Inseparable (Part Seven)
Nine Elements You Cannot Separate From Healthy Leadership

Over a nine day period, I’m blogging about nine ingredients that cannot be separated from quality leadership. Like the Green Hornet and Kato—they just go together. Any leader without them is incomplete or unhealthy. Since my blog posts are about leading the next generation, I’m hopeful these short articles will help you deepen your effectiveness as a leader, parent, coach or teacher.

Today, let’s look at the element of relationships. Someone might argue that you can be a good leader without being good at relationships. My response to this is—maybe, but not for long. Healthy people just don’t stick around a leader who is relationally retarded. Leaders with low emotional intelligence eventually sabotage their relationships with their team. Paychecks might keep those team members around for a while, but few are willing to endure a damaging environment just for money.

Healthy leaders become good at people skills. They deepen their emotional intelligence:

1. Self awareness.
2. Self management.
3. Social awareness.
4. Relationship management.

In doing so, they retain good team members and those team members appreciate in value. Quality leaders build these skills in themselves:

1. They’re a host. (They take initiative with others).
2. They’re a doctor. (They know how to probe with good questions).
3. They’re a counselor. (They know how to actively listen and empathize).
4. They’re a tour guide. (They can take someone on a journey and succeed).

So here are my questions for you:

1. Have you ever sabotaged a relationship because of poor people skills?
2. Do you diminish your influence because you can’t relate well with others?
3. Where are you strong? Where are you weak in your relational skills?
4. What action step must you take to deepen your relationships with others?

Tim

Inseparable (Part Six)
Nine Elements You Cannot Separate From Healthy Leadership

Today is part six in my series about nine ingredients that cannot be separated from quality leadership. Like Siamese twins joined at the hip—they just go together. Any leader without them is incomplete or unhealthy. Since my blog posts are about leading the next generation, I’m hopeful these short articles will help you deepen your effectiveness as a leader, parent, coach or teacher.

In this post, we’ll discuss courage. I used to underestimate the necessity of courage in a leader’s life. Today—I don’t. Leadership and courage cannot be separated. Why? Because leadership summons a person to take the first risk; to take initiative when there is not guarantee of success; to move forward when none may take the journey with them.

It’s the Star Trek Principle. (This is one of our Habitudes. Habitudes are images that form leadership habits and attitudes.) The reason the TV show “Star Trek” took off (pardon the pun) was because space travel became popular in the 1960s with the Apollo Space mission to the moon, and because of an innate human reality: people love to see someone “boldly go where no man has gone before.” Especially students. Kids need to see role models who don’t merely play it safe, but do the unconventional; the risky.

This is a second cousin to innovation—but it’s not the same. You can be innovative but never act on your ideas. Courage or initiative demands you step out and risk something. Money. Time. Energy. Reputation. Innovation happens on the inside of a person. Courage demonstrates it on the outside. It’s an external act.

Winston Churchill said that courage is the first quality of leadership which makes all the other qualities possible. Brilliant. Without courage, you really can’t lead.

So here are my questions for you regarding courage:

1. Do you consider yourself a courageous person?
2. Would others describe you as a courageous person or leader?
3. How do you demonstrate that you are taking risks in your leadership?
4. In what area have you stepped out and boldly taken initiative?

Tim

Inseparable (Part Five)
Nine Elements You Cannot Separate From Healthy Leadership

Over the next nine days, I plan to blog about nine ingredients that cannot be separated from quality leadership. Like Bonnie and Clyde or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers—they just go together. Any leader without them is incomplete or unhealthy. Since my blog posts are about leading the next generation, I’m hopeful these short articles will help you deepen your effectiveness as a leader, parent, coach or teacher.

In this post, we’ll discuss the idea of vision. A true leader cannot separate their leadership from a vision. Vision represents a picture of their goals or objectives. It’s is a blueprint of a preferred tomorrow. Vision helps people see in their imagination what is not yet visible in reality.

Every leader has a goal or an idea they are pursuing. Call whatever you want, but this is what separates leaders from followers. A follower either has no clear objective or they’ve adopted someone else’s objective. Leaders provide them for others.

I love the story of the creation of Disneyland, in 1955. Walt Disney chose to invite a retired Navy Admiral, Joe Fowler, to lead the project. Initially, Joe turned Walt down because he “hated California and his wife hated mice.”  (I thought that was funny).

Eventually, Walt talked this retired officer into the job because he painted such a clear, compelling vision inside the man. Fowler came out of retirement to oversee the project almost 60 years ago. In 1971, Disneyworld was built. Can you guess who they approached to supervise the project? It was this retired officer Joe Fowler, once again. Ten years later, the EPCOT center was created. Guess who they asked to lead the way? It was Joe Fowler, who was now in his 80s. Each time, Joe insisted he was retired and finished—but the vision gripped him and he came out of retirement to oversee the task.

I think I know why Joe did it all three times. His weary, wrinkled body and mind were re-energized when a leader stepped up and cast a clear vision. People need purpose; they need a picture of a better future. Leaders do this.

Here are my questions for you as you evaluate your own leadership:

1. What vision drives you today? Is it merely a routine or do you have a clear goal?
2. Do others get passionate, energetic and creative by hearing your vision?
3. Can people find a way to get involved when they hear your vision?
4. Does your vision wake you up in the morning and generate momentum for you?

Tim

Inseparable  (Part Four)
Nine Elements You Cannot Separate From Healthy Leadership

I’m in the middle of a series about nine ingredients that cannot be separated from quality leadership. Like Laurel and Hardy or Batman and Robin, they just go together. Any leader without them is incomplete or unhealthy. Since my blog posts are about leading the next generation, I’m hopeful these short articles will help you deepen your effectiveness as a leader, parent, coach or teacher.

Today, I will focus on values. Fifteen years ago, the big debate in America was whether a leader can operate apart from his or her values. The debate was fostered by the Clinton presidential scandal with Monica Lewinsky. Some felt a leader can do anything they want outside of their job and it won’t effect their work on the job. While that sounds good on paper—it just ain’t so. As leaders, our personal values will surface and somehow affect our decisions, our pursuit of self-preservation, and our goals while on duty.

Elvis Presley once said something profound. He said that “values are like fingerprints, nobody’s are the same, but you leave them on everything you do.” He’s right. Whether you perform songs, or run a nation—you can’t separate what you value from what you do and how you influence others. Values just come out, like it or not.

Have you ever determined what your personal (core) values are? If not, try this. Watch and listen to yourself for about two weeks. Stand back at arms length and observe how you act with others. Do you see a pattern as to what you value? Is it your image? Is it your income? Your calendar and time? Your position on the job? Is it your integrity?

Now try this. Sit down over a few hours and jot down four to six words that best describe the person (and leader) you want to become. These can be action words or words that define qualities inside of you. They can actually be terms or short phrases, but they must represent concepts that define a person, like integrity, passion, tenacity, generosity, love, etc. (I describe this exercise in book one of Habitudes—Images that Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes.)

Values determine the person we’ll become, which in turn, determines the path we take in life and in leadership. Values and leadership are inseparable. Together they create integrity, or one, whole integer. Duplicity occurs when they don’t travel together. In fact, the word that describes a leader who does separate them is: hypocrite.

Here are my questions for you as you think about your values:

1. Would others describe you as a person who lives by their values?
2. Can others observe your behavior and immediately know what your values are?
3. Are you aware of your values as you make decisions?
4. Do your values keep you on track during tough times?

Tim

Inseparable:
Nine Elements You Cannot Separate From Healthy Leadership

Today I’m doing part three on nine ingredients that cannot be separated from quality leadership. Like salt and pepper or ketchup and mustard—they just go together. Any leader without them is incomplete or unhealthy. Since my blog posts are about leading the next generation, I’m hopeful these short articles will help you deepen your effectiveness as a leader, parent, coach or teacher.

Today, I want to talk about communication. I don’t think you can lead well without discovering how to communicate well. Certainly, there have been leaders who aren’t good speakers. They aren’t eloquent or poised on the platform—and they still lead. I am talking, however, about the ability to communicate a clear idea or vision and get others to understand it and to help execute it. Leaders must do this.

Communication is fundamental to leadership. If you cannot get an idea across with authentic, believable passion—you won’t be able to move a team to act. You may be an entrepreneur but you won’t be a leader. You’ll take the journey alone. Former president Gerald Ford once said that if he could do his career over again, he’d go back to school and learn to become a better communicator. He recognized it as paramount to getting anything accomplished.

Most people admit they’re not good communicators. Due to low emotional intelligence, or poor verbal skills or simply fear—they freeze up when attempting to get an important idea across to others. In fact, the fear of public speaking continues to be the number one fear in the U.S., even above death. This amazes me. (As Jerry Seinfeld once said, that means most would rather be the corpse at a funeral than the one giving the eulogy.)

In any case, to be an effective communicator you simply need to execute a few practices:

1. Start strong—know your point.
2. Target one central theme or idea.
3. Use clear, simple language.
4. Employ metaphors or pictures.
5. Speak to the heart not just the head.
6. Have a clear objective: what do you want listeners to do?

Let me ask you a question. Whether you are speaking to your own children or a team or a youth group or a classroom of students—do you practice these elements? Try them today.

Tim