“History’s worst leaders never learned to follow. As a result, they became tyrants, making the lives of their own followers miserable.”

~Michael Hyatt~

Chances are if you are reading this, you have an interest in leadership or see yourself as a leader. The real question is “do others view you as a leader?” You are not a leader unless you have followers. You may think of yourself as the world’s greatest leader…just no one has recognized you yet. Chances are you spend too much time in your own mind and not listening to the thoughts of others. Stop focusing on being a great leader and instead, focus and practice being a great follower.

Great leaders learn, first, by being great followers. Michael Hyatt believes that some of the world’s worst leaders never learned to follow. Simply, they thought extremely highly of themselves and they were able to grasp power and control and feel like a leader. Power does not signify a great leader. In fact, power often exposes a leader for how terrible, ineffective and immature he/she is. What restrains power? Humility.

1. Great followers practice great humility. 

History’s greatest leaders have all had great humility. Great humility is learned by, first, learning to follow. For any of you reading this that have journeyed through life for any length of time will know what I am about to say to be true: there are only two paths to deal with humility and both require pain. The first one is to get humbled. This is extremely painful. The Bible is clear, “pride goes before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). The second is to chose humility. This too involves pain, but far less than if someone else humbles you. I have learned it is far better to lower yourself, than to get knocked off your feet!

Humility is critical to great leaders, because without it, the leader will ignore the counsel of others, insulate him/herself with voices that only speak what they perceive the leader wants to hear and isolate themselves from truth.

Following can be hard, especially, for the leader that in his/her heart sees errors and mistakes of the leader and worse, has to deal with the consequences of poor decisions. One of the best ways to develop your own leadership is to serve under a leader who does things wrong or poorly. This teaches you discomfort. It is good for a leader to stay uncomfortable. Discomfort often creates a heightened state of alertness.

The opposite of humility is pride.

2. Great followers live in a truth-filled reality. 

Don’t construct an alternate universe because you don’t agree with the one you are currently living in or the role or position you currently have. Reality is the state things truly exist in. To many wanna-be leaders live in the fantasies of their own minds, constructing alternate realities that they try to impose on others. Here’s the problem: your alternate reality looks abnormal to those around you. You are not as great as you think you are.

reality = truth

alternate reality = deception 

Alternate reality is constructed because of pride. Pride unchecked becomes arrogance. Arrogance leads to destruction. Some leaders will fall from lofty heights never to recover and be useful as a leader. Followers learn to climb slowly, carefully and with patience test the truth of each new step. Poor leaders rush to judgment, rush to decision and rush through their growth curves, whereby, enhancing their own ability to be deceived.

Learn to follow. Enjoy being a follower. Enjoy making your leader look good. Followers have the freedom to not worry about who gets the credit. Arrogant leaders are immature leaders. Immature leaders are concerned with who gets the credit or the blame. Great followers accept the blame and share the credit. The ability of follower to do this shows they have crossed one of the largest obstacles to becoming a great leader: self.

The opposite of reality is deception. 

3. Great followers practice perpetual loyalty. 

Loyalty is locked-in faithfulness. People today know how to lock-in, but, increasingly, they don’t know what it means to be faithful.

One of my favorite stories that demonstrate faithfulness is the story of Hachi (or Hachiko) the golden-brown Akita breed of dog. Hachi would accompany his owner, a university professor to the train station each morning. In the afternoon, Hachi would arrive precisely at the time the train would arrive to accompany his master home. One day, Hachi’s owner died of a brain hemorrhage, unknowing his master died, Hachi showed up at the train station. Hachi would show up for 9 more years every day at the train station to await his master’s return. Hachi was more than committed. He was loyal. Hachi was locked-in every day for 9 years until he passed away. We don’t have humans that can stay faithful for 9 hours, much less 9 years.

To lead well you must have great loyalty. Loyalty means even if you disagree you don’t gossip, slander or criticize your leader. Followers must learn to accept the things they cannot change and stay faithful. Followers must stay locked-in to the target, no matter the variables, the obstacles or the adversity.

The opposite of loyalty is infidelity (unfaithfulness). 

4. Great followers don’t sacrifice personal integrity.

Great followers that become great leaders never sacrifice their integrity for gain, profit or success. In fact, they learn to value their integrity as an absolute in their character. As the climate of greed accelerates in our world followers must learn to stand firm and strong in regards to integrity. Cheating, lying and stealing must be things that the follower learning to lead never practices. Cutting corners, taking short cuts or just avoiding issues is not the path of integrity. Integrity is moral worth. Your integrity and your character are one in the same. Integrity is the culmination of your honesty, truthfulness and moral fiber. Sadly, too many leaders are corrupt and practice little to no integrity whatsoever. These kind of leaders are warped and great leaders always have a public honesty that is superseded by a private, personal integrity. Don’t sacrifice your integrity for personal gain for by doing so you are sacrificing your moral composition. Moral compromise is the doorway to destruction.

Leaders must learn to be good followers first. This is done through the lessons of humility, reality, loyalty and integrity. 

Look around. Who are you following? Who’s following you? 

To be a great leader, you need great followers.

(c) Redwall, LLC. 2016.

Leaders that lack passion will soon be pulled in opposing directions. 

Leaders that lack a passion for their vision or their goals will be torn apart as their organization moves forward. There are always going be distractions, competing interests and adversity that the leader must recognize and respond appropriately to.

What is Passion? 

Passion is a sincere energy and a contagious enthusiasm.

If someone can catch your energy then you have contagious enthusiasm. It is often called charisma. Leaders have to have some of “it”. This is often the “it” that is undefinable, but totally followable by others. Leaders that lack this will simply be filling a position. They will not have the power to motivate those around them. Subsequently, when a leader lacks the power to motivate, he/she will resort to manipulation.

Leaders are masters of motivation and never resort to manipulation. 

Manipulation is the twisting of another for your personal achievement. Deception and flattery are the twin arms of manipulation. Beware of people who falsely praise you (flatter). Beware of people who twist things (deception). Leaders operate in the light. The light is transparency.

Motivation is the ability to inspire others. Passionate leaders have the ability to inspire others, where place-holder position people (poor leaders) resort to coercion, manipulation and extortion. Inspiration and motivation move people from the heart. The ability to motivate and inspire people results in the growing of the leader’s influence.

Leaders aren’t motivated by praise, they are motivated by passion. 

It is impossible for a leader to positively influence others if they do not have at least a baseline level of self-motivation. Leaders do not wait for the applause or praise of others to move forward. They don’t need the crowd’s approval. Passion is built from conviction. Conviction will stand when others sit and sit when all others stand. Conviction is born of belief.

Leaders move forward with conviction, not the crowd.

Leaders don’t test which way the wind is blowing to make a decision. These type of leaders are not leaders, but position fillers who are more concerned with themselves than the mission of the organization or others. Leaders who live by the crowd will also die by the crowd. Leaders must have conviction that stems from their heart and translates the thoughts in their head. If you are all head an no heart, then you will be swayed into a position that you may not be comfortable.

Leaders are courageous, not cowardly. 

Leaders face their fears and move forward. Place-holders, who think they are leaders because of their position, see shadows and retreat or run away. Courage is required by all effective leaders. Courage is strength on display. Cowards capitulate and surrender to fear. Leaders are willing to take the first step all the way until the last step.

“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.“

Christopher Columbus

Leaders full of passion will take more ground, inspire more people and cross oceans to reach lands where dreams do come true.

Go live your dream. Inspire Others.

Pursue it with Passion.

Property of Redwall Leadership Academy. 

All material is (c) 2016, Redwall, LLC.

“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and she be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do you want to make a difference in the world? Or are you content just existing in your daily routine? 

If you want to make a difference in the world, start with your world. With over 7 billion people in the world, very few people, if any will really impact all the different languages, cultures and groups. While it is noble to feel such a way, if you really want to make a difference: start with those people right around you.

What you do is important. It may not feel that way. It may never be appreciated. So, you have to get over those things. In essence, you have to get over yourself. You are the biggest obstacle to making a difference in the world–starting with your world. Those that have had the greatest impact in the world, were the ones that learned how to make those around them feel the most significant.

I’ve walked in the shadows of a few great and noble men whose influence grew with each step they took. These men had several things in common:
1 – When they spoke to you, they made you feel like you were the most important person in the world.
2 – They did not gravitate towards the powerful people, but towards the common people. They loved people, especially normal, boring or unloved ones.
3 – They always took time to encourage the ones they were talking to or were looking for someone to encourage. They had learned to live without the need for others to encourage them.
4 – They did not seek greatness, recognition or reward. Rather, they sought to fulfill their mission, their duty or their task.
5 – They were largely unaffected by criticism or appreciation. They lived in the spotlight but not for the spotlight.
6 – They really enjoyed helping others. Their help was genuine and their motivations were authentic.
7 – They were generous. Pretty simple, they were givers, not takers.

It was almost as if they were with us, but not one of us. Things that seem to affect us all in a negative way, moved them in a different way. They viewed what they did, no matter who would or wouldn’t see it was all important, all significant and all of major importance. Time was a commodity they understood and made the most of it.

The world is a hard, broken and nasty place. People are getting angrier, more mean-spirited and jaded. Pressure and stress are mounting. Insecurity and uncertainty are growing. The people that have the most significant impact are the ones that step through these forces give of themselves with no thought of return.

You work in a boring job with mean people and never get thanked. You see your future as a dead-end or uncertain or unsatisfying. What you do is sapping your strength. Then I have a solution for you: Change your mindset!

Start by doing everything you do with excellence. People that make an impact are always excellent people. Excellence is the launching pad of inspiration. People aren’t inspired by sloppy, haphazard and inconsistent work or performance. People are inspired by a marriage that has spanned more than 60 years or the mother who has been a lifelong caregiver to her 40 year old son with cerebral palsy. People are inspired by those who give there lives to secure the life of another. People are inspired by stories of real people who really made it, who really did and who maintained to the end. People don’t need concepts, ideas or wishes. People need people. 

When I was 16, my family moved from a very small town to a very large city. This was my junior year of high school, I was popular, top of my class and a three sport letterman. I hated my new high school. I resented my parents for the move. I felt lost amidst the bells of changing classes and new faces. Enter, Mrs. B. J. Hayes, my 11th grade AP English teacher. She changed my world. How did she change my world? My first assignment in my new school, amidst my genius peers (I was the new guy looking like Luke Perry and Jason Priestly from Beverly Hills 90210) and Mrs. Hayes singled me out. I was horrified. She held up my paper and proceeded to tell the class that she had discovered a writer—despite my embarrassment, I believed her. It was my favorite class. She gave me a lifeline. She breathed life into me and stirred a dream deep within me. 

Many people start well. Many people get stronger during the race. Many people jump in half way through. But, few actually finish well. The finish line is the story. What story are you telling? You are always finishing a chapter and beginning a new one. Because you have a bad chapter, read on. Those who make a significant impact in their world does this thing better than others: they finish well. Your focus must be on the finish line. Stop focusing on the applause, the recognition, the appreciation or the reward. Focus on the next step. You can’t run race until all the steps have been taken.

Change your world. Change your mindset. Go change someone’s day. Go make someone smile. Go give something away. Go give someone a compliment. Go encourage someone. Go bring someone flowers. Go write a thank you note to the person who never gets thanked. Go give someone a hug and say “thank you.”

Thinking about changing your world will never change your world. Planning to change your world will never change your world. But, stepping out and doing something will set in motion change that’s necessary for your world’s transformation. It’s not chance that determines your destiny, it’s the choices you make, the choices combined with excellence that will shape your destiny.

Focus on being the best version of you. You can’t be anyone else. You can’t fix anyone else—so, stop trying! Just work on being a more generous you, a kinder you, a gentler you, a more loving you, a more giving you, a more encouraging you, a more hopeful you, a harder working you or a more excellent you. Excellence is attractive.

“Do you see a man skillful (excellent) in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” Proverbs 22:29

Get to work being more skilled or excellent at is that you do. If you make fishhooks, be the best fishhook maker. If you are a parent, don’t be your parent, be the best parent for your child. If you sell coffee filters, sell them better than anyone else. If you change diapers, do it better than anyone else. If you scoop waffle fries, do it better than anyone else. If you say the same thing 500 times a day, make sure the 501st time is as good as the first.

You are significant. What you do is significant. You serve significant people. Now, go change your world.

“It’s never to late to set a new goal or dream a new dream”

~C.S. Lewis

Goals are the markers that help you accomplish your dream. A dream is filled with many goals to help you see the fulfillment of what fills your heart. A dream is a vision of future expectation or destination. 

Dreams that come from the head don’t often move past the hand. But, dreams that start in the heart can shape a destiny and impact eternity. Every great leader is a part-time dreamer, not a day-dreamer. There is a difference. A day-dreamer spends all their time going through the motions of life while their dreams flit and flutter in the alternate reality of their mind. If you want your dream to become a reality, then you must start with the correct reality.

There are four character qualities that are critical to anyone seeking to unlock their dream: passion, humility, courage & discipline.

Keys to unlocking your dream:

#1 – Discover it

Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” This statement applies to the leader dreamer because until you know why you are doing what you are doing, you are simply going through the motions. Leaders must seek to discover their own why. Discovering your why is like digging into your purpose, your meaning. Once you’ve arrived, then you know where you are heading. People don’t buy blank airline tickets and hop on the first plane hoping to get to Hawaii, but the pilot’s flight plan says Detroit. Discover the why in your dream and then set your destination.

This requires passion. Passion is the energy that will at first help you dig into your dream and later sustain your dream.

#2 – Set the Destination

Once you know the why behind your dream, then you can plot the course for your destination. You can actually begin to put the preparation for the dream in motion. This is when you should actually start the dreaming process: what could we accomplish, when could we do it, how would it begin, who can help me part.

This stage requires humility. If don’t approach this stage with a humble attitude, then you will get humble. There are only two approaches to humility in life, and both require pain: to humble yourself or to be humbled. Humbling yourself is far less painful than being humbled.

#3 – Departure

Nothing says “I’m really doing this” like actually doing it. The dream can’t stay inside your heart or your head. The dream must move to your feet, to your hands and to your resources. You actually have to get on the plane and take off. This is called a strategic bet. A strategic bet is where investment meets your idea. Ideas without investment are called wishes! And because there are no magic fairies or genies in lamps, wishes don’t come true without investment. What are you willing to invest to see your dream become your destiny?

This stage of the dream requires courage. You actually have to take a risk, pay a price and count the cost. Courage is not thinking you are brave, but actually going out and being brave.

#4 – Share it

Your dream will require help. Most dreams are built through others believing and buying into your vision of the future. A really exciting dream is on that engages others to see themselves in the dream that was born with you.

Truett Cathy had a dream to build a restaurant chain from a hand-fileted, hand-breaded, boneless breast of chicken served on a toasted, buttered bun with two pickles. But to build a chain, to go big in your dream, always requires the help of others. Enter a young, engineer named Jimmy Collins and a young, accountant named James “Buck” McCabe. Both of these young men, pursing dreams of their own came across this young entrepreneur, Truett Cathy and bought into his dream. But, they never could have bought into the dream if Truett had shared his dream with them. Both men were not only critical and instrumental to Truett, but absolutely vital in the building of Truett Cathy’s chicken-steak sandwich into the multi-billion dollar restaurant chain called Chick-fil-A. Both Jimmy and Buck served over 35 years as the CEO and CFO of Chick-fil-A, Inc, respectively.

This portion takes more humility. The leader must entrust his dream to capable and competent people who have greater vision and insight into how to make the dream a reality, perhaps even taking it beyond where it began.

#5 – Direct it

If your dream doesn’t have a director it will never happen. Movies without directors are simply writer’s scripts or producer’s hopes. Your dream must have you directing it. This is why leadership is critical to the fulfillment of your dream. The leader must see each twist and turn as a new chapter, each obstacle as a new opportunity and each hand of adversity as the basis for new initiatives and creativity. There will be challenges, but the untested dream is an un-trusted dream. Testing is good for your dream and your team. Adversity that leads to action serves to strengthen your dream.

This stage of the dream requires discipline. It’s easy to loose focus at this stage of the dream, because patience is required. You will never experience your dream if you are not disciplined. It’s like a flight that has a layover. Instead of getting on the next leg of the flight to reach your final destination, you stay at your lay-over stop. Many, many leaders have forfeited seeing the fulfillment of their dreams because they got comfortable or discouraged at a layover or delay. Remember, delays are not always denials. Discipline is the inner fortitude to stay the course no matter the cost, no matter the time and no matter the setbacks. Discipline makes dreams come true.

Final thought: Your dream will not occur because of chance, your dream will will come to pass because of the choices you make.

Truett Cathy said, “Each person’s destiny is not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of choice. It’s determined by what we say, what we do, and whom we trust.”

Wise words for a man who saw his dream of a chicken-steak sandwich transformed into the nearly $7 billion dollar a year restaurant chain called Chick-fil-A!

These simple laws will help the new leader’s ability to influence and direct those who are following. New leaders need new laws.

1. Personal Power beats Positional Power. A leader who uses positional power has to tell people who they are and what role they are in. When you have to use your title to establish your authority, you probably have very little, real authority at all with those you are trying to lead. Personal power is personnel power. When the leader gets to know those whom he/she is leading, they can lead them more effectively. This is a two-way street, the leader must also be authentic and sincere with his/her followers. There are few more powerful principals than this one. Positional leaders are bosses. Personal leaders are influencers. Your organization does not need more bosses. Your organization needs more influencers.

2. You can’t manage effectively, what you don’t measure correctly. A leader must also be a good manager. Stewardship is another word for management. Therefore, an effective leader must be an effective steward. Too many leaders get overwhelmed with the scale of their responsibility or the minutia and lose focus on making sure the measurements that frame the organization are correct. Stewardship is accountability. The new leader must make himself, his people and his responsibilities accountable. The best way to give a good account begins by correctly counting. Frustration often occurs because the correct measurement has not been conducted. Measuring takes the guess-work and theory out of your leadership. Measuring brings you factual data that then can be applied and improved. Don’t guess. Measure.

 (photo: Deadspin)
“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.”
— Lou Holtz

3. Who you are is more important than what you do. Too many new leaders miss this principal, then they become old leaders who have glaring gaps in their integrity. Who you are is described in one word: integrity. You are your integrity. Sadly, leaders will often sacrifice their integrity for short term gain and results. This is folly. There are many things that can be forgiven that can never be undone. Leaders must not take short-cuts in their character. Short-cuts in character lead to short-circuits in the organization. Short-circuits lead to short-falls and failures.

Warren Buffet,“In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”

4. Complaining never solved anything. Beware of complainers and beware of becoming a complainer. Complaining is the act of making your disproval known in a manner that is inconsistent with the direction of the organization with no real solution in mind. Complaining is the critique of the unsatisfied individual. We complain because complaining is easier than critique. Your organization needs counselors not complainers. Often, complaining is the attempt of people to distance themselves from personal responsibility. This is why you find that complainers are also most often, excuse-givers as well. Complaining and making excuses go hand-in-hand. A constant complainer becomes a whiner. Complainers, excuse-makers, and whiners are detrimental to any organization. Leaders must offer solutions. Complainers offer nothing.

“Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain.” – Henry Ford 

“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership”  

Harvey S. Firestone

Harvey was the founder of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio. He founded his tire company in 1900. He became one of the early millionaires who built an organization on honesty, opportunity and creativity. Growth was a key component to all of Firestone’s thinking, planning and organizing. He knew that not only was the product critical, so to was the growth and development of the people in his organization. He developed a partnership selling tires that enabled him at one point to sell and equip more than 25% of all vehicles’ tires. In 1906, Firestone recorded the largest ever order of tires with a single sale of 2,000. Firestone tires would later adorn millions and millions of vehicles.

Firestone’s growth came because he was prepared when he met opportunity. Growth will remain dormant if opportunity is not seized upon.

Harvey grew up the son of a farmer. He left the farm and became a rubber tire salesman. He worked tirelessly and relentlessly. Around 1895, Firestone met a young engineer who believed the horse and buggy days would soon be over. This young engineer believed his new creation would change the world. Firestone convinced this young engineer that his new creation would need rubber tires. The young engineer agreed. His name was Henry Ford. Ford would go on to sell by 1927 over 15 million of his Model T automobiles—all equipped with Harvey Firerstone’s tires.

Harvey Firestone was prepared when his opportunity came. He built a relationship early on his career that would pay great dividends and not to mention a life-long friendship and loyalty with Henry Ford. He grew his business. He grew from his opportunity.

Let’s establish this one fact above all else: you can’t make anyone grow.

However, leaders and organizations have a responsibility, moreover, a calling to facilitate the growth and development of its’ people. Organizations and leaders that fail to see this fact as mission-critical will soon find themselves in critical condition.

Growth occurs when ability meets opportunity. You might have established the ability, but you lack the opportunity. Conversely, you might have an opportunity to grow, but you miss it due to a lack of ability. The result of growth will ultimately yield an increase. Development, maturation or fulfillment may all be synonyms for growth, but, generally, the constant is that there is no growth without increase.

Growth = Increase

You can grow (increase) in your thought process (this is called critical thinking). You can grow (increase) in your skill-set or technical ability (critical skills). And you can grow (increase) in you capability (critical capacity).

The Three Critical Conditions: Thinking, Skills, Capacity.

But you can also grow in your responsibility, accountability and loyalty. We will focus on these three critical elements of growth.

“Why I am not growing?”

This expression is often the mantra of the un-promoted and passed-over employee. This is because they are linking their personal growth to a promotion or an increase in authority, position or payment. In order, to fully develop, mature, bloom or increase in the organization the Growth-Opportunity Paradigm must align. The GRO-OP Paradigm provides insight into three critical components of Responsibility, Accountability & Loyalty that when combine attribute to producing opportunity in the organization.

Responsibility: You Can Grow without the Green Light to Go

Frustration often mounts when a developing leader thinks they are ready for the green light—to hit the gas. The green light means stepping on the gas or acceleration. The green light of authority, promotion, to launch a project, to terminate something or someone, or even just mentally to “move forward.” Developing leaders must first focus on personal growth and development—not promotion. Work on perfection (maturity) before promotion. You must take the ultimate responsibility for your own growth. This does not mean promotion or position. This means an increase in (a) critical-thinking, (b) critical skills, and (c) critical capacity. You should be asking your own questions and coming up with the appropriate answers. Then activating those answers in manner that is both consistent with the organization structure & goals (loyalty) and aligns with the organizational governance (accountability).

There is a difference in acknowledging responsibility and accepting responsibility. Acknowledging responsibility is unattached recognition. It’s the equivalent of a head-nod when a superior is speaking of responsibility, but there is not a listening of the heart or an understanding that you are receiving the responsibility. Acceptance of the responsibility is the reception of the burden of responsibility. It is an agreement when another is talking of the burden, that says, “I own this responsibility.” Acknowledging is like saying, “I am only renting this responsibility, if something goes wrong or doesn’t work like I think it should, then I will turn it back in.”

Acceptance of responsibility doesn’t mean you have all the answers or that you might even know what to do. It means that you are taking ownership of that responsibility and any adjacent or connected outcomes. You are not just responsible for the thing, you are responsible for the outcome—the life. This is real responsibility. Developing leaders don’t grow without receiving the burden and outcome of real responsibility. Aggressive, developing-leaders will take-responsibility, instead of waiting for it to be given (this is often the sign of a natural-born leader—it is an innate trait for them to take on responsibility—they are drawn to it).

Growth occurs when there is an increase in given-responsibility and an increase in received-responsibility.

Accountability: Found in Answerability.

“Rarely do we find men that are willing to engage in hard, solid thinking. There is almost an universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”
Martin Luther King

Answerability:  The Culmination of Accountability and Critical thinking. Organizations must have developing layers of those willing to think critically and be held accountable.

There is no real responsibility without real accountability. You can’t give a responsibility and not verify that it was received, understood and managed. Otherwise, you didn’t give a real responsibility, you gave a ghost-responsibility. Ghost-responsibilities are those that only exist on paper but not in practice.

Accountability means that you are willing to give an answer and are willing to be held to it. Literally, accountability means answerability. To seize the growth-opportunity paradigm developing leaders must be ready, willing and able to give answers. Not answers that are platitudes, flattery or rubber-stamps. Rather, real answers for real responsibilities. This is what often crushes developing leaders or wanna-be leaders—the inability to answer for their actions or the actions of their subordinates.

accountability = answerability 

Accountability involves discerning the difference between excuses and reasons. Excuses are invalid and demonstrate immaturity. Reasons are valid and demonstrate critical-thought, understanding and maturation. Don’t make accountability about blame, focus on answering. Good answerability is built on a process of learning to ask the right questions, not assessing blame.

Too many developing members of the organization desire a promotion or an increase in authority, but have not demonstrated the ability to get real, positive results. You are known by who you are, what you do and who you do it with. Unfortunately, organizations are filled with any people who think that merely “talking the talk” qualifies them for leadership. A solid, consistent walk is much stronger than a bunch of empty words and meaningless talk. The old axiom says, “I’m from Missouri, Show Me!” Leaders must get results. Because, you are measured by your results. Too many developing leaders have no clue (a) what is being measured, (b) what the measurement means, and (c) what adjustments to make once the measurement is read.

Don’t wait for someone to come check on you and your results to be held accountable—that’s called judgment. Make yourself accountable at all times and in all situations. Leaders must have high responsibility and high personal accountability. Make yourself accountable. Unfortunately, too many people in high positions do just the opposite—the higher in the organization they rise, the more they discount their accountability!

Loyalty: The Lynch-Pin of Allegiance

We’ve established that responsibility and accountability are two of the central pillars in the Growth-Opportunity Paradigm. However, the third and most important is Loyalty. Loyalty is the missing ingredient to why so many developing leaders miss their opportunity.

Loyalty = Allegiance

A good way to describe a portion of loyalty/allegiance is faithfulness. Sadly, many developing leaders and team members are more driven by what they can get out of an organization than what they can put into it. This single statement is often a great test of a team member’s loyalty to the organization—putting in vs. taking out.

“Now, it is required of those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV)

Immaturity is the demanding cry of “what’s in it for me?” Developing leaders often make this mistake. For example, they are going along fine until a decision that is made above them, that affects them or their responsibilities in a way they perceive is wrong or unjust, and instead of being supportive, they turn outside the chain-of-command to voice their displeasure or grievances. What they don’t realize is not only is this subversive in the organization, it is also subversive to their position as a leader. Voicing complaints or frustrations to subordinates is the quickest way to erode trust both with those whom lead you and those whom you lead. Unless the decision is immoral or illegal, developing leaders must learn to demonstrate loyalty by accepting the decision and supporting the decision-maker.

“When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like it or not. Disagreement, at this state, stimulates me. But once a decision is made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.”
General Colin Powell

There is an appropriate time and place to voice concern. If you are a critical-thinker, then you will arrive at concerns as you dissect problems and solutions. However, part of the dissection process doesn’t need to be public. Voice concerns up the chain-of-command, not down and always behind closed-doors or in the proper group setting.

Commitment is a growing struggle in our culture and so to in our organizations. You can no longer take for granted that team members and developing leaders even know what true commitment is and how it is applied. This is why there is such a great dichotomy between some who grasp responsibility, accountability and loyalty—a lack of commitment. Loyalty demonstrates the deepest level of commitment. It is evident that millennials truly struggle with a clear understanding of commitment. If you truly want to be developed as a leader and develop leaders in today’s culture and climate, then you must learn how to engage and train others in the art and practice of commitment.

Conclusion

Growth is dependent upon variables, but in people it is mostly dependent upon the person. Don’t make excuses for why your people aren’t growing—including yourself. Developing and articulating a system for growth can be tiresome, troublesome and elusive. However, focusing on these three elements: responsibility, accountability & loyalty; can and will yield the climate and construction of a system of leadership that teaches, trains and values others toward stronger leadership and maturation.

 

 

 

Alex Vann is the founder of Redwall Leadership Academy the training and development arm of his organization (Chick-fil-A) in Columbus, GA. He holds a Marketing/Communication degree from Mercer University and a Masters in Management & Leadership (M.A.M.L) from Liberty University.

 

 

Leaders must learn to let go.

Leaders that can’t let go block up and stop up the leadership growth curve of the organization, causing promising and potential developing leaders to abandon ship or fade away. A growing organization needs all its developing talented leaders and can’t afford miscalculated turnover. 

Letting Go sounds simple (actually sounds like a song from a children’s movie), but letting go is often one of the hardest lessons that leaders learn. Because, letting go involves determining (a) what to let go, (b) when to let go, (c) most importantly, who to let it go to.

Sometimes, letting go is not an option.  But, this is the exception rather than the rule. Letting go is also not about dropping it and neglecting it. Letting go is a fundamental rule in leadership that allows leaders to prioritize and place responsibilities, activities and actions within capable and developing subordinates for the maximum fluidity and productivity of the team, organization or group.

Some leaders, maybe you, just can’t let go. You know you need to, but somehow you just can’t take the plunge, make the move or cross the bridge. You are stuck holding on to things that you must let go. The thought of letting go creates both anxiety and excitement.

Let’s examine what happens when leaders can’t let go…

Leaders that can’t let go … limit their personal growth. Limit is the key word. There are some limits that are healthy for leaders. There are others that don’t need to exist, but due to fear, mistrust, anxiety, doubt, control or a million other reason spring into existence and stifle the leader’s ability to grow. A limitation is a restriction. Leaders that can’t let go haven’t learned how to properly delegate. Without the ability to work through others, the leader will remain close-fisted and close-fisted leaders are close-minded leaders. There is a risk in releasing real responsibility to others and to subordinates, but the greater danger is the restriction in the leader’s ability toward growth. When you are preoccupied with a thousand details you will float on the stagnant sea of self-exile and self-imposed neutrality. A car doesn’t move in neutral except with the grade of the ground, which means you are at the mercy of the ground, which usually results in sliding backwards or bumping into something. Both, are totally avoidable when leaders learn to change gears. Gear up and gear down for growth. The grade determines the gear.

Leaders that can’t let go … limit the development of others. You are not a leader unless you have followers. And if you have followers then you have influence. Leaders must reproduce other leaders. But, leaders that can’t let go, have GREAT difficulty actualizing development in their subordinates. This type of leader blames the follower or junior leader for their lack of growth, their lack of enthusiasm and their lack of development. Sometimes, truly, it is the fault of the subordinate, but often leaders that can’t let go don’t realize they have their subordinates in a choke hold–cutting of the vital air supply of life that is needed for growth. Leaders that can’t let go, don’t have time for their developing leaders. They simply have occupied their time with needless activities that will never help develop others.

Leaders that can’t let go … occupy their time with needless activities. Needless activity for a leader is described as any activity that someone else in the organization could do equally well or better than the leader. Leaders must use their most precious commodity–time in ways that only the leader can best execute. Too many leaders get lost in the minutia of the tasks. This often creates a log-jam in the organization. Or it creates a “pass-by” effect when subordinates continue to move forward beyond their leader. Insecure-can’t-let-go leaders view this with disdain because it threatens them. Leaders must learn to discern between the perceived threats and thrusts of their subordinates. Thrusts are often perceived as threats. Developing leaders want to advance–they want to grow, they want to move, they want to lead. These advances are often thrusts of leadership independence. Leaders that can’t let go view these thrusts as threats to their personal power, position or authority.

Leaders that can’t let go … create an atmosphere of impossible standards. Nothing is ever good enough for this leader. Those that follow will never fully be able to please or perform up to the leader’s standards or expectations. Setting goals and maintaining clear standards are imperative in any organization. However, leaders that can’t let go, hold their followers and subordinates hostage by the impossible expectation. They project an uncaring attitude and an unrealistic reality. This new reality is often unaware of by the leader,  but fully aware of with everyone else. Alternate realities in organizations are unseen divisions, distractions and destructions.

Leaders that can’t let go … are often demonstrating deep insecurity. Relationships are built on trust, so too are organizations. But, when a leader can’t let go, it is often because they don’t trust those around them to execute effectively. It is healthy for your subordinates to make mistakes. It is not healthy if your subordinates continue to make the same mistake! Just not mistakes that (a) cost a lot of money, (b) involve litigation or (c) endanger lives. Sometimes, the adversity that comes from an honest mistake is the greatest teacher. Obviously, we want to limit the kind of mistakes that carry great consequences. Don’t destroy the confidence of your followers if their mistakes don’t bring great harm or severe consequence. If they acted in good faith and honest intentions, then don’t execute them, rather exonerate them and do a better job of explanation. Insecurity is the culmination of fear. Fears are invisible walls constructed in your mind. The greater the insecurities the more the walls close in. When the walls close in your focus narrows, your trust decreases and your grip tightens.  When you become this leader, you merely need to look back at all the followers or developing leaders that quit following you–there will be bodies scattered along the way. Insecure leaders eject and reject those following them, secure leaders project their followers to greater heights and responsibilities.

Leaders that learn to let go find great peace in the passing-on, because this most often results in the building-up of others and the empowering of others. Your followers are waiting for you to “let it go”. Not only are they waiting…so to are the results!

Leaders that learn to let go become launching pads. Launching pads are places where others take off and reach new heights. A leader must create this mentality and this system in the organization to facilitate the growth and development of other leaders. Leaders that become launching pads are more concerned with the projection of the next generation of leaders than their own personal elevation.  Becoming a launching pad leader requires humility. Humility, because the leader must become lower so the developing leader can go higher.

Conversely, leaders that can’t learn to let go become lilly pads. Lilly pads are pretty to look at, but they can’t hold any weight. Try stepping on a lilly pad and all you will do is sink (unless you are a frog or a small bird and we’re building leaders not frogs!). Leaders that act as lilly pads only produce more lilly pads. Lilly pad leaders want to maintain the pinnacle position in the organization. Subsequently, they are more concerned with maintaining subordinates that secure their personal position. Lilly-pad-can’t-let-go leaders are more concerned with personal elevation

Learn to let go of the non-essentials. Learn to trust others with the essenstials.

 

Tweetable “Leaders that learn to let go become launching pads. Leaders that can’t learn to let go become lilly pads.”

 

Live from #Next2015

Atlanta, GA

Day 3

“Greatness hinges on execution”   Rich Matherne

Execution is critical to success. In fact, without it extinction will shortly follow.

After the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship in 2008 after adding two very high-profile free agent signings (Kevin Durant & Ray Allen), it became very popular for teams to look for quick fixes by paying big money to sign free agents that could bring a Championship quicker. But as Andrew Cathy pointed out, there was another team that had been together for years, a team that’s coach and core had won 4 championships before that Celtics team had won its first: the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs had won in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007. But, then this collection of superstars came together and won in 2008. This sent a false message across the basketball landscape–overpay for high-talent, put them together and win championships. This was a short-lived strategy and in 2014 the San Antonio Spurs were largely still together and executed by out-passing their opponets all the way to their 5th Championship.

The lesson learned is two-fold (1) don’t assume a collection of highly talented people will automatically get results and (2) build your entire team from top-to-bottom for execution and results. 

There are no short-cuts to greatness. Lasting and truly great results do not come overnight they come over time.

What the San Antonio Spurs have done consistently better over time than so many other teams in the same span has combined selfless behavior with superior execution. 

How selfless are you? How selfless is your organization?

Most leaders and organizations are full of the “me first” mentality. Organizations and leaders that truly get to the next level are those have discovered how to lead and instill “me last” or selfless principles as part of the core culture.

Superior execution that leads to great results is often born from hard work, organizational alignment and unity. Many organizations, leaders, teams find greater precision in their planning than in their execution. It is critical that organizations and leaders do the work that the plan calls for both expected and unexpected. Peter Drucker says “Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degnerate into hard work.” Intentions are ideas without legs. Intentions are cars without drivers!

Jack Welch relays, “Good business leaders creat a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion.”

I would ask who or what is driving your business? Then, who are what is driving the execution?

Organizations must activate the entire team towards superior execution. Don’t miss excellent execution is exercised by the entire organization. It is easy to merely rely on a few key cogs in the organization, but this strategy ultimately caps the organization at the ability of a few. It is imperative that organizations train their team for mastery of the essentials, not just familiarity of the essentials. Mastery dennotes the ability to accurately teach the information or skills needed for completion. Loose familiarity among your team creates gaps in execution that will impair and hinder your business results and most certainly keep you from greatness.

The Power of Team works in multiplication. What are you multipying? Strength. Helen Keller said this well, “alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” It’s the law of tug-of-war. One person, even a really strong person, will have a extremely difficult time defeat a team that has the combined of much more than the single, yet super-strong individual.

The Power of Team works in projection. Not only does the power of team multiply your efforts, it also severly increase your ability to project or magnify your message, your mission and your execution.

It is critical for leaders and organizations to combine control and speed as they drive toward the execution of change.  Dribbling the ball out of bounds, throwing an errant pass or dropping a wide open pass are all embarassing. There is a danger in organizations that rush to execute without the proper mission, movers and metrics in place.

 “Speed is fun and exciting, but crashing is embarassing.” Jon Bridges

The Daily Next

#Next2015 Atlanta, Georgia

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 (NLT)

It is a sad sight to see an individual who is bankrupt of hope. A malaise, a bitterness or a jadedness has descended upon their heart and soul and the stench of foulness often ascends up and out of that pit. Hopeless people are miserable people. Often it is the call of a great challenge that will lift their soul from the slough of despair unto the heights of hope.

Mike Hensley quotes a sailing proverb that says, “the pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist hopes the wind will change, but the leader adjust his sails.” Winds will shift, blow and change in our lives, relationships and organizations, but it’s the leader who doesn’t vainly wish for change but meets the challenge with resolve, determination and hope. Many a good person has been destroyed for a lack of challenge. Notice, not destroyed by the challenge (true, that does happen), but there is great danger among the sons and daughters of God who never accept the gauntlet of the great challenge.

The Gauntlet of the Great Challenge

What is this gauntlet? It is the acceptance of a truly worthy and noble dream, desire or goal that comes with cost and caution. It is a weight that that descends upon your soul that is a collision. It is where inspiration collides with desperation. Something that is currently out of reach, probably out of sight, but not out of your mind or heart. In fact, it is the singular acceptance of your soul to achieve, to conquer and to summit that mountain that seems to most insurmountable, unscalable, and indefatigable. The mind has a hard time grasping it. Others may even disdain your desire to pursue it. It is your great challenge, not the challenge another co-dependently has thrust upon you. In fact, most others may not even understand that this great challenge has gripped your soul.

Greatness is not discovered in the opinions of others nor is it revealed posthumously in obituaries.  Greatness is the opportunity your heart and soul grasp in the purview of the steps you take, the dreams God gives you and the obedience he calls you to. It is easy to confuse a having a great challenge with being great.

The first step of in accepting the gauntlet of greatness is humility. This feels paradoxical, but this is simply because of the flawed judgment the world lays upon us. For somewhere, somehow, we have begun to value more highly an individual who can jump higher or farther than one who is physical unable to even jump. We pay millions, have parades, and even give great honor to those who entertain us! Think of this and you will see how quickly we have become Roman.

It is more noble in the gauntlet of greatness, to stand with the lowly when you could soar with the great. I observed this last night when the CEO of Chick-fil-A, Dan Cathy (@dancathy) anonymously put on a Grady High School JV marching band uniform and stood shoulder to shoulder with students who barely knew what a razor was to play his trumpet as a member of the band. He could have been on stage, he could have sat a position of prominence (after all he is the CEO of a nearly $6 billion organization) or he could have arranged for his own recognition. But, he didn’t. He played with the band. If you didn’t see it was him, no one made mention, no one have recognition, and no one gave him a reward or a certification of participation. He simply put on a uniform and played his part, his role.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “a great man is always willing to be little.”

The path to the true heights of greatness often leads first and often through the valley of the lowly. After all, this is not only the doctrine Jesus taught, it was the example the He lived while here on earth. He didn’t seek recognition, reward or prominence. He sought to do the will of His Father. There is no greater example of living in the guantlet of greatness than Jesus. Philippians says that He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (2:7, ESV).  We must empty ourselves of us. We are often our own worst enemy for our biases, presuppositions and predictions can hinder and hamstring us in accepting the gauntlet of the great challenge. There is a removal and or filtering process that must occur both in us and in our pursuit of our challenge (the Bible calls this sanctification). This is the second step and it can often introduce pain.

Shane Benson relayed that “leaders take us from here to there.” The problem, in respect to the challenge, is “here” is often a place of comfort and there has the prospect and perception of being uncomfortable. Leaders who wont risk calculated discomfort threaten their organization with stagnation and indifference. According to Benson, “the leader’s ability to communicate the why (are we leaving here) directly impacts the teams ability to see the way.”

Perhaps, you have been holding back, resisting the acceptance of what your soul knows to be a noble and lifting challenge. Perhaps, it is in the accpetance and addressing of this challenge that will draw you closer to Christ or closer to your goal. The soul is designed to soar from the heights of hope, but a hopeless heart leads to unfruitful and unfulfilling existence. Your family, your organization, those all around you will benefit from your hope and your acceptance of this guantlet of great challenge!

 

Live from #Next2015 (Atlanta, Georgia)

The Daily Next

“I’d like to be remembered as kind, as generous…I hope to have an impact on a lot of people” –Truett Cathy

 

The Love Leech — Codependency

If you are busy heaping up and storing up, then you are a prime candidate to lock both your resources and your love away so that it becomes an unaccessible commodity. Too many people in this life have acquiesced to the pursuit of fixation on treasure, pleasure and self, which all lead to unfilling result of frustration, weariness and emptiness. When we should, rather, be concerned with what we are pouring out not heaping up. We must break our own fleshly co-dependencies of leeching the love out of others.

Ted Cunningham (@tedcunnigham) says when you have a limited supply you become desperate. We must recognize that we are in fact limited (feel free to ask your spouse if you need clarification) and we must be receiving from the One and Only Source Christ Jesus. He also said poignantly, “Do you want great relationships? Remove the expectations of receiving anything in return.” This is the secret of Psalm 23:5 of your “cup running over.” Christ pours into you, you pour into others with no expectation of return or reward! 

Pouring out? Yes, Pouring out in praise, pouring out into others, pouring out love into a broken and hurting world. Pouring out kindness, generosity, and graciousness. The world, our families and our organizations are in desperate need of those selfless servants who are leaders and influencers who set the thermostat on this kind of living and loving.

No Goal is Too High If…

Dan Cathy (@dancathy) reminds us that “no goal is too high if we climb with care and confidence.” But, don’t miss this, the joy of the goal is best experienced through the struggle of the climb. Does the fellow who helicopters to the top of El Captain have the same joy, same appreciation or same sense accomplishment the one who makes a 19-day ascent?

Dan Cathy advocates this kind of leading, living, loving and thinking when he says,”Uncommon thinking leads to uncommon results.”

For the Christian, a significant portion of the pursuit is about the journey—what you learn about yourself, others and your God along the way. For many of us, we have become far too common. Often it’s our comfort that makes us common. We are inclined towards a bent of comfort and ease. But, nothing great was ever built by comfort. No Dawn Face of El Capitan was ever scaled by comfort. And no follower of Christ ever picked up a comfortable cross. That’s why organizations like Chick-fil-A resonate with so many people: We are so dang uncommon!

Jesus said, “for even the Son of Man came to serve and not to be served and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). How are you serving? Who are you serving? And what is your expectation of return?