Author: Mark S. Brown

If you want to be a leader, simply lead! Simply lead, was the theme of this year’s Leadercast. Leadership can be very effective if you are able to take a complex situation and make it simple.

The day was filled with six speakers, three interviews, live music, and great fun. Andy Stanley was the first speaker of the day. Andy said, “Growth creates complexity, and complexity is the enemy of everything. Clarity is the most important thing. If you lose clarity, you lose the ability to move your team.”

He used three questions to show how simple leadership can be.

1. What are we doing?
2. Why are we doing it?
3. Where do I fit in?

These three simple questions can keep you on track. It can bring clarity to a complex situation.

If you missed the Leadercast event, you can purchase a kit that will let you view the event, and provide other resources to support your leadership journey. Of course, put on your calendar the next event, May 9, 2014.

Clarence Francis said, “You can buy a person’s time; you can buy their physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured number of their skilled muscular motions per hour. But you can not buy enthusiasm… you can not buy loyalty. You can not buy the devotion of hearts, minds, or souls. You must earn these.” However, loyalty is not easily earned.

Loyalty is built over time through action. It is not a feeling that can be developed based on thoughts or ideas, but only upon demonstration of trust, openness, and a mutual need.

Loyalty is a two way proposal. Long lasting loyalty does not work one way. You can not receive true loyalty from another person if you are not loyal to them.

A simple exercise for this week is to reflect on your level of loyalty to those within your inner circle. How can you strengthen the loyalty of your team? What acts will demonstrate and build the loyalty you want?

“Leadership is stewardship. It’s temporary and you’re accountable.”, said Andy Stanley. I have never thought of my leadership positions as being temporary, yet all of them have been. As a leader we are focused on finding success for our team. We continually monitor and plan for both the short term and long term.

Being a leader is a bit of a paradox. As a human being we resist change. We like stability. However, change is what leads to success. Most of a leader’s time is spent managing change within his team or organization, not their own personal change and growth.

How can we better prepare ourselves for changes that are inevitable in our own lives? As a leader we should be good at it. However, this does not seem to be the case. Here are 3 ideas on how to prepare yourself for changes within yourself.

1. Develop a vision. A leader is responsible for creating and communicating their organization’s mission. Do you have a defined vision and mission statement for your life? A well thought out vision and and a well written mission statement can help you clarify where you want to be in the future. It seems simple, but very few people have taken the time to create a personal mission statement. If you reflect back on the major changes in your life, do you think one mission statement could capture your decisions, and describe your path to today? Would your path have changed if you had a vision and mission early in your life?

2. Create a sense of urgency. This is one of the key drivers of change in your organization. You have had to set the timing, the pace, the urgency. Do you create the same sense of urgency within your life? Most leaders are content to create urgency at work, and then come home and relax in the comfort of their stable and secure environment.

3. Clarify why change is necessary. In a work environment, we can determine the need for change through performance metrics and goals. Do you have any measures that will help you link your daily life with your personal vision and mission? Could you create metrics around your desired future? As a leader, you are very familiar with daily, weekly, and monthly reports. Create a process to summarize your personal life in a form that will create a view of your success. Maybe a quarterly report card will help reflect your progress towards your life goals, and help you clarify your focus.

Dan Cathy has said, “[In an organization], when the rate of external change continually outpaces the rate of internal change, disaster is imminent.” Reflect on how the rate of change around you versus the rate of change in your own life results in peace or conflict. Aligning personal change with external change is one way to increase your internal peace.

From a well know proverb we hear, “From listening comes wisdom and from speaking, repentance.” Listening is an important skill when connecting with others. It is also an important skill for staying in touch with yourself. Here are three ways to listening within.

1. Listen to your heart. When you reflect on your actions for the day, we usually think with our head. We must not forget to listen to our heart. Have we acted the way we should have acted. Have we treated others with fairness and respect.

2. Know your values. Your values are your own. They are unique to your being. Most were born from early experiences in our lives, but some we develop as we grow wiser. Listen to your thoughts, reflect, and match your thoughts with your values. Staying aligned with who you want to be, and avoiding the trap of being to busy.

3. Follow your intuition. Your intuition is a great gift born of experience and knowledge, but sharpened into instinct. It guides you, if you listen.

“Listen to what you know instead of what you fear,” said Richard Bach. Reflecting and listening will help keep you grounded, and control your fears. Each day joy is within you. Take the time to listen.