Category Archives: Value

Stop and Smell The Azaleas…

12 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by in Adventure, Company, Deciding, Encouragement, Family, Leader, Leadership, The Masters, Value

≈ 2 Comments

Yes, the slogan of The Masters… “A Tradition Unlike Any Other”

The wait… Year after year. Name submitted, name not drawn in the lottery for Masters tickets… year after year. Then, BAM!… my brother’s name is drawn for four practice round tickets and on Wednesday, the best of all days.

Thanks to my brother’s name getting drawn, and him inviting me, along with his son and our dad… to Augusta we went. Forty-eight hours, barely any sleep, but wide awake the entire time. Bucket list item, you bet, even better when its with family.

I’ll tell you this, and it is a running joke with my wife’s side of the family. Two things we feel strongly about… Who do you want to eat meals with and with whom do you want to travel? You better enjoy your company when those two things are happening.

Too many times in leadership we have to be around others that are not of our same mindset, and that is ok for we grind through it. However, when it comes to the point of having to be around others because of the “have to case,” no one really profits.

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I say all of that to say this… I am at the point in my life where I want to enjoy who I am around. Are you?

With life, it really is short. The older I get, the quicker the days start and end. More importantly, is the fact that we sometimes realize too late, that we wished we would have done “so and so.” Many people are too “wound tight” to enjoy life. They are worried about satisfying what others think; they stay fearful of upsetting the apple cart and open up the can of “moody spray” with everyone they are around. They cannot have peace with others, because they cannot have peace within themselves. The funny thing is, many want and choose those types of people to keep company with – why?

They say you need to stop and take time to smell the roses. Well, for a few hours this past Wednesday, I stopped and took time to smell the azaleas of Augusta National and take in its beauty that television cannot do justice. Two things were for certain… I enjoyed who I had my meals with and who I traveled with, and that made all the difference. My brother and his son, and our dad for sure made a memory for that one moment that was “A Tradition Unlike Any Other.”

©2019 J Clay Norton

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Encouragement… Have You Used It Lately?

08 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by in Actions, Encouragement, Leader, Leadership, Relationships, Teachers, Transformational, Value, Word

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Staying on the educational side of leadership this week let’s touch on the idea of encouragement, and how teachers and leaders* can enhance this characteristic.

*Again, while discussing this idea, you can at any time switch out the words teaching and leading/leadership.

Encouragement

One of the most useful tools a teacher can have is being an encourager. In today’s culture, many things cause students to be cast down, and it is very easy for them to be and become discouraged. They put up a “front,” not wanting anyone to recognize help is needed. They believe they are self-reliant, saying, “I can get through this,” all along knowing they need help. A majority of the time, that help can be nothing more than simple encouragement. You can tell when students are encouraged. They have a new spring in their step and a broader smile on their face.

We have all, at one time or another, needed encouragement. Why? Because we have all had experiences when someone or something failed us. It is at that time encouragement was needed most; wanting to be understood and have someone stand for and with us. None of us can know what lies ahead. For the most part, we do not know what is going  on in the lives of our students. Until we are intentional with our relationships, any words of encouragement become shallow and unfelt. Lip service is never good in leadership.

I have found the best way to encourage students, especially in the classroom, is to just acknowledge their existence in an adult, professional manner. A “hello” with their name at the door, a fist pump, or an elbow tap eases the slightest apprehension a student might have. When you make it where the student understands that you are there for help, it changes their whole thought process. What does not work is saying, “If you need some help, let me know.” Without intentionality, this sounds like a blanket statement, quickly said, so it goes on record.

We must also realize that words of encouragement do not immediately make troubles disappear. However, what words of encouragement do is acknowledge someone needs help. Encouraging words can help a person not live in a room of emptiness. Often, students feel deserted, only painting a picture of loneliness because they do not understand something or feel devalued.

As we continue to educate, make sure you are for your students, and that means, when needed, truly encouraging them. You might be the only one who does.

©2019 J Clay Norton

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Leadership Pitfalls

25 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by in Actions, Humility, Leader, Leadership, Passive-Agressive, Perception, Pitfalls, Pride, Value

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Who remembers, back in the day, Activision’s “Pitfall!?” For those of you who are young and read this blog, “Pitfall!” was played on the original Atari. I remember the day we purchased the cartridge. It was in the fall of 1982, and I was ten. As soon as I got home, we started playing it. I remember two things very vividly about “Pitfall!”. One, after we went to bed on a school night, my dad came into my room, woke me up, and asked if I wanted to play a quick game. The other memory is when I scored over thirty thousand points. The cool thing was to take a picture (with a real camera) of the TV screen showing your score, mail it in, and Activision would send you an official “Pitfall!” patch. Yes, I was pumped.

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Not to go into the whole idea of the game, but “Pitfall!” was about a jungle explorer, named Harry, who had to avoid the pitfalls of water, sand, alligators, scorpions, etc. You get the picture. Harry had to run, jump, and swing from vines, to find the treasure.  It was a classic.

What made me think of that, you ask? Well, I was just having one of my many memory moments and started thinking about the connection that could be made with pitfalls and leadership. With leadership or anything else for that matter, pitfalls can be those unseen holes of missteps that we fall into sometimes. Not so much on purpose, but pitfalls are there nonetheless.

Staying with the letter “p” of “Pitfall!,” here are a few pitfalls that I believe leaders have problems with…

Perception

Is perception reality? I think not, but there are those who believe it to be true. The problem with perception is that it is yours and yours only, and that does not make it right. A majority of the time, we see things only how we want to see them, rose-colored glasses idea. So much of our understanding is tainted by the values we hold dear in our minds and hearts. It is the misconceptions that cause many problems in leadership. Whenever a misconception is made, let’s admit that it could be a wrong conclusion and do everything we can to correct it.

Pride

Pride needs no write-up. We see it every day. There will always be that leader who thinks they have all the answers. This might be the deepest pitfall of them all, actually an abyss. The hard part is sometimes we cannot avoid prideful leaders. Pride… it’s like a bad odor that keeps hanging around, and it stinks. My good friend, Allen Marret says, “Pride causes your perception to miss out on what is real.” That’s a pretty good statement. Be humble enough to know that you do not always have it figured out.

Passive-aggressive

This is the one I despise, being passive-aggressive. Leadership positions are not a utopia. The grind and the struggle are sometimes real, but leaders who lead with pouting, moodiness, and manipulation are demoralizing to others. Yes, occasionally passive-aggressive leaders make hard decisions that need to be made, but it is not until they are backed into a corner of their own doing, and someone else is looked for to blame. Be a leader who is willing to address issues head-on, accept healthy conflict, and realize that everyone is not a “yes-person.”

I hope that after reading the above pitfall list, you can appreciate the really good leaders that are leading for the right reasons — those who make it a purpose of avoiding these common pitfalls. Yes, pitfalls do creep up on us, but to be diligently looking out for them can make all the difference.  Now, go find that treasure of leadership.

Just in case you wanted to know what the patch I received looked like, here it is:

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©2019 J Clay Norton

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

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Is Your Leadership A Gift?

14 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by in Actions, Choice, Gift, Giving, Heart, Importance, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Present, Purpose, Relationships, Servant, Transactional, Transformational, Value

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It’s the season of giving…

First, a disclaimer… This is about intentional giving and not about giving out of obligation (I have never been a fan of that anyway).

Have you ever considered the mental taxation and stress that goes on our hearts and minds of buying a present? Often, there are serious calculations that take place, causing the Advil bottle to empty quickly. The heavy sighs of not knowing what to give, the internet searches, the pages of the catalogs turning, asking others what they think, looking for the one present that says as much about you as it does the person you are buying for.

When we buy a present for someone, it is nothing more than a transaction.  Hardly any feelings take place between the seller and the buyer.  There is probably a friendly, polite conversation but no emotional feelings are exchanged. Why? Because when we make a purchase, a relationship is not established. Just another heavy sigh takes place, but this time one of relief, knowing that you have completed the task.

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But…
Once you give that present to someone, it becomes a gift — everything changes; you take on a different mindset — the anticipation in hoping that everything you went through to make that “transaction” was worth it. Relationships are established when we give the present. The present becomes a gift because when we give it, we are expressing to that person you value them and you want them to be a part of your family or a part of your inner circle.

For some of the gifts we give, a lot of thought process goes into it.  We really try hard to find that perfect gift for others.  Why is this? Intentionality! I believe when we give gifts, it says something about what is inside of us and the relationship that we have with the recipients.  As I think about it a little more now, everything we give shows what is inside of us.  Our time, money, thoughts, etc.; even our leadership.

What then can be said of our leadership as we give it to others?  Is it intentional or out of obligation? Is your leadership nothing more than a present of a transaction? Does it matter what we give in regards to leadership?  I believe so.  Let’s make sure that it does. Turn your leadership into a gift for others. Let it transform not only you but them also.

©2018 J Clay Norton

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

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