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Is it really leadership if I don’t know I am doing it?

Is it really leadership if I don't know - 1Is it really leading if I don’t know it is happening?  That is the question that I have begun pondering in the last few days.

For those of you that participated in the Seriously, why do we lead? discussion, I say thanks.  But one of the threads that I seemed to see in the comments on the site and those that happened in facebook and other social medial caused me to ask the fundamental question; “Is it leadership if I am not aware of it or it is happening without my direct knowledge and awareness?”  In other words, must there be intentionality to leadership?

I don’t think that I have time to flesh this thought and idea out fully at this time.  So, on this early Monday morning in June I will just put some questions out there and ask you for some feedback and comments.

  1. Can we be leaders and be unaware of or leadership role?  And if so, what would that look like? Continue reading “Is it really leadership if I don’t know I am doing it?”
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The Importance of Order

imageI was reminded again last night about the importance of order and decluttering in the life of a leader.  Clutter and the lack of order steals our attention and robs from us the ability to focus on the tasks that we need to accomplish.

That was one of the points in Rodney Mills‘ Personal Mastery Plan Workshop that I attended last night.  It was an awesome experience and it has caused me to re-examine some aspects of my life that I have not examined in quite some time.

imageLate last evening following the workshop, my daughter snapped a photo of me in my little home office and it has caused me to think and schedule some time to declutter my workspace at home.

Creativity and inspiration flow better for me when I have an open and clear work environment.  The more papers and old magazines and cables and chargers that are surrounding me, the harder it is for me to write and think.

So, what is the leadership point? Continue reading “The Importance of Order”

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Waiting on the World to Change

Waiting on the World to Change - 1Well, I can honestly say that I don’t think I have ever heard a John Mayer song sung in church before the pastor got up to preach. Tomorrow, I won’t be able to make that statement. The song immediately preceding the message was “Waiting on the World to Change”. And many of you will instantly recall the lyrics.

I will forego evaluating the use of John Mayer music in a worship setting. I will only say that the band in church this morning did an excellent job with the song and played it with heart, soul, and passion.

This song is often misunderstood. Do a little internet research on the song and you will quickly see that it has folks who can be fairly polarized in their views on whether it is a statement, an expectation or a parody. Mayer himself has been somewhat elusive on the meaning behind the lyrics.  That’s some clever writing and marketing right there.

Waiting on the World to Change - 2One stanza says this:

It’s not that we don’t care
We just know that the fight ain’t fair
So we keep on waiting
(Waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

So what is my point and what is the relevance to Leadership Voices? Continue reading “Waiting on the World to Change”

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Loneliness in Leadership

Lonely Leadership - 1In February of 2012, Harvard Business Review featured a story acknowledging that it is lonely being the CEO. The article noted that it’s isolating at the top.  Now, if you are at all like me it is a little hard to feel sorry for CEOs on a regular basis.  What with their power, prestige, influence, and wealth — the common man’s perception is that they have it all. They must be the happiest people on the planet.

All those trappings of success notwithstanding, business leaders face some genuine troubles, not least of which is loneliness.

The author of that article cited survey findings from the CEO Snapshot Survey that “half of CEOs report experiencing feelings of loneliness in their role.  And 61 percent believe that it hinders their performance. This was particularly acute with first-time CEOs and young leaders.

Lonely Leadership - 2Maybe you are also like me in that you don’t really care if billionaires like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos aren’t reaching the pinnacle of Maslow’s hierarchy!

So why am I writing about this?

I would suggest that any leader’s isolation and feelings of loneliness have negative implications on their personal performance, and perhaps more importantly, on how they interact with others. Because it is not just big corporate CEOs who experience this kind of loneliness.   It is team leaders, entrepreneurs, pastors, and community leaders also. And this impacts the bottom-line for organizations.

This loneliness springs from a feeling that they have no one “at their level” to talk to.  They have no “peers” in their view.  They have no one to confide in.  They have no one to bounce ideas off of and no one to turn to for advice.  They also have no one holding them accountable for their actions and deeds.  This isn’t good for decision-making, culture, performance, or the long-term health of the organization. Continue reading “Loneliness in Leadership”

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Coming Attractions: Leadership Language

CA - Language - 1As a leader, am I hanging on to the past or am I grabbing on to the future?

This is an important question to consider because it speaks to our nature, to our ability to change, and to our willingness to adapt in order to become an effective leader. It also speaks to the everchanging landscape of language when it comes to leadership.

In the coming days I will be taking a look at leadership and the language of leadership. Some will call this language “buzzwords” and they would be correct. And although I think that there is more to leadership than language, language is vital as it is the most common medium of communication. And it is the shared language of the communicator and the “communicate-ee” that facilitates the transmission, reception and the all important feedback loop.

CA - Language - 2Are there leadership terms that are standing the test of time? If so, what are they? Are there leadership words that have faded with the whims of pop culture? Continue reading “Coming Attractions: Leadership Language”

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Sacrificial Leadership

Sacrificial Leadership - 1Real leadership often involves sacrifice. And it is the sacrifices of those that have lead the way and who have forged a path to freedom and liberty that we remember today. Now is also a time to remember those who today stand a watch that allows me to grill hamburgers in my back yard today and then lay my head on my pillow tonight in safety and security.

One of the fallacies that exist today is that the higher one goes in leadership within an organization the more freedom they will have to do what they want. Nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact it is quite the opposite. The higher one rises the less personal freedoms you have and the greater your responsibility is to those who you lead and serve.

Sacrificial Leadership - 2Rodney Mills captured the essence of sacrificial leadership when he wrote on the subject of Being a Servant Leader – A Theme last September. Out of the 8 points he made, the very first one on the list was that being a servant leader requires sacrifice. That is counter culture for many of us. It is counter to human nature that you would run into a burning building while others are running from it. Nevertheless there are brave men and women who do that every day. So, developing a spirit of self-sacrifice is possible. It just isn’t intuitive. Continue reading “Sacrificial Leadership”

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The Rt. Hon. Sir Leander Starr Jameson

LS Jameson - 1My guess is that many of you may have no idea who Leander Starr Jameson is or was.  And, to be honest, I did not know much about him until recently.  He was born on the 9th of February in 1853 and he died on the 26th of November in 1917.  He was a British colonial politician and was best known for his involvement in what became known as the Jameson Raid. 

The Jameson Raid was a botched raid on the Transvaal Republic carried out by Leander Starr Jameson and his Company mercenaries and policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895–96. It was intended to trigger an uprising by the primarily British expatriate workers in what is present day South Africa, but it failed to do so. These expat workers were called the Johannesburg conspirators. They were expected to recruit an army and prepare for an insurrection. The raid was failed and no uprising took place.

All of this is backstory and meant to impress you with my ability to Google things faster than a speeding bullet.  It is also to set the background for a man who, despite a resounding failure, seems to have inspired a degree of devotion from his contemporaries. Elizabeth Longford writes of him, “Whatever one felt about him or his projects when he was not there, one could not help falling for the man in his presence”. 

LS Jameson - 3Longford also notes that Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem “If—“ with Leander Starr Jameson in mind as an inspiration for the characteristics by which he recommended young people to live.  This is notably so for Kipling’s son, to whom the poem is addressed in the last lines.  Direct evidence that the poem “If—“ was written about Jameson is available also in Rudyard Kipling’s autobiography in which Kipling writes that “If—“ was “drawn from Jameson’s character.”  Kipling indicates that it was written in celebration of Leander Starr Jameson’s personal qualities at overcoming the difficulties of the Raid, for which he largely took the blame, although Joseph Chamberlain, British Colonial Secretary of the day, was, according to some historians, implicated in the events of the raid.

LS Jameson - 2So, what characteristics did Kipling have in mind?  Continue reading “The Rt. Hon. Sir Leander Starr Jameson”

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Can you help me?

Can you help me - 1“Can you help me?”

Those are not words that flow easily from our mouths as leaders.  But maybe they should be.

I recently took an international business trip.  It involved 6 flights, 4 trams, 4 shuttle busses and 2 taxi cabs in order to get to where we needed to be.  I have taken many international flights in my line of work.  And I am accustomed to many of the rigors of travel.  But, for the first time in 13 years of international business travel, I had to ask for help to get from one gate to the next to make my final connecting flight on the way home.

Can you help me - 2I arrived at Liberty in Newark, NJ late last Thursday afternoon and by the time I cleared customs and boarded the tram and got to my gate at the next terminal they were already boarding the flight.  Imagine my surprise to see a nearly empty gate.  What I discovered at the gate was that United had decided to change the departure gate to the other side of the terminal.  My gate was no longer Gate 125.  It was Gate 75.  I was not going to make it.

But at my age and after already flying for almost 10 hours I made the tactical decision to seek assistance in reaching my goal.  My goal was to get home and see my family.  And I did not have enough strength to get from Gate 125 to 75 in time to make my flight.  So I approached the counter and requested one of those electric carts that you see in airports.  You know, the ones that annoy you as you are trying to walk to your gate! Continue reading “Can you help me?”

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Throwback Thursday: Constantine

Constantine - 1Constantine the Great: (February 27, 272 – May 22, 337), was also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine.  He was the 57th Roman Emperor and reigned as Emperor from 306 to 337. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman army officer, and his consort Helena. His father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west in 293. Constantine was sent to eastern portion of the empire where he succeeded militarily and rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under several. In 305, his father, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, the senior western emperor and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in what is now the British Isles.

He was acclaimed as emperor by the army after his father’s death in 306, Constantine emerged victorious in a series of civil wars against several other emperors to become sole ruler of both the western and eastern empire in 324.

Constantine - 2As emperor, Constantine enacted many political, financial, social, and military reforms that strengthened the empire.

  • The government was restructured and civil and military authority separated which is key separation of powers that has been imitated in many political and governmental systems such as our own American system of government. Continue reading “Throwback Thursday: Constantine”
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Wit & Wisdom from Dwight Eisenhower

“You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that’s assault, not leadership.”
Dwight Eisenhower

W&W - Eisenhower - 1

We have all probably suffered under the kind of leadership that “Dairyman / Fireman / Journalist / General / President” Dwight D. Eisenhower mentions in one of his famous quotes on leadership.  Eisenhower lived a varied and charmed life.  It was not an easy life and he knew tragedy and death as a child and again as a young father.  But he persevered and became one of the most beloved presidents that our nation has ever known.  He was from humble beginnings in Denison, TX and went on to West Point and then went on to become one of the last 5-Star Generals that our military has produced.

He was a man who knew a little about leadership and physical assault.  He was acquainted with both by profession and experience.  But through it all he determined that leadership was not necessarily manifested through physical prowess.

In this quote he does not tell us exactly how he defines leadership.  So, I will ask you today.  How do you define leadership?  What exemplifies leadership to you?

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