Category Archives: Perseverance

You Have One Job… Thoughts from the Movie “1917”

17 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by in Actions, Agenda, Courage, Decisions, Heroes, Importance, Intentions, Leader, Leadership, Obedience, Perseverance, Purpose, Sacrifice, Trust

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This past weekend we went to see the new movie 1917. I am not a movie critic by nature, but 1917 is well worth your time to see. The leadership which takes place and seen in the film is powerful, and that is what I want to discuss today.

Quick synopsis… “During World War I, two British soldiers — Lance Cpl. Schofield and Lance Cpl. Blake — receive seemingly impossible orders. In a race against time, they must cross over into enemy territory to deliver a message that could potentially save 1,600 of their fellow comrades — including Blake’s own brother.” – retrieved from “1917 movie synopsis” Google search.

Take-a-ways… Without telling parts of the movie (in case you have not seen it, if you have, hopefully, these will resonate).

Schofield and Blake had one job…

1. When a person is determined to get a job done, they will go beyond sacrifice and defy obstacles to ensure that the job is completed.

2. A person with a vested interest will go further than someone who is not. Sometimes, it just means more.

3. Quality leadership is about seeing the end result, and it is defined with a purpose. Quality leaders do not get “caught up” with the distractions around them.

4. Sometimes you have to hold on to a partner to find your way and have faith when they tell you to jump even if you cannot see.

Obviously, there are more take-a-ways, but these four were significant while I watched the movie and pondered them afterward. Even if you have not seen the movie, these four thoughts can be and should be part of the excellent leadership characteristics that you need for yourself and want for others.

With anything, as in the movie, leadership is about trust in those who lead and those who carry out orders. Wherever you are in your leadership, be the leader who looks out for others. Leadership is not always life or death, but it always affects the lives of others.

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others

©2020 J Clay Norton

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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

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

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

I Choose To Stand

15 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in confidence, Deciding, Humility, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Perseverance, Purpose, Servant

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“You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something in your life.”  – Winston Churchill

Well, everyone else is doing it this way… Majority rules, correct?

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Is there value in standing with the few? How many times have you been in the minority regarding your leadership?  Do you often find yourself standing alone?  Sounds negative to me… Who wants to be in the minority?  Well, that depends on what the majority is standing for.

Here are a few “I Choose To Stand” ThinkLeadership thoughts…

If you do not agree with the majority opinion, it does not mean you are wrong.
Be intentional about your stance. Now, understand this… It is going to be hard to get others to follow you. Often times it is hard to believe, but many people want to identify with the majority even if they are wrong. These people are crowd followers. They are going to side with whomever will make them look good and to save their own skin.

Be a good follower.
What? You thought leaders were to lead? Yes they are… But, being a good follower of a good leader enables you to actually lead. Know who is worth following. Being a follower might not be where you want to be in your leadership at this time… so do not push your own agenda. In time, your leadership will show. Leadership should be a shared concept. Servant-leaders recognize this the most.

Do not believe it is all about you.
Even if you are in the minority, please forget the notion that people cannot make it without you. They can and they will. Standing alone is fine if the cause calls for it but do not make it about you. This leads to ineffective leadership. Make it about the cause. You will have the respect of others.

Be yourself.
Finding good leadership qualities to emulate will always help. More importantly, find leadership qualities that identify with your style. Do not try to be another leader. It does not work. Be you.

Know your strengths and your weaknesses.
You will not have to tell people your strengths, they will show for what they are worth. Your weaknesses are a different story. If you know your limitations, you better let everyone else know. Ok… you have to be kidding right? No… (go read the next bold statement).

Be transparent.
Have some humility. Kill the ego. It is ok to know and admit your weaknesses. If you do not, you will soon find them out. Others are usually quick to help you find them (It takes the spotlight off of them). Ask for help when you need it. True servant-leaders will do this and they will help others when asked. Insecure leaders will only focus on themselves. Asking for help is a strength.

 

We can often find ourselves with the idea of… “I do not know if I agree with that…” This thought process does not make us wrong. It just means we agree to disagree.

There will be times when our backs will be against the wall. We will even have to suffer the ramifications of others who do not believe the way we do or have a point to prove. But know this, you stand with honor, humility, and with your core values which were never compromised.

In your leadership, whatever decision you make comes down to this… When you decide to stand firm, make sure your feet are planted firmly.

I will plant my feet firmly.  I will stand firm.  I choose to stand for what is right and honorable.  Above all else, I choose to stand for my faith and my family… even if it means that I stand alone.  I CHOOSE TO STAND!

What do you choose to stand for?

 

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP

©2017 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at: TheBookChamber

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