Tag: vision

Leadership Vision Leader Trust

Okay, so if trust is the most important great leader characteristic, where does vision fall?

Well, as crazy, and contradictory as this is going to sound, vision is actually the most important.  What the?  Exactly.

Vision is the reason we wake up in the morning.  Vision is the reason we wake up in the middle of the night.  Vision is the reason we can’t fall asleep. Vision is what makes us do ordinary things in an extra-ordinary fashion.

Vision is a view of the future that is better than the current view.

Not talking vision statement here.  Heck, no one knows that it is anyway.  Seriously.  No one does.  And if anyone does, it’s someone who wrote it – and by now they’re probably retired or dead.  But no one else. (I’ll call your bluff on this one if you really want to disagree)

This is what makes leaders great.  A vision for the future that is better than the current vision.

A vision that is lofty, hard to articulate and you may not say it the same way twice.  A vision that is impossible.

A vision is more important than trust.

Transformational Passion

Been thinking  a lot lately.  Now there’s a surprise, eh?  Me.  Thinking a lot.

Anyway,  what I mean is, thinking a lot about what motivates people.  Especially in these tough economic times. Everywhere you look, there is tension, anxiety, uncertainty, and maybe even an honest fear of the future.

It can be crippling.  How do I know?  Because I’m one of you. A husband, father, son, leader, volunteer, neighbor, worrier.

Yesterday, while visiting The American Adventure Pavilion at Disney’s Epcot Park, there was a quote that basically said, “The early founders of the United States came to this country with little more than their vision”.

Their vision, their passion, transformed government.  The pursuit of happiness and all men are created equal.

Next time you look in the mirror, do you see a mountain or a molehill of a vision?

Wait.  Stop.  Go look in the mirror right now.

What did you see?  What do you see now, in your mind?

Perhaps a decade ago, a transformational seed was planted, scattered by the wind.  And then sometime last year, I started to see it really grow.

And out of nowhere, this Spring, well, all I can tell you is that a daily habit of writing five blogs took off.  Got sick of not seeing a mountain of passion in the mirror.  It hit me, you want to see a mountain, you better start transforming yourself.

The clock is ticking.

PS.  Here’s the catalyst for this post.  Wasn’t three minutes into it when the revelation came. After writing the post, I finished watching it.  August Turak’s speech can be watched by clicking here.

Trophy Value

Last night as my wife and I celebrated our 25th anniversary with our great company, it really hit me.  I mean, it seriously hit me.  And it really comes as no surprise.  However, because of it’s simplicity, it is rampantly commonly overlooked.

Great companies are founded and grow for one simple reason: They want to make a difference in the lives of others.

Plus, great companies reward loyalty with valuable trophies. Trophy value is a priceless, intangible reminder that an employee’s longevity is an integral part of being world-class.

Say what you want, but nothing changes the fact that there is an unstoppable force when people are led with passion and are committed to make a difference.

And then it occurred to me this morning, that’s why I write five daily blogs.  I mean, who does that?

Does this mean I get another trophy?

jungle jeff Leadership Lesson

jungle jeff Leadership Lesson.  In other words, I promised to share today, what was reinforced the other day when I practiced what I preached.

As a professional speaker, there are certain deliverables every time a speech or workshop is given to an audience. Public speaking is the greatest fear humans have, even greater than the fear of dying.

Leadership insight:

  • Lead, don’t manage – facilitate key points instead of telling them

Look, we all know this to be so simple it almost embarrasses me to try to convince you it’s important. And yet it is a key to becoming world class.  Like yeast in bread.  A little risk is required to be successful.  Duh, right?

What’s risky is doing things a different way.  If you do it the way you always do it, you can predict your results. Predicting an outcome when you take a risk is virtually impossible.  While you can visualize a positive result, you can not guarantee it.

It is quite common in workshops to see video clips of something important and then watch with a certain purpose and debrief what insights were gained from the video’s content. That’s exactly what happened.  Very routine.  A video I’ve set up, watched and debriefed 1,000 times.

For the debrief, I tried something completely different.  I asked a remarkably simple and open-ended question.  In fact, one participant gave me a look that said, “You’re an idiot”.  It took sheer will-power to not be shaken.

Afterwards, I asked my partner how he thought it went.  In ten years, we both agreed, it was the single best debrief of that video we’d ever experienced.  And we teach with many different partners.

What at one point seemed like a certain failure, because I didn’t panic or give up, turned out to be extraordinary.  Leaders do not get paid to fail (although maybe they should).

Who Needs This?

“Who needs this”?, is stereotypically said in a sarcastic tone, and maybe even with our arms thrown up in the air is frustration.  Can you picture it?

But that’s not what I mean here.  Not today ever.

Today, in these tough economic times, these extraordinarily turbulent world times, we need this.

We need leaders.

Not managers.  Well, we need managers, but not as much as we desire leaders.

We need someone with passion to make a difference.

Most humans are hard-wired to do good – to make a difference.  But most are hard-wired, also, to fear.  Fear keeps good people, who want to make a difference, in the shadows, where it’s safe.

We don’t need any more people in the shadows.  it’s too crowded there. We need people to go out in the sun, and lead the others who want to make a difference, but have no one to follow.