Leadership Revealed

Recently, our family suffered through a very difficult time. It was a situation that I had never experienced before and I was tempted to fix it my way. After praying about the matter it was extremely clear that I needed to resist the temptation to impose my will to resolve the situation. It was one of the best decisions I have made this year. As a leader, especially in your home, it is especially important that when you are facing any crisis or problem you take a step back to define the problem, and realize that it is not always about you. By seeking to understand what the issues were I gained a better understanding about what was going on and how I could support my family.

As a leader, you should be aware that someone is always watching you and observing how you respond to the issues and challenges of life. If you take your leadership seriously this is a tremendous responsibility and one that is not to be taken lightly. One person that was watching how I responded was my wife. We were able to share some incredibly intense, open and honest conversations which lead to our mutual resolution on how we would address the crisis in our family. I believe she respected me before, but I know she really appreciated how I handled the matter.

As a leader in business and in your family it is important that you are consistent in your leadership. Many leaders are one way at home and someone totally different at their place of business. What you are at home should be reflected in who you are at work. That is true leadership!

The crisis continues, but we are dealing with it as a family and my leadership can make or break our home. When challenges come, true leadership is revealed.

Share with me a time when a difficult situation revealed your leadership.

Leaders lose the right to...

Leadership at all levels requires that the leader be aware of his or her responsibilities to those whom they lead. You are not an individual contributor, but one of the collective, with the responsibility of leading a team to achieve specific results. While working for a fortune 500 company all leaders were distributed the following reminder:

As a leader you lose the right to:
…not matter
…equate success with your individual performance
…select who you will or will not take input from
…blame someone else
…hide behind your title
…use time as an excuse not to do it
…not be candid, open
…be right all the time
…have your friendship with co-workers influence your decisions
…act like you know everything
…stay in your comfort zone
…not listen to your people
…be a Monday morning quarterback
…say "that’s the way we’ve always done it"
…sit in a meeting doing blackberry/e-mail and be disengaged
…take it personally
…not be engaged every moment of every day
…not be involved in your community
…not have everyone you touch know that they matter
…give up
…have someone else set your possibilities
…intimidate or be self-righteous
…hang on to old baggage
…make excuses
…be negatively critical
…opt out
…place yourself in the first position
…abdicate your responsibilities
…complain
…retaliate
…hold grudges

As a leader it is very important that you continually assess your leadership, and how you are being perceived by the people you lead. Failure to do so can have a dramatic effect on whether anyone follows you.

Can you add to this list?

Is there anything on this list that you feel you need to work on?

Introducing Leadership Perspectives

With all of the books, tapes, seminars and workshops on leadership, why is it so hard to find good leaders? This blog has been developed out of my frustration and concern with the lack of leadership in today’s society. From Wall Street to Main Street and everywhere in between it is very hard to find both men and women who are willing to stand up for what is right and to be held accountable for their decisions. Being rewarded for poor performance seems to be the benchmark for today’s leaders.

In my future posts I will share my perspectives on leadership and the critical need for men and women to take a stand and fill the leadership vacuum. It is up to all of us to look deep within ourselves and ask the question, “If not me, then who?”

There will be discussions on the importance of character and integrity in leadership. It is my desire to stimulate insightful discussions on the subject of leadership and how we all can become better leaders in our homes, our communities and our work places.

Because of my varied background from my days of being a union steward for over 600 employees, to managing real estate, to building a successful construction service company with over 1200 employees in 23 markets, I believe I have a unique perspective on leadership. In addition, I am very passionate about leadership and want to have a positive impact on the development of future leaders as I continue my own development.

I hope you will join me in the discussion and comment frequently in the exchange of ideas and perspectives on leadership.