Living vs Dead Leadership

22 Friday Jun 2018

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

≈ 3 Comments

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

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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

≈ 2 Comments

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

≈ 1 Comment

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

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