#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
Brief
#Beingaleader means you have to control your words. Control the amount. Control the volume. Usually better to say less. Less is more. So choose to be brief.
Listen
#Beingaleader means you have to listen. To others. To yourself. To your team. Listening to others. Critics. Competition. Supporters. All have something to say if you're willing to listen. Is what they are saying truth? Even if it hurts, truth will still improve you. Improve your product. Improve your business. Listening to yourself. This is … Continue reading Listen
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
Talent
#Beingaleader means you have a talent or two. Or three. Yes, you do. You have things you excel at. Things that you do better than others. Things that come easy to you. Why is it so easy to view others as having talent (s) but not yourself? I often see it as false humility, where … Continue reading Talent
Desire
#Beingaleader means that you need some amount of desire. For your goals. For the future. For yourself. #Beingaleader means you need desire for your goals. That seems obvious. But sometimes we take goals from others and place that burden on ourselves and they aren't really what we want to pursue. Get your own goals. Pursue … Continue reading Desire
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
Sanity
#Beingaleader means you need to keep your sanity in an often demanding and stressful role, and it's important to take care of your mental health and well-being in order to effectively lead others. But how do you keep your sanity during those periods that might seem overwhelming? #Beingaleader means you should practice some self-care including … Continue reading Sanity
Caring
#Beingaleader means you need to be caring about your team. This is essential for building a positive work culture and achieving success as a team. Caring means communicating openly and honestly: Keeping your team informed about any updates and decision-making processes shows that you value their input and care about their well-being. Caring means supporting … Continue reading Caring
Servant
#Beingaleader means that one must have the the ability to serve others. This approach, known as servant leadership, focuses on putting the needs of employees and customers first, rather than prioritizing the interests of the leader or the company. This can improve morale, increase productivity, and foster a culture of collaboration and trust. One of … Continue reading Servant
Drain
#Beingaleader means that you often have things, circumstances or people that drain you. Emotionally. Energy-taking. Whatever it or they can take from you. And you need to learn how to deal with those situations and people so they don't bring you down or drain the energy from you. #Beingaleader means you need to recognize the … Continue reading Drain
Giving Thanks
#Beingaleader means you need to get good at giving thanks. To others. For successes. For things you've gone through. You need to make giving thanks to others a matter of habit. Whether they are part of your team or those that impact your life in some way. Giving thanks to them acknowledges their impact on … Continue reading Giving Thanks
Reflection
#Beingaleader means you should take times of reflection. To see where you've come from. To see where you want to go. To identify new areas to think about and press into. Do you know where you've come from? Have you taken the time to reflect on the steps that got you where you are today? … Continue reading Reflection
Unity
#Beingaleader means you need to seek unity. Unity of purpose. Unity of destination. Unity of winning. Seek it. Meaning you go after the unity you want and need. It doesn't just happen. In fact, left to our own devices, we will have the opposite of unity. You don't have to try for chaos and disunity. … Continue reading Unity
Support
#Beingaleader means you need support. From other leaders. And you need to give it to them as well. Too many leaders go full on Lone Ranger and suffer for it. Leaders don't just need followers. They need traveling companions. To encourage. Challenge. And provide emotional support. Seek it out. Provide it to others. Leaders need … Continue reading Support
Weaknesses
#Beingaleader means you need to work with your weaknesses. Identify them. Use them. Grow them into something. Share your growth with others. We too often focus only on our strengths. We should not forget to work on our weaknesses so we accomplish even more than what we set out to do.So, are you able to … Continue reading Weaknesses
Strengths
#Beingaleader means you need to work to your strengths. Identify them. Use them. Grow them. Share them with others. We too often focus on our weaknesses. We should not forget to work to our strengths most of the time so that we can actually accomplish what we set out to do. So, are you able … Continue reading Strengths
Pause
#Beingaleader means you sometimes need to take a pause. Halt the process to reassess. Regroup even. Allow time to go by before moving forward. Pause.Things seem to be going well so why pause now? Well, perhaps on the surface things are going well. But how is everyone really doing? Have they been pushing too hard, … Continue reading Pause
Chores
#Beingaleader means you have to do a lot of chores. Chores that need to be done. Chores you see the value in. Chores you don't want to do. But they still need to be done and you are the person to do them. Just like being a parent requires you to do things that you … Continue reading Chores
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
Encourage
#Beingaleader means you need to encourage others. To succeed. To pick themselves up. To keep going. To achieve their goals. To make them stronger. To encourage someone is to give them strength to do something. Maybe to take a leap of faith. Maybe to accept a new challenge. Encouragement can leave people feeling that they … Continue reading Encourage
Testing
#Beingaleader means you will go through testing. Personal. Financial. Timing. Team members. There are many areas where you could be tested. Just know that you will be. Regularly. Testing can be viewed in multiple ways. In school, it's an attempt to measure where your current understanding of the subject matter is. In manufacturing, it is … Continue reading Testing
Pressure
#Beingaleader means you have to deal with pressure. Pressure of time. Pressure of confrontation. Pressure of success. Pressure of failure. Pressure of deadlines. Pressure of expectations. Lots of different kinds of pressure. But you feel them all. And seemingly can't get away from them. #Beingaleader often feels like you live in a daily pressure cooker. … Continue reading Pressure
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
Distance
#Beingaleader means you need to learn about distance. How close to get. How far away to stay. And when to choose between the two. When someone on your team is learning a new skill or in a new position you need to stay close. Help them along the way. Let them watch what you do. … Continue reading Distance
Anxious
#Beingaleader means that you often feel anxious about the results of the actions you are taking. Or often you're anxious about the actions that others are taking on your behalf. Experiencing nervousness about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Beyond your control. Out of reach. Unable to do it yourself. Relying on … Continue reading Anxious
Kind
#Beingaleader means you need to be kind. With your words and your actions. Your words can build up or tear down. Your actions often speak louder than your words. Be kind in both ways. Have you ever thought about what draws you to one leader vs. another? Think about it for a moment. It is … Continue reading Kind
Milestones
#Beingaleader means you need to recognize and celebrate milestones. Recognize and celebrate. One of the things a leader needs to do is recognize the milestones. That's often overlooked. Milestones are often thought of when discussing birthdays or anniversaries. Now those are all important. But often the milestones overlooked are the completion of a project. A … Continue reading Milestones
Mixed
#Beingaleader often means you have mixed feelings. Am I doing the right thing? Am I making the right decisions? Did I respond appropriately? A lot of potential mixed feelings about your success rate on this questions. So, should you wait until you can make the perfect decision? Should you wait until all of your questions … Continue reading Mixed
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
Next
#Beingaleader means that sometimes you just need to do the next thing. Whether you feel like it or not. Whether you know the second step or not. Even whether you want to or not. Just take the next step. It will keep you moving in the general direction you want to go and will, over … Continue reading Next
Heat
#Beingaleader means you have to learn to take the heat. Live in the heat. Embrace the heat. Heat can come from decisions you made. Good or bad. Or it might come from decisions others made over which you had no control. Either way you need to learn to take the heat. Live in the heat. … Continue reading Heat
Yes
#Beingaleader means you need to become comfortable with saying "Yes". 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. But focused on the things you say "yes" to. Sometimes the smallest things bring the … Continue reading Yes
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
Honesty
#Beingaleader means you need to lead with honesty. Honesty can be defined as having fairness and frankness. Fairness is the way we want to be treated and frankness is when you are clear in your communication. Honesty means you need to be fair. Fair to your team. Fair to your clients. Fair to yourself. To … Continue reading Honesty
Contradictory
#Beingaleader means you have to deal with contradictory information. Should you make decisions quickly (https://beingaleader.blog/2022/05/10/quick/)? Or slowly (https://beingaleader.blog/2022/05/17/slow/)? Well, it depends. If it was only one answer than leadership wouldn't be hard. But leadership is hard. And it means you have to deal with these contradictions. You are constantly being pulled in different directions. The … Continue reading Contradictory
Slow
#Beingaleader means you have to be slow. Deliberate thinker. Deliberate analysis. Slow decision maker. Oftentimes you just can't afford not to take the time to step back and wait. Deliberation gets you to the finish line without unnecessary losses. Slow and deliberate gets you to the win. A deliberate thinker looks at all the factors … Continue reading Slow
Quick
#Beingaleader means you have to be quick. Quick thinker. Quick analysis. Quick decision maker. Oftentimes you just don't have time to step back and wait. Speed gets you to the finish line. Quickness gets you to the win. A quick thinker is the one who sees the various possibilities before others. You look at a … Continue reading Quick
Success
#Beingaleader means you need to understand how you define success. Not how success is defined. But how you define success. The dictionary already defines it as the accomplishment of your or your team's purpose. But that might not be success to you. Or it might not be all you define as success. Success could be … Continue reading Success
Flow
#Beingaleader sometimes means you have to go with the flow. Meaning you can't plan for everything. Every contingency. Sometimes things just happen to you and you need to go with it. Try to guide it to a successful conclusion but realize that you don't control everything. How easy you can go with the flow will … Continue reading Flow
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
Toxic
#Beingaleader means you need to avoid being toxic to others and to help weed out those within your organization that are toxic to yourself or others. They will bring you and your organization down over time. They will create attrition and provide a reputation in the marketplace that you do not want and will drive … Continue reading Toxic
Innovate
#Beingaleader means you need to learn to innovate. New ideas for old problems. New ideas for new problems. Trying something different to see if you get a different result. To make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products. #Beingaleader means you need to look for new ideas for old problems. … Continue reading Innovate
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
Resilience
#Beingaleader means you need to have resilience. The ability to recover quickly from difficulty. To bounce back. To have more toughness than others have. Face trauma, stress and even tragedy without it breaking you. Seeing it all in context. Resilience requires inner strength. I'm not saying that everyone doesn't have their limits. Nor am I … Continue reading Resilience
The Point
#Beingaleader means you have to get to the point. Be direct. Say what you mean. Your expectations. Your evaluation of them or their progress. Clearly. Concisely. Using examples when needed but not telling a story without getting to the punchline. You are not helping others by beating around the bush. It is not kindness to … Continue reading The Point
Refresh
#Beingaleader means you need to take time to refresh every so often. To recharge. To take stock. To give yourself new strength or to invigorate yourself for the next tasks or phase of life that are ahead of you. To do whatever it takes to prevent burnout and disillusionment. A sabbatical. A vacation. A weekend … Continue reading Refresh
Being A Leader 