Leadership

Jan

2023

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Communication

When you think about Martin Luther King Jr., what comes to mind?

An ambassador for civil rights.

A strong leader.

Maybe it is his “I Have a Dream” speech from the Lincoln Memorial.

Without a doubt, he was an excellent communicator, and that is a skill any leader must have. Because we are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and his life on this day, I took time to watch some of his speeches¹, and here are a few principles we can gather from his communication. Read these and think of how you can apply them to your leadership.

Moral Authority

Dr. King was not a man to communicate, inspire and then sit back and watch others. He lived it out as well. Whether marching on Selma or seeing and experiencing the oppression he spoke against. Dr. King was sent to jail 29 times for civil disobedience or other charges like driving 30 in a 25.². These experiences gave him credibility and authority when he communicated. As leaders, are we communicating from experience or philosophizing?

Let me expand for a moment. We may not live out what we communicate perfectly, but are we on the journey? I may train how to communicate effectively with others during workshops, but I will admit my imperfections. Being on the journey and honest about your experience gives as much authority as “having been there.”

Passion

While preparing this, I started with Dr. King’s “March on Washington” speech. As I observed the speech, I saw he started reading his remarks for much of the time, and then as he shared his dream he was not reading. Whether reading or speaking more spontaneously, he was always passionate.

People are moved by emotion and often later justify their decisions with logic. I am not suggesting we communicate in a way that manipulates. But, if part of the job of a leader is to inspire, then we can not inspire with monotone communication. Bring your heart, bring your enthusiasm, and bring your passion. Some may not jump on board but don’t hide from your vision.

Connection

In his book Martin Luther King Jr. on Leadership, Donald Phillips examines Dr. King’s public speaking. He highlights the following principle from King’s communication:

“Speaking in the shared language of the community helps establish common ground with your audience.”

While listening to some of his speeches, I heard him trying to connect. For example, during his speech in Washington, he reminded the crowd of the oppression they experienced in different states by having firehoses shot at them or dogs let loose on them. He was attempting to connect with the people by reminding them of these circumstances.

Leaders must connect with those they are communicating with. One way is by finding common ground. If you are a leader and those you talk to feel you are “one of them,” you will struggle to connect and impact the lives of those you lead.

As you look at these three areas, what do you need to improve to communicate more effectively? Need help understanding your communication style? Go here to invest in a Maxwell DISC Personality Indicator to understand your communication style and help you connect better with those you lead. Lead well!

https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/article/2018/04/5-of-martin-luther-king-jrs-most-memorable-speeches retrieved 1/8/2023
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-martin-luther-king-jr#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20King%20Center,mile%2Dper%2Dhour%20zone. retrieved 1/8/2023

Dec

2022

Love and Leadership

I’ve been doing a three part series on leadership and how it relates to themes we hear during the Holiday season. This last one may strike you as odd because in many organizational cultures it seems like a “soft” word.

Love.

How does love play out in our leadership of others. Let’s be honest the people we work with aren’t our family and sometimes we have a hard time loving our family. Quite frankly some people we work with flat out annoy us! Allow me to look at multiple Greek words for love and explore how or if they are applicable for leaders.

Xenia

This word for love means “hospitality.” I have walked in the office of leaders and their back is to me. Their desk seems like a fortress and their office feels kind of cold. You may be a person that could care less about all of that, but it can have unintended consequences. Maybe people are intimidated to come in and ask a question because you are always busy even though you say you have an “open door” policy. The environment speaks differently. Create an open and inviting environment where people feel welcome to enter your office when the door is open. Hospitality invites relationship and leadership is all about relationships.

Philautia

This word means “self-love.” I don’t think I have to say a lot about this one. We all have met the leader who is FULL of this kind of love. This love does not serve our teams. This kind of love is healthy when it leads to a proper self-image and confidence. We get out of hand if as the leader we are consumed ourselves and satisfying personal agendas.

As a leader you want your people to have confidence and a healthy self-image, but beware of this kind of love turning into self-serving egotism.

Storge

This word refers to the type of love and affection especially between parents and children. If you lead a family business the application can be clearer, but what about everyone else. Maybe the best example of this type of love from a leader would be in reverse mentoring.

Reverse mentoring is when older generations learn from the younger generations. For example, maybe instead of thinking the new twenty-somethings don’t know anything have a humble posture and learn from them about new technology or other trends you may not be aware of. On the other hand when you come alongside an individual new to the organization and demonstrate paternal care to make them feel welcome and supported you demonstrate this type of love.

Philia

This word means a “brotherly love.” We aren’t going to be best friends with those we lead nor should we. Let’s explore this a little bit though. If you have a sibling you may be very loyal to him or her. You are allowed to pick on your younger sibling, but if anyone else messes with him or her. . . . you are ready for a fight! What could this look like in your leadership.

If this type of love is present in your organization people will feel like they are part of a family. I know an organization where people work very hard, long hours, and have candid conversations. Those traits would all be present in many families. They also have fun with one another and will care for one another. As a leader if you live this love it creates a family culture in your organization or on your team.

Agape

Of all the definitions this is the most difficult to embody as a leader. One definition of this in the Greek is “love-feasts.” Another way I have often heard this defined is unconditional love. Like I said, there are some people we work with or alongside that we may not get along with well at all. Our personalities clash, our leadership styles clash, or many other things. As a leader when we demonstrate agape love people feel safe.

Agape love is not a love that does not speak truth. This is a love that sees the truth and still accepts you. As a leader when your team members fail do they feel safe to tell you or are they worried they will be chewed out? There is so much more to this word which Joel Mamby former CEO of Sea World and Saab dives into in his book Love Works. Our simple takeaway is do people feel safe in your leadership even when experiencing a difficult conversation? If people feel safe even when the professional relationship ends then you are leading with agape love.

As you look at these definitions of love, what is one shift you can make to love better as a leader? Need help thinking into this? Contact me for a one-on-one coaching session to help you think into how you can grow in this to improve your performance and that of your team. Lead Well!

Dec

2022

Faith: A Leader’s Ally

During the holiday season we hear words like faith, hope, and love. Last post I shared how hope helps us in our leadership. Today I want to look at faith. Before going any further allow me to share two definitions of faith I found:

“Belief and trust in and loyalty to God” or “firm belief in something for which there is no proof, trust”¹

I’ll address the first definition at the end. What I want to explore is how the second definition affects our leadership and those we lead.

Grows Confidence

“You can’t follow someone who isn’t credible, who doesn’t truly believe in what they’re doing – and how their doing it.”

Gayle Hamilton, Pacific Gas and Electric

Have you ever had to sell an idea you didn’t really believe in? Maybe it was passed down the “ladder” and you had to share it. How did your team receive it?

On the other hand, think of a time when you were passionate about the idea you were proposing. How did that impact your team? I bet they were energized from your enthusiasm and faith that the plan would work. This enthusiasm and faith build the initial energy to move forward. As the idea becomes reality people’s faith grows and your credibility with them.

Credibility is the foundation for confidence. Imagine weighing 300 pounds and trying to sell someone on the idea of weight loss. They will not be as confident in you as they would in an athlete selling this idea. When we have proven ourselves to come through in the past people have faith in us and increased confidence which helps the team move forward.

Solidifies Buy In

“People buy into the leader, then into the vision.” John C. Maxwell

When we first assume a leadership position one of the major tools we have is faith. People may not know us, or we have not proven our leadership so we have to demonstrate we can be trusted. As the leader you paint a picture of a possible future and have faith that can become reality.

At first you may be the only one who believes the project can be completed on time. You set small goals with deadlines and the team hits these goals. Their faith increases. They start to trust the process and you. As they trust that you are integrous and can get results their faith increases and so does their buy-in. As the entire team buys in the goals are reached more rapidly.

Provides Peace

You can skip this section if you want, but I want to explore the first definition. As a person of faith that believes in God, it makes it easier to lead. Stress increases if everything depends on me to accomplish the vision. I have limited awareness.

As a person of faith, I know there is someone in control of everything and even in the bad moments He is still in control. Bad moments have occurred in my life and business, but when I have acted with good faith and good intentions often I have seen good ultimately come out of it. Maybe you are not a person of faith and that is ok. Consider this: if there were someone bigger than you in control would you have more peace? Take the next best step and have faith that even a mistake is not fatal because someone bigger than you is still in charge. This mindset gives me peace and maybe it will help you as well.

This week what do you need to do to increase the confidence and faith of yourself and those you lead? Who can help you in this? If I can help you, let me know. Lead Well!

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith retreived 12/11/22

Dec

2022

Hope: A Leader’s Responsibility

I had the opportunity to be a part of our local Rotary Club’s charity ball to raise money to build wells in Sierra Leone. This event has been occurring for eleven years now. The morning before at our weekly meeting I was able to hear from a leader in Freetown, Sierra Leon share the social, emotional, and overall impact these wells bring to a community.

After attending that event and thinking about recent events in my life, our world, and the holiday season it got me curious about the impact of hope. As leaders we have a job to provide hope. I got curious and asked what impact hope has on others and why is it important for a leader?

You are the leader they should do what you ask, right? Hopefully you don’t agree with that statement and know I don’t if you’ve been reading these for a while. I did a little research and am going to highlight a few keys to providing hope as the leader

Have Hope

“If you lose hope, that may be your last loss, because when hope is gone, so is motivation and the ability to learn.” John Maxwell

Hope is at the foundation of leadership. A leader sees more before others often by seeing a problem or need and has hope they can provide a solution. The leader of this event saw the need for obtaining fresh water without walking hours to a filthy river with the chance of endangering the lives of young girls during the journey. He did something about it. Eleven years ago he started a project to raise funds in collaboration with a club in Sierra Leone to provide long lasting wells in various communities.

They started with hope and eventually small results and now have impacted hundreds of thousands of lives. It all started in the heart of a leader with hope. As a leader what is the hope you are clinging to? Hope fuels the desire to learn, grow, and make a bigger impact than we may be able to make on our own.

Give Hope

“Throughout history the effectiveness of a leader has been attributed to the leader’s ability to generate hope.” Kay Herth citing Luthens and Avolio

An individual may have hope, but they have to be able to transfer that to others. The bigger the problem and need, the larger the team. As the quote above mentions, a leader is only as effective as the hope he or she can generate within first. Once that hope is alive inside the leader, he or she must stimulate the growth of that hope by building a team. A hope-filled vision inspires a team and helps it build momentum.

Inspire Internal Hope

“Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Hope is the faith that, together, we can make things better.” John Maxwell

There are two types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic comes from some type of outside force, reward, or influence. This requires the leader to continually remind people of the reason the team should keep pressing forward.

On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is fueled by something within the individual. Individuals with this type of motivation have internal hope. This is not just optimistic thinking that life will improve, but as John Maxwell states above, a faith that as a team we will make things better.

When a leader has shifted from giving to inspiring hope their team will move mountains. Hope is the fuel that creates an expectation in team members that the goal will be attained. A team ignited by hope will tear down walls to accomplish the vision.

Here is the question: how are you at inspiring hope in those you lead? What can you do today to give them hope with a plan to work toward? Leaders must provide hope and a plan to get the team where they are trying to go. There is another element to this, but we will save that for next week. Need help thinking into how you give hope? Contact me for a powerful coaching session. Lead Well!

Luthans, F., & Avolio, B. (2003). Authentic leadership: A positive development approach. In Cameron, K., Dutton, J. & Quinn, R. (Eds), Positive Organizational Scholarship, (241-253). San Franciso; Barrett-Koehler.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kaye-Herth/publication/264838550_Leadership_from_a_Hope_Paradigm/links/543284530cf20c6211bc53e1/Leadership-from-a-Hope-Paradigm.pdf retrieved 12/4/2022

Maxwell, John. Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn. Center Street, New York: 2013

https://web.archive.org/web/20180512081422id_/https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2006/cerff_winston.pdf retrieved 12/4/2022

Nov

2022

Leadership Lessons: Sam Walton

I was at Goodwill one day browsing the books and picked up the autobiography on Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart. I’m always interested to learn from the stories of successful people and he is one of those people.

I won’t go into his story because you can get the book yourself. What I will highlight is a few ideas that jumped out and what the leadership lessons are for us.

“Sharing information and responsibility is a key to any partnership. It makes people feel responsible and involved,”

Leadership expert John Maxwell talks about the “knowledge myth” which some leaders believe. This is the idea that he who has the knowledge has the power. Sam Walton believed in sharing power and one practical way he did that is by sharing information with team members at all levels.

This information sharing created a culture where people were more willing to be engaged and helped improve results. He took this a step further in a partnership with Proctor & Gamble where they mutually shared key information in order to improve efficiency. As leaders if we limit knowledge sharing, we decrease the opportunity to gain new ideas from all areas of the organization.

“If you want the people in the stores to take care of the customers, you have to make sure you’re taking care of the people in the stores.”

During the shutdown of 2020 I saw an organization model this idea of taking care of your people. Before there was a mandate to shutdown, this organization decided to cancel a major event because it was best for the people they served even though it was not good for profitability.

Sam realized that if he took care of his employees which meant improving their pay, involving them in profit sharing, and other employee experiences they would be happier and take care of the customers. Even on a site visit where the store managers knew the store that was newly opened looked terrible he still encouraged them. Why? He knew the time they put in and didn’t want to demoralize all their effort reinforcing what they already knew.

Caring for your people even when it means holding your tongue may be the best way to keep a positive culture. Sometimes we need to be discerning as to when we speak candidly and be certain we understand the entire context.

“What we were obsessed with was keeping our prices below everybody else’s.”

Sam was drowning in debt around the time they took Wal-Mart public. This was a great way for them to clear their debt and be able to run the organization with positive cash flow. As he discusses this time period he refers back to the importance of keeping the main thing the main thing and not bending to the whims of stockholders.

Leaders have an important task to be clear on what the “main thing” is and keep it in focus at all times. This prevents drifting and chasing that which will not serve your organization or team in the long run. Listen to what is going on around you, but be clear on your purpose and values and let them guide your decisions.

“I’ve made it my own personal mission to ensure that constant change is a vital part of the Wal-Mart culture itself.”

Before this statement Walton highlights the idea that people will hold tightly to something when they believe it is the best way. I would call this “the way we’ve always done it” syndrome. When leaders cling to one way and are not flexible thinkers, they miss opportunities and potential growth.

Sam was constantly learning from others in the industry by going into stores and seeing how they did business. This learning fueled change to keep them growing and preventing complacency.

These were only a few ideas that I learned from his leadership. Which of these do you need to grow in? How do you need to evolve as a leader to improve the results of your team? Need help thinking into your leadership? Contact me for a thinking partner session. Lead Well.

Nov

2022

Gratitude in Leadership

Let’s be honest. As a leader you are under a lot of pressure. You don’t have time to obsess over positive thinking because you are a leader and you want to get stuff done!

You’ve got goals to reach. Deadlines to meet. Teams to lead. People who expect a lot out of you. The pressure can be high and what does this gratitude have to do with leadership.

“It’s your job, just do it. I don’t have to thank you or show gratitude.”

How many of you feel this way? Constantly or maybe just occasionally.

Maybe you know someone who leads you and you can tell he or she feels this way. Could a little bit of gratitude help?

Research

I’m not going to nerd out on this, but I will share a study I found on the effects of gratitude on mental wellbeing.¹ Without going into the details because you can read it yourself, the researchers found five minutes of gratitude meditation lowered heart rates and improved mental health.

Another research study took 300 mostly university students and divided them into three groups. All received counseling services, but only one was instructed to write a gratitude letter each week. After four to twelve weeks those writing the weekly gratitude letter reported significantly improved mental health.²

These two studies (and I’m sure there are more) show gratitude is beneficial. So, allow me to suggest a few ways to apply this to leadership.

Focus on the Opportunity

With every difficulty there is the possibility of an opportunity. Did you know during economic downturns companies such as General Electric, IBM, Disney and more were born?³ This means these leaders must have seen an opportunity amidst the difficulties in society at the time. What helped them see the opportunity?

A choice. They chose to look for the opportunity amidst the difficulty instead of focusing only on the problems around them. What we focus on expands so if we ask where are the opportunities and keep a posture of positive gratitude for what we have we will see possibilities amidst the problems.

Our Thinking Impacts Our Energy

“How we think we feel has a definite effect on how we actually feel physically.” Norman Vincent Peale

It’s been said there are no two good days in a leader’s life. Leaders deal with problems. Are we focusing on how we “have to” do something or do we shift to an attitude of gratitude saying we “get to” do it?

I was thinking about my day one morning and I made that simple shift. I get to . . . This simple shift not only impacted my mood, but also my physical energy. This is a choice we all can make every day. Try shifting from “have to” to “get to” and see what happens.

Gratitude Increases Morale

I hope you aren’t like me and naturally lean toward the critical side. I confess, I am very critical. I must choose to see the positive. When it comes to people I work alongside I find the more I express genuine and specific appreciation it strengthens our relationships and keeps morale high.

As the leader you can be a thermostat. Set the temperature by looking for ways to show gratitude to those you lead. It doesn’t have to be big, but it should always be authentic and as specific as possible. Try it for a week and see how the temperature of your team improves.

Which of these do you need to work on in the next twenty-four hours? Need a tool to assess the temperature of your team? Contact me to learn about The Maxwell Leadership Game which is a great tool to start creating an environment of gratitude. In the meantime, focus on what you are thankful for today. Lead Well.