Category Archives: Ideals

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

Unmistakable… Authentic Leadership

27 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Choice, Deciding, Expectations, Ideals, Inspiration, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Servant

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I heard someone the other day say the word “unmistakable,” and thought to myself, “I had not heard that word in a while.”  Then I thought if “something” was unmistakable, then it is without denying its realness, in essence; authentic. Put the two words together with their meanings, and you have…

Unmistakable… Very distinctive
Authentic… Genuine

Now, let’s put leadership with them. You now have awakened something powerful; Unmistakable Authentic Leadership. It even sounds powerful. When you find that leader who has all three, you will not have to worry about their words. Thier actions will radiate the meaning of each.

So, who is a person with Unmistakable Authentic Leadership? I am glad you wanted to know.

I believe leaders who have unmistakable authentic leadership lead with values that are…

Optimistic
This attribute is not rooted in the fact that one is never unrealistic. It is not as if you are “putting on a grin and bear it” mentality. Sometimes, bad things happen. There is hurt, pain, loss, etc., but an optimistic person does not drown and wallow in the pleasure of self-pity.

Impactful
As a leader, what and who do you effect? I would say most everything and everyone around you. Let’s vision your leadership barometer here. When people are around you, do they leave as a better person? Or better yet, do they want to be around you? Wow… What a question that we can see immediately. If you ever wonder why people avoid you, you do not have to ask; you already know the answer.

Integrity
One of the best words of leadership. I have mentioned before in other blogs the best line I have ever heard about integrity is, “If I have to define integrity for you, then you do not have it.” Now, that does not mean that many leaders do not have a misconception about integrity, they do. Those who do are the leaders who usually tailor their needs and wants to and for themselves and not for the benefit of the grander scheme or others.

Realistic
There is no phoniness or putting up a good front for realistic leaders. Most of all, they are not living a “fake it til you make it” mentality. Most people can be categorized as either positive or negative, but how many leaders do you know who are purely realistic? My grandfather once said, “Make the most of whatever comes, and the least of whatever goes.” In my mind, this sums up a realistic leader.

Collectively, these four components can leave a lasting effect on others. We need leaders who are unmistakable and authentic. The world creates a blinding facade that is masked over with gloss, counterfeiting true servant-based leadership. It is not being or called an unmistakable authentic leader that produces each of the above ideas, but living out the ideals of each.

Start today… Strive for Unmistakable Authentic Leadership. 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

The CANNOTs of Leadership

06 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Balance, Choice, Clarity, Culture, Decisions, Humility, Ideals, Inspiration, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Momentum, Opportunity, Passion, Perseverance, Power, Purpose, Servant, Team, Trust, Understanding, Unity

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“Leadership is an aspect of power, but it is also a separate and vital process in itself.” – James MacGregor Burns

Society has done a terrific job and an injustice of conditioning the minds of many leaders to be shallow and superficial. It distorts our thinking and our ability to make decisions. In some sense, it becomes a drug that is killing the future of what great, quality leadership should be.

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Photo Credit: gettingsmart.com

Unless there is a radical change in our thought process of the way we view leadership, to be for others and not ourselves, leadership will simply fade away.

Here are a few thoughts that we CANNOT allow ourselves to do…

  • We cannot simply flow with the societal trends of leadership.
  • We cannot elevate our leadership and at the same time not hold to the foundational truths of leadership.
  • We cannot promote our leadership by not living out what we say our leadership is.
  • We cannot fall victim not acknowledging that leadership requires humility.
  • We cannot fail to realize that leadership requires enthusiasm.
  • We cannot abandon our desire to want right leadership.

Today’s leadership models promote so much focus on self that we lose sight of serving others. It is self-absorbing. To make matters worse, we buy into it. We accept it as the norm. We allow it to become part of our inner being… ME FIRST!

Our defense against leadership, that is worldly and weakens right influence, relies on distrusting our ego to the point that we must separate the error it causes in our thinking.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

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“Relationshipablitiness”

23 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Communication, Culture, Ideals, Inspiration, Leader, Leadership, Relationships, Servant, Team, Trust, Unity

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“When leadership is a relationship founded on trust and confidence, people take risks, make changes, keep organizations and movements alive.” – James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

When there are people around, to lead, I figure you just might have to have a relationship with them. Can you lead if relationships are absent? I suppose you can but…

I believe the one ingredient leadership must have, is “relationshipabilitness” (I just made that word up). Leadership relationships create an atmosphere across many different ideas, concepts, interests, etc. What leaders need and should understand is that relationships must be built and YOU, as the leader, must be the builder. If you cannot be that builder, what type of structure will your leadership be? Now, some leaders just choose not to build. This is very sad. Often, you might find that leader who states, “I am in charge and what I say goes, blah blah blah.” What you have here is a leadership facade that looks good on the outside, but on the inside, it is in shambles. No thank you.

When your leadership has a relationship with people, it listens to understand them. It considers and acknowledges their thoughts and ideas. Leaders must see that people have value. What happens is people begin to see that you are committed to them and just not yourself. Leading for yourself is easy. It is all about you. When we lead for others, we devalue ourselves. Notice the “for” in each of the two previous statements. Who is your leadership “for?” At the end of it all, that has to be the question asked and answered.

Do you honestly want to connect with your leadership? Then build relationships beyond yourself. Building relationships has to be one of the most effective leadership traits of a quality leader. Be a leader who is known for having “relationshipabilitiness.”

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