Having high expectations of people. Being empathetic. I’ve written about this balancing act before. Are they in conflict with each other, or are they actually complementary? When they seem to be in conflict with each other, which way should we lean? No greater example illustrates this than something I’ve been struggling with lately. In three particular instances (two recent, one a few years ago) I’ve had someone tell me and/or a family member that they are going to do something or take care of something. Not one of these things has been followed through on. Being that one of my first
Over Memorial Day weekend, my family spent some time at the river. Trying to stay true to actually getting some exercise, even while on vacation, I was pushing my kids in the stroller down a windy and hilly river road when we came upon a man chopping firewood, transporting in on a wheelbarrow, and putting it in a spot beside his house to store. It’s May in Alabama. Even at 9 am it was approaching 90 degrees with the humidity level about that high. It was hot, and it will be hot for a while, most likely until at least
Leaders make more leaders. You aren’t a leader if you don’t. But how do you go about making more leaders? By acting as a career agent, you can successfully combat disengagement and serve the role that a leader is meant to serve- growing others. But how do you play the role of career agent? Here are three easy steps: 1. ASK & ASSESS: Asking simply involves deploying the question, “What do you want out of your career?” in individual meetings with your subordinates. You may want to break this down into what they want 1 year, 3 years, 5
“An idea hit me: Why not create a for-profit business to help provide shoes for these children? Why not come up with a solution that guaranteed a constant flow of shoes rather than being dependent on kind people making donations? In other words, maybe the solution was entrepreneurship not charity.” Blake Mycoskie, TOMS Shoes Although Blake and his TOMS shoes have spurred the whole concept of one-for-one business models, he isn’t alone nor the first to consider how business can be a cause. With decreasing government funding for charitable causes (and I’m not saying this is necessarily a bad thing)
What is leadership? In one word, leadership is influence. It’s the ability to accomplish things through others. Taken to the next level, and as the noble ideal that leadership has become (as opposed to say, management) great leadership involves positive influence that leads to positive results. Leadership makes others, and therefore the world, better through focus on people. With this in mind, here are some of the great leadership quotes that espouse what real leadership is: “Lead from the back- and let others believe they are in front.” Nelson Mandela “Leadership is about making others better as a result