Posted on

Vision, Foresight, and Observation

Are vision and leadership synonymous?

by

Vision, Foresight, and Observation

Are “vision” and “foresight” the same thing? Or, more importantly, are they synonymous with “leadership”? Let me say quickly that I do not believe that they are synonymous. Consider this as a follow up to last weeks article about a quote that has been attributed to Henry Ford. In that article I called him a “foresighted innovator.” I equated foresighted innovation with being a leader. So, does that mean that Henry Ford was therefore a man of vision? Does that mean that he was a leader by many of the other accepted leadership definitions?

I find myself reflecting this week on a Bible passage that you may hear occasionally when some other types of leaders wish to address their followers. Personally, I have seen it used when church leaders want to speak to the issue of visionary leadership. Here is that often misquoted (and occasionally misused) scripture.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish”. 

It is found in the Old Testament in Proverbs 29:18. It is used many times from a church pulpit to exhort us to catch the vision that a pastor has seen and to encourage us onward to the destination that has been seen in the vision.

Having vision, communicating a vision, and catching a vision are all vital skills for leaders and followers alike. But I submit to you that there is a BIG difference between being a visionary person and being a leader.

Let me explain my thoughts this way.

Click here to read the rest of the article »

Posted on

Faster Horses

Are you a Foresighted Innovator?

by

Faster Horses

There is a great quote from automobile industrialist, Henry Ford, that has been on my mind lately. It deals with a leadership trait that is as in short supply today as it was nearly 100 years ago.

If I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said “faster horses” — Henry Ford

What a great quote! And what a great insight into a key leadership trait for you and me today.

What is the leadership trait?

The trait that I want to focus on today is being a Foresighted Innovator. The business community is all about collaboration these days. And I believe in collaboration. I really do! But, some􏰀times, a true leader, an innovator like Henry Ford, is able to see far beyond what those around him see. He doesn’t need a “focus group” to help him understand the market. He has the foresight to see beyond what is and is able to see what needs to be and what can be. In reality, there was no one to collaborate with Henry Ford because Ford was able to see things that others simply could not.

Click here to read the rest of the article »

Posted on

The Wit of the Staircase

And the Art of NOT Always Getting the Last Word

by

Wit of the Staircase-2

The French seem to always be in possession of le mot juste (the right word). They indeed have a phrase for the moment following a tense or embarrassing incident that happens to those who are not gifted with a quick wit:

“l’esprit de l’escalier”

Translated, it means “the wit of the staircase”. Or, more clearly as it relates to a situation where you only come up with a witty response to a verbal challenge or situation after you’ve turned on your heel and left the scene.

According to Wikipedia, it is the name for the phenomenon that comes from French philosopher Denis Diderot’s description of such an occurrence. At some point during a dinner at the home of statesman Jacques Necker, according to history, a remark was made to Diderot which left him speechless at the time. In French he says, “l’homme sensible, comme moi, tout entier à ce qu’on lui objecte, perd la tête et ne se retrouve qu’au bas de l’escalier.”

Translated into English it means, “a sensitive man, such as myself, overwhelmed by the argument leveled against him, becomes confused and can only think clearly again [when he reaches] the bottom of the stairs”.

I can relate to that feeling, can’t you?

In this case, “the bottom of the stairs” refers only to the architecture of the kind of hôtel particulier or stately home to which Diderot had been invited. Obviously the reception rooms were located on an upper level or at least one floor above the ground floor. Therefore, to have reached the bottom of the stairs means definitively to have left the gathering and left the awkward or embarrassing exchange that had just occurred.

But I think that there is much more to this than just an architectural consideration.

Click here to read the rest of the article »

Posted on

Are You Moving Fast Enough?

Wit and wisdom from Will Rogers

by

Don't Just Sit There

The great social commentator of the 1920s and 30s, Will Rogers was a man of great insights. Some of his thoughts on the human condition are on one level very humorous. And on another level they are incredibly deep for a guy who dropped out of school in the 10th grade.

But, he is credited with a quote that I am finding to be very descriptive of some of the things that I see around me these days. Will Rogers said:

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.

I see so many folks in leadership that are truly on the right track. They are not fundamentally heading in the wrong direction. Actually, many time they are not heading in much of a direction. They seem to feel quite confident and assured that just being on the right track is sufficient. It is not.

Let’s assume for a moment that you have stumbled upon the “right track.” How you got there may be a mystery. But your instincts tell you that you are indeed on the right track.

What’s next? Where do you go from here?

Just sitting there is not a long term solution. Will Rogers tells us that if we just sit there, someone will run over us. But, who is going to run over us? Consider the following potential candidates to run over us:

Click here to read the rest of the article »

Posted on

Three Characteristics of Visible Leaders

Are you a verbal leader or a visible leader?

by

Three Characteristics of

If you are my leader, please don’t just tell me — show up and show me!

I am a passionate person and I am drawn to leaders who can express themselves with great passion. But expressing passion alone will not be sufficient for our team to be successful. We need your demonstrated leadership in the areas that you are espousing such passion.

Consider with me briefly today, three aspects of passionate leaders who are more than just verbal, they are visible:

Visible Leaders are Honestly Committed – These leaders honestly and genuinely believe in what they espouse. Their passion comes from a deep desire for others to know the joy or benefits of what they know or what they have experienced.

Click here to read the rest of the article »

Schweitzer

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

 

Albert Schweitzer
Posted on

Leading Meetings That People Enjoy

by

Leading Meetings

Think back to the last business meeting you had. Was it fun? I know you just laughed a little. Would you describe that meeting as a highlight of your week? (Stop laughing at me.) Or do you think that the meeting made a definitive difference in the work you do? (Alright, that’s enough, I am beginning to get a complex.) I know you are beginning to think I am a bit crazy. I know, just hear me out.

One of the most frustrating things in work can be the meetings that you have to go to. But these can also be fun and inspiring when certain things occur. Even so, there are probably as many jokes about terrible meetings as there are about terrible lawyers and so I want to offer a few ideas on how to lead a better meeting.

You and I both have probably left meetings where we felt that it was completely pointless for us to ever attend again. You probably have thought to yourself: “If I put a cardboard cutout of myself in my seat, the chairman won’t even notice”. In short, I can’t stand going to meetings where my presence, my wisdom and my input is not valued or sought out. If I am going to show up, I don’t want just a lecture, and I don’t want unilateral dispensing of information, ideas and philosophy. Instead, I have this idea that if I am going to come to a meeting it is because I have something to offer. I hope that is why you come as well.

So I want to give three parts to this post. First I want to share about meetings I hate, second I want to share ways to motivate, inspire and challenge during our meetings and lastly I want to share about leading with questions.

Click here to read the rest of the article »

Posted on

7 Must-Have Characteristics to Achieve Leadership Presence

by

I’ll never forget my dad trying to help me with my first church job. I was still a kid, green out of college, and didn’t have a clue about Leadership Presence. I was still wearing my old sneakers and he wanted me to start wearing penny loafers or wingtips. At the time, I thought he was an old fogey. Now I see his point: he didn’t think people would take me seriously as a leader.
Leadership PResence

It’s tough enough for a young kid to gain respect from adults twice his age due to immaturity and missing many other elements listed here in this article. Those sneakers weren’t my main problem, but my dad knew I needed to start somewhere!

When you walk into a room, what adjectives do people unconsciously write on the whiteboard of their minds? In other words, what kind of Leadership Presence do you have? Do people take you seriously as a leader?

Presence is different from charisma, though charisma may be a part of your Leadership Presence makeup. Presence, as I see it, is more related to the persona of a leader—the credibility and character issues. Perhaps another way to say it is that Presence is how you are perceived.

I’ve grouped these seven must-have characteristics into two primary areas: your Visual Image and Abstract Elements.

Click here to read the rest of the article »

Posted on

Expecting, Inspecting, and Respecting

Thoughts from my recent sabbatical

by

Expect-Inspect-Respect

Here is my twist on an oft quoted business or management adage. “It is not expecting, but inspecting while respecting.” I first heard it from Dr. Elmer Towns nearly 25 years ago in a seminar on Sunday School Growth. And it has been the substance of my 6 week sabbatical from LeadershipVoices.com.

“You can expect what you inspect” has been credited by Wikipedia to author W. Edwards Deming, but there’s no evidence that he first coined or popularized the saying. Likewise, Lawrence Appley, president of the American Management Association from 1948 to 1968, was credited with the saying as far back as 1967.

Other variations include, “People do what you inspect not what you expect” and it has been cited in print since 1959. Also, “you get what you inspect, not what you expect” shows up since 1962. The adage is sometimes said to have a military origin, but documented citations are not conclusive.  And, “Don’t expect what you don’t inspect” was written by W. Clement Stone in his book, The Success System That Never Fails and published in 1962.

So, enough of the history lesson. What is my point?

Click here to read the rest of the article »

Leadership Voices is Taking a Sabbatical

In the almost 3 years that Leadership Voices has been blending various voices of leadership into a message of hope and encouragement, we have grown and attracted a following of nearly 2,200 folks who share our passion.  And each of you have made us sharper through your comments and your feedback.  But, in order to remain a great resource on the subject of leadership, we are going to be taking a sabbatical leave to re-evaluate our web presence, our content, our focus, and our brand.

During that time, I would invite you to remain tied in to the various well known and big name thinkers within the leadership movement. But, I also want to invite you to get connected with someone who I believe is on the leading edge of servant leadership and becoming, what Rodney Mills calls, a Transformational Servant Leader.

Rethink Leadership Crash Course Image

Click this link to get connected with RethinkLeadership.net.

But stay tuned and check back here from time to time over the next 6 weeks to see how we are progressing.