Gitter-r-Doners

Leadership occurs whenever two or more people are involved/engaged in some kind of relationship. 

Whether we're in relationship with only one other person or with tens of thousands, our thinking, intent, and behavior influences that of "the team" (ourselves included) and, thus, the outcomes we achieve.

Think of it as the Gitter-r-Doner effect.

Some of the best Gitter-r-Doners I've observed follow a very pithy script:

• CLARITY - Keep the direction our team is going worthy and simple. Tattoo and bumper sticker worthy messaging increases clarity and coordination. 
• TRUST - Having trust among and between the individuals and organizational teams is worth its weight in gold. Transparency, vulnerability, and honesty are priceless as trust generators and sustainers. 
• PEOPLE - All the fancy tools and technology in world cannot replace committed humans. Investing in the people is the surest way to positive achievements.

Enacting that triad is not so much exact science as it is art. And, yes, we can begin improving our craft as Gitter-r-Doners today...

Today'sLearning

When I worked as a school principal and later as a superintendent I would often see students on the bus line at the end of the day. I would regularly ask this question of them:

"What did you learn today that you didn't already know?"

Too frequently they could not think of anything. Which led to a short conversation about learning.

It's not a bad question to ask of ourselves, regardless of age, at the end of the day....

What did I learn today that I didn't already know?

MissedOppMitigation

I have observed a lot of leaders over the last five decades. Some do an OK job of "staying open and staying legal." The literature aptly describes this as "satisficing." Good enough is good enough.

A few of the leaders I have observed, however, are masterful at their work. For them, good enough is NOT good enough. Part of the skill set of those folks includes their ability to see and seize opportunities that present themselves. 

From watching those Opportunity Maestros, here are some of the things they do in that regard:

• Their eyes are always on the horizon, gauging the trends, the changing landscape, the shifts.

• They are prolific networkers, building relationships beyond their profession, wheelhouse, and age cohort.

• They foster cultures that support and reward risk taking with the team.

• They personally own "the failures" while giving credit to others for "the wins."

• They mine both soft and hard data relentlessly, from all directions, then make consequential decisions based on those data.

• They work mightily to embed adaptability into both the processes and the people. 

Continuous LEARNING is the assumed mindset of those Opportunity Seekers. 

Look at the horizon. What see you?

MotivationMonsters

What we choose to chase in life has both implications and consequences:

When we choose to chase...

MONEY    or    STATUS    or    PRESTIGE    or    FAME

It almost always comes at a cost.

To quote a line from the popular Randy Travis song: "It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you, it's what you leave behind you when you go."

We choose what we chase..........daily.

VolunteerJuice

The late Dr. Phil Schlechty oft reminded us that the people we work with, our internal and external customers, and even our students (for the educators among us) should be viewed as volunteers. 

Each and every one of them extends to us their time, effort, attention (and sometimes money) in direct proportion to how engaged they are with us and with the actions/progress/vision we propose.
 

If we drink Dr. Schlechty's koolaid, then what should we be be doing to increase the level of engagement of that wide range of stakeholders we serve? 

Worth considering is this menu...

• TRUST - Seek mightily to foster trust between and among the individuals and groups with which we engage.
• LEARNING - Heavily invest time and resources toward the advancement of knowledge and skills with those on our team, and with those from whom we seek support.
• TRANSPARENCY - Be open and equitable with information flows and resource allocation. 
• FOCUS - Craft clear and very concise messaging regarding what we are about and what needs to be done to achieve our goals.
• DISCIPLINE - Follow the advice of Coach Phil Jackson: "Chop wood, haul water." Every day, all day, in many ways.
• LISTEN - Intently listen to all stakeholders, with our ears, with our eyes, with our hearts.

We can never get it all right, all the time, but ...... we can get better at each, every day.

Today is an excellent day to begin raising the engagement level. No telling what we can accomplish...us and our volunteers, that is.

Relationship&Progress

Patience and persistence go hand in hand. That is especially the case when improved performance (whether personal or organizational) is our goal.

A common misstep in the path toward improvement is when we choose to harm -- or destroy -- a relationship in the interest of hastening our progress.

That choice almost always works against our goals, and more often than not, hinders the pace for which we pine. Funny how often inordinate pushing, pressing, demands, and expectations land us in a ditch. 

PULL seems a better deployment mechanism than PUSH.

BeingBecoming

Most of us look at ourselves in the mirror each day. Probably many times each day. A quick look at pictures of ourselves over the years irrefutably documents that what we look like today is NOT what we looked like 10 or 20 or 50 years ago. 

Our beingness -- who we are --  has also changed similarly over the years. The work we do or don't do or have done or haven't done with regard to our physical appearance cannot be ignored, nor denied.

The same goes for the work we choose to do on who we are becoming as a person. Arguably, attention to our beingness is even more important than our physical appearance. 

Step 1: We think intentionally about who we aspire to be. 

Step 2: We go to work shaping that person we envision.

Just as in the physical domain, it will most certainly mean abandoning some habits and acquiring some different ones. 

Today is a good day to start. The only day, really. The footprint we leave on the planet matters.