What to Read as You Lead

It goes without saying that leaders are readers. So why say it (or type it)? Because all of us will encounter people who endeavor to lead but don't desire to read. If this is your state of mind this will greatly limit the scope of your leadership because you will be bound by your own ideas and unable to go any farther than your own personal experiences. Not a very productive approach. When you read you expand your experiences to include the experiences of others. Since that is true, I would like to challenge you to pick up one leadership book a month (that's one new book every 31 days...you can do that) to add to your mental repertoire. Not just to your bookshelf or ibooks on your ipad but to your brain.

To start your journey toward experience expansion I would like to suggest the following books:

1. The Bible- This is a timeless resource to gain wisdom as well as to shape your character. This is critically important because the news clearly illustrates that ethics can easily suffer if a leader becomes successful without consistently taking time to recalibrate their moral compass.

2. EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey- Dave has a way of mixing humor with a straight forward, in your face, practical wisdom concerning leadership and business. His record speaks for him and his honestly encourages you as you read.

3. Boom!:7 Choices for Blowing the Doors off Business as Usual by Dr. Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg- Not only will you benefit from this book but it is also a great resource for your entire team. I mentioned in the post "If Your Team Sucks..." that it is your responsibility to improve or remove them, this book is a great tool to help them to improve.

4. The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham by Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley- Billy Graham has been far more than a successful evangelist, he has also been a remarkable leader through the years. If you desire to leave a legacy that stands the test of time this book is a great blueprint of how to do so. It describes how he handled controversy, conflict, temptation, finances and so much more. Get this book, read it, then lead with integrity.

5. Leadership 101 by John Maxwell- This book will take you a short afternoon to read but can have a tremendous impact on your leadership style if you put the principles to practice. Get it now and your team will thank you later.

If Your Team Sucks...

If you think you would be doing better if you just had a better team to work with chances are you have thought, more than once, that your team sucks. You're not the only one...but when these thoughts come there are several dynamics at work.

First, if you think your team sucks...your outlook probably does too.

If you consistently view your job as a burden, your department as a war zone and your team as a bunch of losers your mind will be closed to the creative thoughts of how you can turn it all around. Even if God were to give you an idea of small steps that will take you in the direction of a stronger team you won't see it because all you can see is that "so and so" is holding you back. Lift your eyes to higher heights. Sure, things may not be the way you want them to be yet. Sure, you may have been given a difficult hand to play but don't through it in just yet. Search for possible solutions instead of just resting on the fact that your team is under performing at the moment. When you raise your level of expectation your team just might raise their level of exertion to meet it. When you expect more, you can experience more.

Second, if you think your team sucks...your leadership skills may leave something to be desired as well.

There are some who need to improve and others you need to remove but that is your responsibility as the leader of the team. What are you doing about it? Are you just sitting in your office pouting thinking "This sucks!" or are you developing a strategy to help each person on the team to stop "sucking" or to take their sucky attitude somewhere else? That is your right and responsibility as the leader of your team and the more you demonstrate to your team that you are working to improve the work experience of the entire team it will boost morale which can increase performance. Then they stop viewing themselves as a losing team and start to see themselves as the underdogs who are about to come away with the victory.

Take some time each week to read materials that will help you to hone your skills as a leader. There are countless classics out there that describe principles that can help you to lead more effectively. Don't reinvent the wheel, find one that will roll smoothly in your organizational environment and build your "vehicle" around it. In the next few days I'll post a few books that I have been reading to get you going but don't delay...START TODAY!

Thinking Like a Champion

The Olympics has come and gone and once again we are forced to find our inspiration elsewhere. The stories behind the athletes were incredible and it didn't take long to be inspired by their perseverance and dedication to excellence. I'm sure no one was on the field or in the pool practicing. They did not go to London to experiment. They went to repeat what they had done in preparation. They planned to succeed.

Plan

Are you thinking like a champion? Have you planned to succeed in your business? Do you have a training program in place to direct your team members toward excellence and an evaluation process that will either elevate or terminate them based on their performance? Do you have any idea where your industry is heading in the next 5-10 years and have you developed a strategy to ensure that your company is positioned to be there excelling and not just existing?

It has been said time and time again that people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan. So why don't more people plan? I believe it's because there are so many things to do on a daily basis that most of their time is used putting out small fires so when the week is over they look up and just want to rest. There's no time to plan...or so they think. If you don't make time to plan you can bet that your time is not being used wisely because you aren't sure that what you are doing is going to get you where you desire to be. Write a plan, you'll be glad you did.

Persevere

The action of writing out a plan can relieve tension in and of itself but that is only the beginning of the process of becoming a champion in your industry. After you have a plan you must roll up your sleeves and carry it out. It does no good to know what to do if you are not willing to actually do it. You must be prepared to wake up every day and do something that will push you toward one of the benchmarks in your plan. Break your plan down into manageable steps and then start taking them.

As you slowly begin to move forward you will gain momentum which will encourage you to keep going. You'll be well on your way to champion status. This is not always easy but it is definitely effective. This can be seen in the fact that the Olympics has levels that a person has to compete on before they arrive in the "big leagues." When you get there, chances are that you're ready. Much in the same way, persevering through the steps necessary to get where you desire to be financially (through writing a budget, cutting expenses/ liabilities, increasing income/assets) or professionally (through increasing your knowledge, improving your performance and providing the highest quality of service) will ensure that you will be ready to manage life on that level when you get there. You'll be ready for the podium. You'll be positioned to go for the gold in a way that you would not have been had you gotten there over night.

Don't give up. Keep going! Write your plan and then persevere through the process because any champion will tell you that getting there wasn't easy but it was unbelievably worth it. Think like a champion!

Slow Leaks and 3 Ways to Handle Them

This week my wife asked me to check on her front tire. It was getting lower and lower by the day and it had come to the point where if nothing was one to correct it, the problem could get dangerous. How did this happen? It's not a bad tire, we just put it on a few months ago. What could have gone wrong?

It was clear that she was experiencing what you may be going through right now as well. A slow leak. This is when you are losing enthusiasm each week but go to work anyway because you have to. This is when you look at your bank account at the end of a pay period or at market sheets at the end of a quarter and wonder where all the money went. This is when your view of your spouse has shifted from celebration to toleration. A slow leak doesn't happen over night but, if left unchecked, it can limit your mobility and increase the possibility of a crash.

So what can be done? I would suggest 3 things...

1.) Find the problem and fix it- No surprise here. If your leak is in your finances you would benefit from calling an emergency strategy session with yourself so you can write down your budget and see where the money is going. Money can be like a curious child that will wonder away if you aren't keeping an eye on it. Develop a budget, see where you can cut costs, and determine what is sucking the life out of your finances. Could be that weekly gourmet coffee you just have to have or those sales that you can't seem to pass up. Find what's causing the leak and plug it!

2.) Use A Preventative Approach- As the old saying goes, "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure." Determine what you can do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis that can prevent these slow leaks from getting out of hand. If it concerns your enthusiasm perhaps you could use a vacation or a quiet moment where you sketch out your desired destination. When you constantly remind yourself that what you're doing is getting you where you're going it makes it easier to stay motivated about it.

3.) Don't Ignore the Issue- You can act like it's not happening at first but over time you and everyone around you will be able to notice the leak in your life, finances, or department. Don't act like it's not happening. Don't act like everything is alright when it's not. If there is an area that is slowly losing steam take note and then take action. You'll be glad you did! After I took the time to take her car to correct the problem it drove a million times better. It was more pleasant to drive because the ride was quite a bit smoother and the stress of wondering if it was going to give out was gone. Wouldn't you like to experience that same relief of stress in your life? Stop ignoring the leaks & decide to do something about it.

Team Work Makes My Head Hurt

You've heard the old saying, "Team work makes the dream work." That's true...but what I've also found is that team work can make your head hurt. What I mean is that team work can be one of the most frustrating and irritating parts of success. This is because it involves trust and understanding, both of which can lead to disappointment. What if they don't do their part? What if they don't know what you need to do yours? Communication can break down, selfishness raise its ugly head and miscommunications can cause unnecessary conflict.

It's making my head hurt just thinking about it.

Since team work is so important and yet, often times, so irritating what can be done to improve the experience?

Honesty

There has to be a space where each member of the team can honestly express their concerns about the other team members without the possibility of causing a rift in the team. If you can't confidently communicate what's wrong how can either of you expect to make things right? Each member of the team must be allowed to share things that will help the team improve without the other team members looking at them in contempt. If you can't be honest you can't take the team higher. Period.

Credibility

One of the reasons people aren't open to constructive criticism is because it's not being offered by someone who is actually putting their criticism into practice. In other words, you don't practice what you preach. When you don't set an example in your own character of the conduct that you expect out of the rest of the team, you greatly limit the amount of influence that you have with them. You may have the right answers but no one wants to hear them from you. Since this is true, make sure you do it first and ask others to do it second.

Respect

"You always drop the ball!" "You never come through!" "You are such a loser!" Who wants to respond well to that? Not me, and I'm sure you don't either so make every effort to communicate with a high level of respect. This is not just saying, "with all due respect" before you tear them a new belly button. This is saying what you're saying in a tone and with words that illustrate that your end goal is to help not to humiliate.

Hard Work

Finally, you have to be willing to work at building your team every day. This will not be easy but it can unquestionably multiply your department's performance. You can't do it all, that's why you have a team. Take some Tylenol and build your team so that your team work will make your head hurt a lot less and make your dream work a lot more.