Category Archives: Actions

“Entitled” Leadership?

29 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Clarity, Deciding, Leader, Leadership, Team

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“Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.” – Robin S. Sharma

 

I need a title!

Why?

It makes me look better.

Does it or will it make you lead better?

I don’t know, but it makes me look better!

Screen Shot 2017-09-29 at 8.53.59 AM

 

Let’s start with this fact… and it is a fact: A title does not make you a leader. But oh, how many people live in that fictitious world.

So… Some thoughts about leaders being “entitled”…

Titles are like business cards. Anyone can get one… Make one up and hit print.

Leadership is a melting pot of complex, different attributes. A good leader will rally those around for the good of the group and have their support. But… a true leader will be able to step in when difficult situations occur and make the hard decisions. Given almost any situation, a leader will emerge from within a group. Natural leadership ability will always rise.  The need to self-appoint will not be necessary.

It would be great if titles meant effective leadership ability. But that is not the case. Many leaders with titles cannot or chose not to lead. Either case, sooner or later, failure will happen. When it does, the lack of leadership will show.

Leaders who are “entitled” are blind and have limits to their leadership. Their ego and self-centeredness become known for what they are. “Entitled” leaders take credit for others work, give orders for something they do not want to do, or place blame on others for their own mistakes and failures.

But why are these people in positions to lead? Who knows… the problem is that they are there. It does not take us long to figure out that “entitled” leaders surround us every day. What is worse, they have the power to make decisions that affect a lot of different areas.

But where does a title come in? It doesn’t. Please quit thinking it does.

Some of the best leaders we know do one thing well, they lead. Leadership is a verb, not a noun. It is action. It is the form of doing. Those who lead by title only do so because they have a title.

Anyone and everyone has the capability to be a leader. But leadership is not for everyone and that’s OK. A person chooses leadership when they make a decision for the greater good of a cause and stand for it. They lead by example. They do not ask others to do something they are not willing to do themselves.

.…And most of all, leaders act like leaders even when they do not have a title.

 

Remember… #thinkleadership

©2017 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

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

Inspiring Ourselves by Inspiring Others

11 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Heart, Inspiration, Leader, Leadership, Passion, Purpose, Servant, Trust, Understanding

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“Clarity of purpose is inspirational.  When your job description is clear and there is no confusion or when you are crystal clear of what is required of you to do your job or task, that is inspirational.  It allows you to go full stream ahead without thinking…” – Tony Alford, Running Back Coach, The Ohio State University   (I think this quote can be used for life as well)

inspire

If you had to pick four or five ideas that would inspire the greatness inside of you, what would you choose?  I’m pretty sure we would get many different answers and there would be a few that would overlap.  Finding ways to inspire others should be relatively easy.  Finding ways to inspire ourselves is much harder. 

Why do you think there is a gap between inspiring others and ourselves?  Self-inspiring will always be an ongoing battle.  Not only for our minds but also with our hearts.  But here is what I believe… One sure way to inspire greatness in ourselves is to inspire greatness in others.

So… How can we inspire ourselves?  Let’s begin with…

Inspiring others with your passion.  When this happens, passion becomes contagious.  Helping others find meaning and purpose can ignite their passion.  A “shared-passion” creates an exciting atmosphere to be a part of.

Inspiring others by letting them know you are authentic.  Quit being fake.  The world is full of fake, phony leaders.  People want a real you.  Our leadership must show the ability to relate, understand, and when needed have empathy.  You also need to have their back.  Fake leaders only talk about it while authentic leaders show and prove it.

Inspiring others by having a servant leadership heart.  If you are not willing to serve, get out of leadership now (see above statement).  Eventually, people will know where your heart is and your true leadership will show.  Leadership is often measured in time and time always will tell the truth.  What does this mean?  Never ask someone to do a task that you are not willing to do yourself.  No one really wants to be around a finger-pointer.

Inspiring others by investing in their lives.  The more you know about others enables you to understand them on a different level.  When we truly care about the lives of others, there is a deeper understanding of what makes them tick, what makes them “stop and go,” what makes them… them.  All of this will show you truly care and see them as someone and not something.  Using people for your benefit is not cool.

By understanding the value of others, maybe we can begin to understand the value of ourselves.  If we are not inspired by what we do, how can we ever expect others to be inspired by what we want them to do?

A good quote to end on… “You really never had a good day, until you can do something for someone that they can never repay you for.” – A lot of different people are given credit for saying this. Now that’s inspiring…

Some good stuff to think about.

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.

Designated Survivor Leadership

21 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Humility, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Servant

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“When you have to make a hard decision; flip a coin. Why? Because when the coin is in the air, you suddenly know what you are hoping for.” – Unknown

First of all, let me say that I am a big fan of ABC’s show Designated Survivor starring Kiefer Sutherland. Designated Survivor is what you should be watching if you are looking for a show that embodies almost every different style of leadership.  It offers the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of leadership.

designatedsurvivor2

While watching one evening, a segment really caught my attention. In episode 4, of season 1, the Press Secretary, Seth Wright, played by Kal Penn, made this statement in a speech:

“We live in a time in which we are called to serve in ways we did not anticipate.  None of us are perfect but we do our best because this house is worthy of our best.  We trust our instincts as we fight our daily fights.  Some we will win, some we will not, and some we will know only in time.  But we leave each night, hopeful that our daily sacrifices have been worth it and our instincts have not lead us astray and that our best has been good enough.”

As I listened and then hit the rewind button, I thought to myself… WOW! That’s exactly what we should do as leaders.

In the speech, the “house” refers the White House, but what if we change the wording to where we are? What is our “house”? We could change “house” to our own house, our family, our teams, our schools or anything else that is worth fighting for.

As we continue to lead, let’s fight for what is right and be true to our values. I cannot think of two better leadership concepts that will help you throughout the rest of your life.

So… What type of leader are you of your “house”?  Who is better to decide, you the leader or the people who follow you?  Would you say there would be different viewpoint from each?

Most of the time we have a much higher, biased opinion of ourselves then what is really true. Our followers do not always determine our leadership quality but it can be a pretty good sign of reality.

Be the leader people want to follow for the right reasons.  When it becomes more about you then them, we really are not leading anymore.  As you watch the role of Kiefer Sutherland as President Tom Kirkman, I believe you will find servant leadership at it’s best.

Be a Designated Survivor Leader.  Sometimes you will be the only one left who is holding on to what is right and true. Most of all, lead and fight for what is right. 

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.

Actions & Attitudes

17 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in Actions, Attitude

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“Righteous action without the right attitude is mere ritual.  Easily faked.” – Dr. Ivan Park

take-action

I heard the above quote by Dr. Ivan Parke during a sermon at our church. After I wrote the quote down, I started thinking about all the stuff I do, why I do it, and what is my attitude with it all.

I know what you must be thinking about after reading the previous sentence. “I do not want to go there with my thinking…” The funny thing is, neither do I. It is never fun to have to self-examine ourselves. BUT… for us to be better leaders, we must continue to challenge ourselves in leadership. We have to examine ourselves daily, for this I believe is true… someone else is examining us.

So… what about your actions with your attitude? Are they nothing more than a ritual? Is your enthusiasm for your actions faked? Are you doing something just to be doing it? When it comes to your leading, is there a difference the direction your attitude takes depending on what you are doing? I’m pretty sure we can answer and it will be different then what those who know us best would say. The main question that must be asked is, “Do we go through our days faking our attitude?

A lot of times, just the amount of energy we show up with determines our attitude toward our actions. We all know the stuff we put more effort into. Also, our attitude could empower others, or not. No one wants to follow a fake, and at the end of it all, our true selves will be seen. We could even say that our attitudes are contagious. Going back to the energy sentence… Is your leadership energy negative or positive? Just like a fake, no one wants to be around negative people. Positive vibes are where it is, while at the same time being realistic.

What attitude will you take and when will you start? Questions that must be answered as a leader.

A great quote regarding all of this is: “Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions” by Harold S. Geneen.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP

©2017 J Clay Norton