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Kevin Bowser

Leader -|- Follower -|- Guide

I am the husband of a beautiful and wonderful woman. I am the father of two of the greatest kids on the planet. I am a father-in-law to a great young woman. And I am Papa to three very special grandchildren. In my spare time I am an active blogger and writer. And if there is any time left over, I work with small non-profit organizations and churches on the topics of change management, crisis intervention and leadership development.

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Shake It Up and Find Capacity

A Lesson from the Sandbox

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Capacity

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. — Muhammad Ali

As you saw on Monday, it was a great weekend at my house. What made it so great was getting to spend some quality time with my youngest grandchild.

In the article that I published on Monday, there were several things that I observed while playing with him in the sandbox. While playing, I saw a couple of leadership lessons emerge as we played together in the sand. They are worth expanding on a little more and that is the intent of this article today.

Remember, our little sandbox is set up for the grandkids to play in when they are around. it is a typical sandbox and the filling, flowing, emptying of sand from container to strainer to container caused me to think about leadership in ways that I was not expecting.

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
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Shake it up to get more in it

My youngest grandson was diligently trying to fill a red plastic duck with sand. The duck is actually a watering pitcher for a window garden. But on Saturday, it was an integral component of a major sand filling production. He would take a little shovel and try to get the sand into a round hole on the top of the duck’s head. After many little shovelfuls, he had it completely full. Or so he thought. All it took was a gentle shake and the sand began to settle and fill in a few air pockets. Seconds later there was now more room in the duck and it was not even close to being full. So, we filled it up again. And I jiggled it again. And the sand settled again. And we filled it one more time.

What is the leadership lesson?

Sometimes we think we have reached our limit or come to full capacity. But, if we just shake ourselves up a little bit and establish some new habits, we will be able to take on a little more load and increase our individual capacity. I don’t advocate this approach to all aspects of life all the time. But we rarely reach our true capacity the first time that we think we do.

Chuck Norris, of Walker, Texas Ranger fame, says this.

I’ve always found that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and you’ve got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish.

One of the biggest obstacles that we face is the obstacle of “capacity.” We often think that we have reached our limit and that we have no more capacity to do anything. We are exhausted. We are done. We feel that we just can’t go on.

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Lessons from the Sandbox 

What playing in the sandbox with my grandson taught me about leadership

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Lessons from the Sandbox

It was a great weekend at my house.  I got to spend some quality time with my youngest grandchild. While playing with him in the sandbox, I saw a couple of leadership lessons emerge from the actions that my little grandson took as we played together in the sand. They may not be the most profound that you will ever hear. But they struck me and drove home a few points that I will not soon forget.

Our little sandbox is set up for the grandkids to play in when they are around. I recently replaced the old sand and dirt with a fine grain play sand that will flow like the sand in an hourglass. The filling, flowing, emptying sand from container to strainer to container caused me to think about leadership in ways that I was not expecting. Here they are:

Shake it up to get more in it

My youngest grandson was diligently trying to fill a red plastic duck with sand. The duck is actually a watering pitcher for a window garden. But on Saturday, it was an integral component of a major sand filling production. He would take a little shovel and try to get the sand into a round hole on the top of the duck’s head. After many little shovelfuls, he had it completely full. Or so he thought. All it took was a gentle shake and the sand began to settle and fill in a few air pockets. Seconds later there was now more room in the duck and it was not even close to being full. So, we filled it up again. And I jiggled it again. And the sand settled again. And we filled it one more time.

What is the leadership lesson?

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How to Choose a Coach? 

Don't pick someone you already know!

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How to Chose a Coach

By now you may be beginning to see the value of having a leadership coach who will work with you and guide you along the journey of life. But, how do you choose a coach? What are the criteria that you should consider?

Unfortunately, selecting the right leadership coach is often a decision that is made based on a flawed set of criteria.

Selecting the right leadership coach is often a decision that is made based on a flawed set of criteria.
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Let me just say quickly, in this article, I am going to be dealing with non-technical criteria. Certifications, degrees, and experiences are all technical criteria when it comes to what may make a good coach. I want to focus today on less technical selection criteria.

So, what is the selection criteria?

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Are You a Courageous Leader? 

Or, are you a cowardly leader?

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Are You a Courageous Leader?

If you were to list the top adjectives that best describe a leader that is worthy of following, what words would be on that list?

For many of us, words like “strong, determined, confident, tough, and courageous” would probably be near the top of each of our lists, don’t you think? Most of us like our leaders to be reflective of those adjectives. Everyone loves a heroic character.  It doesn’t have to always end in “success” for us to be drawn to a leader. Sometimes they just have to have that Winston Churchill “Never give up!” spirit for us to find them worthy to follow.

Now consider this as a contrast.

When you list adjectives that describe a highly functioning and successful team, what words would be on that list?

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Where Do Leaders Go For Help?

Even leaders need it!

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Where Does A Leaders Go For Help?

Even leaders need help. Or, maybe I should say, “Especially leaders need help.” I am not sure if that is the right way to say that grammatically, but I think you get my point.

I have been doing leadership coaching, working with non-profit boards, and doing one-on-one coaching for many years. Several years ago I founded Leadership Voices, a collaborative site for all kinds of leaders. Over the last few years, we have grown this community from nothing to more than 2500 “followers.”

Resting on current achievements has never been a part of my operating procedures. And recently I began to feel a real need to reach out to get some help and advice. But, just where does a leader go for help? That is the question facing me and probably many of you as well. Who can I turn to for help and advice on what I am doing wrong and what I am doing right?

So, here is what I did.

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Leadership Capital – Part 3 

Spending Your Leadership Capital

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Leadership Capital - Part 3

In my first article on this topic, I discussed just what is “Leadership Capital” and what are the components that make it up. And in the second, I discussed how we accumulate and increase our supply. In the final installment, we will take a look at spending that capital – and spending it wisely.

As hard as it is to come by, it certainly seems to be flowing out at a faster pace than it does flowing into our leadership “account.”  Yet, I finished my last article urging you to spread it around as a means of accumulating more.

Where Do I Spend My Leadership Capital?

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Leadership Capital – Part 2 

Increasing Your Leadership Capital

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Leadership Capital - Part 2

In my first article on this topic, I discussed just what is “Leadership Capital” and what are the components that make it up. So, if we have a good understanding of what it is, let’s move on to see how we gain more of it.

This much I know to be true. It is earned in small amounts and often over long periods of time. Thus, you have the first half of my quote – “ . . . earned in pennies . . . ”

What Steps Can I Take to Build My Leadership Capital?

Be Approachable — Several years ago I wrote an article that reminds us that leaders are accessible and not aloof. Accessible and approachable are similar enough that for my purposes I am considering them synonymous. Leadership capital is earned by

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Leadership Capital – Part 1 

Earned in Pennies and Spent in Pounds

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Leadership Capital - Part 1

How do you measure leadership acumen? How is it measured as it gained? How is it measured as it is expended?  Is there a subjective scale or is there an objective scale? And if so, what would be the markings or gradations?

These are the questions that I am grappling with today as I contemplate a variation on a quote that I have come up with in the last few days.

“Leadership capital is earned in pennies and spent in pounds.”

'Leadership capital is earned in pennies and spent in pounds.'
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OK, I am not British and I realize that our currency is dollars. However, the point of the quote is that leadership capital is “earned” in small increments and it is often expended in larger denominations.

But before we can really talk about how it is gained or how it is spent, we need to get a handle on just what is “leadership capital?”

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Leadership That Calms

Do you bring “calm” to your team?

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Leadership That Calms

My TimeHop today reminded me of a quote three years ago from George Will that compared Ronald Reagan to a ship captain. George Will said, “He calmed the passengers – and the sea.” On top of that, my Sunday School lesson that I taught over the weekend was about the words of Jesus Christ to his Disciples as he walked to them on the water — “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

He calmed the passengers - and the sea.
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All of that added up tells me that I need to be thinking about leaders and calmness in difficult situations.

Leaders Are Calm in Difficult Situations

Calmness and composure are synonymous to me in this context. The composure of a leader is reflected in their body language, attitude, body language, vocal tone, vocal volume, and overall presence.   In today’s business environment, it is clear that leadership is not only about elevating the performance, aptitude, and development of our teams – it is also about the environment that we create within our organizations. 

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