Today I want to talk about leadership.
The thing that really annoys me about this topic is I hear people talk about how to be a leader all the time. As a matter of fact, four or five years ago, that was the "in" thing to talk about. People wrote books about it, gave classes about it and in general told you everything you needed to know to become one.
But I really struggled watching people who were leaders that didn't have any people following them. I saw several people who could tell you what to do and what not to do. They were "in the know" about all sorts of topics. In fact, if you needed help with a situation, just bring it up around them and they wouldn't even wait for you to ask, they would just "lead" you out with a lot of advice you didn't request. Have you ever met people like that?
Well now I want to take a swing at how to be a leader. Let's start with a good definition. As I was working out this morning, I was reading a book by Dick Marcinko. Dick was the leader of a group of Navy Seals in the 1980s and he has written several books about his team. Now these books are not about his actual team, they are fiction and I would classify them as mental candy. I don't know that the really expand my mind from reading them. In the book I am reading now, Mr. Marcinko gave the perfect definition of leadership in two words - follow me.
See I think that is what real leadership is all about. I am learning as I continue to grow in the places where the Lord put me in a leadership role that this is the crux of how to lead. In my particular position, I tried to just let things evolve on their own and I basically just sat back and watched a lot of things grow on their own. I was fortunate that the Lord blessed the work and it did grow but now I understand that I need to lead from the front and provide the vision.
When I think of leadership, I think of two of my closest friends JC and BL. They both embody the principal that I am discussing today. Now let me tell you a couple of things that I learned from both of them while I was at TCU. First of all, while I was learning these principals from them, I didn't always like them. They were demanding and they were normally not very tactful in the way they approached getting us to follow them. But I would have done anything either of them asked because of the way they led.
See, I followed them. Why because they were doing what they wanted me to do and they were doing it to such a high level that they did it better than everyone else. Their challenge was always come up here where I already am and let's get better together. See, if I wanted their leadership, I only needed to look in front of me because that's where they were.
These two guys embodied what Dick Marcinko said - follow me. So what am I trying to say today? If you want people to follow you just start doing what you want people to do. Quit trying to tell everyone else how they should do something and just live your life as an example of how it should be done. That's true leadership.
That's Another Opinion of the Minion.
The thing that really annoys me about this topic is I hear people talk about how to be a leader all the time. As a matter of fact, four or five years ago, that was the "in" thing to talk about. People wrote books about it, gave classes about it and in general told you everything you needed to know to become one.
But I really struggled watching people who were leaders that didn't have any people following them. I saw several people who could tell you what to do and what not to do. They were "in the know" about all sorts of topics. In fact, if you needed help with a situation, just bring it up around them and they wouldn't even wait for you to ask, they would just "lead" you out with a lot of advice you didn't request. Have you ever met people like that?
Well now I want to take a swing at how to be a leader. Let's start with a good definition. As I was working out this morning, I was reading a book by Dick Marcinko. Dick was the leader of a group of Navy Seals in the 1980s and he has written several books about his team. Now these books are not about his actual team, they are fiction and I would classify them as mental candy. I don't know that the really expand my mind from reading them. In the book I am reading now, Mr. Marcinko gave the perfect definition of leadership in two words - follow me.
See I think that is what real leadership is all about. I am learning as I continue to grow in the places where the Lord put me in a leadership role that this is the crux of how to lead. In my particular position, I tried to just let things evolve on their own and I basically just sat back and watched a lot of things grow on their own. I was fortunate that the Lord blessed the work and it did grow but now I understand that I need to lead from the front and provide the vision.
When I think of leadership, I think of two of my closest friends JC and BL. They both embody the principal that I am discussing today. Now let me tell you a couple of things that I learned from both of them while I was at TCU. First of all, while I was learning these principals from them, I didn't always like them. They were demanding and they were normally not very tactful in the way they approached getting us to follow them. But I would have done anything either of them asked because of the way they led.
See, I followed them. Why because they were doing what they wanted me to do and they were doing it to such a high level that they did it better than everyone else. Their challenge was always come up here where I already am and let's get better together. See, if I wanted their leadership, I only needed to look in front of me because that's where they were.
These two guys embodied what Dick Marcinko said - follow me. So what am I trying to say today? If you want people to follow you just start doing what you want people to do. Quit trying to tell everyone else how they should do something and just live your life as an example of how it should be done. That's true leadership.
That's Another Opinion of the Minion.
Well said! Leadership is not easy, especially when you lead by example. It takes an incredible amount of courage to step out in front of people and say, "Follow Me!". At the same time, it is the most exciting feeling in the world. Being in front of people encourages proper preparation and helps you stay razor sharp. It also forces you to face your fears. Everyone feels fear. How you deal with that fear determines your true character and the depth of your life. If you let fear dominate your decisions, you will never live up to your own expectations. When you learn to control your fears, you gain a confidence that enables you to accomplish more than you ever thought possible. Who wants to be the 80-90% that lets fear drive their lives. Not me! Conquer your fears, live life to the fullest, and you will be a leader in ways you never anticipated!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks for the kind words.
I agree. I think someone said that courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is being afraid and doing what needs to be done anyway. Your welcome for the kind words. You certainly earned them.
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