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Lighten Up, Dear Leader

Part of being a good leader is first acknowledging that you are a leader and understanding that being The Leader is not the same as leadership.

Often the next (unnecessary) step is to get all worked up about how to lead and worry about doing it “right”, thereby stopping yourself from ever getting out the gate. I mean, you can’t actually lead if you aren’t moving.

Lighten up!

I see it all the time. People are so worried about unrealistic standards of perfection, they never make it past the back gate. Note to self: all that worry is wasted energy!

First, if you actually believe you’ve created The Perfect Master Plan, it’s obsolete about 37.3 seconds after you launch it because you don’t control the forces that affect your world.

Second, I hate to break it to you but there is no such thing as The Perfect Master Plan. That’s because it is simply not possible to know everything you need to know before you start. Not ever.

Here’s a motto to live by instead: Perfection is the enemy of done.

I had a wise mentor years ago whose sage advice has guided me since I was in my early 20’s: “You make the best decision you can, based on the information you have. When you get new information, you can make new decisions.”

It’s far more important to trust your intuition, creativity and smarts to handle unseen challenges as they come up than it is to try for the perfect plan before you start moving.

Life is messy and the road is bumpy. Embrace your strengths, acknowledge your gaps, and trust yourself – believe that you’ll make the best decision at every turn, with the info you have on hand. Then don’t be afraid to adjust your course when you hit a snag.

THAT is something a top notch leader would do.

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 By liz gaige, June 30, 2010 · Filed under Articles

Knight in Shining Armour Need Not Apply

So, have you taken the reins yet? Have you committed to becoming your own best leader and providing leadership in whatever roles you fill? Have you decided to live and move with confidence?

Or are you still on the fence, hemming and hawing about whether you’ll move forward and if you do, how you’ll do it. And when. Oh, and then contemplating where to start, instead of jumping in and getting the ball rolling?

I’ve been pondering this question a lot lately as I observe this common trait in entrepreneurs of all ages, from all walks of life. It makes me curious. What is that about?

I took part in a workshop recently and at one point was fascinated to observe some of the self-defeating habits we engage in: hesitating to state our wants and needs, second guessing our decisions, doubting our own value and worthiness, and diminishing ourselves and our strengths. It was pretty consistent, eye opening…and a little disheartening.

What will it take for us to step into the beauty of being ourselves and creating what we want? Sometimes I wonder if we’re living with a residual Cinderella complex – we secretly believe there’s a magical prince coming to our rescue. So we sit and wait for someone to hand us the answers, the directions, the keys.

Guess what? Not only is the prince not coming, there never was a prince!

If you’re tired of taking a back seat when the driver’s seat is sitting empty waiting for you to occupy it, here are a few things I’ve discovered along the way that may help you climb up front.

Procrastinator
If you prefer to stay stuck, the following are guaranteed to keep you right where you are:

• Believing you must be something other than who/what you are in order to succeed
• Not being clear in your intention, your goal
• Not stating clearly to yourself and your team, what you want
• Believing there is only ONE right way to accomplish a goal or activity
• Not starting until you think you have all the angles figured out (you never actually do)

Activator
If you want to give your venture — and your life — a shot at living up to your dreams, you must start playing by different rules:

• You are fully capable of realizing your dreams and potential
• You can’t reach a destination without identifying a destination and moving forward toward it
• There is no one right answer, there are many
• Make the best decision you can with the info you have, then tweak as you go
• Getting started is more important than doing things perfectly or in the perfect order
• The path isn’t straight and you can’t plan for everything. Get used to it!

What are you waiting for? Really, take a moment and ask yourself the question. If you want to live YOUR dreams, YOU are the only one who can take the lead in your life.

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 By liz gaige, June 23, 2010 · Filed under Articles

What Passes for Leadership?

What passes for a leader in your experience? I’ve seen all kinds of leaders based on a variety of criteria:

• Talks the loudest
• Spent the most time in school, has the most letters after their name to prove it
• Operates on The Golden Rule of Business: “He who has the gold, makes the rules”
• Is the most popular, has the most friends in high places
• Holds the leader’s title, The Boss

Being The Leader, however, doesn’t automatically mean having a handle on effective leadership. Being the leader means you’re at the top of the pyramid or leading the charge. In some way, the buck stops with you. Leadership, on the other hand, is the ability to motivate others to action in supporting a vision/goal and takes many forms.

You can be The Leader without providing effective leadership, and conversely, you don’t have to be The Leader to provide leadership. Leadership can come from any level within a team, not just the top. It even happens in organizations with flat organizational structures.

There is someone on every team who provides leadership either directly or indirectly. In one firm I worked at many years ago it was the managing partner’s secretary. She was the go-to-gal on matters big and small. She not only had the history and experience to make decisions, she had the ear of the managing partner who trusted her and her perspective. You had to get by her before you could get in front of him. Even if you a senior partner in the firm!

I also remember a junior whose position was technically higher on the org chart than the support staff, but he got nowhere because he had no actual leadership skills and was unable to motivate or influence, even with people who were supposed to listen to him! He was continually undermined and got nowhere.

Look around the organizations and teams you’re involved with. Is the person at the head of the table the one providing leadership? Or is it the quiet but rock solid individual off to the side, whose opinion is always consulted before decisions are finalized?

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
- Dwight Eisenhower

Remember, you can practice leadership right now, no matter what role you have or role you aspire to. Develop and practice healthy leadership – motivate, don’t boss.

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 By liz gaige, June 16, 2010 · Filed under Articles

Confidence to Lead Comes From You

How many hours a day do you spend patting yourself on the back for what you’ve accomplished, acknowledging your ability to make smart decisions based on all that great experience, and imagining how well you will meet any challenge that life throws at you?

In contrast, how many hours a day do you spend imagining all the ways your latest project could go sideways, listing all of the skills and experience you don’t have, and doubting that you are capable of reaching your goals.

I’d bet money that you spend a lot more time on the latter, giving barely (if any) thought to the former. And that just makes me crazy!

There may be 101 reasons why we lack confidence and continuously limit our own potential, from having it educated out of us (Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk is a must-see) to letting unexamined, instinctive fear hold us back. But there are 0 reasons to keep thinking that way.

Staying in that frame of mind, only keeps you stuck and paralyzed. Einstein had it right, if you want the outcome to be different you need to change the approach.

In pursuit of that, I challenge you to spend at least as much time every single day focused on what makes you amazing as you do on diminishing your value.

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 By liz gaige, June 9, 2010 · Filed under Articles