Thoughts From The Garage - 14th Edition
Originally Written:?Friday, June 26, 2020 8:04 AM
Happy Friday everyone!
It’s been a week, hasn’t it? Father’s Day feels like a month ago now at this point. I do trust all of the dads out there had a great Father’s Day. It’s certainly one of my favorite days of the year. The kids are always great to make me a special breakfast, dessert, and homemade cards/artwork. On Sunday night we sat down in our living room for the kids to all present me with their individual creations. Seth started first by coming up to me with a coloring page and a crayon and said, “here dad, can you help me color this for you?”. How can you say no to that!?!
I trust last week’s edition introducing the Model for Leadership?resonated with you. We covered?Results Leadership?which really is just the starting point in the journey. This week I spent quite a bit of time checking in with the team and discussing mid-year progress. Two things really stood out to me. First, we have accomplished so much together. The volume and caliber of work coming from our team has been exceptional. And of course, this is on top of navigating through very challenging and unsettling times. Second, with so many competing priorities, we’ve got to collectively be better at saying no.?Results Leadership?is about a high SAY:DO ratio. The more discerning we are at saying yes and no, the more we focus on what is highest and best use of each other.
Opening Thought…Personal Leadership: It’s All About You…
Personal Leadership?seems straightforward, right?????Honestly though, it makes me uncomfortable because it’s all about me. It shines a light on areas of weakness and opportunity. It presumes that, if I want to be an effective leader on the job, with my family and in my community, I must start with myself. This step of self-discovery is important though. We cannot give to others what we don’t have.
In an article titled?Managing Oneself, Peter Drucker encourages readers to “cultivate a deep understanding of yourself -- not only what your strengths and weaknesses are but also how you learn, how you work with others, what your values are, and where you can make the greatest contribution.” A principle-centered, deep understanding of self is exactly what allows us to build trust, demonstrate emotional intelligence and conquer fear.
One of my biggest challenges is effective communication. I shared this back in the 4th?Edition, but it’s worth repeating. The word communication comes from the Latin word?commūnicāre, which means “to share.” When we share effectively, we create community and human connection. In her book?Daring Greatly, Dr. Brené Brown (by the way, if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend her Netflix special) puts it this way: “We are psychologically, emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually hardwired for connection, love, and belonging.” Effective communication connects us with each other, giving meaning and purpose. That’s the kind of communication I am striving for.
Another challenge for me is consistently demonstrating emotional intelligence – the ability to recognize and understand emotions in myself and others (what I see), and then use this understanding to manage my own behavior and relationships (what I do). Honestly, I really suck at this sometimes because it takes a healthy dose of empathy and a willingness on my part to extend grace to others. The opposite of empathy is judgement. Oh boy, I am way better at that!?
By focusing on myself, I admit that I have a lot of work to do if I want to be effective in?Personal Leadership. Where is your biggest area of opportunity? What comes easy to you? What scares you? Together, we need to get more comfortable being uncomfortable.
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Next Thought…People Leadership: …But It’s Not About You At All?
After finding a deep understanding of self through principle-centered?Personal Leadership,?you quickly realize that it’s not about you at all. Rather, as we shift to?People Leadership, it’s all about serving others. You don’t need a title to lead people. Leadership is about influencing others, no matter what your title, position or status.
A few years back while completing some coursework, I surveyed dozens of leaders from various industries and backgrounds for a research project. Among my findings, three attributes of?People Leadership?came into focus:?
Growing up, I lived in a diverse, low-income neighborhood in Southern California. We didn’t have much, but my parents had huge hearts and a passion to serve the community. Often, we would host guests for a meal or provide a place for them to stay while they looked for work. On one such occasion, they took in a drug addict (let’s call him Nick) for an extended period. After years of rehabilitation, Nick got sober, earned back the trust of his family, and picked up work as a tradesman. He now owns a highly successful business and employs others looking to get back on their feet. Nick possessed the potential for greatness but needed someone to believe in him first. My parents’ willingness to be humble, compassionate, and vulnerable helped Nick transform himself as well as generations for his family.
Like Nick, many of us have benefited from having a “first-believer.” If not, get one. If so, be one.
In the workplace, the same posture of humility, compassion and vulnerability inspires collaboration and diversity at all levels. Stay open and serve others. This will lead to genuine and lasting transformation in yourself and those around you.
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For Now, I’ll Leave You With This…Disconnect to Connect
Most of us have planned time off over the next couple of weeks. I hope your time away is spent fully disconnected from work and e-mails so you can re-connect with yourself, your family and your loved ones. I know I plan on some epic cornhole tournaments with the kids and a couple of marshmallow roasts out back.
Thank you for all that you are doing and happy early 4th?of July!
-Mike