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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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Be a Better Follower in 2016

Step Two for 2016

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Resolution #2

Well, here is part 2 of this quick 4 part series on resolutions that every leader should make as they start the new year. On Monday, I dealt with the importance of being a better leader. And I included some specific resources that will help you along he way.

Now it is time to consider the next step in the 4 part process.

Resolve This Year To Be A Better Follower 

This one is not so obvious. And this one is one that is also considered to be a sign of weakness by some leaders. Those leaders are often more about power and control and less about true leadership. And to them, anything that resembles being a follower makes them feel somehow weaker as a leader. Sadly, they are seriously mistaken.

Every great leader is not a great leader alone. Every great leader has someone that they are following. They look up to someone, they admire someone, they are imitating someone, or they are in some form of mentoring relationship with someone else. These leaders recognize the importance of having someone with experience and in whom they have great faith speak truth into their lives and hold them accountable for their actions that they take. Never allow yourself to begin to think that you are beyond the need to be a follower.

So, resolve this year to become a better follower. This sends a very strong signal to our followers regarding how important being a follower is to our own ability to lead, and by association, how important it is to their ability to lead.

Being a follower is often misunderstood. But being a follower is a noble and necessary aspect of our social and family culture. The truth is that we are all followers in some form or fashion. In fact, not everyone is a leader. But everyone is a follower of someone or something. Even it is only following your own destructive desires.

So, how do we become better followers in 2016?

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Be a Better Leader in 2016 

Step One for 2016

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Resolution

In my first post for the new year, I provided a short list of 4 resolutions that leaders should make as they start out in 2016. The list was as succinct as it was short.

As a reminder, here are the 4 resolutions that I think every leader should make for this year:

  1. Resolve to be a better leader
  2. Resolve to be a better follower
  3. Resolve to build another leader
  4. Resolve to build another follower

I provided a very brief description of what each resolution would mean and how it might manifest itself in our lives. But each resolution could use a little more “meat on the bones” don’t you think? If you agree, then let me start with the first resolution and let me expand a little or provide some greater context and resources.

Resolve This Year To Be A Better Leader

As I noted in my first post, this one is exceedingly obvious. Yet it is surprising how many leaders are not more intentional about developing their leadership skills. As leaders, this must be a central focus for us.

Stephen Covey made the theme of this resolution one of his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is embodied in number seven when he reminds us of the importance of sharpening our saw. Covey says that we are to “Seek continuous improvement and renewal professionally and personally.”

As leaders, we often are so focused on developing those around us that we end up with little energy and drive to improve our own skill sets. Although we would like to think that neglecting to sharpen our saw will leave our saw still sharp enough to get the job done. But logic suggests that for Covey to make this a key principle, there must be some significant dulling and degradation done to our tools as we employ them day to day.

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Leaders and Resolutions

4 Resolutions Every Leader Should Make

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Leaders

Tis the season for many things. Not the least of which is making New Year’s Resolutions. Each of us should consider making some resolutions. And as leaders, here are a few that I think you should consider putting on your list.

Resolve This Year To Be A Better Leader — This one is exceedingly obvious. Yet it is surprising how many leaders are not intentional about developing their leadership skills. So, resolve this year to find some way to increase your leadership skills and abilities. There are so many resources available to help us develop as leaders. Several resources jump to the forefront of my mind at the very thought of leadership development. I am a very big fan of Leadercast and I have been a co-sponsor of one of the local simulcasts here in the Houston area. There are also many books on leadership that can be obtained via Kindle at much lower costs rather than in hard copy. Nearly all of my books are in some eReader format. Just reach out to me if you are looking for resources and I can help you identify some.

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Top 12 Articles for 2015

Most popular via the Website, LinkedIn, and Facebook

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Top 12

This has been a very good year for LeadershipVoices.com and Leadership Voices, LLC.  This was a year for some serious reflection, introspection, evaluating what we are all about.  And I believe that following a brief sabbatical time, we have emerged better and stronger and more focused on our goal and mission.

There have been 81 articles posted this year on the website.  We have had 7 other contributors in 2015.  And, here are my top 5 articles and the top article for each of our 7 guest contributors this year to give us the Top 12 Articles that were published this year.

  1. Three Characteristics of Visible Leaders
  2. Sailing the 7 “C”s of Leadership
  3. Today’s Task – Sharpen Your Sword
  4. 7 Must Have Characteristics to Achieve Leadership Presence
  5. Emotional Intelligence
  6. How to Live on the Edge of Laughter by Rodney Mills
  7. What American Sniper Reminded Me About Leadership by Jack Smith
  8. Why I Lead by Michael Johnson
  9. Leading the Next Generation of Leaders by David Evans
  10. The Holy Trinity of Combat by Billy Long
  11. Correction Time by Scott Hilton
  12. The Business of Ethics by Wayne Butler

I am really looking forward to 2016.  There are plans to bring many more articles on the many facets of leadership that are relevant to our audience.  I am very grateful for the words of encouragement that I receive from so many of you about how the articles are helping you and impacting your ongoing leadership development.  And I am always open to suggested topics.  So, if you think of one that you would like to see, drop me an email at kevin@leadershipvoices.com or just leave your suggestion in the comments below.

Happy New Year and I look forward to our continued success in 2016.

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Toughest Leadership Role, Ever!

Some Thoughts on an Unheralded Leader

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Toughest Leadership Role, Ever!

Consider something for just a moment as we prepare for Christmas this week. Can you imagine a more difficult leadership role than being the earthly father of Jesus Christ? I cannot!

My goal is not to make this article an overtly spiritual one. However, given the Christmas Season and my thoughts at this time of year, some observations and some leadership lessons are unavoidable.

Just who was this man Joseph, the husband of Mary and the adoptive father of Jesus?

We really don’t know a whole lot about him other than what we read in the few places he is mentioned in the New Testament. Traditional Christian narrative and theology state that God chose Joseph to be the earthly father of Jesus. We can read in the Gospel of Matthew, that Joseph was a righteous man. His actions toward Mary, his betrothed wife (fiancé), revealed a great deal about his character. It demonstrates that he was a patient, kind, understanding, and sensitive man. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced and humiliated. He knew the child was not his.

He had “rights”. Our rights have always been an important thing to us as individuals. Joseph not only had the right to divorce Mary but under Jewish law, she could be put to death.

Joseph’s initial reaction was to break the engagement. This was the culturally and religiously appropriate thing for a righteous man like Joseph to do. However, consistent with his character, he treated Mary with extreme kindness. He did not want to cause her further shame, so he decided to do what needed to be done quietly.

But that is not what happened. Instead, Scripture tells us that God sent an angel to Joseph. It may even have been the same angel that visited Mary to bring her the news that she was going to give birth to Our Lord. This angel verified the same story that Mary had told Joseph and reassured him that his marriage to Mary was still God’s will. In fact, it had been the divine plan all along. It is important not to lose sight of that fact. So, Joseph willingly did as the angel told him, in spite of the public humiliation he would face. Perhaps it was this quality that made him God’s choice for Jesus’ earthly father.

Beyond this and the story of the one time that Jesus was left behind following a pilgrimage to the Temple, the Bible does not reveal much detail about Joseph’s role as a father to Jesus Christ. However, we do know from Matthew 1, that Joseph was an excellent earthly example of integrity and righteousness. We know that Joseph trained Jesus in a very necessary trade of the times — carpentry. It was not glamorous. But, probably no one ever described Joseph in those terms.

Joseph is last mentioned in the Bible when Jesus was 12 years old and they made that annual visit to the Temple in Jerusalem. So really, all we know from written evidence is that Joseph passed on the carpentry trade to Jesus and that he raised him in the Jewish traditions and spiritual observances of the Law.

So, what is the Leadership Lesson here?

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How to lose 20 pounds in 24 hours!

Leadership Is Like Losing Weight

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Leadership Is Like Losing Weight

Do you want to know how to lose about 20 pounds in less than 24 hours?  If so, read on!

I have recently dropped about 20 pounds and I did it in less than 24 hours.  Hard to believe, I know.  But it is true. But, just like the late night infomercials that are on TV, you need to read the fine print if you want to know the whole story. I truly have lost the weight. And it has taken less than 24 hours. However, the truth of the matter is that those “24 hours” have been spread out over the last 3 months and were expended in 20-30-minute workout sessions that consisted of running and walking up to 2 and 1/4 miles each time I worked out.

Sorry to disappoint you. I really wish it were easy enough to accomplish in one 24 hour day. But it just doesn’t work that way.

Having said that, losing weight is easier than you think.  At the end of the day, it is a mathematical computation. Each pound of fat that you want to lose equals burning about 3500 or 3600 calories MORE than is required for you take in over a period of time. Simply figure out your daily calorie requirement to maintain your current weight and physical activity. Figure out the amount of weight you want to lose. Decide how quickly you want to lose each pound. Then do the math. Subtract your daily intake from your daily requirements to maintain your current weight and take that number of calories and divide it into 3500 calories and the result will be the number of days it will take you to lose that pound of extra weight.

What is the leadership lesson here?

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Leadership and Learning to Ride a Bicycle

It is best to learn it while you are young.

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Learning to Ride

I admit it. I fell victim to the “Downton Abbey” craze over the last few years. I watched an episode one night out of curiosity. The next thing I knew, I had found Seasons 1 and 2 on Amazon Prime and we watched at least 2 episodes a night for the next 2 weeks until we had seen them all. Then, we went to start watching Season 3 – only this time it wasn’t free on Amazon Prime.

You know you are hooked when you hit the “Buy with 1-Click” button and you shell out the money for the entire 3rd season without even thinking about what it cost. But, I suppose all of that is a subject for another time.

I found the story compelling and the dialog incredible. The characters were fascinating and complex. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.

The final season is soon upon us here in the U.S. and I can’t wait.

As good as all of the episodes are, I was captivated by a sentence uttered by a relatively minor character in the last episode of season 3. His name is Shrimpie and he is a husband caught in a loveless marriage and he is the father of a young woman who is rebelling against her parents and against society in general. I am paraphrasing a quote from that episode:

“What I want is for her [his daughter] to know that family can be a loving thing. Love is like riding a bicycle or speaking French. If you don’t learn it young, it’s hard to get the trick of it later.” 

I am taking this in a direction that you would expect and I am going to modify the quote to suit my purpose. What if we exchanged the word “love” for “leadership” in the middle sentence of the quote? How apropos is that? I think it is incredibly apropos and worthy of the edit.

“Leadership is like riding a bicycle or speaking French. If you don’t learn it young, it’s hard to get the trick of it later.” 

Let me help explain just how that reality manifested itself in my early years.

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Simple Leadership

The Importance of Basics and Fundamentals

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Simple Leadership

I love it when an article strikes a chord in someones brain and creates a strong enough wave that they publicly comment on it. Such was the case in last week’s article about my haircut experiences over time.

One commenter (whom I have excerpted and edited) said the following:

I don’t disagree with the thought that simplicity in life and leadership is a worthwhile pursuit. When I gained most of my experience we had the philosophy, “KISS”, Keep It Simple, Stupid. But I wonder after reading your post, if our issue is that everyone wants to be different — to be separated from the pack.

Do you think the value proposition here is “Chair Cut” on the inside, “House Cut” on the outside? I don’t want to be like everyone else. I guess I see where the relief stems from — less to worry about, relieve some stress.

Simple may be better, but I think I want my leader to be a Chair Cut.

Wow! That has some profound implications. And in retrospect, I was looking at the impact of simplification solely from my perspective and not from the perspective of those around who follow me.

So, let’s consider the impact of being a Simple Leader.

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