A 2010 Leader

November 15, 2010 • Business, News, Personal Development, Politics • by
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13 days ago, the U.S. House of Representatives changed hands, and by historic measure. I don’t know what the final count was, but it’s really not important today. What is important is understanding something that Rep. Eric Cantor said. Cantor said that the GOP victories weren’t so much an endorsement of the GOP as it was an admonition of Rep. Pelosi’s Democratic-lead House.

Likely Speaker of the House John Boehner said nearly the same thing in his “victory” speech. I have made no secret that I consider myself a conservative. But notice I didn’t say Republican. Over the last eight years, the Republicans as a party lost their way and this is their second chance.

So now with new leadership on the way, it has me thinking what I want the new leadership to do and look like. But also in a general sense, what I believe real leadership to be.

  1. Open. Leadership means openness. It means frankness. If something isn’t good, say it. If it is good, say it. It means not protecting your ass, but protecting those you lead.
  2. Talk. Real leaders talk and they talk a lot. They work for solutions. Sometimes that means back-door meetings to strike a deal, but it doesn’t have to be like that. I hated the health care debate because towards the end, it seemed that all the votes were being bought. that’s not leadership. Leadership is bringing people to the table and making compromises that make the best solution for the people.
  3. Humble. Being in power means a leader must also maintain a sense of self and humbleness. Many people in Washington it seems have lost that sense of home, of people, of compassion. They seem to have lost sight of why they ran for office in the first place.
  4. Sincere. A real leader stands up for what they believe, even if it means losing. I hope over the next two years the votes in the House are exciting, because it’s not just us vs. them. It’s a true count, a true vote of heart, and of what is right for the people they represent.

Those are just a few thoughts on leadership at the end of 2010.

What are your qualities you want in a leader?

(flickr photo via Hamed)

Your WOW Factor

September 29, 2010 • Business, Life • by
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On any given day, you are liable to talk positively or negatively about a company or an organization that you have interactions with. Businesses count on the positive interactions to increase what they call brand awareness. The same goes for your as a person.

When someone has an interaction with you, they will feel something. They will think something. And they will remember something. Believe it or not, what that is, is entirely up to you.

Think about your favorite companies and people. They all have something you remember without even thinking about it. I can tell you right now that I LUV Southwest Airlines because they are easy to work with, don’t gouge me and genuinely love what they do and who they serve. I can tell you right now that my experiences with many other airlines don’t give me that same feeling. Their “WOW” factor is a negative one.

The same thing goes with people. My friend Tylor who is a tennis pro has a “WOW” factor when it comes to his passion for his craft. He really is the most passionate person I know who works each and every day on the court. His clients feed off of his passion and his energy. I also know other people who drain your energy, your passion and your drive.

I bring all this up because of what Is aid at the beginning: What people feel about you, is in fact, entirely up to you!

What is your WOW factor?

(flickr photo via sanfranannie)

Personal Conditioning Test

August 23, 2010 • Business, Sports • by
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A few weeks ago (if you’re a fan of the NFL) you watched with a little comedic value one of the highest paid players not pass the typical NFL Conditioning Test. For starters this guy, Albert Haynesworth, sat out most of the off-season camps after signing a huge contract (with a $21 million signing bonus) because he wasn’t happy with the direction of the defense. To all the NFL teams out there, you can pay me league minimum and I’ll play whatever position you want me to. But that of course is not the point.

track

It’s about commitment. It’s about dedication. You sign a contract, especially one that big, you show up. More than that, you should up ready! Haynesworth didn’t do that. He showed up and didn’t pass the test for a whole week. So not only did he not participate in off-season team activities, he didn’t show up ready to work and therefore missed a week of practice.

Let me set this up for you. The test goes like this. You have 70 seconds to do this: run 50 yards, turn around come back, turn around go back, turn around go back, turn around go back, turn around and go back. That equals six 50-yard “sprints.” Then you have three-and-a-half minutes rest. After that you have 73 seconds to do it all again. Pass and you can practice. Fail and you are done until the test again the next morning. Curiously, I decided to take the test last week. I was nervous … what if I failed? Well … nothing really, but I wanted to see if I was NFL material.

Here are my 100-yard splits: 21.9, 24.0 and 23.6. That equals 69.5. I made the first set with 0.5 seconds to spare. I had my break, which by the way, 3:30 is a long time. My next 100-yard splits were: 21.0, 22.1 and 22.1. That equals 63.2. Nearly ten seconds under the required time!

What does that say? It says that not only did I pass the NFL Conditioning Test, but that with a little commitment, you can be an asset. But with no commitment, you not only let yourself down, you let the team down.

Where can you up your commitment this week?

(flickr photo via Olli A)

What is Possible?

August 16, 2010 • Business, Life • by
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Last week I spent a few hours leading a workshop/ideation session at a university. It was a fun group (all information technology folks), and it was fun to see everyone with their Droid’s, iPads and laptops. But what was even more fun was how they looked at all the problems I posed.

For instance, we did a team activity where I gave each table a simple task. Then after five minutes, I changed the task. But each time, I never mentioned and was never asked what the objective was. I simply gave a task. When we got into the de-brief stage one of the team members raised the flaw in my team activity.

“You never told us what the objective was,” he said. I quickly countered, “But you never asked. If any of you wondered, you certainly didn’t ask me. You all made an assumption as to the end game.”

Then I went silent. I watched them as they started to nod their heads. They got it. It was a profound moment. For a group of people who fix problems and design solutions, it was a surprise they didn’t ask for the objective.

Knowing what the objective or what the “end-game” looks like is the most important piece of information when tackling an kind of a task.

If someone asks you the jump, obviously their verbal objective is to have you jump. But maybe they also want you to jump a foot off of the ground. But if you don’t ask and they don’t say, no one knows the true objective.

With any task, it is imperative to know what the desired outcome is. You need to know this about anything in your own life too. What do you want? Once you know that, you can start going after it. But if your current objective is “to be happy,” you have no idea what that looks like. Think about that today.

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“I really enjoyed your seminar in St. Joe. I especially liked the suggestion that we come up with our own personal mission statement. I did this, and now I am living it! Thanks so much!”

-Pat Sneed

Anything is Possible




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