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Looking Funny On A Horse

Looking Funny On A Horse - 1I have said many times that love a great and pithy little quote. And I stumbled upon this one the other day from Adlai Stevenson.

Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (5 February 1900 – 14 July 1965) was an American politician and statesman. He was noted for his skill in debate and oratory. He served as Governor of Illinois and he was twice an unsuccessful candidate for President of the United States running against Dwight D. Eisenhower (in 1952 and 1956). Under the John F. Kennedy administration, he served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations.  Here is a quote attributed to him:

“It is hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.”

The quote above has been written about recently in a book by Ron Gaddie entitled, Born to Run: Origins of the Political Career. In that book Gaddie examines the political careers of nine different individuals who ran for political offices at a variety of local and state levels. I do not intend to review the book here. Rather, I want to look at the quote and explore its message to us as leaders.

What does the quote say to you from a leadership perspective? Continue reading “Looking Funny On A Horse”

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Looking Silly or Feeling Confident

Looking Silly, Feeling Confident - 1Leadership and confidence usually go hand in hand. But sometimes you feel awkward or even silly. You may feel silly and awkward inside, but you can learn to overcome those feelings. You can develop the ability to both look and feel confident even though you feel silly.

Looking Silly, Feeling Confident - 3Researchers tell us that the number one fear of most people is the fear of public speaking or some other public exposure. Now, in full disclosure, I will admit that I have never suffered from that fear. I was a “theater guy”. I loved being on stage. Many years ago my wife and I owned our own business where I was a paid professional public speaker. I have made a living standing and talking in front of a crowd. It doesn’t scare me – it energizes me. But I realize that I am the oddball in this regard. (Maybe some other regards as well . . .)

Here are a few tips and suggestions to help you get over the fear of looking silly and also help you gain and portray confidence to those around you. Continue reading “Looking Silly or Feeling Confident”

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Do it, ditch it, or delegate it

Do it, ditch it or delegate it - 1Here is one of those great little maxims that I heard many years ago and I solemnly avowed and affirmed that I would live by it until my dying days.

But, as I look back on it and examine how well I adhered to that little maxim . . .  It seems like not so much.

The principle expressed in this pithy little statement is this.

When presented with a choice, a document, a task or a decision – handle it immediately in one of the following manners.

  1. Do it! — That sounds simple enough.  But procrastination is something that comes naturally to the human species.  This is especially true for those choices or tasks that have particularly unpleasant undertones.
  2. Ditch it! — This also sounds simple.  But many of us suffer from bouts of indecision.  We often times cannot make up our minds that this just isn’t important to the overall goals and therefore should be jettisoned for the more important tasks.
  3. Delegate it! — Another simple sounding thing.  For those of us who have a staff that we can actually delegate something to, we often choose to handle the task ourselves.

Do it, ditch it or delegate it - 3So, what are the leadership implications of this little phrase? Continue reading “Do it, ditch it, or delegate it”

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How is the view?

The Lead DogThat great southern philosopher, Lewis Grizzard, once said; “If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes.”

Let me give you a few minutes to visualize that picture.   –  –  –  Do you have a mental picture?  What do you see?

Yup, you see the northern end of a southbound dog.  Picturesque, isn’t it?

But here is the point that Grizzard unwittingly (or maybe not so unwittingly) makes.  He is making a point that we need to strive to be leaders and to strive to lead the pack.  We should not just be content to run with the pack.  And that is a great point.  But I think there is a greater point to be made here.

The greater point is about the actual role and behavior of the leader.  Although the guy in the parka that stands on the back of the sled has all of the outward appearance of being a leader.  He in fact is not.  He is the encourager.  He is the one who exhorts us on.  He may even be the one with authority and the power of the whip if he chooses to use it.  But, he is not the leader.  I would submit to you that leadership is by example, not by command.

The leader is the number 1 dog out in front.  That dog is the one that the other dogs follow.  He sets the pace and the actual path the sled will take within the confines of the terrain and environment.

So, what is the leadership principle here? Continue reading “How is the view?”

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Leadership is like riding a bicycle

Learning to Ride a BicycleI admit it. I fell victim to the “Downton Abbey” craze. I watched an episode one night out of curiosity. The next thing I knew, I had found Seasons 1 and 2 on Amazon Prime and we watched at least 2 episodes a night for the next 2 weeks until we had seen them all. Then we went to start watching Season 3 – only this time it wasn’t free on Amazon Prime. You know you are hooked when you hit the “Buy with 1-Click” button and you shell out the money for the entire 3rd season without even thinking about what it cost. But, I suppose all of that is a subject for another time.

I found the story compelling and the dialog incredible. The characters were fascinating and complex. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.

But I was captivated by a sentence uttered by a relatively minor character in the last episode of season 3. His name is Shrimpie and he is a husband caught in a loveless marriage and he is the father of a young woman who is rebelling against her parents and society in general. I am paraphrasing a quote from that episode:

“What I want is for her [his daughter] to know that family can be a loving thing. Love is like riding a bicycle or speaking French. If you don’t learn it young, it’s hard to get the trick of it later.”

I am taking this in a direction that you would expect and I am going to modify the quote to suit my purpose. What if Continue reading “Leadership is like riding a bicycle”

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As a soldier sees it

As a soldier sees itI came across another great quote the other day. But, as I am getting old and didn’t write it down, I have to try to recall it from memory. The gist of it was the way that a soldier sees leadership. Leadership as a soldier sees it went something like this:

I do not follow orders, I obey them. Instead I follow a leader.

Let that sink in for a few minutes.

Now what does that mean?

Try as I might, I just cannot get some of the courtroom scenes from “A Few Good Men” out of my head. If you take some of the military bashing out of the film you are left with some riveting dialog. At some point along the way the characters Dawson and Downey lost sight of the impact of following an order from a leader who is not worthy. They followed an order and things went terribly wrong.

The premise of the movie is not a perfect analogy for me. But it does point out to me that we need to be clear regarding those that we chose to follow. And further, we need to be aware of the impact that we have on those who follow us.

And consider this as well.  We don’t always get to choose our leaders.

Are you following, obeying or leading?

 

Photo credit: Atfyfe / Foter.com / Public Domain Mark 1.0

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Faster Horses

“If I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses’”
Henry Ford

Henry Ford and Faster HorsesWhat a great quote!  And what a great insight into a key leadership trait.  The business community is all about collaboration these days.  And I believe in collaboration.  But, sometimes, a true leader, an innovator like Henry Ford, needs to see far beyond what those around him see.

He didn’t give people what they wanted because they really didn’t know or couldn’t verbalize their need.  Instead, Ford forged ahead and created something that changed the world.  He gave us the first mass produced and affordable automobile.  He gave us mobility and a whole new way of producing goods that had never been employed to that extent before.

And, by the way, it was faster than most horses out there.  Think about that today.

 

Photo credit: brizzle born and bred / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

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Veteran’s Day

Today, in the U.S., it is Veteran’s Day.  And I have several family members and close friends who have worn the uniform of the United States of America.  Although it is not my intention to turn this dialog into one that is centered on the military.  But, I would be remiss if I failed to reflect on the the subject of leadership while in the shadow of Veteran’s Day.

So, I will take as non-partisan approach as I possibly can and make it short and sweet as I reflect on leadership within the context of the military.

A colleague and very dear friend at work has a quote anchored in the signature block of every email that he sends.  It is a quote by General George S. Patton.  That quote is this:

Patton Quote 1

I plan to spend a great deal of time in the coming days dealing with many aspects of leadership.  But, I don’t ever want to lose sight of the fact that sometimes as a leader we must stand back and let our “troops” do what they have been trained to do or what they can figure out using their God-given talents and abilities.  This may sound a little laissez-faire or soft to you.  I don’t think anyone would ever confuse “Old Blood and Guts” with someone who was soft.  So, if he was willing to adopt this approach from time to time, then there must be a leadership principle in there somewhere.

Don’t you think?