Category Archives: Attitude

GPS Leadership

20 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Clarity, Communication, Family, Leader, Leadership, Listening, Perseverance, Trust

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This past week, our family had the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles, CA.  My wife had a counseling conference to attend, and my daughter and I made it a vacation.  Now, if you have never driven in LA, then you do not know what you are missing.  The rumors are true.  It is slam packed, turtle moving, and prayers needed. We had to make a lot of Ninja and Jedi moves to get to the correct turns sometimes.

We rented a car and used the GPS on our phones for directions.  As I reflect, I found a lot of leadership lessons from the trip and the GPS.

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Good leaders need a great wingman.

I found myself a few times telling my wife or daughter, “Talk to me Goose.” The classic line in Top Gun with Maverick and Goose.  They both did an excellent job in guiding me where we needed to go.  Leadership is like that.  There has to be trust and communication. You have to have someone on your side, by your side who is going to help you because it benefits the whole group, not just themselves.

Good leaders plan for the long road.

We were going to Anaheim one evening, a distance of only 26 miles.  1 hour and 39 minutes later, we arrived.  No one in LA says, “I’m just going to run over there real quick.” Leadership takes a look at what is ahead and determines the path to take.  It may be long, slow, stressful… but at least you are doing something.  Too many times, it is too easy to say no, let’s not do that.  It will take too long.

Good leaders sometimes make wrong turns.

Every day, I made at least one wrong turn.  LA is full of forks in the road and merger here and merge there lanes.  The great thing about missing a turn, the GPS will always recalculate.  That is what happens in leadership.  Sometimes leaders make a wrong turn, a bad decision, an oops and an opportunity to recalculate.  Let’s try that again.  Many times, on our wrong turns or missed exits, we were able to see something that was not planned.  A lot of great leadership decisions have been made in the same manner.

Our GPS made our trip all the more doable.  I would not want to drive in LA blind.  At the same time, I do not want to be leading blindly.  I am not a fan of the “let’s fly by the seat of our pants leadership.”  Too many bad things can happen.

Leaders need a good wingman, a plan for the long road, and an opportunity to recalculate.  If you do not, then you are leading alone, probably shortsighted, and think you never make mistakes.  If this is you, then stay out of everyone else’s lanes that know where they are going.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

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Living vs Dead Leadership

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Choice, Decisions, Leader, Leadership, Servant

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Any leadership worth its salt must be evident, not so much by faith, but by the works which are shown to others. If you live your leadership in the faith of hoping others will embrace your leadership, then your leadership is dead.

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Photo Credit: outreachmagazine.com

As leaders, one of our primary aims is to distinguish between living and dead leadership. Sounds easy, right? Probably easier than you realize, if you are a servant leader in your works that is seen and felt by others.

Three thoughts that can make sure your leadership is alive and not dead hinge on being a servant leader. Let’s see how it plays out…

CAUSE
The cause of living leadership is having your heart in the right place toward others. True leaders know they cannot produce living leadership merely going through the motions. This quickly leads to dead leadership. The leader with dead leadership believes they have the power within themselves instead of empowering others.

NATURE
The nature of living leadership is a firm belief of the truisms that others matter. Dead leadership is nothing more than emptiness and paranoid opinions that have no real effect on the heart of others. Living leadership, on the other hand, embraces the essence of others and surrounds itself with meaningfulness.

EFFECT
The effect of living leadership is the most important. This is where leadership can be distinguished. What your leadership says about others is more important than what your leadership says about yourself.

What effect is your leadership having on others? Is it living or dead? The beauty and the burden of the effect are that it will be one of the two.

Dead leadership leads others to trust in a vacuum. They get sucked in and just circulate within the chamber of self. Until we start providing living leadership, we are dead leaders walking.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

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

Does Your Leadership Have Spirit?

11 Friday May 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Clarity, Essence, Inspiration, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Relationships, Trust, Understanding

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A servant leader’s inner being is shaped so much by transforming others. If this statement is true, then why do more leaders not embrace this idea of leadership? I do not know why either, but I do have my thoughts.

Talent-attraction

Have you ever seen that one leader that you enjoy being around? They have this gravitational pull on people that for some reason or another brings out the best in both. Leaders like this are filled with what I like to call Leadership Spirit. Leaders who have that leadership spirit have an essence about them. Their demeanor or disposition carries that feeling of goodness.

So, I began thinking… What do leaders have that captures the above thoughts?

I believe that…

Leadership Spirit is about…

Understanding the truths of leadership

Truth has a way of erasing friction. I believe the truths of leadership are foundational by doing right by others. When we realize that concept, friction is erased, and everyone can be seen in a different light.

Using words to inspire instead of changing the meaning of words

Ever been around that leader who tears people down or flip-flops their words? I once read this quote: “Words are free. Its how you use them that may cost you.” We have a choice as leaders to say the right thing and we must mean what we say. Too often we see leaders who hide behind their words when they could be inspiring others.

Desiring to have harmony between themselves and others

Just like the harmony of a song is pleasing to the ears, the harmony in leadership is pleasing to the heart and mind. Having harmony does not always mean everyone gets along, but it does mean that everyone knows where they stand and what their role is. There is a mutual line of respect when our spirit of leadership evokes harmony.

As you ponder the above statements, please consider that a leader whose spirit is positive has a freedom that allows them to lead.

What is your leadership spirit like? If you want to know, ask others or better yet, see who is wanting to be around you. Let’s find ways to fill our leadership spirit with ideas that help transforms others.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

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

There Is A “Whole” In My Leadership

04 Friday May 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Choice, Clarity, Essence, Ideals, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Relationships, Servant, Useful, Whole

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What does it mean to be whole? A quick definition search will yield meanings such as; “a thing that is complete in itself,” or “all of something.”

So, the question today and every day for that matter, “Does your leadership have wholeness?”

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How does leadership fit wholeness? A few ideas come to mind. The “fit” has to be complete and carried out to the finish; making it whole. It does not take people long to see if your leadership is whole or has a “hole” in it.

Leadership wholeness is about…

THE ESSENCE
It is what it is… We must devote ourselves to finding and knowing what whole leadership is. It must be an ideal we long for. Leadership is a part of life, and we all long for it in one sense or another. Not everyone is a leader, and that is ok. However, there is that innate feeling inside each of us that wants to lead.

OTHER PEOPLE
True leadership gets in your business. This is where other people come in. We have to have people in our lives that complete us (Jerry Maguire quote here…). Having like-minded, kindred-spirited people in our lives is what makes our leadership whole. It is nothing more than accountability. The problem is we all want accountability for others, not so much for ourselves.

PROTECTION
Leadership permeates our lives and where it is lacking, we become vulnerable. When our leadership is whole, we deflect outside forces that can cause our leadership to weaken (think of a force field). Someone is going to try to find a “hole” in your leadership. Whole leadership fills all the holes per se. As a leader, you know what should and should not be in your heart, your mind, and your soul. Do not allow yourself to be affected by “all the stuff out there.”

There are also a few tangible benefits to having leadership wholeness. I believe leaders who are whole have joy about them and are thankful. There is a personal commitment to both. They are the results of the above thoughts.

We all know those leaders who are joyful and thankful.  We also know those who are not.   For those who are not, odds are they have a “hole” in their leadership. The funny thing is, they try to fill that “hole” mostly with their ego and the “hole” gets bigger and bigger.

Striving to have leadership wholeness should be one of the most exciting concepts we chase. We need to be careful though; you never know what you might catch.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

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