Finding Leadership

Think of your very first experience as a leader or in a leadership position. Did it involve a promotion? Any special benefits? Was it a pleasant experience or were you over exerting yourself? Did you have balloons and a party? Was it for a special event or for an extended period of time? Did you enjoy the experience? Did it teach you alot about yourself?

I came to this subject today as I resumed planning an idea that was put on hold by unfortunate events. I wondered what qualified me? Why would I come up with this awesome event? What makes me think that I am credible to lead in this sort of way?

In my work place I am not a leader, I have no authority, I am a clerk. Now don't misunderstand me, I adore my job. I love working behind my desk. I genuinely love my co-workers. I enjoy helping my customers and dealing with difficult situations. However, I am not any one's boss.

In my personal life I am a mother and a wife. I consider these great positions of leadership, but my husband is head of the household.

This is when I realized that I have never had experience (in the formal sense) as a leader. I am a traditional gal, so I moved straight from my parent's house to my husband's house whenever we were married a mere 2 years ago. I have always been a great team player, but I have never led anything. Then I started thinking about my character and my personality and how I became the person that I am.

When I was young I had many friends with older siblings, and I saw all the movies about the cool older brother who would beat mean kids up and the cool older sister who could teach you how to put on make up and how to talk to boys. I always wanted an older sibling, then when I was 7 years old my little sister came into my life. I didn't know it then, but she taught me how to be a leader. I was not always the greatest leader, but I like to think that I taught her how to be compassionate and that it is always better to laugh than have an attitude. I wanted to be that cool older sister, and I only hope that to her, I was. I saw my friends picking on their younger siblings and leaving them out of beach trips or milkshake runs at the Tasty Freeze and I always tried to make a space for my sister. Sure there were times when I wanted my space, but she taught me to watch myself, because she was always watching me.

There were also times when my sister led me, if I was down or broken my sister was usually the person who came to me first. She holds many of my deepest secrets, and she has a big piece of my heart.

This thought led me to many of my friends and kids that I have mentored through churches or relationships. At the time I had no idea what I was doing, but as I look back I know that when I was just lending an ear or a shoulder, listening and loving and giving advise from personal experiences that I was mentoring, I was leading.

So, now that you have your first leadership experience in your mind, think about who you led and how they are now. How has your leadership affected them in their lives today? Have they, in return, led you in anyway? I think it is important to remember that no age or race or religion is exempt from learning or being led in some way or another. Now think about yourself right now, who are you currently leading? Are they leading you in any way?

Just because you are leader, does not mean that you are not being led. If you look hard enough you may find leadership that you didn't even know existed.

Time

It is Friday morning, I am closing a week that has been sort of rough on me, and I am thinking about last Friday when the rough week started. I got a call Friday morning from my aunt, who had news to share that I was sure of as soon as I saw the caller ID. She called to inform my that my Granny had passed away that morning, something that we had been anticipating for a few weeks. I spent the past weekend with family I haven't seen in a very long time, and I had the pleasure of introducing them all to my daughter. We sat around talking about Granny's life, the difficult days leading up to her death, and strumming banjos and guitars and singing old southern hymns. It was a bitter-sweet time, and after her funeral on Tuesday I returned to work on Wednesday to get back into the swing on my daily to-dos.
One of those daily to-dos is reading the posts for the blogs I follow, a fairly recent one of those is Michael Nichols' Grow on Purpose, today his post was on time and life and what to do with the small amount of time we have, which just fit perfectly with where I am at right now.
We all have a point, I have reached this point many times in my life (and I am only 20), where we think about all of the things we have done so far with our life, failures as well as achievements, and we think that there is so much more we could be doing. Then we wonder HOW, how am I going to fit in an hour of exercise when I can hardly manage dinner most nights, how am I going to squeeze in a early morning devotional, when I hit the snooze button repeatedly most mornings, and the hows go on and on.
I am a very organized person, I love agendas, and I am an avid planner; sure I can be spontaneous when the moment calls for it, otherwise I am structured and planned out. I know how tough it can be to find extra time in your day, there is always something that I wish I could have worked on when I go to bed at night. It is in those times that I slow down, unwind, and remind myself that it isn't about what takes up my time during the day, but the reasons behind why I do the things I do.
This is why I review my agenda on a regular basis, to re-evaluate myself. When I can find the time in my day, I like to whip out one of my many notebooks and take some time to have a little heart to heart with myself, I ask myself some of these questions.
What are the things filling up my time? Why am I doing those things? Are the things I am doing productive? Is there anything I can cut out? Is there anything I would like to add to my schedule? Am I spending plenty of time with my loved ones? Am I doing anything just for fun? Do I have any off time to take care of errands or for down time? Do I have a back up plan, in case anything unexpected happens?
These questions, among other questions, are the things I like to think about when it comes to my time management. It is very important to make sure that you are being productive and taking care of the things that need to be taken care of, but it is also important to remember the people that matter in your life. Make sure you take time to enjoy your family, they are there for a reason. Take time to encourage the people around you, be passionate about something, take up a hobby (and make time to enjoy it!), relax, and learn to fall in love with things.
We all have a clock around us, at any minute the battery can go out, and our time can run out. Make sure that the time you spend, is time that means something to you. Forget about mundane living, I know that we all must work to pay the bills, put other before ourselves, and there are going to be rough patches, and down hill stumbles; but you must find the bright side, and learn to smile, because even if everything is going against you, you still have time.

In Death

I have seen many blogs posted on this passage, however, just yesterday I read Michael Nichols version, and I had to create my own view. Here is the passage:

Imagine that you are about to attend one of the most important occasions of your life. It will be held in a room large enough to seat all of your friends, family, business associates—anyone and everyone who is important to you and to whom you are important. Do you have the picture?

The walls are draped with deep golden tapestries. The lighting is subdued, soft, and casting a warm glow on the faces of your expectant guests. The chairs are handsomely upholstered in a matching golden fabric. And the golden carpeting is deeply piled.

At the front of the room is a platform, and on the platform a large, beautifully decorated table with candles burning at either end. On the table, in the center, is the object of everyone’s attention- a large, shining, ornate box. And in the box… is YOU! Can you see yourself lying in the box? There’s not a dry eye in the room.

Among everyone that has showed up, are the people who matter most to you. Who are they?

Nichols posted that those people were: God, his wife, his daughter, his parents, friends and colleagues.

Then he said to write down how you want each person, or group of people to remember you.

I think this is a wonderful exercise, it gives you a moment to think about the people that are closest to your heart, and how you want them to think of you, and the beautiful thing is that you are still alive to change any opinions you want.

• God- I would love for Christ to remember my forgiving heart, and how much I love to make people happy. I am unworthy of any recognition, but I can only pray that I have lived up to His plans for me.
• My Husband- I would love for Dusty to remember me sitting in the passenger seat singing obnoxiously to our ipod. I would also like to be remembered for my ability to find everything he looses, and the two greatest gifts I ever gave him; myself, and our daughter.
• Seraphim- My daughter, Sera, is only 4 months old right now, but I would like her to remember just how much I am in love with her.
• My Parents- I would like my mother and my step-father to remember that I always tried to make them proud of me. I would like them to remember the goals I have reached rather than the ones that have slipped away.
• Friends- (My Best Friend, Molly; and my Sister)- I have broken this into two different people, my Best Friend, Molly; and my Sister, because I have many many many friends, all of whom I would like to remember me by something different, but these two powerful girls really mean a lot to me. I would like my sister to remember how much I tried to be a good example for her, and that I was always there when she needed someone. I would like Molly to remember me in skinny jeans, a band tshirt, and screaming and dancing at one of our favorite bands, long talks that drug into the wee-morning hours, and that when the rest of the world buckled I was always there standing strong.
• Colleagues- I would like my colleagues to remember that I was a dreamer. I would like them to miss my laugh and personality.

If you would like to read the passage for yourself, here is the link: http://www.michaelnichols.org/one-practical-way-to-change-your-life-forever/ 

Yoda Leadership!

If you know me personally, then you will know that I am a huge movie buff. I was just in a conversation with some of the women I work with earlier today, one of my co-workers asked me if I was planning on seeing any good movies this weekend, and I let her know that I planned to attend the re-release of Star Wars in 3D. Also, my organization recently asked a question "What are the qualities a leader must posses for YOU to be willing to follow him/her?" So, when I came across this blog I just had to post it and put my spin on it!

Your leader may not be a little green man, with a froggy voice, that spouts off little nuggets of wisdom like a monk, but Yoda has many characteristics that embody a great leader (other than having 'the force').

1. You are not the hero, but your Padawan may be.
Yoda is top notch when it comes to wisdom, but he is not the hero of the story, he is a driving force. As a leader you will not get all the credit you may deserve, but as a leader you should find happiness and fullness in knowing that you helped lead a 'hero' to their victory or goal.

2. You may be misunderstood.
Yoda may speak funny and have an odd dialect, but that is not where the misunderstanding dwells from. As a leader it is your job to know and understand that being a servant is better than being the king. In his blog, Ben says, "The servant leader's emphasis on service over power and humility over vanity goes against the popular notion." Because you go against the grain, others may find your leadership odd, but keep confidence in yourself.

3. If you're not careful, your organization may produce a Darth Vader
As a leader you have a whole lot of accountability, it is your job to hire new additions, and to make sure that your new hire does not only embody a team like spirit, but that you make sure that spirit never dies out. Encourage your mentees, but do not boast them into a power trip, or it will cause a kink in your team. And you will be at fault for creating the 'Darth Vader'.

4. You live in the muck
Yoda lived on the Dagobah System when Luke Skywalker finds him. This swamp world is full of mud, muck, grime and filth. The home of Yoda is a tiny mud hut. When looking for a mentor do not look at all of the many THINGS your potential leader has surrounding them, look at their work, a leader that puts quality before quantity is a great leader. Just like a leader, humble enough to live in the 'muck' of the business, will know how to get you through the 'muck' and reach your goals. A true leader is not afraid to get their hands dirty.

5. You're work is never done
Yoda was more than 900 years old when he met his last student (Luke), and even after his death, Yoda continued to coach and mentor the younger Skywalker. A great leader knows that their work is never done. A great leader will invest in relationship with you, and will understand that even when the goals are met that the work is never ending. Always be encouraging and uplifting, always set goals, always keep moving forward.

6. Sometimes, you have to kick evil's butt yourself
Yoda knows when he must pick up the light saber and do battle himself. This goes back to living in the muck, a great leader will invest him/herself in building others to pass on their qualities of service and culture, but knows when they must rise up and join the group to get past the 'muck' for the sake of their organization. Darth Sidious: I have waited a long time for this moment, my little green friend. At last, the Jedi are no more.
Yoda: Not if anything to say about it I have!

7. It's up to you
Yoda was the last hope for the people against the Dark Force. He had to train Luke to conquer the Emporer and Darth Vader. As a leader it is up to you to pass on quality and traditions and wisdom from experience in the business, and to encourage new ideas and innovations to conquer the toxic leadership so many organizations are overcome by today. As a leader you bring the change by leading others to one day become great leaders themselves.

Here is the original blog http://ht.ly/8Ujp2

Valuable over Value

Rich Gee posted a blog that you can read here:
http://richgee.com/2011/12/its-time-we-value-people-over-profits/

Gee's blog is about valuing people (your workers) otherwise known as the "little people" in your business or organization that build your products and put out your company's work. These people, in the past, have been abused, over used, and spat on in one way or another. It is time for business owners to get the hint, if you are having to down size every year, fire loyal workers, cut things from your workers, and still maintain your (personal) way of life something is wrong.
I believe 2012 will be the year when the "little people" rise. It is time for business owners to realize that if you want a product that the public loves, then you must get the people who produce this product to love it too.
So, how do you do this????
The answer is so simple: love your workers. Get to know the people that you sign a check for. Learn what they like, what makes them happy, what their interests are.
The organization I work for have been implementing this way of going about business, and because of this our TEAM is THRIVING!
Once you determine how to make the people that work below you happy, your consumers will be happy also.
Now you may ask, Why?
Why will it matter if the people making the product are happy, how will that affect the consumers?
This answer is simple also: If you strive to work for your workers, your workers will strive to work for your consumers.
When your worker moral is up, and everyone is working for an organization that they trust in and enjoy, then they will strive to put off that image to your public. Your workers will begin to strive to make every single consumer happy, because they want the company they work for to succeed.
Look at it from a personal perspective, when do you work your best? When you are having persona issues, feeling low, bored, or burnt out? NO! You work the best when you are engaged, thinking, producing ideas, and when you feel VALUABLE!
When your workers feel valuable they will value their work, thus raising the value of your team and organization as a whole.

Happy Workers=Happy Customers

Saving The Princess and Slaying The Dragon

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=52d5c7778a3adfda535c3b349&id=8eb2dd1ad2&e=a9465016f2

I am in no way, shape, or form capable or writing a blog this morning...or so I thought.
I had a rough night, a late start this morning, and I've had a lot on my mind lately. As my mother has re-assured me, this is a human thing, it only means that I am normal. I am also a new mother, a natural red head, I thrive off of emotions (not always my strong suit), and I am a woman (we are in-fact highly emotional creatures). So, while I am stressed, emotional, and (because of my curse/blessing of a hair color) quick to anger, I am in a pickle; but I am also profoundly normal.
I started out this day with all intentions of getting to my desk, going about my day, keeping my emotions at bay, and getting through the day in one piece.
However, thanks to a blog that I came across this morning, I was put into my place (and I needed that).

I know I have hoisted Michael Hyatt onto a blogging pedestal before, but he really shined this morning. And it must be said, I keep an army of blogs in my repertoire. From Manna for Moms (about faith for busy mommies), to Passive Panda (about making money), to Rich Gee (business and team building), to other personal growth, business, personality, faith, organizational, and couponing blogs. So, I read a lot of things on a daily basis to keep myself on track, and keep the creative side of my brain fed (lets just say that part of my brain can be obese on any given day). So, when I say this blog shined on a day when I was not feeling up to par, I mean it meant something to me.
And I share it because I hope it means something to you.

Anyhow, in this blog Hyatt talks about his 'Dragon' that he wakes up to every morning, and how he goes about defeating that dragon before he begins his day. This dragon has three heads, that Hyatt has found he needs to tackle in a particular order; Spiritual, Physical, and Intellectual. Now, because my husband works very early in the morning, unlike in the middle of the night when I have a nightmare or hear a bump, my husband is not there to help me take on my personal dragon.
I wake up everyone morning, and sometimes I have to rescue the Princess before taking on the dragon. The Princess is my 3 month old daughter, Seraphim, who can wake up at any given time during the morning needing mommy to change or feed her (sometimes both) and I must keep my dragon at bay.
However, when my Princess is rescued she usually falls right back to sleep, and I am able to take on my Dragon. I start off by getting ready for the day/work; this means finding something to wear (which can be a dragon all on its own), fixing my hair and make up, and preparing myself for my job. I usually take on the Dragon once I have the Princess loaded into the car and we are heading to the Castle known as Daycare.
I will say a prayer for the Princess and her day, without mommy there; which leads to the prayer about the Daycare provider and her ability to keep track of my Princess and all of the other kiddos; which leads to the prayer about me and my courage; which leads to the prayer about everything else.
This fight with the Spiritual part of the dragon goes on after I drop Seraphim off at the Daycare, and throughout the rest of my drive to work. But on most days I prevail and defeat this part with ease.
After the Spiritual part of my dragon is slayed, where Hyatt moves on to the Physical part, I move on to the Intellectual part. When I get to work and I sit at my desk, most days I am able to read my daily blogs (I only read the blogs that pertain to my work life while at my desk; personal growth, business and team building, etc.) and this usually sparks an idea for a blog of my own, or an idea for one of my many tasks. I am on a few committees that keep my creativity fed, and keep me working, thinking, and brainstorming constantly. I also take on all of the other tasks that I am responsible for in my office. I adore my job, the flexibility (on most days when we are not swamped) to be creative, to brainstorm, and to stretch myself in ways I would otherwise grow out of shape in if I were not at my beautiful cubicle.

Which makes me think of this magnet I have on my monitor stand that I received as a Christmas present from my fabulous co-worker! The magnet says "My Cubicle is my Secret Land of Make-Believe" and in reality, on most days, it is. I get away from my personal life and I am able to think and reflect behind my monitor.

So, throughout the day I take on the Intellectual part of my dragon, and when my day goes by smoothly without me getting too frazzled at rude customers, or too overwhelmed by daily trials I can say that I defeat that part of the dragon!

After having Seraphim in September of this previous year it became clear to me that I am not like other 20 year old women that I know. I needed to get in shape, gain more energy, and start eating right if I want to be a young, hip mother, who can also keep up with her young'n. So I started researching, I started studying, and I joined my local gym. I found a love of yoga, and a drive to find new recipes and try new things.

I can say I have loads of more energy (which helps with the previous part of my dragon), and I feel better about myself in general. I feel like I don't look like a 40 year old woman worn out from sitting behind a desk and snacking on little debby cakes all day long. I am doing more things, and I feel great.

However, there are days when I leave the office and drive right by my gym on the way home, or I pick a trashy snack over a balanced meal. I can say this is the part when the dragon usually slips its fire laced tongue around my leg and swallows me whole. But I am working on it, and I am finding ways to enjoy this battle, and ways to achieve it.

I feel great about myself, and I can say that on most days I can defeat my dragon. I still have those days when my dragon eats me up, but I always go to bed, and wake up the next morning ready to take him on again. What are some of your daily dragons? and how do you go about defeating them?

Another Seven!

I am becoming a big fan of the number 7, do not ask me why, I just love when I come across an article about Sevens! So, here you go, another Seven!
Here is the link for the article: http://michaelhyatt.com/seven-rules-for-more-effective-meetings.html
If you have not heard of Michael Hyatt, or have never read his blogs, go do so, right now!
The man is a genius, and I LOVE his posts.

Here are, The Seven Rules for More Effective Meetings:

Establish Hard Edges- Meetings have a Start and End time for a reason. If your organization is open to just a Start time with no worries about the End time then you will face 'Air Time' when your group starts communicating on irrelevant subject matter, or the meeting can lead down a pig trail and off of topic, which can steer the meeting in a whole different direction, causing the purpose for the meeting to not be dealt with. Make sure all participants are aware of you Start and End time, this is the very first step to having an effective meeting. If you have tardy participants start without them. (make sure you have an assigned Note Taker or Secretary to make sure nobody misses anything) Even if you tardy participants get the foot notes they will miss the interaction of being a part of the meeting and they will realize that they MUST be there on time for the next meeting.

Create an Agenda- "Leaders must set the example here" Make sure that your Agendas for your upcoming meeting are circulated to all participants so that there can be some brain storming. Also, it is important to finish off with the set date of your next meeting, (this is another reason you should circulate your Agenda prior to the meeting) if there are any discrepancies, then your members can make it known. Be flexible and be ready with a reschedule date, if needed.

State the Desired Outcome- Always start your meeting with a Purpose, let your team know what the purposed of you meeting is, and what you would like to see the outcome be. Leave room for input from your members, and be OPEN! Otherwise, your team will learn that you already have your mind set, and there is no reason for their opinions.

Review the Minutes and Action Items- By reviewing your previous meeting you revisit the things some members may have forgotten, and you give any absent members the ability to feel like they are still a part of the mission, even if they were not there. Get a Report from members with assignments, if you do this your team will know that you expect dead lines to be reached, and that you are aware of the process they are taking. This will also ignite an emotion of embarrassment if they have nothing to report, which will cause them to be proactive and make sure they have something to report at the next meeting.

Take Written Minutes- I already stated the importance of having a Note Taker or Secretary. Make sure that your Secretary is not documenting conversation, but simply letting what the main points of the discussions are be known. This will remind members of the action plan, the decisions that were made, and a list of duties for your members to work on (and report on) by the next meeting.

Clarify Action Items- "At the end of the meeting, the person recording the minutes should read off the action items. It is particularly important that these be stated in a specific format.

• Start each action item with a verb. For example, “Review Milford contract with the agent” or “Call Jim and get latest turnover figures.”
• Specify the deliverable. What exactly do you expect the person completing the action to do. It must be an observable behavior with a specific end-point. It may be a phone call, a written report, or a presentation. It should not be a process.
• Assign a single owner to each action. No action should have more than one owner. You want one person to blame if the action isn’t completed.
• Agree on a due date. Get a commitment from the person responsible. Be realistic but put it in writing. This is a commitment and should be treated as such."

Having your Secretary review the minutes also give you, as the leader of the meeting, the opportunity to add anything you may want to include.

Determine the Next Meeting Date-Like I said, this is crucial. It also forces your team to practice bringing their Calendars, in case you need to utilize your back-up meeting date. This will be one less thing that you will have to deal with later.

It is my personal opinion that without an effective meeting, you will not have an effective outcome. Get your team up to speed. Expect Excellence and you will Receive Excellence. Be open and honest with your expectations, and never leave your team (or any members) in the dark.