#Beingaleader means you have to be composed. Composed in the face of change. Composed in the face of difficulty. Composed for those around you. You set the tone. You set the team atmosphere. Better for you to be composed. Look, life is full of curveballs. They happen to all of us and they can happen … Continue reading Composed
Category: Belief Breakthrough
Unfair
#Beingaleader means you have to grapple with the issue of fairness. Am I being treated fairly? Are these circumstances fair to me and my business? How should I respond to unfair treatment? It's a serious question because as a leader, you are often treated unfairly. Clients leave you for no reason. Colleagues disparage you or … Continue reading Unfair
Storm
#Beingaleader means you are often in the storm. You need to know how to handle them because they won't be a one time occurrence. They will keep on coming. Storms bring chaos. They bring stress. They bring uncertainty. How you respond to the storm will define your leadership. Storms are inevitable. Often unavoidable. And yet … Continue reading Storm
Meetings
#Beingaleader means you have to attend a lot of meetings. Zoom. Teams. In person. Meetings. Sometimes all day. Meetings you control. Meetings that others control. Meetings that have value. Meetings that don't. Meetings often feel like a necessary evil, clogging calendars and draining energy when they lack focus. Without a clear agenda, they can devolve … Continue reading Meetings
Money – Giving
#Beingaleader means you need to understand about giving. Generosity. Doing something for others without the expectation of return. First, you earn. Then you save and invest. And along the way you need to learn to give. Not out of pressure. But as a way of life. To show gratitude for what you have. Acknowledging the … Continue reading Money – Giving
Money – Investing
#Beingaleader means you need to learn about and participate in investing. First, you earn. Then you save. Now it's time to invest. In yourself. In your leadership. In your future. Often when we think about investing we immediately go to retirement investing. And that's important. No matter how hard you try, you will continue to … Continue reading Money – Investing
Money – Earning
#Beingaleader means you need to learn how to handle money. Your money. Earn it. Save it. Invest it. And spend it. I am going to start a mini series on each of these topics. Today, we will talk about earning. One of the requirements of #Beingaleader, is that you are learning to earn your own … Continue reading Money – Earning
Empower
#Beingaleader means you need to empower your team. Giving them power. Authority. Showing confidence in them to make the right decisions as if you were making them yourself. Leader, are you empowering your team or showing only your power to your team? They cannot learn without you empowering them. They cannot get better at decision … Continue reading Empower
Micro
#Beingaleader means you need to think and act on a micro level. The small picture. See what's really going on at a personal level. Sweat the small stuff. Making strategic decisions for what's best for individual team members. You need a focused perspective. Not always having your head in the clouds but sweating the details. … Continue reading Micro
Macro
#Beingaleader means you need to think and act on a macro level. The big picture. See what's really going on. Make strategic decisions for what's best for the overall team or company. You need a broad perspective. Not always getting bogger down in the details. You need to see where you are going. What goal … Continue reading Macro
Assertive
#Beingaleader means you need to be assertive. At least at some critical points in time. It might not be your normal style. It might not be what you are comfortable with. But sometimes you need to be assertive to the betterment of your team and the circumstances you are working under. Being assertive is not … Continue reading Assertive
Opportunity
#Beingaleader means you need to seek out and understand opportunity. The old phrase is Opportunity Knocks. Well, that has not been my experience. Most of the time, opportunity has to be spotted by you, harnessed into something actionable, and then has some follow through required. So, how do you spot an opportunity? The first question … Continue reading Opportunity
Vulnerable
#Beingaleader means you need to embrace vulnerability. Be who you really are and not some fake personality that blusters over every one. Leadership is often associated with strength, confidence, and decisiveness. But true leadership isn’t about projecting perfection—it’s about being real. It means being willing to admit that you don’t have all the answers, that … Continue reading Vulnerable
Satisfaction
#Beingaleader means you need to know your level of satisfaction from what you lead. What level of satisfaction are you experiencing? How fulfilled are you in what or how you are leading? Not every moment. Not even every day. But overall satisfaction. You should be experiencing it. If you don't, then you might not be … Continue reading Satisfaction
Looking Ahead
#Beingaleader means you need to be looking ahead. Taking stalk of what has gone before, but be looking ahead to what is and what might be coming. This is the start of my 7th year of weekly blogging on various leadership topics. A lot has gone before. But the question for today is: what is … Continue reading Looking Ahead
Taking Stalk
#Beingaleader means that there are times you need to look back, take stalk of what has gone before, and enjoy the successes and learn from the losses before you plan your next steps into the future. So, what has gone before you this past year? What victories? What losses? What lessons learned? Taking stalk means … Continue reading Taking Stalk
Multi-Generational
#Beingaleader means you need to understand the multi-generational aspect of leadership and the marketplace. It's a skill you need to learn and apply. Each generation has different things that motivate them. Different ways of expressing themselves. Different ways of communicating. Different ways they want performance evaluations or feedback to be provided. You can learn them … Continue reading Multi-Generational
Cyclical
#Beingaleader means you understand that life is cyclical. There are cycles to everything. To leadership. To projects. To teams. To work. To, well, everything. There's the beginning. The start up. The excitement. The honeymoon. Then it becomes steady. The normal. The anticipated. Then, sometimes, it becomes the stale. The rigid. The never changing. Then, new … Continue reading Cyclical
Kindness
#Beingaleader means you need to show kindness. Kindness to your team. To those you supervise. To clients. And to those others that you run into on a regular basis. Google defines kindness as a quality of being that involves treating others with consideration, generosity, and concern, without expecting anything in return. So, two parts. Treating … Continue reading Kindness
Change Management
#Beingaleader means you need to understand and lead change management. What it is. How to properly implement it. Know how it affects those on your team and potentially those not on your team. Change management isn't about the change itself. It's about the process of identifying, creating and implementing that change. You can have people … Continue reading Change Management
Appreciate
#Beingaleader means you need to be the head appreciator for your team. Appreciate what your team is doing. Appreciate the business you are in. The position you have and the opportunities given for the next position. What does it mean to appreciate your team and their efforts? It means to recognize their true or whole … Continue reading Appreciate
Compassion
#Beingaleader means you need to have compassion. For your team. For their experiences and how that impacts them. Compassion is defined as having the desire to take action to help others. What does it mean to have compassion for someone? It means you know about their circumstance. That you care about their circumstance. And you … Continue reading Compassion
Rock
#Beingaleader means you are a rock. Not easily swayed. You know who you are and what you believe. You stand for something. And you defend others. Sometimes, even to your own short term detriment. You cannot be easily swayed and be a good leader at the same time. You may feel that you are sometimes … Continue reading Rock
Engage
#Beingaleader means you need to engage. Engage with your team. Engage with your projects. Engage your mind. Engaging with your team could be as simple as spending time with them. Reaching out and connecting. Having a Teams meeting or phone call on a regular basis. Getting involved with them, their projects or issues. Engaging is … Continue reading Engage
Initiative
#Beingaleader means you have to take the initiative. The one to make the first move. To take the risk. To want something bad enough you're willing to fail while trying. Initiative. When you want to see a problem from a new perspective, you sometimes have to make the first move. Meaning, you have to see … Continue reading Initiative
Starting Over
#Beingaleader means that you sometimes have to start over. Everything is new again. There is a physical and emotional component to starting over. Physically, you have to get accustomed to a new schedule. A new cadence. Meeting new people while digging into the projects themselves. Dealing with new experiences. New team members with varied experience. … Continue reading Starting Over
Respect
#Beingaleader means you need to have respect. For yourself. For others. Respect for what you do and respect for how you got to where you are. Respect for yourself. The position you are in. The value you bring. The obstacles you have overcome. Not pride. Respect. Respect means due regard. Sound judgment of the facts. … Continue reading Respect
Likeability
#Beingaleader means you understand the importance of likeability. Both for yourself and your team. Your likeability. And theirs. It may not have been a conscious thought process in your mind but you measure it every time you meet someone. Skill. Experience. Competency. Even Character. All are important. But the packaging in which they are delivered … Continue reading Likeability
Example
#Beingaleader means you are setting an example. For good or bad. You are. So the question becomes: what kind of example do you want to set? One of honor and integrity? Hard work? Driven? Cutting corners? Angry? There are lots of ways to be an example. #Beingaleader is all about making choices as to what … Continue reading Example
Unfulfilled
#Beingaleader means you will sometimes feel unfulfilled. You won't always be doing everything that you want to be doing. A lot of the things that are on your plate will not fulfill you. They won't be the things you desire to do. You might even dislike some or all of them. But #Beingaleader means you … Continue reading Unfulfilled
Expectations
#Beingaleader means you have expectations. Things that should happen because of what you've done. Things that you are hoping to happen. Dreams that you have that aren't yet fulfilled. It's important to have expectations. To have dreams. To think certain things will happen. For example, hard work should result in good things for you and … Continue reading Expectations
The Real You
#Beingaleader means you need to be you. In the moment of crisis. In the moment of celebration. In the moment you least expected. The real you will come out. It always does. You can't help being you. You can fake you for a time. You can show others a different you for a time. But … Continue reading The Real You
Don’t Freak
#Beingaleader means you don't freak. You don't panic. You try to be proactive instead of reactive. You don't let your emotions get the better of you. Even in a crisis or unexpected situation or moment. In teaching each of my kids to drive, I have one rule: don't freak. This means you don't overreact. You … Continue reading Don’t Freak
Style
#Beingaleader means you have a unique style. A way of dealing with things. A way of communicating. A way of of handling conflict. A way of reaching success. A unique style. You can learn from a lot of different sources. You can learn things that are new to you. But the way you blend them … Continue reading Style
Re-Invent
#Beingaleader means you sometimes need to re-invent yourself. To re-invent means to make new again. To invent again. It's not that everything before was wrong or bad. It's just that you need to re-invent yourself for the future. For the next steps. For the future. Sometimes you need to change something so much that it … Continue reading Re-Invent
Remember
#Beingaleader means you have to remember. Remember where you've come from. Remember what you and your team has already accomplished. Remember what got you to where you are today. Remember. #Beingaleader means you need to remember where you've come from. You've come a long ways. Sometimes our focus is so future-centric that we fear we … Continue reading Remember
Heat
#Beingaleader means you deal with heat. Battle. Deadlines. Pressure. Decision-making. People's views of you or your team. Misunderstanding. Heat. Does the heat you find yourself in lead you to overboil? To explode at others or to shut down completely? You need to learn to live with the heat because it is more normal than not … Continue reading Heat
Execution
#Beingaleader means you need to be good at execution or have someone on your leadership team that is. It's one thing to have a vision. Or ideas. It's another to execute on those plans. For some, ideas are a dime a dozen. But they never get past the idea phase before the person moves on … Continue reading Execution
Bridges
#Beingaleader means you need to build bridges. To others. For others. To build bridges means to help you or your team or someone you are working with to see an opposing point of view or a different way of doing things. Sometimes it's a communication style. Sometimes it's a different way of prioritizing. Sometimes you … Continue reading Bridges
Timid
#Beingaleader means you sometimes have to fight being timid. Even if it's in your nature to be timid. You can't always allow yourself to be so. Or to remain timid too long. Being timid is when you lack confidence. You're afraid of what might happen depending on what decision you make. Or you're lacking the … Continue reading Timid
Humility
#Beingaleader means that you need humility. Not humiliation. Humility. One happens to you. The other is something you have. It's who you are. Humiliation is when you do something stupid and it turns out into a situation that embarrasses you or your team. This should be avoided as much as possible. It is something that … Continue reading Humility
Lost
#Beingaleader means that sometimes you feel lost. Unable to find your way. Or having misplaced the path of the direction you felt you were headed in. That pit in your stomach feeling that things just aren't going the way they are supposed to. Being lost is not a good feeling. It's disorienting. It might even … Continue reading Lost
Waiting Room
#Beingaleader means you are often in the waiting room. Now, I've touched on waiting before (https://beingaleader.blog/2021/02/02/waiting/), but the waiting room can be even deeper than simply waiting for something to happen. What does it mean to be in the waiting room? It means you feel like you have a dream or a promise or desire … Continue reading Waiting Room
Lessons Learned
#Beingaleader means you need to lead a life of lessons learned. The good. The bad. And the ugly. Not just go through the lessons. But lessons learned. Meaning, are you going to have to keep doing the same thing over and over or are you finally going to learn to move on and through them? … Continue reading Lessons Learned
The Future
#Beingaleader means you need to think about the future. You want to build towards something. A goal. A vision. A dream. The future that you want. But can you have the future that you want? The future doesn't just happen. At least it doesn't always happen the way you want it to. You need to … Continue reading The Future
Timeliness
#Beingaleader means that timeliness is an important quality you have. When something happens, and in what order, often matters. Turning in an "A" paper late is an "F" in many cases. Timeliness matters. There is a sequence to life and to most projects. There is often a life cycle for the team. #Beingaleader means you … Continue reading Timeliness
Credibility
#Beingaleader means you need a certain amount of credibility. Do you have any? Trustworthiness. Track record. Can be counted on. Believable. Convincing. In other words, when you say something, can others rely on it? Is your word sufficient for others to believe and make decisions based on it? Credibility is often lacking in today's leadership … Continue reading Credibility
Accountability
#Beingaleader means you need accountability. To others. For your actions, activities, schedule. I know. I know. You're a leader. But we're not perfect. We make mistakes and need someone to help us own them. Mistakes in time management or in priorities. Accountable. But wait, you say. I'm the top dog. The person in charge. Others … Continue reading Accountability
Yesterday
#Beingaleader means you have to deal with yesterday. Yes, we live in today. Yes, we plan for tomorrow. But sometimes it's yesterday that's holding us back. Keeping us from focusing on today. Keeping us from moving forward. Yesterday can be very powerful. Mistakes were made. Relationships harmed. Missteps. Hurt feelings. Regrets. All of these can … Continue reading Yesterday
Active
#Beingaleader means you need to be active. Active with your mind. Active with your body. Active with your vision. Being active with your mind means you keep feeding it. Reading. Thinking. Analyzing. Not letting your mind get stale with old ideas. Looking forward to the future because better days are ahead. Active. Being active with … Continue reading Active
Being A Leader 