Hello again. I’d love to give you all more info on what I’m doing, but then I would probably go to jail. But in the meantime, here are some great thoughts on Leadership from John Maxwell. I borrowed these from Andrew Shearman’s blog.
“When I began my career I was very ineffective as a leader . My problem was that I wanted to please everybody . Making people happy was the most important thing to me . I lacked the courage to make right but unpopular decisions . How did I turn things around ? By making small decisions that were difficult . With each one I gained more confidence and more courage , and I began to change . The process took 4 years . At the end of that time I felt I had learned many valuable lessons and I wrote the following to help cement what I had learned :
‘Courageous leadership simply means that I`ve developed :
1. Convictions that are stronger than my fears.
2. Vision that is clearer than my doubts.
3. Spiritual sensitivity that is louder than popular opinion.
4. Self-esteem that is deeper than self-protection.
5. Appreciation for discipline that is greater than my desire for leisure.
6. Dissatisfaction that is more forceful than the status quo.
7. Poise that is more unshakeable than panic.
8. Risk-taking that is stronger than safety-keeping.
9. Actions that are more robust than rationalization.
10. A desire to see potential reached more than to see people pleased.'”
I get to attempt to apply these every day here. I am a leader here, in one of the most stressful, high tempo, high pressure atmospheres imagineable. It’s tough and I probably have to sit down with at least one of my troops every day to try to help them through a challenge they’re facing. I pray every day for the wisdom and the right words to say…