Leadergized
Common Sense Strategies for Exceptional Performance
Steve Clute
Published by: Steven C. Clute on Smashwords
Leadergized
Copyright © 2010 by Steven C. Clute
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of nonfiction. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
……………………………………
This book is dedicated to my Dad - Charles Clute, Mom – Delores, Wife – Ann, Brother – Mike and my incredible children Eric, Joran, Greg, Chad, and Kyrsten who gave me the love,
Support, and inspiration needed to be a leader.
……………………….…………………
Thanks to all of the people who have helped me to make LEADERGIZED a reality.
I have to recognize and thank my wife and kids. They have been very supportive and have filled me with the energy, creativity, and strength to write this book. It is with their help that I have been able to help others learn from my experiences and insight.
I thank my mom and brother for all of their influence in driving me to try anything and everything to be greater tomorrow than I was yesterday.
The team that has helped me with editing, proofing and design of the book has been wonderful. Thanks to Bob, John, Steph, Steve and Jeff for all of your support, help and hard work.
Finally, thanks to all of you that have influenced me to be a leader and to work to understand leadership. Without you I would probably be driving a tractor for a farmer out on the prairie or chasing cows somewhere in Montana. There are too many of you to mention here but a great many people have had a lot to do with pushing me to be a better leader through their own needs, abilities and encouragement.
Thank you very much!
Steve Clute
Introduction
There have been many great leaders in our world. We have read about them, heard about them, watched them and some of us have even worked with them. They are not all recognized public figures. Leaders are true warriors who have made the world what it is today, and will make it what it will be tomorrow. In my leadership roles I have been challenged to understand what the essential ingredients for successful leadership are, by watching and studying other great leaders. I have found three common ingredients that have made their leadership work.
The first ingredient of successful leadership is passion. Passion is the tool that ignites the desire to make something change. It seems to evolve from physical need, psychological want or emotional suppression. Leaders with passion will connect with their team in a unique manner. Their heated beliefs and relentless pursuit of change cause others to become part of the energy that surrounds them. That passion has driven both common and exceptional people to lead others in making great changes and accomplishing substantial goals.
The second ingredient of successful leadership is intelligence. Many of the people who have led others to substantial goals that have been lasting and influential acted as a result of intelligence. These leaders were insightful and bright enough to look at opportunities, needs and desires and then to recognize that there were solutions. They were able to analyze the situations thoroughly and then formulate solutions and progressive plans that motivated their followers to accomplish great things. Those leaders focus their intelligence on resolving problems and fulfilling opportunities in ways that are motivating and sensible to those who participate in achieving them.
The third ingredient of successful leadership is action. The actions taken by great leaders are justified by the goals that they set out to accomplish. Lincoln became the leader of our country at a time when very few people wanted to take the right and necessary action to correct a civil and intellectual wrong. He sacrificed life and peace to successfully defend unity and freedom for all Americans. He took action that was neither safe nor popular to do what was right. In the religious world, Jesus Christ sacrificed His life and suffered unjustly to accomplish the goal of creating a systemic lifestyle that empowered people to live in peace and harmony while freely expressing themselves and pursuing their dreams for fulfillment and happiness. His actions were spontaneous and confident. They were also well justified by the benefit they have rendered to all of humankind for eternity.
In Leadergized, I have set out to facilitate the development of your passion, intelligence and action. I do not propose to give you all of the answers because I don’t believe that is possible. Leaders are people who have an inherent drive and/or capacity to lead others. My belief is that there are many of you who could be great leaders if you only took the time to think progressively through the process that is offered here. It is the notion that great leaders will lead to the accomplishment of great change that has driven me to write this book.
I have written Leadergized to make your world a better place – IMMEDIATELY! This is a great and proven leadership growth and discovery system. The ten steps to Leadergized represent 30 years of leadership training and research, a million mistakes and hundreds of hours of hard, dirty work. This accumulation of experiences, ideas, communications and information was used to develop a system to create leadership abilities and qualities for everyday people. Leadergized comes to you at a time when everyone needs to be prepared to lead. The challenges and tests of our new social and business environment require us to have the ability to do what is needed with the confidence that it will end in the best result for us individually and as a community. This program is for men and women from all walks of life and in all kinds of groups, teams, dreams and organizations who are or should be leading people to bigger and better things in their lives. LEADERGIZED IS ABOUT BEING YOUR BEST SELF!
To be great we need to be leaders. In order to lead you must Think and Learn – Share and Care – Innovate and Inspire. You need to create teams of leaders within your family, friends and business so that they can accomplish exceptional performance and at the same time derive sincere joy and appreciation from it. Destiny is controlled by the confident and disciplined pursuit of well chosen purpose along with intelligent plans for achieving it. You will need to have the passion to overcome obstacles and resistance that you will certainly face. Finally you must have the strength and resilience to stay fast on the trail with your actions.
Leadergized is not a research paper. Leadergized is not scientifically grounded. Leadergized is a practical, hard working man’s approach to accomplishing great things. The approach is the result of years of hard earned experience. The accomplishments from Leadergized include such goals and satisfactions as spirituality, self fulfillment, financial independence, safety, freedom, energy to innovate and create, the ability to help others to succeed, confidence to lead by example and a character grounded in peace of mind and positive results.
You have started now! It only takes minutes. As time is available simply read at your own pace. You will find it easy and motivating to learn and practice the 10 simple and valuable steps of Leadergized. You’ll be on your journey to a bigger, better, more fun life. You’ll become a great leader! You will accomplish your goals. You will help others accomplish their goals. You will transform your dreams and goals into realities.
Leadergized is the result of a team building program used successfully over more than 10 years. The sessions are short, simple, honest and effective. They are right here, right now. This isn’t necessarily easy to carry out. It requires intelligence, commitment, discipline, inspiration and organization. If it was easy – everyone would be a leader! How many GREAT LEADERS can you think of right now?
When you begin – read carefully, deliberate the questions as they are asked, take notes and consider them spontaneously and in detail. Leadergized - the program - will have value only as it is implemented by you. The program and the exercise of its direction by you will clearly energize the words of Leadergized. If it is your desire to learn more and to grow more from each section and the direction proposed by Leadergized you will find it to be a great ally. Leadergized does not tell you how to be a leader – those books are really useless. Leadergized helps you to grow more intelligent about yourself. It helps grow passion for what you believe in. Finally, it helps you to consider the actions necessary to make a change on our world. The work is up to you.
You deserve to experience the value of Leadergized in your life. Try it now. Sacrifice the minutes to change your lifetime. Dream, think, value, energize, plan and profit with the greatest leaders of our time and then set yourself a step above by acting – putting legs on your dreams. As you become Leadergized you must rehearse and remain disciplined and motivated in your approach to life. You will improve. LEADERGIZED IS A MEANS TO ACCOMPLISH THE PASSION, INTELLIGENCE AND ACTION PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE TO LEAD YOU TO MAKE GREAT THINGS HAPPEN!
………………………………………...
Chapter One
Knowledge
When we begin to be leaders or to build a team of leaders, we always have to remember that we need the knowledge essential to make good decisions. Knowledge is acquired through experiences and by reaching out and searching for the information necessary. You need to interact with people who have experiences that you can learn from. You will also learn by living life and acquiring education that is pertinent to the goals that you wish to achieve. Good decisions are carried out with quality, character, attitude, timing, energy, commitment and discipline. You need to have these qualities to be a strong leader.
Many leaders in this day and age forget about the qualities that gave them the ability and the motivation to become great leaders. Those are the same qualities that likely gave other people the interest in following them. Personal qualities are invaluable in helping a leader take his team to higher levels of performance. You must make decisions and then carry them out to set an above average level of performance. That is how you will be perceived as a leader. Many people consider themselves to be leaders and start projects that are based upon wonderful dreams. They forget that having the dream, establishing the plan, and telling people about it are not all of the steps necessary to reach the goal.
A leader and/or his team must trust in, believe in, and be motivated by the team's mission, goals, philosophy, ethics, direction and systems in order to succeed. If you don't have belief, trust and motivation that is driven by desire and confidence your leadership will fail. You must do your research. You must test your beliefs. You must be certain through testing, research and experience that your mission, goals and qualities of leadership are fitted to the time, place and people that you will work with. Good and bad decisions and/or actions will have an effect on all of your team members. Efforts and energies directed at achievements supporting your mission and goals must be recognized. If someone is doing a great thing for your organization and you don't recognize them for that, they won’t continue to be great. On the other hand, if someone is making bad decisions or taking bad actions that create problems or discontinuity within your organization, you cannot expect other team members to perform well at the tasks that are being neutralized by that performance. Everyone should despise bad decisions. They should love clarity and demand consistency. They should work to achieve uniformity, honesty, ethics, respect, harmony, sincerity and open, enthusiastic, positive communication. Those things will make and keep your beliefs, trusts and motivation strong.
In this first chapter we will discuss the leader and the team. We will begin to build a foundation for superior performance. I'm constantly reminded of the importance of a strong foundation by my religious beliefs and experiences. I love the song “The Church’s One Foundation.” I know that you must have one true and universal mission that directs and guides your thoughts, words and deeds. It is essential as a leader that your beliefs are strengthened by positive and beneficial qualities that can be reinforced and greatly energized by teams of people seeking a common goal. That foundation is very important. It's essential that it is shared, desired and long lasting. I want you to come out of these discussions with questions, ideas, and information that will help you to work with one strong foundation. It is your job to review it and think about it. When you're Leadergized, you will design plans and goals with the character, attitude, energy, commitment, and discipline necessary to energize yourself and others to achieve them.
Your Leadergization will grow in each chapter. The growth plan is very manageable. Stay with the program, don't stop until you succeed. If you stop, you will never attain your goals. Focus on important, quality issues and take clear and concise notes. Write down your thoughts during the readings, review them with other leaders and team members. Don't expect to use anything you learn without recording it first.
While attending a national education conference a seasoned businessman who had been participating in these events for more than 10 years gave me valuable direction in the process of implementing education and ideas. I was discussing with him my confusion on how to implement all of the great ideas I was getting when he told me that I should only take 2-3 major ideas home with me. He said, “begin by prioritizing the ideas you like for your immediate situation, keep all of the other ideas written and filed for use upon completion of the priority items.” He said, “Anything that you want to attain as a result of education will only happen if you write it down and formulate it in a way that works for you. Try to take one or two good ideas from each educational opportunity you have and then implement them. Don't just take a million ideas and then go home and muddle. Don’t waste time and energy trying to figure out what you're going to do. Pick the important and useful ones and make them happen.” Great leaders are always armed and ready to grow through new motivation, innovation, and productivity. In order to do that they must recognize their weapons, have a firm commitment, and a superior plan for implementation.
Who are you? This is probably one of the most difficult questions that anyone can ask you. How many of us really take the time to sit down, look in the mirror and say, “Who am I? What am I? What makes me what I am today?” In order to lead others, you must understand yourself, your mission, and your tools. To gain that understanding, you will need to assess yourself and your position of/on leadership. Focus on the factors that concern you and affect you and your team.
Who is in your family? My family had a substantial influence on who I am today. I grew up with parents who were teachers. My parents and grandparents were all loyal, honest, fun loving and hard working people who believed that you usually get back what you put into what you do. They were all very good teachers through the way they lived as well as through the stories they told and lessons that they taught. Today I am writing a book in an attempt to help others by teaching and leading them. I know that there's a formulation of values, ethics, directives, and goals that are created by your family. Not to say that we cannot jump outside the bounds of what our family is all about, but it makes a big difference in the way that we perceive things and focus the energy that is in our hearts. Were there leaders or followers in your family? Was your dad an owner of a business? Was your mom a full-time mom at home? What types of things did your parents do in the community, in their business, in their work? The examples set by your role models will certainly give you some guidance as to what your pattern of behavior will be. Those who have been inspired by their role models to innovate with energy and make change happen will find the leadership role easier to adapt to than those who have been directed to the path of least resistance and that have modeled themselves as kind and consoling followers.
When did you begin to lead others? What caused you to get involved with leadership and why did that happen? Many of us fall into leadership roles by accident. There can be accidental leaders. Some of us are trying to become leaders because other people recruited us. They see something in our personality, our performance, or our character that makes them believe that we would be able to lead other people to perform beyond their own expectations. These people see a specific energy in many of the people they look to for leadership. Passion is an example of that energy. It may be the passion of adventure, of challenge, of change or simply the passion of dissatisfaction that causes others to believe that you should be the leader. Confidence, assertiveness, strong communication skills and the zeal to do your best are other features that may make you one of the natural leaders in this world. Be aware of those characteristics within yourself that will cause others to seek you out for leadership.
What have you enjoyed or do you currently enjoy about leading? You need to understand what you really like about being in a leadership position. Leadership isn't for everyone. Many of us assume leadership roles. We realize that it takes a lot of time, energy, commitment, and it especially takes heart. As a leader you will need to take substantial risks – is that all right with you? As a leader you will be responsible for the failures of those who follow you – is that a comfortable thought? As a leader your successes will all be a result of those who follow you and you must give them all of the credit – will you be able to do that? As the leader all of your personal needs are second to the needs of your followers – can you live that way? All of those things can take away from other interests or energies that you have. You must recognize the factors of leadership that have made you enjoy leading so that you can derive energy and focus while leading people, teams, and yourself. Your joy for leadership will also grow as you pursue goals that are consistent with your character and your personal goals and mission.
Now, let’s think about what's bad about leading. You must review and think, what causes me pain? What causes me hardship and drives me crazy about being responsible for all the people in my team? What is distasteful about the issues that I must contend with? Why is it so challenging to administrate all of the factors and energies that I have to unify? Why is it so hard to get things done? How do I contend with those issues? Leadership is never easy and we must realize this when we step into the role of leader. Sometimes we'll find ourselves in a leadership position that really isn't right for us and we’ll fail. It is quite uncomfortable when you're leading a group to failure, especially when you know it. You should be prepared to seek the assistance of other willing leaders and allow them to successfully assume the role that you have been selected to play. Make the transition positive and functional by drawing up a transition plan that is acceptable and understandable to all team members and then implement it with timeliness.
Never hesitate to give up your leadership role if you have determined that you cannot succeed or even worse, if you are certain that you cannot lead with confidence, commitment and courage. It is easy to sacrifice your role if you can turn it over to someone you have confidence in. For that reason, it is essential as a leader to maintain relations with teammates who are willing and able to assume your role with short notice. They must be fully versed in the essential relationships, critical objectives, and immediate priorities in order to move forward without losing direction and momentum.
What has been your greatest success as a leader? Have you thought about or listed your successes? Have you reviewed them to evaluate whether or not they were perceived as successes to you specifically, or if they were really considered successes to the people following you?
Along with success comes failure. What is or has been your greatest failure as a leader? If you failed, did you analyze your failure? Did you assess and understand why you failed. We know that from information, education, and review, we will grow to be greater. The practice of evaluation and review is the best way to improve your next performance. Coach yourself to success. Use your experience to create a guide for your next trip in leadership. Turn the obstacles you have faced in your past into opportunities for the future.
What have you done to duplicate your successes? Many times success is a coincidence of factors that can be duplicated time and time again. We see the strength of replication in people who have led great businesses and teams. We see this in people who lead people to perform beyond their own expectations. I think of Phil Jackson as a coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. He has figured out what he needs to do in order to achieve success with a group of people who have a common goal but unique individual characteristics. As a leader you will face that same challenge time and time again. People are always individuals and your challenges will always be in how to bring together the different energies to achieve a common cause. Find a way to assess your successes. Look for the patterns that flow through them, then duplicate the success patterns and eliminate the failing ones. You will find that success comes much easier when you have achieved it before and know how it occurred.
What have you done to avoid failures? Do you look at your opportunities and say, “Is this really the best opportunity for me?” Have you reviewed the qualities that make you an attractive leader? Do you assess whether or not you should put yourself in a situation where you're not comfortable? Do you know where you are competent? Have you taken the time to see if you are likely to succeed? Are you always comfortable with the degree of analysis you conduct? Have you determined what your strengths and weaknesses are and what you can do to become better versed in your own personal strengths and weaknesses? As a leader where would your energies and abilities be best applied? Take the time to do this assessment and you will benefit greatly by both the obstacles you can avoid and the opportunities that you recognize. Understand the things that provide you with passion. Know the areas where you have higher levels of intelligence. Take time to consider the goals that fit within your area of emotional drive. The clear knowledge of your own personal strengths and virtues will render you the ability to make positive choices about where you can lead others to success.
Determine what had more influence on your effectiveness in successfully leading people, your education or your life experience. These are both critical elements of future success as a leader. If education is the factor that has developed your leadership and helped you to become successful, you should pursue further education. You should try to learn as much as you can within the boundaries of your time and resources. You must be committed to learning, being educated, being led and motivated by people who can enhance your psychological, emotional, educational, and intellectual ability to lead people. On the other hand, if it is your life experiences that have made you a better leader, you should direct your energies into that arena. You should work to become involved with different types of activities, businesses, organizations, teams and groups. Opportunities such as those will help enhance the way that you lead for your future. This simple decision can make you better at what you already do best.
Can you get better? Is there a possibility for you to improve or do you think you've reached your peak performance? Are you a dad? Are you a mom? Are you a business owner? Are you a guidance counselor? Are you doing the best that you possibly can in your leadership role? If you have reached your peak performance, perhaps you should find others who you can help to motivate groups to grow beyond what you've done at your highest personal level of leadership. Can you improve your leadership ability by getting more education or life experiences?
Remember that you have to assess what's made you great in order to be better. When will you do the things that will make you better? When will you take action and try to become more educated? When will you begin to get more experience? How can you do that? Why wait? Is there a reason to wait? If you see that you have grown to be a great leader because of your education, is there a reason not to enroll today. Is the cost greater than the reward? Assess that issue. Make a list and do the “Ben Franklin” assessment. On one side of the paper write all of the costs related to improving yourself. Make a line down the middle of the paper and on the other side put all of the benefits of improving yourself. Which side is longer and more appealing? That is a good, simple way to evaluate the cost and benefit. If experiences are your asset can you come up with a reason why you shouldn't involve yourself with more things that cause you to be a more experienced and greater leader? Pursue the things that can and will make you great. You will have no regrets.
I coach a lot of kids’ sports teams. I am closing in on 800 games and my oldest son is only 13. I have four sons and I have found that it has been very easy to get opportunities to become a leader in those groups. There is always a need for team leaders of young boys’ sports teams. Coaching those teams has given me a great deal more confidence and energy. It has also forced me to become more organized. It’s difficult to take a group of adolescent boys and keep them cooperating in a competitive environment while working toward a common goal in an unselfish manner. It is also extremely difficult to teach loyalty and trust between teammates when so many parents today are telling their child that they are the best. They should always tell them that they are the best that they can be when they are doing their best. The problem with many parents is that they teach kids to believe that they are better than others on their team. You cannot build a great team that way. Many of those parents will find a way to blame someone or something else for their child’s failure regardless of fault. Despite the inherent pressures, I remain true to my leadership philosophy and personal beliefs and work to lead my teams to improve their character and physical abilities for sports and life. I train them to recognize successful accomplishment of goals. I help them experience success and I highlight the need for trust and teamwork to achieve excellence. I work to accomplish those tasks in an orderly and measurable way.
I believe that winning is the most enjoyable thing in sports but I do not believe that it is the most important thing in sports. Trust, loyalty, confidence and respect are the lessons I set out to teach in each of my teams. I have often been confronted with conflict in that approach. Many parents lack an interest in character and prefer to push for the “me” mentality vs. the “we” mentality of successful teams. My own leadership experience and passion cause me to remain organized and committed to bringing greater value to my teams. I would rather teach team values than individual achievement. I cannot value winning more than teamwork. I do hope to influence the people I work with to be winners as a team. They learn to be winners as people even when they are losing in games. In this process I have learned that when people are winners they rarely suffer from loss at anything. Building team members is essential to team success. “One percent of 100 people’s success will always be greater than 100 percent of one person’s success.” Remember that rule as you lead people to perform as a team.
Do you have a role model? Who do you set your sights on? Who is the person that will make you say, “I've achieved success because I have become like him, her or them?” If you have role models, understand them, think about them, and watch them. Many people talk about role models. Unfortunately, we hear that there are a lot of bad role models as well as good ones. That's what we hear in the media. Bad role models can get themselves into a position of influence that really isn’t appropriate. Their character, attitude and influence don’t necessarily lead to the result that people should wish to achieve. Yet, due to circumstances they acquire an influence over other people. Examine your role models to understand their personal character as well as the character of their successes. Understand what they're all about. When you have analyzed them you can be successful in choosing role models that will be appropriate for you and your team. When you are teaching your children, your peers, or your subordinates to be great leaders you should be active in helping them select their role models. Of course you can’t always tell them who they should be or force them to learn from those examples. You can select role models that you are confident will build the correct passion, intelligence, and purpose for you and your team. You can also have them or examples of them available at the right times and places for those you want to influence. The power of convenience and timing can be strong influences in the process of subjective selection.
Everyone needs role models. You need to set a standard of performance based upon what can be achieved. If you don't have real heroes, how can you know what's really possible? Make sure that you understand reality. Evaluate your mission and goals in light of what the greatest have been able to accomplish. How do those accomplishments compare to your accomplishments and goals for accomplishment? What is your position and what are your abilities compared to those you want to mimic? When you know your goals and have reviewed others who have accomplished similar ones you are ready to do a sincere assessment of your opportunity. Reality is a good check point. If you plan to change the world be aware of the size of your undertaking. Changing the world is a rare and time consuming process. Study how leaders have changed one mind at a time and begin there on your path to changing the world.
Where do you find role models? They are everywhere. You should know that you can walk down the street of any large city or small town in America and find someone who would be a quality role model to some purpose or goal. The thing that you have to ask is whether your role model exemplifies the character and success that you wish to achieve as a leader. Then you have to look at them and ask yourself if they are an example that will show you how to get to your goals.
Once you have evaluated and selected your role models you must look at yourself and your team. Are all of you performing at your peak 100 percent of the time? This is a huge question and I doubt that there are a lot of us who can say, “Yes, we're operating at 100 percent efficiency.” When can you or will you do those things that will make you better? Is there a reason why you don’t do the things right now that will make you a greater leader? Is there a reason why you don’t do the things right now that will make yours a better team?
We need to review and evaluate why we are performing well or why we aren’t performing well. What keeps us from being the best? In my career I've owned and managed five athletic clubs at one time and employed about 160 people in those clubs. I know that I've never attained a level of perfection where every one of the systems has worked perfectly. Does that make me a lousy leader? I hope not. I feel and believe that I've done a lot to help people move on to higher levels and become greater performers. When I assess our performance, I'm always driven in my career to find a way to achieve and maintain a peak level of performance 100 percent of the time.
I've found it easy to maintain 100 percent efficiency in some parts of our team. The areas we have typically done very well at are financial management, customer relations and internal communications. Our services department always seems to need improvement. Our sales department has been at points where it couldn't produce more sales due to spatial limitations – this could be viewed as 100 percent efficiency, but in my estimation it fails because even with a full facility we have not created sufficient revenue to expand into new digs. It seems most common for leaders in organizations or teams to help one group move to one level or another by their focus and ability. The problem is in providing focus and direction in all areas to balance the growth and development. In order to do that you need to maintain a very high level of focus and ability in all of your teams in order to achieve all of your goals. To do that you will require the help, assistance, and cooperation from all of the people who are working with you. If any one of the pieces fails it will destroy the entire effort. What can you do to guarantee that you will attain and maintain top performance in all of your teams? What can you do to make sure that you stay at your highest level of performance?
I want you to do an exercise that should help you understand what it will take for you to stay at the top of your game. Evaluate and discuss the following question. The answer will be of great value when you can get to it.
Why do you exist? That is a huge question. What have you done in your life or career to make you feel important, successful, and worthwhile? If you don't feel those three things - importance, success and the feeling of worth - what will drive you to be better at what you do? What motivates you to get more involved or excited about what you do? Do you do things that help you experience those feelings every day? It's totally essential that you take time to recognize your value as a person and professional. What is your purpose as a human being? Make a position and value statement for yourself.
Are your career and personal goals set for you, or by you? Is someone else telling you where to go and what to do? Is it a spouse, a manager, a parent, a friend, a company owner, or your children? Are they telling you where you're going and what you're going to do? Do those demands correspond with your personal and professional purposes and goals? Do the things that you want to attain as a professional fall in line with what your personal life goals are? How many goals do you expect to achieve each day when you get up? I think it's hard for a lot of us to get up daily and know what we're going to do. We get so wrapped up in responding, that we don't take time to organize and act on priorities. It's good to have a specific plan for each day. When I go to bed at night it is useful to have my list of things to get done on the next day completely finished. I get up confident of where I'm going to go, what I'm going to do and what my goal is for that day. I established it based upon the feedback and the experience that I had in the prior day. When you get up, have a plan. Take some time to quietly assess what you feel like, what you're up for, what you need to do that day, and set appropriate goals.
Do those goals have real value to anyone other than you? Sometimes you can get really wrapped in doing very different things such as playing golf, listening to music or even going for a swim. Those are things that really aren't going to have a great deal of value to others. That doesn't mean they're wasted. The thing that you need to do is create goals that are good for you and recognize them as your own. Acknowledge that they are good for you. They must only be known by you because they are only important to you. Then you will know where your energies are going. You'll be able to balance the way you establish your personal goals in relationship to the goals that are essential to your team. Then you can make sure to allocate the appropriate energy to achieve all of them, as they are necessary for peace of mind and practical success.
Great leaders need to include physical and spiritual wellness in those personal goals. In each day you must set your time aside to grow spiritually through prayer, worship, study, teaching, and reflection. You should also prioritize health – eat properly, sleep adequately and exercise effectively. If you sacrifice your own psychological, emotional and physical health in order to achieve your purposes and goals is the cost equal to the value of that achievement. I find simple ways to keep balance in my life. Some days when I cannot seem to find peace before going to work I drive out into the country and find a quiet place to park my vehicle and turn everything off. I get out and walk or stand in the midst of nature to reflect on how urgent and important the things that worry me are. I talk to God about my cares and needs. I reflect on my own accomplishments and failings and put them in perspective with the history of the world. It is amazing that with this simple act I can find new energy to go forward with an open mind and free spirit to deal with what just a brief time before seemed overwhelming. Another simple way to mitigate the impact of stress on my performance is to get physical. It is always amazing to me that when I undertake and achieve physical challenges I attain a clear mind and an ability to have energy to overcome mental challenges with creativity. The small time invested in those activities reaps great reward in the results that it brings. Find ways to do this for yourself and then be open enough to your needs to do those things as they are necessary for you.
What value does achievement of your goals bring to others? Remember that if your personal goals and those that you set for others do not bring value, it will be difficult to motivate people. It's called pushing rather than pulling. When you're pushing someone to attain something, it's much more difficult to keep them working. When you're pulling someone, you need to look them in the eye. You need to motivate them. You need to realize what they're thinking, feeling, and doing because you're forced to look directly at them – you will understand the passion when you look into their eyes. You need to work cooperatively. When you do that, when you look at the people you're leading and you pull them to their next goal, you'll find that it's easier to reach the level of achievement that you require to succeed.
Do you need to rethink and rewrite your purpose and goals or are they ones that you are excited to live with? Do your purposes and goals have energy? Do they deliver excitement? Will you remain Leadergized when you think about them and work toward them? Make sure you change them if they don't give you motivation. How often will you rethink and rewrite your purposes and goals? Set a regular time for that exercise. I think you should do it very often. If you want to take a break and do it now – great! Be sure that when you do this evaluation you rethink and reevaluate your goals and the responsibilities you undertake as part of them. As you change and grow so should your purposes and goals. As they change and grow so will your enthusiasm and energy for life and its challenges.
What do you have to do each day? Are you forced to do things that you don't like to do? Do you like doing the things that you must do? Is there a way to make the things that you have to do more exciting and more fun? Are you doing things that bring value to others? If we're not doing things of value and keeping them at the peak of our focus we will fail in our efforts to succeed. What value do you bring through your daily activities? Do you provide people with fun? Do you provide people with relaxation? Do you provide people with safety? Do you provide people with achievement? Do you provide people with friendship? We need to think about the values that we provide, actively pursue them and maintain the integrity of all timelines and commitments related to them. If we're not doing things of value we will suffer with frustration and lack of enthusiasm. That is what causes people to die a little each day rather than grow in energy and ability. They perform at the same level every day. They never do anything special. They are never different. They never attain any goals that are beyond the necessary. Too many people go home every night turn on the TV, put their feet up, eat dinner, get fat, and wait for something new to happen. I guarantee that nothing new and exciting will happen that way. That is unless new and exciting includes a heart attack or death from boredom.
Can you do the things that you have to do in a way that brings value to others? Are the things that you have to do each day leading you to your goals and fulfilling your purposes? Can you rethink and redesign your responsibilities so that they are coordinated with your lifetime goals? What can you achieve in your life that has value to you and others? Is there any limit to what you can achieve doing what you're doing today? If you find that what you're doing today doesn't lend you the opportunity to grow or perform beyond where you are today, perhaps you need to reassess what you are doing. Many of us fall into the trance of going on and on in life without believing that we can do something different. It all starts from within you. You can be a leader. You can change your world and the world of others. You can change your habits and attain goals that are bigger than you might ever have dreamed. That is the American Dream. In order to live it though, you really have to make a decision to step outside the boundaries of your current comforts and habits. It is up to you to take the first step.
Is your greatest potential for achievement worth your time and effort? Do the things that you would like to do, achieve, or accomplish make sense in terms of the investment needed to attain them? I've wrestled with that and I know what it feels like.
I had a business that was stricken by a wind storm - a tornado. It was knocked down and I was forced to decide whether to rebuild the business after it was destroyed. I asked myself the following questions. Do I take the time? Do I exert the effort to create something that I created 17 years earlier? Should I run the risk of re-investing the time and effort versus the slim odds of attaining the next level of achievement within the timelines that I had set? Is that achievement of sufficient value - in respect to the risk - to motivate me to perform at my highest level every day? I found that it wasn't worth it for me to start over on the same trip I had taken before. I found that looking at where I'd been, what I'd done, the things that I'd learned, that I didn't want to go through all of the hardships, the challenges, and the learning once again only to be where I had been before. You need to assess that every day and every time you think about what you are doing. Where are you going? How are you going to get to your goals? Is the risk worthy of the reward? It is a very difficult exercise to assess these issues in every situation but when you have made the assessment and acted on it I must tell you from my own experience that you should never look back to evaluate the decision you make in view of the place you end up. It is an unfair and valueless exercise.
When you see the potential to achieve something great - what do you do? Do you go for it and do everything within your power to make it happen? You should evaluate the potential first. You should determine the resources necessary and evaluate the odds of success. If you look back on missed opportunities and see that it was a good idea, you will be sorry. I guarantee you that if it was really a good idea; you'll look back and say, “If only I had known. If I could have done that it would have been great. If I would have tried, I should have tried.” Those are things that people say constantly because they didn't take the initiative to evaluate the risks and rewards and then take the actions required to make opportunities happen.
Many people find themselves wishing that they would have taken greater initiative or pursued bigger opportunities. They wish because they simply thought about them instead of actually doing them. If you find yourself uneasy or incapable of pursuing opportunities you need to assess the reasons why. Think about why you are unable or unwilling to take the steps necessary to say, “I did it!” Why haven't you done something different or something great? When have you failed to take action on an opportunity? Are you afraid? Don’t you know what to do to get started? Do you lack the confidence? Do you lack the credibility? Do you lack the money? Do you lack the time? All of those failings can be cured by asserting yourself.
Is there something you can do to become an opportunistic leader? Is there a way to energize yourself to go after those things that might be great? Can you think of a way to make the opportunities happen for you and those who will follow you? Let’s keep the solution simple. Act – don’t think! If you don’t act nothing will happen. When you act, things happen. I will write a million dollar guarantee to confirm that statement. Pursue opportunities and you will be amazed at how fun and Leadergized your life will be. All you must do is assess the opportunity and then address the opportunity with people you trust to give you honest and helpful feedback. The first step will lead you to number two, then three, four, etc. TAKE IT!
Opportunities are the motivations to dream, invent and create things that fill a want, need, or desire of someone or a group of people. Opportunities can confront us at nearly any time and in almost any place. The problem with them is that we are very seldom prepared and alert enough to recognize and understand them. It takes a special person to recognize all of his/her opportunities. When they are extremely alert to them they must also be able to discern which ones they recognize as being worth realizing. Are you happy with your opportunities? If you're not seeing opportunities perhaps you need to look elsewhere. Perhaps you need to be more alert. Maybe you need to better understand what you're looking at, what you're involved with, who your friends are, what your activities are and the things that are going to present opportunities to you. You must reach out to be involved with opportunity. You must also be attentive and knowledgeable enough to recognize opportunity when it occurs.