Path to Leadership
I have been sitting here all day trying to write and still have no real direction. The one thought that keeps coming to mind is how our lives impact leadership. Leadership in the sense of leading others. My prior posts have been about life in general and how to make strides in your personal life. The question becomes how does that relate to leadership? That is a great question.
To answer there are many facets of leadership and the most important aspect in leading is leading one’s personal life. Take for instance a home remodeler. They do fantastic work on their projects and some of their work can lasts decades; however, if you go to their home it needs a lot of work. These men and women put all of themselves into their craft on others; however, have no energy to do it for themselves. Now, take that thought and think about leaders in other organizations. They lead and some do a fantastic job; however, if you look at their personal life it is in shambles. They lead and make major decisions everyday and yet some of the simplest decisions outside of work can seem huge due to all their energy and focus has been at work.
I am a proponent that though these individuals seem like they are winning on the outside they are actually losing in life. There are the mantras of work-life balance and yet here in the United States we seem to work more to achieve success and yet we have high divorce rates, suicides, anger, hatred, depression, anxiety, and so much more. The reason I have focused on life before diving into the theories on leadership and other things that can impact an organization is that we need to be healthy outside of any leadership role.
Now think about this. If a leader, regardless of title, is healthy and able to fire on all cylinders and are healthy personally what kind of impact will they have on their families, friends, community, and organizations? The ripple effect can be felt for generations to come. I can imagine the impact that we can have on the world and eternal impacts these decisions will make. Emotional Intelligence, a healthy and secure life, and so much more impact leadership more than just how you lead your teams.
I am a man that believes in faith and the spiritual side of life. Outside of taking time to enjoy family, friends, hobbies, vacationing, and keeping your body healthy, there is so much more. You must take time to recharge your soul. I know many people do not hold my beliefs; however, there is something about taking time to rejuvenate this part of your life. Some will say this is your emotional aspects of life and that is part of it. But have you ever though my job is soul crushing or I just feel off and don’t know why. Some of this can be resolved by taking time to just be. Take a sabbatical and head to the ocean or mountains. Do something that fills you up. Whatever that means or whatever your faith is do that. I am just saying take care of your whole person so when the time comes you will be ready to lead.
To those that are leaders currently. I encourage you to pursue your balance. Make sure you are unplugging from work. Turn off the phone, shutdown the computer, and spend time with those that matter most. Jobs and positions come and go. Money is fleeting. What is not is your health, family, children and spouse if you have them, friends, moments, memories. In the end, you may be remembered for what you give society; however, what matters most is those that you leave behind and the impact negative or positive you have had on them. We all make mistakes; and as current leader realize that you are not infallible and you are not superhuman. Do your family, team, and most importantly yourself be healthy body, mind and soul.
We are all leaders as we have to lead our own lives daily. Let us take care of ourselves first and taking care and leading others will be the natural outflow of this healthy life. Please feel free to comment and share on this post or any others that you have used. I love to hear feed back and thoughts.
Be Bold! Be Courageous! Be Fearless!
Joel
Every Path has Endings
As I contemplated this post, I had several ideas run through my head. This morning as I woke up, I was reminded of one of the most influential books I have ever read. No this is not the Bible; however, that is the top of my list. This book was suggested to me by a member of a small group I was a part of when I was in the mortgage industry and was searching for my next steps in life. I was at a crossroads and knew that an ending was coming; however, I did not know what that ending was and what the new beginning was going to entail. I was scared, confused, full of fear, lacked boldness and courage. To put it plainly, I was lost. I had no passion or zeal for life and was just barely making it. I was failing in the mortgage industry and in fact was doing a job that I was not created to do. For those in the industry I tip my hat to you as it is definitely a difficult job and necessary position; however, it just wasn’t for me.
This friend acquaintance shared with me a book that ultimately put me on the trajectory path to launch Path of One. This book is about business; however, the impact of the book can be felt not just in business, but in your personal life as well. Dr. Henry Cloud, a psychologist and leadership guru wrote a book many people will recognize Boundaries; however, this is not the book I am discussing. His book Necessary Endings; however, is this book. The premise is that sometimes in business you have to make necessary endings when dealing with projects that are wasting money and the payoff is not coming to fruition. Then there are times that toxic people just need to be let go and get them out of the organization. He calls these people pure evil and you just need to get the lawyers involved and move on. There are two other categories of people that Dr. Cloud talks about in the book and those are wise people that take direction and correction with ease and make the necessary adjustments. The third group is the foolish. Now this is not saying that they are fools running fools’ errands; however, more on that they are not growing in their position or they are not getting the job done. These people if given the opportunity to correct themselves and put into a performance improvement time frame may very well become wise employees; however, with expectations laid out they will know the outcome if they don’t perform.
Foolish may even contribute to where I was at in life. I was not performing well at all at the mortgage company I was at. I was making my calls, yet I was not making progress. I had these passions of helping people and I thought why not mortgage as I had already tried financial services and life insurance. These jobs caused me more stress than I could have imagined, and I needed desperate direction. As I said, this book is more about leadership than personal; however, I saw myself in that book and knew what I needed to do. I put in my resignation and began to take the time to figure out what was next. On a side note, I would not advise someone to just resign their position without a failsafe, i.e. another job. This is what I did and took a few weeks to regain some clarity in life and added other stressors; however, I swallowed my pride and went back to work in the hospitality industry.
Now, you may be saying how did your necessary ending impact you today? That’s a great question. See I went to work at restaurant where I live and quickly became a bartender and trainer within the organization; yet I still wasn’t feeling that I was headed anywhere and though I am good at what I do, I was not passionate about it. One night after work around three in the morning, I opened up my laptop and started Googling grad school programs. To this day I do not remember what I Googled; however, I found a Colorado State University – Global and was started the process of earning my Dual Master of Sciences in Management and Organizational Leadership with an International Business Specialization. My heart’s desire is to help as many people achieve their goals and dreams and make their path a path of brilliant colors.
I know many people right now are looking for change and very well coming up to a necessary ending in life. This can come in many forms. An ending in where you live and moving to a new city, state, or country. Ending a dead-end job and pursuing your dreams and starting a business or going back to school. Taking a necessary ending in a relationship that could be toxic or just has run the course. Whatever your ending is, make the decision to move and allow the ending to launch a new beginning.
If it is a project at work that needs a necessary ending begin the process of change management and being to communicate the change to key associates. During necessary endings and change, always make sure you communicate the why the ending is needed and what the plan is going forward. Allow your staff to process the change and be available to answer any and all questions needed so they are onboard and will help guide the team through the change. Necessary endings are never easy in business nor personal; however, they are needed and can ultimately catapult you to your passion and purpose.
Be Bold! Be Courageous! Be Fearless!
Joel
If you would like to read these books mentioned in the blog feel free to click on the links in the blog or click here: