Category Archives: Clarity

Price Check: Does Your Leadership Value Equal It’s Worth?

05 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by in Actions, Clarity, Consistency, Importance, Leader, Leadership, Servant, Understanding, Value

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The perspective of the value of leadership is based on actions and not words of the leader. How much value do you place on something? Better yet, let’s ask this question, “How much are you willing to spend on something?” Everything has a price, even leadership, yours and others.

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Let’s use a piece of art for example.  How much is it worth? What is it’s value? Who determines the value? You? Others? Now, let’s ask the same question when it comes to the value of leadership.

To understand the value of leadership; a few thoughts come to mind. While they sound natural, putting them into practice is a different concept. Value is a funny concept… something only has value if it means something to you. That is the way it is with most things we hold dear in our lives.

Leadership that has value…

has IMPORTANCE
We can all agree that leadership should be and is important. However, do we carry and lead like it is? Many leaders just show up and hope, whatever happens, happens, and it makes them look good. The importance of leadership is based on themselves, not the issue at hand or who is involved. Leadership importance for self carries no value for others; it is worthless.

is LIMITED
Many people want to lead, but… Leadership is limited. I genuinely believe just because you are in a leadership position does not mean you are a leader. Real leadership is limited to those who have that servant-based mentality for others. Others can only measure that value. While you may determine your own price and too many “leaders” do, value is usually priced on how many people want what you have.

has CONSISTENCY
Just like anything else that has value, consistency is the main ingredient. It stands the test of time. It feels the same. It tastes the same. If anything, its value actually increases over time. Can we agree that some things get better with time? How many leaders do you know who are inconsistent with their leadership? Something is always different, and it usually depends upon what kind of mood they are in. People want consistency, and they will pay for it. Why? The value it brings. We all know what “something” is supposed to be. Let your leadership be what it is supposed to be, consistent for the good of others.

The world is seeking leadership. You can go back to the beginning of time and see it throughout all of history. There is a great need for leadership with value. However, it needs to provide value for others, not our egos. A leader is who they are before others, and nothing more.

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

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

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

It’s Dark In Here… Can Someone Turn On The Leadership Light?

25 Friday May 2018

Posted by in Choice, Clarity, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Observation, Understanding

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In the Greek… phos. That is what light is. It is the action of making visible things that are not seen. That is what light does, and it carries a leadership theme.

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How? Let’s contrast the two and see.

I like the thought of a sunbeam shining through a window in your house early in the morning. While dark, we do not know what all is there or around us. Even if we turn the light on, we still cannot see everything. But when that sunbeam shines through a window, we see every bit of “stuff” in its path, the dust, the muck, the filth. Dark leadership hides things. Leadership light brings everything in the open.

Do you remember the GE light bulb commercial slogan? “We bring good things to life.” Well, that is what leadership light does. It shows what type of leader you are exactly. When the leadership light is turned on, it brings to life (or out in the open) what a person’s dark leadership is, dead leadership.

Those are the things that dark leadership tries to hide and for the most part that is why those things are done in secret and behind people’s back. There is scheming, conniving, and anything/everything else that is done under handed, all done in dark leadership.

Dark leadership, dead leadership is repressing the core of what leadership should be today. Too many leaders are using it to advance themselves instead of helping others advance, which in turn, would help all advance. When we all are better, we are all better. That is what leadership light is about, helping others shine.

Remeber this… mold, stench, and slime grows in the dark. Don’t let your leadership be like this. Be the leader that shows and carries a leadership light. Turn it on. Let your leadership light diminish the darkness of dead leadership.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

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How Well Do You Listen and Can You Hear Me Now?

18 Friday May 2018

Posted by in Clarity, Communication, Heart, Leader, Leadership, Listening, Servant, Understanding

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Do you remember the Verizon Phone Company’s commercial of “Can you hear me now?” While that “jingle” might be slightly funny, the question itself with regards to leadership is profound. How many times, do others have conversations with us, and they walk away wondering if they were ever heard?

One of many essential characteristics of great leadership is listening. It sounds simple, but… as you well know, some leaders simply do not listen, or they do not listen as to understand. I believe that there are times when people come to us, they have something to say. They want our attention, and they know real quick if they have it or not.

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As I think about the different time’s people have wanted to speak with me, did I listen to hear? I can also ask that same question for when I wanted to be also heard. For those times when the answer was “no” in both cases, after hard lessons learned, I begin thinking of what type of listener leaders are and the type of listener I wanted to be.

To always keep it simple, I have three ideas about what type of ears a listener you may have…

CLOSED EARS

When a leader has closed ears, it is tough for others to talk to them. They cannot ask questions or explain anything. It becomes more of a task and chore. The issue here is with the listener. It has nothing to do with the person or what is being said. I believe there is a direct correlation between leaders with closed ears having a closed heart.

SELECTIVE EARS

We have all heard that notion of someone having selective hearing. Well, here it is. Leaders who have this, only listen to what they want to. They want to hear what is pleasing to them. Leaders like this will surround themselves with people who say the “right thing” and are basically “yes people.”

HEART EARS

For a portion of my life, I listened to others with my brain (and I am still guilty of it at times). Listening this way means I would think of how I would respond to the other person instead of listening with my heart to truly hear what they were saying. This is the type of listening leader we should strive to be, listening with heart ears.

What type of listener are you with your leadership? If you do not know, odds are others do. Like me, I am sure each of you can name a leader whose listening style reflects one of the above.

If leaders care for their people, then having heart ears is the only way to listen. You and everyone around you will be better for it.

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