Leadership is Very Dynamic and Complex. Why?!?

We met a lot of great people as we spoke and traveled through nearly 40 states across the USA in 2019.

“Leadership. It’s one of the most misunderstood words in the professional world, and perhaps in the personal development world.” ~ Ria Story

THE LANGUAGE OF LEADERSHIP IS EXTREMELY DYNAMIC AND COMPLEX

Once you get past the simple definition, “Leadership is influence,” things start to get complicated and complex. Not because leadership principles are hard to understand but because of the endless number of variables that impact how our attempts at influence are perceived and received.

What one person perceives as positive may be perceived as negative by another person at the very same moment. When you’re building trust with one person, you could be creating distrust with another. This is because different people have different values.

For example, I’ve walked into a room full of blue-collar supervisors and started talking about character development. Some were glad I was there, while others started rolling their eyes, snickering, and wondering why I was there.

Those who were glad I was there felt motivated because we had shared values. Those rolling their eyes felt manipulated because we didn’t have shared values.

Because of the difference in their values relative to mine, they saw me differently. I instantly began building trust with those with shared values. I instantly began creating distrust with those without shared values.

Trust is the foundation of leadership and is based on two components: character and competency. Research reveals that 87% of our influence is based on character and only 13% on competency. Without trust, there will be no authentic influence.

Intention is the foundation of trust.

Intention is about motivation and manipulation.

If someone believes there is mutual benefit, they feel motivated and trust is built. If they feel they are not benefiting, they feel manipulated and distrust is created. Just as we decide how others make us feel, they decide how we make them feel. This is where influence gets even more complex.

Every interaction with every person is different every time.

Why?

Things are constantly changing at work, at home, and in the world. To complicate relationships, each person has different beliefs, different values, different experiences, different expectations, different goals, different motives, different personalities, different things going on in their lives, different competencies, different fears, different dreams, different strengths, different weaknesses, different character, and on and on.

Each of us is extremely unique, but very similar.

After reading and studying about leadership literally every day since 2008, I know I will always be a student.

Leadership development for me will never end.

We must manage things and processes because they don’t think and feel, but we should lead people because they do. If you choose to begin a leadership development initiative, what you’ll be attempting to do is align everyone behind a set of unifying leadership principles.

If you don’t, everyone will be going in multiple directions for multiple reasons and exhibiting behavior based on the values they brought to work with them. The result will be chaos fueled by frustrations based on distrust, lack of communication, finger-pointing, ruptured relationships, short-tempers, pride, ego, and low morale.

Aligning everyone behind proven, unifying leadership principles is the key to avoiding chaos and creating a high impact culture.

The difference between a principle and a practice is that a principle applies in all situations with all people, at all times. But, a practice only applies in certain situations, with certain people, at certain times.

I compare understanding leadership to understanding the English language.

If you learn the 26 letters of the alphabet, how much do you know about the English language? Not much!

You must learn to combine letters to form words. Then, you must learn to combine words into sentences. Then, you discover there’s hidden meanings between the words. Then, you discover one word can have many meanings depending on “how” it’s spoken. Learning leadership is very similar, but much more dynamic.

Leadership development never ends...

“Our capacity for development does not end at physical maturity; our capacity is virtually limitless. Our power to reason is our distinguishing characteristic, our mind is our basic means of survival—and our ability to think, to learn, to discover new and better ways of dealing with reality, to expand the range of our efficacy, to grow intellectually, is an open door to a road that has no end.” ~ Ayn Rand 

“My first words are, GET SIGNED UP! This training is not, and I stress, not your everyday leadership seminar! I have never been a part of anything like it. After 30 years in technology and two years in Concrete Construction, I have attended dozens and sent hundreds to the so-called ‘Leadership-Training.’ I can tell you that while all of the courses, classes, webinars, and seminars, had good intentions, nothing can touch what Mack and Ria Story provide. I just wish I had it 20 years ago…I could go on-and-on…100% of the team that attended said that they were ‘blown-away, they did not see that conviction and passion coming.’ Many thanks, Mack and Ria!” ~ Sam M. VP, COO

About Blue-Collar Leadership...

Blue-Collar Leadership? provides leaders with a platform for training and developing their workforce to unleash their potential by taking powerful leadership concepts and packaging them in easy to understand and apply resources. Founded by Mack Story, Blue-Collar Leadership? is uniquely designed content specifically created to engage and develop the front line workforce, those who lead them, and those who support them.

We understand your biggest frustration as a leader is likely disengaged team members. We specialize in helping leaders engage the front line to improve the bottom line.

Mack Story has logged over 11,000 hours leading leaders and their teams through organizational change. He is the author of the extremely popular Blue-Collar Leadership? Series books.

Ria Story is an author, TEDx speaker, and expert in leadership and life skills for women. Ria has nearly 20 years of experience in leadership and management. 

Mack and Ria are certified leadership speakers and trainers and have published 23 leadership development and personal growth books. 

Highlights for them have been:

• Helping train 20,000 Guatemalan Leaders with John Maxwell
• Speaking at Yale University
• Offering leadership development support for the U.S. Military, Chick-fil-A, Auburn University, Chevron, and many other organizations

Are you in the USA? We will come to you! Checkout our "2020 Special Offer" below.

If you're willing to invest in your team, we are too. What do we mean?

What we will do…

We’ll provide 200 (any combination) of our six Blue-Collar Leadership? Series books to you at NO COST. WE’LL PAY ALL OF OUR EXPENSES to travel anywhere in the USA to conduct up to 2 hours of on site leadership development training or speaking for any size group at any level.

What you must do…

Invest in your team. Take advantage of our “Special Offer” reduced speaking fee of ONLY $3,600, which happens to be the exact cost of the 200 books. Distribute the 200 books to your blue-collar workforce, those who lead them, and those who support them. Note: Our speaking fees normally range from $5,000-$20,000 in the USA.

Call Mack Story at 334-728-4143 and make it happen!