How Are You Using Your Leadership Advantage?
This past week, Rick Hoyt passed away at the age of 61. He was born with cerebral palsy. He could not move his arms or speak. His life was challenging, and might have gone unnoticed if not for a simple, bold request.
“If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants.” - Sir Isaac Newton (an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author)
Think Week's Edition
As a leader, you are always serving - serving yourself or serving others. Which will you choose?
Clarify Your Thinking
Rick made a special request in 1977. He asked his dad, Dick, (using a speaking device) if they could run a 5k road race together to support a young man who recently became a quadriplegic. The problem was that Dick was not a runner. Eventually, he relented. They ran their first race but finished second to last.?
After their first race Rick said, "Dad, when I run, I feel like my disability disappears."
That one race led to an impressive athletic resume: 72 marathons, 97 half marathons, 257 triathlons and 6 Ironman races.?
His father was heard to say, “I wasn’t running for my own pleasure. I was simply loaning my arms and legs to my son.”
The Hoyts have been honored in countless ways including an ESPY in 2013. They are said to have inspired millions.
Thoughts Lead to Actions
What does the Hoyts’ story have to do with leadership? As leaders,?we are responsible for those who are on our team.?
But those team members are at a disadvantage in some respects. They don’t have all the information the leader has. They don’t sit at the “table.” They are not in the room where it happens.?
The advantage that leaders’ possess?highlights a unique decision to be made. How are you using your leadership advantage? Are you using it to serve others. Or, are you using it to serve yourself (i.e., secure your reputation, stature, financial position or other ambition)?
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Dick Hoyt served his son and influenced millions. Zig Ziglar famously said, “when you help enough people get what they want you end up getting what you want.”?
In Dick Hoyt’s case, he gained a life of purpose and meaning which has impacted millions of other people to do the same, even after his death in 2021.
Who are you serving? On this Memorial Day, we honor those who selflessly gave their lives for our country. The freedom we have today is a gift given by those leaders who sacrificed for others they did not even know. A leader casts a long shadow.
As a leader, how will you use that freedom? To serve yourself? Or, to serve others? Your mind is powerful. You control your mind. You have a choice in every situation. What will you choose?
Boost Your Performance
This week’s video is a twelve minute documentary on HBO’s Real Sports. It highlights the movement the Hoyts started - inspired parents running with their disabled children and volunteers being paired with other disabled persons who want to compete. It’s an excellent piece that will inspire you on this Memorial Day.
What's Your Opinion?
How will you invest in your relationships this week? Share it with me at?[email protected].
If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!
We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders.?
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What Is "The Confident Leader"?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called "Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.