7 Years

Beingaleader has now been published every Tuesday morning for the past seven years. It has been a journey to provide my contemporaneous thoughts on leadership. Below is that first blog from January 1, 2019 that outlines what I've tried to do and I feel like I've stayed on point during this whole time. Read the … Continue reading 7 Years →

Modern Leadership #4 – Short Term Employees

Beingaleader means you have to deal with the new reality - short term employees. Gone are the days of employees staying in one place for life. In fact, the new reality is that there seems to be a lot of fluidity in the marketplace and not only is it a reality, it's an accepted reality. … Continue reading Modern Leadership #4 – Short Term Employees →

Goals

Beingaleader means you need to set some goals. Long and short term. Personal. Professional. Family. Business and pleasure goals. You need to know what you are trying to achieve or attain. Sit down and make a list of the things you want. The things you want to do and accomplish. The places you want to … Continue reading Goals →

Blind

#Beingaleader means you cannot be blind to what is going on. Blind to who is doing what. Who excels. Who is dragging your team down. Personal loyalty aside, you have to keep your eyes open to what is going on and who is doing what. We probably can all relate stories of people in leadership … Continue reading Blind →

Restraint

#Beingaleader means that sometimes it's best not to say anything.

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 →

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 →

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 →

Authority

#Beingaleader means you have authority. You have it. You can use it. You can delegate it. Authority is defined as having the power to make decisions for or on behalf of others. This is not necessarily the same thing as being the boss. Title has little to do with true authority. Yes, they might be … Continue reading Authority →

Decision Making

#Beingaleader means you need to be good at decision making. I've partially touched on this before on one of my first posts on this blog (https://beingaleader.blog/2019/01/29/decisions/). But decision making is a day to day event in a leader's life. A leader needs not only to make good decisions, but be good at the decision making … Continue reading Decision Making →

Sage

#Beingaleader means that at some point you will be a sage. One who teaches others to be a leader. One to whom others go for advice and counsel. One who has built a legacy of consistency, honor, and courage and led by example. Everyone wants one. The question today is whether you will become one … Continue reading Sage →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Steward

#Beingaleader means you are a steward. Of your team. Of your clients. A steward is someone responsible for someone else's things. In this case, the team or your client's things. You are to steward them. To steward your team is to care for them. To train them. To act like what they do is as … Continue reading Steward →

Captain

#Beingaleader means you are the captain of the ship. In charge. The one with the final say. Responsible. If you are a parent, there is that moment when that child first comes home with you and everyone else leaves and the realization hits. I'm responsible. This life is my responsibility. I cannot look to anyone … Continue reading Captain →

You

#Beingaleader means you need to check on yourself now and again. So how are you doing? Not just the leader you, but the you, you? How are you, doing? Are you in any pain? Are you reacting out of that pain onto your team? Do you have someone safe to talk to about that pain? … Continue reading You →

Optimize

#Beingaleader means you need to optimize your team. Your situation. Your skills. Their skills. Make them and your situation as good as possible. Add value. So, how does one add value to your own situation? Whatever you encounter, however you find yourself, do it to your best. Keep learning new things. Go to conferences and … Continue reading Optimize →

Character

#Beingaleader means you need to have character. The aggregate of features and traits that make up you the individual. The real you. How you react. How you decide things. Your core beliefs that impact everything you do. The real you. Character in decision making. Do the right thing is a good motto to follow. But … Continue reading Character →

Interim

#Beingaleader means you are an interim leader. You won't be in that position forever. Whether your position is as parent, pastor, coach or CEO, it is temporary. You will be replaced. Either by death, retirement, leaving, or your own position advancement. It's temporary. Nothing lasts forever. Your leadership included. It will go away. So, what … Continue reading Interim →

Action

#Beingaleader means you need to be a person of action. Words are important. But actions are also needed. To help inspire. To get what you want done. Your actions breed the actions in others that you want to see. So you are setting the example of what kind of action you want from your team. … Continue reading Action →

Depth

#Beingaleader means you need to have depth. Time to think. Time to analyze. Time to problem solve. Depth of thought. Depth of focus. Depth of wisdom. Depth of thought. Do you take the time to think through things? Do you really? Or do you just react? Time to think requires you to go deep. To … Continue reading Depth →

Extra

#Beingaleader means you have to give extra. Extra time. Extra energy. Extra work. You have to give extra. You can't expect it from others without giving it first. Extra time. Arrive first. Stay late. You are the example especially in a volunteer situation. You are setting the example. You are the one trying to lead … Continue reading Extra →

Strong

#Beingaleader means you have to be strong. Strong for your team. Strong in your purpose. Strong in your message. #Beingaleader means that you have to be strong for your team. Don't be the weak link. Communicate effectively. Stick to your guns and the methods that you have chosen to use. Let everyone know that you … Continue reading Strong →

Bitterness

#Beingaleader means you have to deal with your bitterness. Towards others. Towards yourself. Towards the circumstances that you find yourself in today. Bitterness can be defined as "anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly." How you deal with bitterness will have a huge impact on your success as a leader. How do you react when … Continue reading Bitterness →

Rules

#Beingaleader means you have to understand rules. What they are. Clear and unclear. Spoken and unspoken. When to follow them. And when to sidestep them. There are so many rules in life and in work. You need to know the important ones and know how they apply. You also need to identify when they don't … Continue reading Rules →

Opposite

#Beingaleader means you have to act the opposite of others many times. Counterintuitive. Against the grain. Often without explanation. Lead. Is someone being mean? Be nice. Is someone angry? Be calming. Is someone rushing ahead and making mistakes? Slow down and have a conversation. You will find that often people are reactive. You need to … Continue reading Opposite →

No

#Beingaleader means you need to become comfortable with saying "No". It can be very freeing. Not being led down a path you don't want to go. Not being forced to spend time on things that you aren't meant to do. Sometimes the smallest things bring the biggest impact. "No" is a small but powerful word. … Continue reading No →

Unnoticed

#Beingaleader means you often have to do things unnoticed. This may seem contrary to your concept of leadership which is often portrayed as being upfront. In the center of attention. Noticed. That's the overall, outsider perception. And if that's what you're seeking then you need to rethink what leadership is. It's like looking at the … Continue reading Unnoticed →

Structure

#Beingaleader means you have to provide your team with structure. Parameters. Direction. How else are you able to define success for them? How else can you achieve the goals of the team? You don't want to micromanage them but you should provide the expectations and the guardrails for what you are looking for. It is … Continue reading Structure →

Sacrifice

#Beingaleader means you need to understand and practice sacrifice. In order to begin to understand what sacrifice is you need to only look back 78 years to those brave young men storming the beaches of Normandy. Scared out of their minds but doing their assigned jobs anyway. Fearful but fearless all in one. Not perfect. … Continue reading Sacrifice →

Prepared

#Beingaleader means you need to be prepared. Or get prepared. For as many eventualities as is possible. Personally. Professionally. Your team. Your family. Yourself. What are some eventualities that you might encounter? And they can change depending on the year. But they might include: team member loss; sales loss; conflict resolution; personal loss; health issues; … Continue reading Prepared →

Books

#Beingaleader means you need to read/listen to books. Old ones. New ones. Different topics and subject matter. Old books. Why are old books important to read? Because culture changes. Viewpoints change. And it's important to see how people did things in the past. How they thought. How they responded. There is a lot of stability … Continue reading Books →

Decision-Making

#Beingaleader means you need to have a good decision-making paradigm. How do you make decisions? What's the criteria you look at? Granted, many decisions you make during the day may not be extremely significant. They might just be decisions that need to be made in order to keep the project going. Oftentimes, people are paralyzed … Continue reading Decision-Making →

Problem Solver

#Beingaleader means you have to be a problem solver. It can be personnel issues. HR issues. Cost issues. Satisfaction issues from internal or external sources. All of these will eventually land on your desk at some point as a leader. And what are you expected to do with these problems? Solve them. Everyone has them. … Continue reading Problem Solver →

Building

#Beingaleader means you need to always be building. Building on the past. Building for the future. Building on what you have to work with. Skills. People. Experiences. Continuing to grow your building blocks. Building on your past includes all of the things you've experienced this past year: the good and the bad. The easy and … Continue reading Building →

Peace

#Beingaleader means you need to choose peace. Note that I didn't say 'have a peaceful circumstance'. Peace is less about the circumstances you find yourself in. But rather, peace is a state of mind. A place of being. The place you should want to live your real life. Less about the absence of conflict and … Continue reading Peace →

Vision

#Beingaleader means you already have vision. The ability to see what's going on now. The ability to see and think about what could be in the future. And, often, even the steps and the people needed to get there. But it's much more than that. #Beingaleader also means you need to be able to communicate … Continue reading Vision →

Team

#Beingaleader means you have a team. Not just followers. A team. I did a quick search of my previous blogs and found that I have mentioned "team" over 20 times and "followers" only 3 times. That's one indication that shows the importance of team. But I haven't specifically talked about having a team and why … Continue reading Team →

“Good” Leader

#Beingaleader means you should want to be a "good" leader. But how is "good" defined and how do you achieve it? So and so is a "good" leader. What do you mean by that? Is it their character? Personality? How they treat others? Skill set? Compassion? Attitude? Yes to all. Someone can be an effective … Continue reading “Good” Leader →

Birth

#Beingaleader means you need to give birth. To new ideas. To new projects. But most importantly to new leaders. #Beingaleader means you need to be birthing and growing new leaders. Do not let the knowledge, experiences and lessons you have learned be lost when you are gone. Pass them on. Birth new leaders. In your … Continue reading Birth →

Goodbyes

#Beingaleader means your life can be full of goodbyes. To people. To projects. Nothing seems to last forever. This week was full of goodbyes. A belated goodbye to a father who's life we could not previously celebrate together as a family due to borders being closed. A goodbye to a mother who we might never … Continue reading Goodbyes →

Sustainability

#Beingaleader means you need to have sustainability. Sustainable is avoiding depletion. For the long haul. Regenerating. Healthy. We often hear the term used in reference to the environment or a particular product that is being touted. But sustainability is important for the leader too. You must prepare for the long haul. The adversity. The challenges. … Continue reading Sustainability →

Title

#Beingaleader does not mean you will always have a title. Nor should you think that having such a title means that you are a leader. Nor should it be your goal. A title is bestowed. Leadership is learned and earned. Being named CEO doesn't make you a leader. Nor does Group Leader, Doctor, Colonel, Pastor, … Continue reading Title →

Generous

#Beingaleader means you need to be generous. With your time. With your money. With your praise. So what does being generous with your time mean? It means giving of yourself whenever possible to help others achieve their goals or the goals of the team. It means you show up when the team shows up. It … Continue reading Generous →

Independent

#Beingaleader means you have to think independently. It means you have to come up with solutions and ideas based upon your experience and calculated risk level that perhaps others are unable or unwilling to think about. Everything you go through as a leader is preparing you for the future decisions you will have to make. … Continue reading Independent →

Confidence

#Beingaleader means you need confidence. In yourself. In your team. In the future. Confidence in your abilities. Your decision making. #Beingaleader means you need to teach yourself to be confident in who you are and what abilities you have learned and are learning. Confidence. Not arrogance. It's not about other people or a comparison to … Continue reading Confidence →

Real

#Beingaleader means you need to be real. As in "not fake". Authentic. Be yourself. Lead the way you lead. Learn principles from others but don't try to copy them with mannerisms or style. Let your personality and character shine through. Be who you were created to be. Be real. Being real will create a level … Continue reading Real →

Compliment

#Beingaleader means you need to learn to compliment others. Compliments that focus on success. Compliments that are frequent. And ones that are done intentionally. #Beingaleader means that your compliments should focus on success. The success of your team member or your child. Everyone seems to receive an abundance of negative feedback whether intentional or unintentional. … Continue reading Compliment →