Age

#Beingaleader means you have to deal with a lot of different ages on your team. Young. Old. Experienced. Inexperienced. Wise. And maybe not so much. All age levels might be on your team and each might react differently to the same approach you take. You will have to deal with this no matter in what … Continue reading Age →

Hurry

#Beingaleader means you are sometimes in a hurry. Maybe most of the time. Hurry to get somewhere. Hurry to accomplish something. Hurry to make a decision. Deal with an employee. Finish a task. The speed of life can overtake you. This is not an article about slowing down your life. But you still need to … Continue reading Hurry →

Struggle

#Beingaleader means you will struggle. With time pressure. Stress. People. Communication. Personal issues. Identity. Confidence. Maybe depression. With a lot of things. Most of the definitions I found of the word struggle were negative in connotation. But I think that struggle is part of fighting for what you want. Overcoming obstacles. Even striving to go … Continue reading Struggle →

Buy-In

#Beingaleader means you have to understand the 80/20 rule and work hard at overcoming it. The 80/20 rule states that 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people. We've all seen it. A few people doing most of the work. The rest are helping in some capacity but frankly, you're not sure … Continue reading Buy-In →

Encourage

#Beingaleader means it's your job to encourage others. To encourage is to give someone else the courage to keep going. To finish a task or to keep plugging along. To give them hope and strength. But how do you encourage someone? Here are three ways: tell someone that they can do it; that they have … Continue reading Encourage →

SHIELD

I need to revisit a topic that I touched on earlier as it's a topic that people can debate on but it's also a critical test of your character that #beingaleader requires you to pass. #Beingaleader means you sometimes are a shield for your team. Shielding them from attack and criticism that would weigh them … Continue reading SHIELD →

Greatness

#Beingaleader means you can see the greatness in others. Usually before they do. It is a skill to work on and perfect. To practice on those around you. To call them out to be better then they currently are or to help them see what's already there. #Beingaleader means you are able to see this … Continue reading Greatness →

Train

#Beingaleader means you have to do a lot of training of others. On a lot of subject matter. A lot of skills. Ways to communicate. How to manage stress. How to manage teams. Sometimes, even how to do a specific task. You're the leader. You cast your vision. Others have signed on and want to … Continue reading Train →

Think

Are you a doer or a thinker? That's an interesting question to me. One that needs to be pondered more often than it is. While we all would like to answer "both", I believe that most of us are doers by nature and thinkers only by learned discipline. We like to "accomplish" things and not … Continue reading Think →

Different Than Me

#Beingaleader means you need people around you that are different than you are. Different in perspective. Different in style. Different in skill set. Different temperament. We hear a lot about diversity and inclusion. In the marketplace. In church. In politics. In society at large. This is not a post about racial or gender diversity specifically … Continue reading Different Than Me →

Leading Leaders

Not everyone you lead will be a follower. Sometimes #beingaleader means you have to lead leaders. This is a different level of leadership and requires a different skill set, mindset and demeanor. You cannot treat other leaders as followers but rather co-voyagers on a journey. They are already people of vision, inner strength and motivation. … Continue reading Leading Leaders →

Lead By Example

#Beingaleader means you lead by example. Want a great team? Be a great leader. Want a hard working team? Work hard. Want a team that communicates well? Learn to communicate well. Want a team that serves others? Be a servant leader. Your priorities will be their priorities. #Beingaleader means that you don't settle for a … Continue reading Lead By Example →

You’re Fired

#Beingaleader means that sometimes you have to let people go from your team. It's not fun. It's not easy. But it's sometimes necessary. There are plenty of euphemisms for this: reduction in force; it's just not working; we're going in another direction; etc. Lots has been written about being on the receiving end of such … Continue reading You’re Fired →

Inspire

#Beingaleader means you need to inspire people. The successful team is one that wants to go where you are going. You inspire by giving them vision; a reason to go in a particular direction; and the tools to get there. #Beingaleader is about letting them see where the team is going; to so inspire them … Continue reading Inspire →

Setting the Tone

#Beingaleader means you set the tone for your team. You create the atmosphere so be careful in selecting what that atmosphere is going to be. It is very difficult for your team to rise emotionally above where you are at so set the bar high. Everyone of us has ups and downs. #Beingaleader means you … Continue reading Setting the Tone →

Let’s Get Real

#Beingaleader sometimes sucks. There. I said it. It's not always "yay, I'm a leader." If you ask some leaders they would say it's always bad but that's a subject for another day. #Beingaleader can be lonely; difficult; make you feel defeated; a constant struggle; etc. It can leave you feeling like everything rests on your … Continue reading Let’s Get Real →

Culture

#Beingaleader means you are responsible for the culture of your team. Today we are going to touch on communication culture. That is: how do the team members communicate with you and with each other? Good, bad or indifferent? Simon Sinek had a TED talk about similar things that you can watch here: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe. The premise … Continue reading Culture →

Communication

#Beingaleader requires you to communicate. Well. I start this topic with that statement because so many people communicate. Poorly. Communication is defined as having the person you are communicating with understand what you said and meant. Whether face to face. Texting. Facebook Messenger. Email. Instagram. Video. You need to learn to communicate to different types … Continue reading Communication →