a lot of anxiety and concerns – especially for the parents of a wandering five-year-old.

In an article by Glassdoor, they listed the seven types of companies that you should never work for. Coming in at number seven was “The directionless ship”. The red flags, they say, are “no clear plan for the future, employees don’t know long-term goals, senior leadership fails to adequately communicate”.

The people in your organization need a leader at the helm that is not directionally challenged. They want and deserve a leader with the ability to instill confidence in their ability to give direction. How is that working for you? How is it working in your organization? Here are a few ways to know if you are directionally challenged.

You are directionally challenged when you fail to chart the course

Before a pilot of an airplane takes flight, he will file a flight plan prior to departure. It will include the plane’s planned flight path. They will also file a manifest of the names of the passengers on board.

In your leadership, you have to have a plan and know the people taking the journey with you. If you have no clear flight plan or have no sense of direction or path of where you are going, everyone will be lost. The responsibility for the plane rests with the pilot. The responsibility for the organization rests with the leader. With no plan, you have no purpose. Your people won’t hang around long under these conditions. They want and need purpose and direction and will go somewhere else to get it.

You are directionally challenged when you fail to communicate

The people in your organization will be more inclined to take the journey with you when the communication is clear and consistent. Just as you want good directions on your GPS or when driving the interstate, sign markers are important.

When you fail to communicate with your people it’s as if the organizational GPS has been turned off. When this happens, people are left to wonder and speculate and morale will eventually tank. Engagement by your people is proportional to your effectiveness in communicating with them. As a leader, you have no business complaining about the lack of engagement from your people if you are lacking in your communication. It’s just that simple. Click To Tweet

You are directionally challenged when you fail to lead yourself

The hardest person you will ever lead is yourself. On a recent Craig Groeschel podcast, he asked the question that every leader ought to ask themselves daily, “What are you doing today that will strengthen your leadership tomorrow?”. And this is a core question we must answer.

Your ability as a leader to give direction is predicated on your own leadership development and the sense of direction and purpose you possess.

Final Thoughts

If you are directionally challenged as a leader it’s not too late to right the ship. Chart the course, communicate effectively, and lead yourself well. It will put you on the right path.

Click here to purchase and download my new book

Please follow and like us:

Find The Leader

Posted September 6, 2021September 6, 2021
by admin

If you want to know the temperature of your organization, you should put a thermometer in the leader’s mouth – Rick Warren

Many years back when I was doing my chaplain residency in a hospital here in South Carolina, I learned an important leadership lesson that has stuck with me ever since.

The skill being taught was this – find the leader.

The exercise would prove to be an invaluable one not only in my chaplaincy experiences but in many others outside it.

In my chaplaincy work, when called to a room where a patient had died, often I would be asked to help clear the room. Clearing the room is a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, you have to be respectful of the grief and emotions that are being processed and on the other helping the nursing staff do their job.

In a room packed with people, upon entry into it, the goal would be to find and identify the leader of the room within the first minute. This person would be your ally in offering your services to the family while facilitating the needs of the hospital staff. The goal? To respectfully do this in a timely manner and to help transition the people in the room to a home. Finding the leader was essential for everyone involved.

The secret to pulling it all off successfully was made within the first minute. Get it right, and things more often than not would go smooth. Get it wrong, and it could end up being a very stressful experience.

Think about your workplace. If you were to walk into your break room, conference room, or in your area of work, who would stand out as the leader? Could you identify that person within a minute of your arrival into it?

The reality for the majority of you reading this is not about needing to find that person within one minute of walking into the room. But the underlying principle is this – people tend to gravitate to leaders.

For many, the leader in the room won’t be the flashiest or the most outspoken. But their qualities will be undeniable. The more important thing, of course, is not to find that leader but to be that leader.

In the book, Developing The Leader Within You 2.0, John Maxwell shares a heartfelt story about a prayer he wrote more than a decade ago before turning 60. It resonated with me as my 60th is on the horizon in a few months. Maxwell states, “I wrote the prayer for myself, even though it reveals some of my personal struggles. And I share it with you now in the hope that it helps you.”

I can find no better way to tell you how to find the leader or be the leader than to share his prayer with you:

Lord, as I grow older, I would like to be known as…

Available–rather than a hard worker.

Compassionate–more than competent.

Content-not driven.

Generous-nstead of rich

Gentle-over being powerful.

Listener-more than a great communicator.

Loving-versus quick or bright.

Reliable-not famous.

Sacrificial-nstead of successful.

Self-controlled–rather than exciting.

Thoughtful-more than gifted.

I want to be a foot washer!

Final Thoughts

In a world that longs for genuine and selfless leaders, finding the leader can often be hard. But if leaders are going to change the world, leaders need to set an example. Click To Tweet

Finding the leader may be a challenge. Being the leader begins by looking in the mirror with honest reflection. Before anything else, it’s an inside job. That’s where you will find and develop the leader.

My new book is now available on Amazon for download onto your Kindle!

Click here to order your copy!

Please follow and like us:

Who’s In Your Impact Zone?

Posted August 23, 2021August 23, 2021
by admin

You can impress people from a distance, but you can only impact up close. – Howard G. Hendricks

I will never forget the night of April 8, 1974. I was glued to the TV set in our den at home anxiously waiting to see if history would be made. And sure enough – it was! The Atlanta Braves were hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hank Aaron took a 4th inning pitch from Al Downing and hit home run #715 to surpass the record previously held by Babe Ruth.

As a kid growing up playing Little League, Hank Aaron was my idol. He was baseball royalty, and that night will forever be etched in my memory.

Fast forward to the early 1990s and I’m in Fulton County Stadium watching the warm-ups prior to a Braves game. I am on the far end of the first base dugout with a baseball in hand hoping for an autograph to add to my collection.

I was about to give up when I looked down toward the other end of the dugout where a crowd had swelled and cheers could be heard. Who could it be?

I began making my way toward the crowd to see what the excitement was all about. From the back of the crowd, I got my first glimpse – and there he was, my baseball idol in the flesh – Hank Aaron.

With a freshly purchased baseball in hand, I pressed my way through the crowd to the railing and eagerly handed him my baseball. I stood in awe as I watched him autograph it. I even took a picture of him signing it just for posterity.

To go from being a little boy idolizing Hank Aaron to having a moment of interaction with him signing a baseball for me, was the most unforgettable experience.

As a leader, you may never know or realize the impact that you have on other people. My leadership mentor, John Maxwell, said, “Leadership is influence,” and it’s true. You may never know the impact you have on others which is why it’s so important to be mindful of it.

In my early years after college, I worked with a few bad leaders who taught me some leadership lessons I’ve carried with me to this day – like how not to treat people. My careful attention to that leadership lesson was borne out of a bad leadership example and it caused me to pledge to never be like that.

But beyond the good or bad examples that you will observe, think of the impact and opportunity you have to be an example to those around you.

Ask yourself the question – who’s in your impact zone? As the opening quote by Howard G. Hendricks says, “You can impress people from a distance, but you can only impact up close.” And this is your leadership challenge. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

Who is going to be most impacted by my leadership?
Will the impact of my leadership make them better leaders and better people?
Am I more concerned about impressing people from a distance or impacting them up close?

I’d like to challenge you today to pause for a moment and consider those questions and what you want your leadership legacy to look like.

Final Thoughts

I will never forget those two or three minutes of interaction with my baseball hero Hank Aaron. He was friendly and gracious. In those brief moments, he had no idea how special those moments were to me. But I knew. And in those brief moments, he confirmed everything I thought of him as a boy.

Shannon Alder said, “Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones.” This is a powerful quote to ponder and a challenge for all leaders.

I don’t know who is in your impact zone, but let me leave you with this thought – don’t take it for granted. Do your best to be worthy of the privilege to lead.

My new book releases on August 30th! Click here to pre-order my new book!

Please follow and like us:

Owning Your Leadership Growth

Posted August 15, 2021
by admin

As a leader, the first person I need to lead is me. The first person I should try to change is me. – John Maxwell

I am old enough to remember as a kid riding in the car with my dad or mom and stopping at the “filling station” to get gas. We’d pull up and drive over the cord that would ring the bell and the attendant would come out and ask, “regular or unleaded?” When given the preference and how much to put in, the attendant would walk to the back of the car, pull back the license plate, twist off the cap, and pump the gas.

While the gas was being pumped, the attendant would clean the windshield and check the air pressure in the tires, check the oil, and when everything was done, we’d be on our way.

Over time, that began to change. I’ll never forget when the “filling stations” gradually transitioned over to self-service. Gone were the days when someone else did for us that which we were capable of doing ourselves.

Those early days of the full-service gas station experience are from a distant time and era and you’d be hard-pressed to find one today.

In the opposite fashion, I remember the early days of my leadership development. I was cutting my teeth on books by Warren Bennis, Zig Ziglar, and others who made such an impact in my early leadership development. Then in the early 1990s, I read my first book by John Maxwell, and my leadership journey was forever transformed.

But back in those days, we didn’t have the luxury of the internet and the access we have to such great content and through the mediums we have today with websites, podcasts, streaming services, etc. The growth we experienced we owned with great intentionality.

I am profoundly grateful for where we are today and the access we have to leaders from all over the world who lend their voices to help others grow. It truly is a remarkable time in terms of the opportunity one now has to grow in their leadership.

As I reflect on these things I am reminded that for all the access we have to such great content, it all comes down to the fact that you and I are responsible for our own growth. We have to want it and we have to own it. Access and opportunity alone are not enough. So how do we take ownership of our leadership growth? Here are three tips for consideration.

Make a plan

If you want to grow as a leader you will need to make a growth plan. If you are not intentional about it, it’s not going to happen. Write out the goals and objectives that you want to attain. You can start with short-range goals – goals that are six months to a year out. Develop medium-range goals – goals you want to achieve in three to five years. Then you can develop long-range goals – where you want to be in five or more years. It all begins with a plan.

Work the plan

The plan is of no value to you unless you work it. Growth is an inside job and before you can lead others you first have to lead yourself. Just as it takes time for seeds to grow and produce fruit, so too is your leadership growth. The seeds of leadership within you grow as you nourish them - it’s in the daily disciplines that growth happens. Click To Tweet

Always have the mindset of a student

I’ve been reading leadership books for almost four decades now. That doesn’t make me an “expert” nor does it give me an excuse to “phone it in” just because I’ve been around the block a few times. Owning your leadership growth means that there is always more to learn and always something to learn from someone else. Never stop learning. Never stop being curious. Never stop asking questions.

Final Thoughts

Growth is an inside job so invite others in to share the journey with you. But at the end of the day whether you grow, or not, is all on you. You have to own your leadership growth. Make a plan, work the plan, and never stop learning.

My new book releases on August 30th. Click here to pre-order your copy today!

Please follow and like us: