HELPitual

Feeling the pull toward a life of service to others is quite common. Committing to a life of service to others is a whole nuther ballgame.

The most effective servant leaders I know quite deliberately engage in the following:

• They serve WAY more than they talk about serving.
• They view NOW as the best time to serve others. 
• They actively pursue ways to be of service.
• They serve in both small ways and large.
• They seek not praise for their service.

HELPing is what those servant leaders do...................as matter of intentional habit.

Applications are not necessary. Anyone can play. Now is the best time to start.

Transmission

Most of us have a license to drive vehicles. Virtually ALL vehicles have a transmission.

What is a transmission (in simple terms)? It's the part of the vehicle that takes the power generated from the engine and transfers that power to the wheels. Only then does movement take place.

The best leaders I know serve as the "transmissions" of their organization: They take the power of the Vision and transmit it to the folks who can move that Vision toward reality.

Power on!

FaithfulnessBoundaries

We all engage in living our lives according to a set of goals. Those goals may have to do with relationships, or professional achievements, or financial aspirations, or ??? There are a bazillion possibilities.

Our level of faithfulness to those goals is directly proportional to the amount of time, effort, and attention we dedicate to them.

As well, opportunities to deviate abound. We are steadily offered opportunity to "compromise," to "cut corners," to "make exceptions" to the outcomes we have chosen.

That's where our faithfulness comes into play. Knowing the lines we will not cross, understanding the compromises we are unwilling to make, considering carefully the "not gonna" calculus is an immensely helpful exercise for us. 

A simple and liberating recipe:

• Consider carefully the NOBLE and WORTHY goals to which we'll be dedicating ourselves.
• Clearly articulate those goals for ourselves and others. 
• Make clear the compromising boundaries we will never cross in pursuing those goals.

These are important considerations for each of us as individuals. They are incalculably more important for those of us who lead organizations -- families, houses of faith, businesses, schools,.... 

Those who trust us must always be confident that "our anchor will hold."

LeaderShift

The best leaders I know pull a "switch" on the usual and customary conceptions of how leaders normally approach their work. They shift their behavior in some interesting "contradictory" ways:

• They seek to serve more than to be served.
• They purposefully listen more than they talk.
• They consistently turn the spotlight toward others.
• They ALWAYS exhibit kindness and respectfulness. 
• They genuinely care, and take the time to express it. 
• They stay focused on the long-term goals as opposed to short-term gains. 

All the above are learnable skills. 

Think I'll take another look in the mirror.....

ExpertFog

It is difficult to read an article these days that does not quote an "expert" or state something along the lines of "experts say." 

Experts have never been in short supply, and they have always disagreed. Always will. As one of my favorite mentors says, "Everyone has an opinion; I prefer the informed ones." 

Worth remembering is that we, and our team, are the experts within our unique contexts. To position our team to make the best possible decisions in a world/fog of confusing and conflicting data, and myriad mitigating variables, consider the following:

• Add the smartest people we can find to be on our team.
• Give everyone at the table voice in the conversations around the complex problems, and expect them to use those voices (banish quickly the "hiders" and "dodgers").
• Refuse to do nothing. Inertia and complacency are diseases to be eradicated.
• Demand, embed, and incentivize betterment measures, every day.
• Insist that continual LEARNING is an expected daily discipline. 

If it were easy, anyone could do it. Maybe even the "experts."

SecretDelusions

For almost 20 years now I have encouraged organizational leaders (particularly school principals and superintendents) to assume that "there are NO secrets." It is delusional to think otherwise.

With instant communications via texts, social media, phones, internet platforms, and (coming soon) embedded chips within the human body, the days of "controlling the narrative" or "keeping a lid on it" are gone.

How can we, as leaders of organizations, handle this dilemma? Consider the following as behavioral strategies:

• Be honest. ALWAYS. With everyone.
• Clarify and clearly articulate 3-5 worthy and noble principles which other can count on us to hold to. Come wind, come rain, come storm, come crisis, come scandal......others will know what to expect from us.
• Don't say or write anything we don't want splattered across the universe. PERIOD!
• Flatten our organizational communications so that every internal and external stakeholder hears the same thing, in the same way, and (preferably) proactively. Remove as many filters and filterers as possible.
• When we screw up...own it, fix it, move on.

TRUST is the currency of leadership. Earning it is a perpetual task of our work.

Today is an excellent day to start.

ReBeginAgain

Life seems to have never moved so quickly. Our attention spans seem shorter, the news cycles are quicker, the information portals to which we have access spin like tops, our work tools appear to be on steroids. Good or bad or both, this warp-speed life is the reality with which we live.

With that life-pace in mind, we are wise to continue (or revive) a commitment to begin anew each day. Regardless of the "speediness" of life, it does not and cannot add a single minute to the day. 

Some good reflective questions:

Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing, to make the world a better place?

Am I letting go of things that do not move me toward my higher purpose?

Are my thoughts, words, and actions promoting love and acceptance to/for others?

If the answer to any of these is "no," perhaps we should tap the brakes...

Today (and every day) is a good day to re-begin-again.