SIMPLE STRAINS for a leader

DEADLIFTING. *I'll ask all of my expert friends in the field of strength and conditioning to forgive this next part.* What is deadlifting, exactly? It is picking weight up off the floor. That's it. Bend down, grab something, pick it up. Deadlifting is simple. But, it is not easy. All of my expert fitness friends, who are irate that I have made such a challenging exercise so simple, could go into gory detail describing how just about every muscle in your body is used in that simple activity. And so, this simple yet very difficult activity requires enormous strain and produces enormous benefit.

A LEADER'S EXAMPLE: simple, yet requiring great strain. There is a lot about leadership that is complicated, yet the more I study and practice it, the more I find the things that require the most strain and produce the most benefit are the simplest. The example of a leader is a great example of this 'simple strain' concept. Ann Iverson, the mother of Allan Iverson, was interviewed when her son was at the peak of his career, playing for Coach Larry Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers. Ann described the impact of the long-time Coach Brown on her son by saying, 'every young man needs an old man.' A living, breathing example of what to be and what to do is a powerful thing. This is why legendary coach, John Wooden, declared, 'a leader's most powerful resource is their own example'. Leader, your example is a simple strain that has untold impact so here are four simple strains for a leader.

SEEK OUT COACHING. Atul Gawande, surgeon and best-selling author, believes that everyone needs a coach. Here's his TED Talk on that topic. Leaders get so busy coaching they forget to be coached and, even worse, how to be coached. Leaders that intentionally open themselves to the influence of others will produce teams that are open to their influence. It's simple. seek out a coach, leader.

OWN YOUR MISTAKES. One of the paradoxes of life is the sooner you own your mistakes the faster you can produce success. Taking responsibility is a two way street. You can't claim ownership of your success if you won't claim ownership of screw ups. Leader's that say 'I messed up' create teams that get to say, 'we did it!' It's simple. Say 'I messed up', leader.

USE THEIR SUGGESTIONS. The pressure to come up with all of the best ideas can cripple a leader. Do you know how many ideas you need to produce just one good idea? HUNDREDS. Volume of ideas is related to the quality of an idea. Listen to Dave Stachowiak 's podcast about this concept Yet, pride gets in the way and leaders turn off the flow of ideas by not using the ideas of their team. The by-product of using their ideas is you open them up to embracing your ideas...if it is a good one. It's simple. Give their suggestions a try, leader.

FIND TIME TO REST. This last suggestion may seem very anti-strain, but most leaders I know are terrible at the simple habit of resting. It literally causes the most strain in their heart and mind to stop and rest. CS Lewis denied ever taking a nap, but quickly admitted, 'sometimes a nap takes me.' I coached distance runners this year and learned about how critical rest is to maximum and sustained performance. A rested runner is a high performing runner. A rested team is a high performing team, and a tired leader is a bad leader. It's simple. Find regular time to rest, leader.

Leader - make the simple strains a regular part of your complicated job! Keep on, keepin on, friends.