Author Archives: The Book Chamber

Crystal Clear, Grime Free Clarity Leadership

13 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Clarity

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“Leadership is embedding the capacity for greatness in the people and practices of an organization.” – David Marquet

Through the lens

Crystal Clear, Grime Free Clarity

 

How many of you remember the movie “A Few Good Men” where Tom Cruise has Jack Nicholson on the stand and asks him if his orders are always clear?  And then, Jack Nicholson ask Tom Cruise if what he said was clear and Cruise responds “crystal”…

How many of us view our leadership with clarity that is “crystal clear”?  Do our teams view our leadership the same way? Sometimes, our vision is hindered by smog, fog, being near or far-sighted, crowds, etc.  I’m sure you can add to the list.

Too many times we are not focused and the haze around us just makes it hard to see.

So, what do we do to make sure our leadership has crystal clear clarity with no grime?

Here are a few thoughts (in no particular order)….

  • Eliminate the drama
  • Value your team
  • Listen
  • Shared goals and vision
  • Communication on the front end (no surprises)
  • Have a servant attitude
  • Know your surroundings
  • ?
If we cannot see with clarity, how are the members of our teams going to see with clarity? That is the key question we must have answers to as leaders.
I guess the best thing a leader can do is to carry around a bottle of Windex… Many times the leadership is clear, but it will have to be cleaned on a regular basis. That is our job as leaders. We have to clean and keep clean our leadership. I believe it is the only way everyone will have a crystal clear idea.
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Remember…  THINK LEADERSHIP

© 2017  J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/thebookchamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page.

 

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Do I See Any Leadership At All?

05 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by in Uncategorized

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“Truth sounds like hate to those who hate truth.” – Unknown

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Why do we look in a mirror?  To see what we look like.

When we look in the mirror, all we see is ourselves and I know this sounds corny but it is the only place we truly see ourselves.  The mirror is where we come face to face with the self-reality of our leadership.

Our leadership “check” is the mirror.  It is the only place we can have an honest evaluation about and with ourselves.  And it is very hard.  Why do you think this is?

Because we are the only ones that know the truth. We can hide, disguise, suppress, etc..

When we are faced with having a leadership self-check, does it help?  Why or why not?

If yes, then we have become broken, humble and our EGO has not gotten in the way.

If no, then we believe we are better than we really are.

Here a few “we will” leadership check thoughts as we look in the mirror…

  1. We will compare ourselves with those who we are better than.  This way we will make sure we always look good.
  2. We will never compare ourselves with those who are better than us.  Why? Because we have no desire to look inferior.
  3. We will always seek out those who think like us.  This will give us the answers we want to hear.
  4. We will rarely seek input from those who do not think like us.  Why?  See #3.
  5. In our own minds, we can justify anything to our benefit.

Looking in the leadership mirror is hard.  Accepting what we see in the reflection is even harder.

Let’s make sure that the leadership reflection we see is the leadership others want us to have.

Remember…  THINK LEADERSHIP

© 2017  J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/thebookchamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page.

 

 

 

Leadership Observation

26 Friday May 2017

Posted by in Leadership, Observation

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“I see something you don’t see….”

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When a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try to control how others see you.  The misinformation will feel unfair, but stay above it, trusting that other people will eventually see the truth, just like you did.” – Jill Blakeway

Did you ever play that game growing up? If you did, you probably chose the smallest, hardest object in the room. If you were the person trying to guess, your observation skills were kicked up a notch, and you became more aware of your surroundings.

What is it we see when we look? Better yet, what are we looking for and trying to see? How many times do we say someone or something might or might not pass the “eyeball test”? All of these questions deal with how well we observe our surroundings.

So, here is a question we must ask ourselves: Is being a good observer a leadership trait?

As leaders, we constantly have to observe the bigger picture. An analogy I have often used for this idea is a jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces are just dumped out on the table, and we start putting it together. If you are like most people, you start by putting all the side pieces together to form the “frame” and go from there.

Is that it? How do you finish the puzzle? The key to finishing the puzzle is seeing the “bigger picture,” and we start looking at the box top cover. Why? Because the box top shows what the finished “bigger picture” product should look like.

We are either intentionally or unintentionally observing. Either way, we are observing. What we will find is not everything is always as it seems. We must take time to observe our surroundings and see what we can find out about others and ourselves.

When we begin to do that, our leadership observation will begin to see what others do not, and you might win the game.

Remember…  THINK LEADERSHIP

© 2017  J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/thebookchamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page

Squeezed? What comes out?

25 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in Integrity, Leader, Leadership

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“I’ve long believed the hardest part of leadership is self-leadership. If you and I can’t figure out how to do this well, leading others will be difficult at best, if not impossible.” – Mark Miller

Do you know what comes out of an orange when squeezed? The same can be said of us when we are squeezed. What is truly inside of our heart will come out.

newSqueezedOrange

One thing I truly believe… The heart of a leader is where their core values are held.

But… how do you know what these values are?

Well, let’s put a leader in a position to be squeezed and see what comes out?

Here’s the thing though…what comes out is usually a determined by what is put in.

So here is the question that must be asked, “What do we put into our hearts as leaders?” Is it humility or pride? Is is servant-minded or step-on minded? Is it give or take? The list can go on and on… but be sure of this, something is going into your heart.

Here is a great analogy: Let’s say you have an orange and it represents your heart. Squeeze it, and orange juice is supposed to come out. Now, instead of putting that juice back in, you decide to put black ink back in. Guess what comes out the next time you are squeezed? Black ink. Even though the orange is still there on the outside does not mean that orange juice is still on the inside.

That’s the way it is, and the cycle continues. Good in, good out, bad in, bad out.

As leaders, it is not a matter of if but when we will be squeezed. So, what is going to come out?

Orange juice is so good. It has lots of vitamins. The black ink really does nothing more than stains. Let’s make sure our leadership does not stain.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP

© 2017  J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/thebookchamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page