In my last post, I shared several reasons why you don’t have to wait until later to be a leadership expert. You can begin right here, right now, no matter who you are. If you’ve bought that idea, then let me share several practical ways you use your leadership expertise to benefit others.
At a social function recently I found myself in an engaging conversation with a psychologist and a fitness coach. We took turns sharing the interesting nuances of our professions. After my turn explaining the exciting ways I get to be involved in leadership as a consultant, coach and writer, one of my new friends commented that leadership seemed to go hand-in-hand with both psychology and fitness. I asked what he meant. He clarified that commitment to developing a healthy body and a sound mind are some of the first traits necessary to lead both oneself and others. “But,” he added, “I’d feel awkward presenting myself as a leadership expert. Who am I to say I know what leadership is and that people should listen to me?”
It was such a great question. Who are the real leadership experts anyway? Are they the people who manage Fortune 500 companies, hold elected positions, or write bestselling books? They certainly qualify, but are there others?
I’m convinced everyone can become not only a leader but an expert as well because we all have the ability to influence and to learn and grow. That means you! And it can happen much sooner than you think. What a great loss it would be for anyone to sidestep their leadership potential because they felt unqualified. So let me share my rationale with you. You can become a leadership expert from right where you are, starting today.
On Sunday, October 14, Australian skydiver and daredevil Felix Baumgartner set the world record for skydiving over 128,000 feet (over 24 miles) from a helium balloon following his ascent for over two hours far into the stratosphere.
I hope you got to see the jump. I was watching a football game with friends but we had the jump coverage streaming on the computer nearby. The fact that my friend Sean and I had gone skydiving for the first time over the summer caused me to get sucked in even further. As the countdown neared, we paid less and less attention to NFL Sunday and held our collective breath as “Fearless Felix” finally went hurdling through the stratosphere, breaking the speed of sound on his own free-fall back to earth. 4 minutes and 19 seconds later, Baumgartner deployed his parachute and soon after landed safely on the ground in Roswell, New Mexico.
Since Red Bull had sponsored the “Red Bull Stratos” project, it didn’t take long for them to begin flooding promotional materials and videos online. In particular, I found this video on YouTube, posted on 10 days before Baumgarter’s final record-setting jump, which I believe can teach us several lessons about how to live – and lead – on the edge, Felix Baumgartner-style.
How do you talk with other people about leadership?
Unless I’m already a trusted leadership advisor, most people don’t just come up and ask me to help them evaluate their personal and organizational leadership effectiveness. (And when they do, it’s a little more organic than that!) It’s true the more responsibilities people acquire, the more complicated their leadership situation gets. Executive leaders usually have access to budget, resources and personnel to address the leadership challenges they face. Everyday leaders often have to figure things out on their own. You may be able to help, but how do you get the conversation started?
Dan Miller estimates that the average job lasts about 3.7 years. If your career experience has been at all typical, this means you’ve probably gotten the chance to “onboard” as a new employee many times. The new employee onboarding process can be an adventure, for sure. On one end of the spectrum, it can be the first of many great experiences. On the other end, it can leave employees wondering right off the bat if they made a huge mistake. The reality is that onboarding presents each organization a grand opportunity to make a positive and lasting first impression on new joiners as they embark on their employment journey.
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of guest posting on my friend Dan Black’s blog Dan Black on Leadership. Dan has been writing on leadership and personal development for several years now and has built a pretty impressive readership.
I got to meet Dan Black at a conference in San Diego
Has anyone ever asked you how to become a better leader? I still remember the first time that happened to me. I wasn’t prepared to answer, but at the same time, I was the one being asked.
The more time I spend with military and national security leaders, the more I’m convinced of the magnitude of a certain leadership quality: courage. That might not surprise you; everyone knows military service members need courage to put their lives on the line every day. There’s no debating that, but the courage I’m talking about applies to all leaders everywhere, whether your organization is made up of hundreds of thousands of people, or just a handful. Let me explain.
Last week I had the privilege to fly cross country from Washington, DC to San Diego to attend a two and a half day writers conference called Re:Write sponsored by The Fedd Agency. It featured many high-profile and incredibly well-written (and well-sold) authors, such as Ken Blanchard, Paul Young, George Barna, Mark Batterson, Peter Strople, John Kilcullen, Mary DeMuth, and others. Most of the attendees had either written books, were in the process of writing their first book, maintained blogs, or just wanted to learn more about how to focus their writing inspirations. There were also publishers and agents in attendance.
I met Ken Blanchard at Re:Write 2012
The humble leader is in vogue. Jim Collin’s masterpiece Good to Great made that clear with his distinction of “Level 5 Leadership,” as has a resurgence in servant leadership interest.
But if you are a naturally non-assuming person, you can’t use the guise of “humility” to keep from putting your best foot forward.
I read an excellent post by author Mark Miller recently about what it takes to create a leadership culture. It couldn’t have been more spot on. To create a winning leadership culture, according to Miller, you must define it, train it, practice it, measure it, and model it. Want I want to add is another dimension on how to position your organization to sustain the culture changes you wish to implement. Here are the three considerations:
It was years ago that the late Green Bay Packers football coach echoed these words as part of his famous “What It Takes to be Number One” speech:
“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”
Reverend Lombardi (as my high school football coach referred to him) knew something about winning – that it was habitual. But I believe he can teach us something about alignment when it comes to our core values as well.
In my previous posts, I explained why reading is crucial to growth and development and listed my favorite leadership books – the ones that inspire me or provided the most insight. But choosing the right book to read next can be tricky sometimes, especially given there are literally hundreds of thousands just a click away. With so many choices and so little time to read, how can you be sure you are picking the “right” one?
Here are a few strategies I’ve had a lot of success with:
