ACCEPTANCE

(The A inTEAM)

In theory it sounds right and easy to accept every member of your team for who and what they are.

To accommodate their uniqueness and differentness into the group. To be enriched with the abilities and perspective that they are able to bring to the table.

In practice real acceptance it is not so easy. It requires a lot of maturity on different levels to really and truly accept a person in context of his/ her back ground, personality, baggage and mannerisms.

As human beings and more so as leaders, we have a tendency to reinforce who and what we are in others. We might even misjudge a particular fresh or new viewpoint as dissidence and alien to the team, just because it is different to ours.

The stronger and more real the acceptance of each member in a team by the rest of the team is, the more dynamic and versatile that team potentially becomes.  Acceptance empowers creativity and creates energy within teams.

Real acceptance involves the willingness:

-To (try to) understand and give recognition to a person in context 
  of where he/ she come from in terms of background, culture and  tradition.
-To welcome who a person is in character and personality type. (With all the 
  intricacies that goes with it).  
-To favourably receive his/ her different, or even “strange” way of 
  looking at things, as well as the peculiar mannerisms and ways of
  expression that he/she might have.

True acceptance is more than just being mindful of a person. It is the act of welcoming, receiving and endorsing someone, to the extent of really believing in him/her.

Acceptance is never just tolerating a person, but all of the above -as well as celebrating his/ her uniqueness and role in the team!

-How accepting are you of the members of your team?

ChAnGe.

What is your approach to change?

-Do you resist it at all cost and fervently defend the status quo?

Are you a reluctant changer? Will you accept change when you see that it is working and that most people are supporting it?  Do you adapt easily to change, or are you one of the about 2% innovators who create change in your community?

 

Interestingly research has found that the leaders of successful organizations are normally about equally, either innovators or resistors to change....

Most people change when they have to: Either because they suffered enough pain, or because they have gained enough information and understanding to see the benefits of a new approach.  

Even then some of us approach change in an evolutionary way, slowly transforming and creating something new from the old. Others choose to approach change in a revolutionary way: Putting something completely new and different in place quickly.

I don’t think any of the two is by definition right or wrong.  –Quite a few variables need to be taken into consideration to determine whether a fast-slow, or a slow-fast approach will be best in a particular situation.  -Do you want to take most people with you?  Do the people you are leading have enough trust in you to just follow you into something new? Can you afford to lose half of the group, clients, or followers?    –Of importance is that you spend some thought on it and know why you choose a specific approach.

We are living in an ever changing world. It is not something new.  Ever since the first seasons emerged the world experiences a process of continuous change.  The industrial and information revolutions brought great changes to how we live and work.  Some people tried to resist it, but still slowly and surely change did come ......

What makes our experience different, is the fact that we’re living in times of increasingly fast paced, discontinuous and even disruptive change!  The world and culture/s that we are living in are literally changing before our eyes!

The rapid changes in thought, culture, information technology, globalization, religious- and race plurality, to name a few, have a definite impact on the nature of leadership.  

If and when you do lead change in your company, community of family - remember this:

1.The greatest challenge is to first change yourself.

2.Take the trouble to get to know the history and background of the organization in which you want to create change. –That creates understanding, trust and context.

3. Create opportunities for people to discuss the proposed changes and to give their input, that helps them to take ownership of the process.

4. Create urgency.

5. Create a synergetic leading group of “change agents” to model and live the change.

6. Always lead change from the basis and in the context of mutual trust.

7. Communicate the why and the how of change continuously and thoroughly.

Change will always be part of life:

If you think you are (tired of and) finished with change:

You are finish!

The E in TEAM.

 
In some teams only the leader/s are important. What they do gets mentioned and acknowledged. The successes and victories are normally theirs. The failures and mishaps are always somebody else’s.
 
For a team to function as a team e v e r y b o d y on that team should be seen as equally important and needs to know it.  For the team to be successful and obtain wins, every team member needs to function according to his/ her strengths and be given responsibility and authority to fulfil their task.
 
I just recently visited a medium sized organization where I experienced the incapacitating and demoralizing effect on individuals and a team as a whole, of having responsibility, but not the authority to make any decisions!
 
The most important aspect of an effective and winning team is not the hierarchy or pecking order, (that is so last century!) but a clear knowledge and articulation of the function and role of each team member.
 
Empowerment of every team member to fulfil their particular function is equally important.

Empowerment includes, but is much more than just the transference and accumulation of knowledge and best practice.

I believe that God has a picture, or dream for each one of us to fully and uniquely become who He imagined us to be, when He created us.

Empowerment should be that of the whole person and should enable us to transform and move towards the realization of that unique picture and plan that God has for each one of us.

When everybody on a team are empowered according to their strengths to fulfil their function and purpose and if they cooperate on the basis of trust, (see last week's post) a real team will be established and flourish!

For me the E in team stands for EMPOWERING EVERYBODY!

The T in team.

 

I know this has been done before. -Many have used the word TEAM as an acronym and assign a concept or principal to each letter. Here is my version at this point in time:

Over years I've seen that one of the most important, if not the most crucial ingredient in the mix of team dynamics, is trust. For me the T in team thus needs to be a upper case big fat letter T, standing for TRUST.

Without a reasonably high level of trust friendships suffer, marriages falter and teams are bogged down in the trenches of hidden agendas and suspicion.

Where does trust come from? Is it just something you do when someone say:

"Trust me." ?  Is it something that is expected from you, or that you expect from others? Can you train team members to trust one another?

Some people are more trusting than others. They seem to trust others easily and sometimes without any apparent reason. This type of trust many a time is thwarted and I've heard how people painfully resolved "never to trust anybody again."

In essence trust cannot be learned or expected.
Trust is earned.
You can built trust.
You can only trust what or who you know.
Trust can be destroyed and in some cases it is very difficult and even impossible to restore.

How do you built and earn trust in a team?

-Built authentic and caring relationships.
-Be there for one another.
-Be consistent and truthful.
-Show that you as team member or -leader is not only looking out for yourself,
  but for the growth, benefit and happiness of each team member.
-Value the contribution and view point of each team member.
-Spend time together: Talking, eating, planning and having fun.

The most important factor in all of the above, is time. Trust cannot be microwaved.
At the end of each of the above sentences, add the words "over time."

It takes time to built trust, but it can be destroyed in an instant.
-Guard it! 
This is the responsibility of each team member, but especially that of the leader.

 

Common sense and leadership.

"Common sense is not so common after all."
These word have been attributed to the philosopher Voltaire.

Another philosopher and writer, Rene Descartes said: "Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it."

A few years ago somebody published an obituary lamenting the death of Common Sense, in the London Times. I could not establish above doubt who the original author was. There are quite a few adaptations of this going around and I have copied one of them at the bottom of this post.

What is common sense? -The dictionaries describe it as practical wisdom. -To do what should obviously be done, on the basis of a simple, sound and prudent understanding and judgement of facts and circumstances, based on simple straight forward perception....

We are indeed living in times where many people seem to have lost the ability to apply common sense to their daily lives. It seems that a lot of people do not know (anymore) that boiled water is scalding hot and that a wet tiled floor is most probably slippery!

Even in politics we badly need common sense.  I thought of stating a "Common Sense Party" -Might get a vote or two from people with common sense....

Common sense plays a mayor role in leadership -or it should!

Leadership starts naturally form a point, or in a situation where somebody realises that something needs to be done and that someone needs to start doing it. The person who takes the initiative then (at least for some time) becomes the leader in that context.

Geese fly in formation to save energy and probably for direction. One of them needs to fly in front. Hunting dogs run in packs, but one of them takes the lead. -It is just common sense to them. As far as we know they don't even "think" about it -they just do it.

Most leadership decisions and actions are not rocket science, but (should be) based on a healthy dose of common sense. 

Can common sense be improved?

I think so.  -I think you can improve your common sense by reading wide. By listening to a lot of different people. -Especially well seasoned leaders and also to "unschooled" leaders.
You can improve your common sense by making and taking more time to think and to reflect on your life experiences and challenges.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The death of common sense.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain; accidents may happen; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults are in charge, not children).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 8-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home but the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little on her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion, his daughters, Responsibility and Integrity and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights; I Want It Now; Someone Else Is To Blame and I’m A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone...

 -What appears to be the original article can be viewed at www.loriborgman.com

Becoming what you do.

Try this: Ask people to describe themselves and to tell you more about who they are.
Most of the time, within the first few sentences they will tell you what they do for a living.


I once visited someone I knew, who had just retired and moved to a city in another part of the country. He used to lead a medium sized organization and served on the board of a bigger one.  I went for coffee and asked him: "How are you doing?"


His answer was blunt and bitter: "Not good."  When I asked why, he said: "I am nothing,
a nobody.  -The one day people asked for my opinion and guidance, the next nobody phoned me or even notices me."


This may say something about how we treat our old people and retired leaders, (if you can ever retire from being a leader) but it says a lot more about our identity as leaders.


Who are you?


It seems to me that we easily become what we do. Without trying, over time, we come to a place where we define ourselves by our job description and/ or position.  When for some reason that position or job description changes, we seem to lose our identity.


How can we ever let ourselves become so empoveraged?


You are and should stay much more that what you do professionally!!


You are a person with value, thoughts, feelings and (hopefully) interests apart from what you do during office hours.


Take a moment now and ask yourself: "Who am I"


Describe yourself, your interests, passions, personality and your being.
-Without mentioning your job or professional responsibilities and position.


How did it go?

2 Influence

I has been said that "leadership is influence: Nothing more and nothing less." *

Influence does not depend on position, but on the ability of a person to have an effect on others that causes them to agree, to follow and to work with him/ her because they want to.

When they have to because you have positional power to move them and remove them, then you do not necessarily have leadership. You might be in a position of leadership over them, but all you actually have is a position and that is the lowest level of leadership!

Leadership is about the influence you have on people, without the positional use of authority and/or money.The greater this influence, the stronger your leadership.

The question that leaders should ask themselves then is: "How do I build my influence?" -And again you might be tempted to go the route of position and power, believing that it is influence, while it is in fact only leverage and coercion. -That is all that some leaders want though......

Building influence and thus building real leadership, is about creating meaning for yourself and for others. It is about being busy with the things that brings purpose to life: It's about focusing on the passion/s that God has created in you. Working on and in the areas of your passion, creates energy and focus -and people just can't resist that! Meaning, passion, energy and focus in the live of a leader builds influence.

John Maxwell said that "the extent of your influence depends on the depth of your concern for others." That's probably the biggest building block of influence: The fact that you really care for other people and you don't just act as if you do because it is part of your job description. It is about having enough confidence in who you are, that you are able to serve others.

This is about building a way of life where you are not position minded, but focused on the impact your function has, or could have on the lives and needs of those around you, by putting them before your own agenda.  In this context it is important to note that serving others, is not always the same as pleasing them.

- Are you building your influence or just advancing your position?
- Do you know the difference??


* J. Oswald Sanders in George Barna 1997 Leaders on leadership, seems to be the first to use this phrase.John Maxwell 1993 Developing the leader within you, have enhanced and popularized it.

It's NOT about you.........!

I recently attended a funeral where a certain leader had to say something about his (dead) friend, but spoke more about himself than about the friend he was suppose to honour.  He was telling us what a great friend he, the speaker was, in literally every sentence!!

What is your leadership about?  Or may be I should ask : Who is your leadership about?

Some of us leaders just have to get over ourselves!!  Face the fact: Leadership is not about you.
At least not in the way that we tend to think about it. Leadership is not so much about what you have achieved and how long the list of your qualifications are. It is not so much about your title(s) and the size of your staff or office.  -It's more about hów you lead the organization, the staff, the people that you work through and with, to achieve purpose!  It is about what THEY have done under your guidance and how they see you and feel about you after they have done that.

Leadership should always be about others. We should be asking ourselves questions like: How do I lead them to achieve what we all have agreed upon?  How do I lead him to achieve growth and be his personal best?  How do I lead her to experience fulfilment and success??

In the context of colleagues, employees and/or followers it is all about how a leader relates to those he/ she works with.  It is about the opportunities that he/she makes available for the staff to grow and achieve and not about how he/she could use them to look better! It is about mutual trust and loyalty and how that is attained.

In an organizational context we should ask ourselves: What do I have to do (and be) at any given time in the growth cycle of the organisation that I currently lead, to take it to the next level?

That said: Leadership is about servant hood. How the leader serves the staff, an organization,
a group, a country -by leading them to be all that they could and should be!  I like this quote of Loyiso Bala * : "Strength is not for status, but for service."

Leadership is not about you!
-If you don't believe me: Study the lives and example of all legendary leaders!!


* Loyiso Bala is a South African R&B and Gospel singer, songwriter.
www.loyisomusic.com

Habits

"There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living."              -David Starr Jordan *

"Right living" speaks of a way of life, it is not something you do for two days or two weeks. It is a default mode life style. Something you eventually do over an extended amount of time without thinking too much about it.

For most of us that does not just happen by itself!  The default mode of life that we tend to fall back on in times of stress or busyness, would in most cases not be described with the term "right living."  The way we behave and react, the things we do and don't do and how we do it, in short the auto pilot mode in our lives comes from somewhere.   -Habits!

We are creatures of habit, be that good or bad one's! Over time we settle into certain tendencies or practises and that behaviour eventually becomes part of our mental attitude and character. You did not wake up one morning and find that you are doing something or living in a certain way, you have created habits in your live. We train ourselves over time to live and behave in a certain way and many times we don't like the results!

Studies have shown that it takes between 21 and 66 days to form a new habit, or to replace one. The success of such an exercise depends on how consciously aware you are of why you want to change that habit and how focused and determined you are to really do it!  It also depends on the basis of the new habit.

(Good) habits are derived from principles. "Principles are like lighthouses." -Stephen Covey **         -They show the way.  Every habit in our lives can be traced back to a principle. The habit will either affirm a certain principle, or try to avoid it.

What are the habits in your live?  (Good and bad)
What are the principles that they are based upon or trying to avoid?
Do these habits take you to a life of "right living" and excellence?
_________

* David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) was a well known ichthyologist (A zoologist that studies fish), an educator and a peace activist. He was also president of Indiana University.
** Stephen Covey, Page 33, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People 1992

LIVING

I know some people that would probably be declared alive by doctors in the context of a hospital, but they surely ain't living!

There is a big difference between being alive and really living your life........

Some of us are just alive. We're existing. We see a revolving door of dawn and dusk. Days, months and years come and go. They may be filled with activities, but they do not add depth and meaning to our lives.

I see many people making a living, some with great effort and even pain! They provide the means to support their existence: Accommodation, transport, clothes, food, etc. -But no inspiration! They are paying the bills and calling it life!

Someone one once said that there is more to life than increasing it's speed. Yet in many ways that is what we are pushed to. The way we live and expect to live, drives us to a picture pretend, "made in Hollywood" lifestyle that for many of us, leads to burnout and regret. Many of those wrecked and burned by racing, spend their days just existing.......

If living faster and "higher" is the ultimate highway lane to success, then why do we find so many people unhappy and unfulfilled, disillusioned, negative and bitter about their lives, wanting out??  Why do people sometimes fantasize about living a "slow" life somewhere in the countryside? Living honestly and real.

We all have the ability to live our life to the full, and most of the time that fullness is not equal to a certain standard of living in monetary terms! Really living your life has a lot to do with three P's. [Ya, eating more than three peas now and then will also help....]   Really living your life has a lot to do with:

Purpose: Finding the reason for your existence, why you were called into being -and striving to fulfil it.
Passion:  Finding your own (not someone else's) and following it.
Pace: Setting a sustainable pace to make sure that you can do what you want and have to do and keep on enjoying it over the full span of your life.

I believe that when we finish the "race" of life, we should arrive at the finish line with our loved ones, our health, our sanity and our faith intact....

May you LIVE until you die!
[May you never spend a single day just existing...]

Serenity

[I've been on holiday & thus also took a break from blogging.]

Our recent holiday was a road trip of nearly two weeks. It took us through different biospheres and parts of our beautiful country. We experienced cold, rain and stormy conditions, as well as glorious sunshine days and landscape scenes of serene tranquillity and beauty!

In reflecting on this trip and on what is left over, or stays on in my mind about it, I have found that even though holidays come and go and work prevails, you can find and hold on to a piece of peace that surpasses circumstances and understanding. It is possible to go through your fast moving busy day, with a sense of  immovable, solid peace intact. In fact, that peace can be a source of strength and stability.

One can lead from a place of inner peace, or a place of inner unrest. All leaders experience times where they are providing leadership, while at the same time a storm is raging in their mind and emotions.  Many times this storm in your inner being has very little, or even nothing to do with the people or situation that you are addressing at that moment. Unfortunately they (normally) still suffer the consequences!

To be leading from a place of constant inner turmoil and unrest will have dire consequences in the long run.It is a source of major distress and a variety of health problems in the lives of many leaders!

No one should live in a storm for ever. No one should live life in a constant state of inner turmoil. We should all frequently go to a place of peace. Physical and Spiritual.  A Place where you can experience and absorb serenity. Serenity that you can keep in your heart and hold on to in turbulent days!   Much like the words of a song we used to sing as students: "Catch a falling star and put in in your pocket, save it for a rainy day......-Then you'll have a pocket full of starlight!"

That is why David in the well known Psalm 23 said: "The Lord....lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water."

There is two things that we need to do: 1. Identify the origin and content of  the storms in our lives and try to eliminate and prevent, or avoid that as much as possible.  2. Identify where and what it is that brings peace into your life and do that more often!   -Lead from a inner place of  serenity!!

At Golden Gate near Clarens in the Eastern Free State.

On the outskirts of Montagu in the Western Cape.

The i's in team

We have probably all heard the saying: "There is no I in team." -Meaning that there is no room for individual agendas and egos when working together in a team that wants to be successful.

I have recently heard some one said: "There ís an I in team, you just can't see it."  As a matter of fact, there are many I's in team!  The meaning of the word and the concept "TEAM" points to the fact that it consists of different individuals working or playing together.

A bunch of different individuals tossed together in a group, does not necessarily makes them a team. A Team is more than a list of names under the same heading. TEAM starts to develop only when ALL the individuals, all the I's in a group makes the conscious decision to work together.  This working together must be for a specific purpose, or vision that is bigger than any one of them individually and bigger than the sum of their "greatness" as a group. In can be said that the roots of team lies in a shared vision and purpose.


A group of individuals will become a team when they work or play together to accomplish a shared purpose, but that is only possible when every team member knows how and when that purpose is achieved. Everybody needs to be clear on what a "win" means, as well as how it is achieved. Without that, it is impossible to know when "we" have achieved anything and the feeling of togetherness will fade easily.

Another important element in creating and growing a team, is that the right people -individuals with the needed abilities- are part of the team. Each one (of the right people) on the team should have a clear understanding of what their specific role on the team is. -Why are they there? What is expected of them and what would be a "win" for them personally?

I believe that the power of  a team does not lie in conformity, but in their unity within diversity. Being part of a team should not mean that you have to give up your identity and God given uniqueness. That uniqueness should be applied to enhance the ability and depth of the team.

There is an I in team, it is an i:
-Who is willing to commit to something larger than self.
-Who appreciates the differentness of others and empowers them.
-Who support and encourage fellow team members.
-Who cherishes togetherness and shared success.

IS THERE ROOM FOR A TEAM IN YOUR I?

Heart

In most organizations the leader forms the heart, the central part around which almost everything evolves. If you were to take this heart out unexpectedly, or without someone stepping into that space, the organization will probably struggle to thrive and even to survive.

It happens often that this person who is the heart of the organization, does not have a heart!  Leaders in other organizations, colleagues and employees describes him/ her as "heartless".

It's amazing that you can find numerous websites on "How to have a cold heart", but practically none about how to become a warm hearted person! On how to become heartless, I have sourced the following:
1. Do not accept apologies from anybody about anything.
2. Focus only on the task at hand, not the people involved in getting it done.
3. Do not reflect on, or celebrate successes, always think and talk about what still needs to be done.
4. Be angry at everybody about everything.
5. Always be callous, curt and distant. Do not show any signs of affection or care.
6. Be unavailable and always too busy for talk about personal issues.

If you do this long enough, you will surely become a cold and heartless person. If that is what you want to be.... (I worked with a leader once who actually wanted people to fear him and to experience him as strict and curt!)

By far, most people are positive and enthusiastic about a leader (as well as a colleague or a friend) with a heart. -Rather than the opposite.

So: How do you become a person with a heart? I think the comprehensive answer would be this: Learn to appreciate and love people.  -I say comprehensive, because to learn to appreciate and love people is certainly not simple. For some of us it is really not easy to show interest in people and not only in the tasks that needs to be done to reach the goals that we have set.

If you want to have a heart, you would have to work at this: Learn to listen to people, be more understanding and sympathetic. Be more compassionate. Bé a fellow human. Learn to show some emotion. Show grace!

Think on this: Is your heart for the people you work with growing or shrinking? -What would the implications of that be for you as a person?  -And as a leader?

Followership

We are all familiar with the saying that "everything rises and falls on leadership." I fully agree with this notion: The quality of leadership; the integrity of a leader; the pro-activity, or passivity. -In short, the type and level of leadership, is in direct correlation to the effectiveness, innovation and growth path of  any organization.

Leadership is very important. In many ways we underestimate the impact of bad leadership, or the lack of leadership in the world. There is a growing need in an ever increasing scope of society for "better" leaders.

BUT: I think that we as leaders sometimes overestimate our importance as leaders, as being the primary indicator of organizational effectiveness and success.We tend to forget, or at least underestimate the importance of followers and what I like to call followership.

Without followers there will be no real leaders. Central to the understanding of the concept of leadership, is the fact that the leader leads somebody, or something. Without followers the person who thinks that he/ she is leading, is in fact only taking a stroll -and that could become a lonely solitary walk!

Followers are those people who support the leader.  They believe in what he/she does, or endeavours to do. They are adherents and attendants, fans and some would say disciples of the leader.

I believe that there is a growing need for followers in the world: People who are really willing to follow the vision, passion and direction of someone else. People who will give their undivided support and loyalty to someone other than their own being. People who are willing to push aside their own agenda and ambitions for that of somebody else.  -In a time of ultimate self-centredness, that is a scarce commodity!

The best leaders come from amongst the group of people who knows and understands what it means to be a follower. Leaders should intentionally place themselves in situations where they are required to be followers. -Only by experiencing and understanding followership, can you grow in leadership.

Would you be willing to follow the leader that you are? -Why should anybody else follow you?

Leadership 101.5

In the world Cafe style of shared learning we sit around tables with cuppuccinos and lattes.
Some sit with their apple/-juice and we talk. We talk about talk.  (Have you noticed how many times we tend to do that?)

Whenever there is talk about leadership some of the following questions and concepts are always part of the conversation: How does a person become a leader? Can leadership be learned?
Are we all leaders? Do you need a title (to lead)? What IS leadership again??

You can Google a 1000 definitions of leadership and we will still be talking and asking the same questions. This is because leadership is not static.It has many faces and facets. It can be personal, individualistic, dictatorial, corporate, collective, strategic, operational, + + +
-At is best leadership is situational and contextual.

One of the first definitions about leadership that I was exposed to, was the one by J.Oswald Sanders: "Leadership is influence." It still speaks to leadership on many levels.

The ancient Greeks used the word "strategos", or strategist and the Romans had the Latin concept of "imperator" to describe a military strategist. This later became "Emperor" or Ruler, wich is not what we generally have in mind when we talk about leadership these days.

The world is in need of effective leadership. Countries like China tries everything to lure talented people to the different levels of their leadership needs. "We can compensate for the absence of many skills and resources, but we struggle to overcome the absence of effective leadership".
-George Barna.

How much of this effective leadership lies in leadership skills? -The ability to think strategically,
to see a different future and to work at realizing it.  How much of it lies in Emotional-, Spiritual-, Moral- and Social Intelligence? How much in character?

To paraphrase the former US Forces Commander and Chief, Norman Schwarzkopf: -Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. -If you have to leave one: Leave strategy.!

Potential

They say: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. -Have you ever looked at the pips in an apple?
I mean really looked at them and realized that in every little seed there lies enormous potential....

Everybody has potential.It is something we are born with. The inherent ability to become more than we are and be all that we were intended to be. You are definitely not there yet!

One little apple seed has the ability to produce a tree full of beautiful apples, which in turn could produce more trees full of apples.... One can actually say that within one apple seed lies the potential to produce an orchard full of apples trees!

When it comes to us as humans, the possibilities are equally endless. You never know before the time what potential you, or someone else really has. When you buy a packet of seed, the name of the flower or vegetable, as well as a photo of what you can expect, normally gets printed on the outside. With humans, we have no clear picture and no description of possibilities before hand. We have no way to know for sure what we could become.

There is a limit to our potential, but why do we tend to limit ourselves? Why do we look at others and compare ourselves with what they have accomplished over the span of many years?

I remember sitting in the office of the leader of a big and successful organization in Singapore many years ago: He was explaining the structure and function of this institution to a small group of young leaders. While I sat there, listening eagerly and taking notes, my heart sank in my shoes as I doubted my abilities, wondering how I ever will be able to lead and develop something similar to what he was describing to us.

Just as I felt really down and discouraged, it dawned on me that what I was looking at was the product of many years of planning and growth! There is no way that I could start where this man was at that point!! He did not start there and he was not the same man that he was ten years ago when he started out either. I realized that your ability grows, according to your function and the level of responsibility that you are willing to take.

You need to take responsibility for your own abilities and possibilities. Only then will your potential be realized. If we do not take responsibility for our abilities, potential eventually dies - like a seed squashed, or thrown into the dustbin.

"The death of a seed, is the burial of a forest."
-Myles Munroe.

Strength(s)

There is a lot of people who generally believe that we should focus and work hard on improving the areas in which we are not strong. Be that our organizing or strategic planning skills, our ability to think ahead, or manage and do administration well.

While there is merit in trying to improve one's abilities, (we all could do better in whatever we are doing) -to mainly focus on your weaknesses and aiming at improving them, will most certainly lead to a situation where you are quite average in everything!

Should we not rather focus on determining and developing our strengths?  -Without ignoring our weaknesses completely.  How will our lives look if we would spend most of our time building it around our God given abilities and talents?   Many of us do not know what out real strengths are.

Some are deluded by what we think our strength(s) should be.  Others are blinded by a false sense of humility that leads them to believe that one should never acknowledge the things that you are good at.  In the process many of us find ourselves doing things that we really are not good at. Many time we are either too proud, or just plainly too stupid to ask someone whose strength that particular ability is, to do it!

That is part of the whole team concept, (the direction that leadership seems to be moving) where like the different members of a body, each part fulfils a particular function that the other was not made, or equipped to do, but together they lead the body to be and do what it should effectively.

It is no use to spend time (like we sometimes do) worrying about who we're not and the abilities that we do not have. You should rather get to know who you áre and what you cán do and start living and working from that paradigm.

How would the world look like, if we all should focus and spend our time and energy to excel in the things that we are good at?  How would that impact the organization/s that you are functioning in?

What do you have to do and to whom do you have to talk, to determine what your particular strengths are? -a Strength is the ability you have to do certain things exceedingly well over time.

Just remember: "Strength is not for status, but for service."

Reputation, Perception & Legacy

What the people who work, live and play with us, says about us when we are not present builds our reputation. It is from what they "report" to friends, colleagues and family that a picture is created about who, what and how you are. What they report comes from their lived experience with us, the reality of who we are and what we are striving to become.

What people report about us, is based on their rapport with us.  Rather than trying to manipulate perceptions about us -we should put our energy in developing healthy interpersonal relationships and growing our own character.

Some leaders buy into the old adage that perception is reality so much, that they spend enormous amounts of resources (time, energy and money) to create a favourable image about themselves, that ultimately is not real. What a waste of time! Firstly: The only reason why you would do that, is because in reality something is awry in your character and behaviour. Secondly: Reality "leaks" from your circle of colleagues, friends and even family. -In a very short time everybody knows the real reputation from the created perception. (And talks about it.)

That just adds negatively to your reputation.

Legacy is not just about how you will be remembered one day, or something you leave behind when you die. You leave a legacy whenever and wherever you leave! We are all busy living a legacy right now. I believe that in the long run, legacy is to a great extent the sum and culmination of your reputation.

Myles Munroe once said:"Let your life write the speech of your death." (Munroe M 1992. Releasing your Potential. Destiny Image Publishers)

humility

To say that you are humble, destroys the very essence of what humility is all about. Striving to be authentically humble, is a commendable and expected characteristic of good leadership. The minute you start telling others just how humble you are, is the moment that you stop being that!

In my view humility is something that one should strive to be in thought and do in practice, but never say about yourself.

To be humble is not to think "nothing" or badly about yourself. Humility is sometimes mistaken for being the floor mat of friends, family and colleagues, or for allowing others to just walk over you, disregard and mistreat you. To be humble certainly does not mean that you have a low self esteem.  -In many ways humility is the exact opposite of arrogance. (See post 11/04/2012).

Humility is a way of thinking, an attitude, a way of being with and about yourself, that reflects some  understanding of your specific place and role in the bigger scheme of things. To be humble is to have a moderate estimation of your own importance, merits and abilities.

For me humility is all about appropriate smallness: -To know that you are not the answer to every problem, that you are not indispensable or irreplaceable and that you are definitely not the messiah for the situation!  It is being conscious of the fact that there have been talented and sharp leaders before you, and that there will surely be other, may be even more effective and talented one's after you........... It is also about being responsibly aware of the fact that you have a role to play.

You have an unique personality and abilities that could make a real difference! You have something to add to the bigger picture. We all have. We should to the best of our knowledge and ability, diligently make the difference that we were called to make, but we should do so with modesty and in appropriate smallness.

"Let other people praise you -even strangers; never do it yourself."  Proverbs 27:2 (Good News)

Implementation

Vision, measurable goals and strategies to actualize it, are some of the stuff of leadership.
-All levels of leadership.

We spend many hours imagining a preferable future for our organizations and our personal lives. Some times we spend even more time and energy to shape those pictures into the sweeping eloquent words of a vision statement. It takes time, energy and money to get something inspiring written on the wall. Be that the wall of your company foyer, the office, or the wall of your imagination.  The question is, is what is written on the wall happening down the hall?

The same question applies to the big multi million corporation, the small to medium enterprise, our families and households, as well as our personal and private lives.Whether you are dreaming of corporate success or personal fitness and health. Whether  you are trying to save money for a holiday trip, or planning another take over:

A Strategy is only as good as it's implementation.

You may have wonderful measurable goals, all worked out and lined up. They might even have time lines -as any respectable goal should have. But nothing will happen without strategies: -Those things that needs to happen or be done, so that the set goals can be met, by when they should be met and the whole dream can start to fall into place........!  Having said all that: The best strategies or plans, will still accomplish nothing on their own: They need to be implemented.

Sometimes we have wonderful dreams, lofty ideas and great plans about things that we want to accomplish, but many times we don't really dó anything to make it happen.  Many of us procrastinate -only to chastise ourselves later.

I have observed that many times the simplest most elementary plans, have spectacular far reaching results -simply because someone took responsibility to see that it actually gets done!