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Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way!

All three may be viable options

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Lead, Follow

We’re all familiar with the phrase, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way”. During my adult life, I’ve found myself doing all three at one time or another.

The “Lead” Part

By my very nature, I tend to want to lead. Sometimes that is truly because I have the passion and feel I also have the experience, knowledge, or skill to move things forward in a positive direction. It may also be because I see a void of leadership that I feel an obligation to fill that void. Other times, truth be told, it’s probably more of a self-centered desire for the adrenaline rush that comes from being in the middle of the action.

The “Follow” Part

The “follow” part often does not come as easily for me.

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Turn It Upside Down

A Lesson from the Sandbox

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Turn It Upside Down

Let’s take one final look at some leadership lessons that I observed from the last two weekends that I spent playing with my youngest grandson in various sandboxes. The actions were simple. But the implications were profound.

Turn it upside down

Let me just offer a quick reminder of what went on in our little backyard sandbox. After a while of pouring sand in a little yellow funnel and watching it fall through the little hole and make the little red wheels spin and fall through a little sifting screen, my grandson got a little bored. So, what did he do? He turned the contraption upside down and started the process at what is actually the bottom of the toy. Did it work like it was supposed to? Of course not. But did he have fun and laugh at how it looked? Yes, he did. And isn’t that the point of playing in the sandbox?

What is the leadership lesson?

The leadership lesson is this. Let’s always keep our eyes on the goal that we have set for ourselves and not on the tools that we use. The goal of the activity was to have fun. It was not to use the contraption to only sift sand and make the wheels spin.

Sometimes we get so enamored with the tools that we have at our disposal that we forget that they are the means to an end. They are not the end itself. The end game was to have fun in the sand. And fun we had!

Sometimes we get so enamored with the tools that we have at our disposal that we forget that they are the means to an end.
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What does it mean to “Turn it upside down?”

One of the most oft-repeated mantras in business is this:

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Go To The Source

A Lesson from the Sandbox

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Go to the Source

There is still so much more to say about the leadership lessons that I learned while playing in the sandbox recently with my youngest grandson.

As you may recall, we were playing in the sandbox in the backyard and he was trying to fill up a little red duck water pitcher.  A few days ago we discussed the need to shake things up in order to increase the capacity of our leadership abilities. Much as I shook that little pitcher and gave it a little shake to let the sand settle, we need to shake up our routine a little in order to accomplish more.

Now let’s look at my second observation in a little more detail.

Go to the source

Although my little grandson had access to all the sand in the sandbox, he always wanted to use the sand that I was accumulating in whatever container I was using at any given moment. He was surrounded by sand. But, “Papa’s sand was the best sand” as far as he was concerned. And really, why collect or gather your own sand when you can ask for the old Tupperware container that Papa has and pour that sand into your sandwheel spinning contraption.

What is the leadership lesson?

Go to the “source” whenever possible. Last weekend, I was the source of the “good sand” in my little grandson’s world. He could have dug up a bunch of sand on his own. But, why do that when there is plenty of sand available in Papa’s container? And what’s more, I was happy to share it with him. If you have access to the source of whatever you need, utilize it and maximize it. Then, you can use your finite energy and resources on accumulating the harder stuff of life.

What is the “Source?”

I could take a very theological approach to the question, “What is the source?” However, I will leave that to others. Instead, I want to take a more practical approach. Here is how I want to define “source” today.

The source is anyone who has a wealth of experiences that you do not yet have.

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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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