Category Archives: Leadership

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Stop Wasting Your Time Trying to Develop Leaders

Character development is more important than leadership development.

We live in a world full of leaders who are empty of character. We’ve got more leaders, more leadership positions, more leadership titles and more frustration because we actually have less leadership. Virtue is dead. Character is on oxygen. Ethics have been removed.

If you want to make a difference in your organization, in your community, in your home and among your followers, then focus on developing character in those around you. But, your the character you are seeking to build better first be evident in you. Integrity is on life-support in our world today.

Work harder to build great people than you do great leaders.

There’s all this pressure in our world and nearly every organization (including the Church) today to build great leaders. It’s not healthy. Don’t be a leadership development organization. This is silly. How many leaders can you actually have? Everyone. No, everyone is not a leader and can’t be a leader. The sooner you make this clear in your organization, the more focused your organization can be. It’s too easy for organizations, teams and groups to have “leader fever.” Leader fever is an ailment that plagues organizations that try to create and turn everyone into a leader.

Let me speak directly to Christians for a moment:

Did Jesus ever say to make leaders?

No (emphatically). He said that the Church is “to make disciples.” A disciple is a learner, a student and a follower. We are not to make leaders. So when we try to make leaders, we are making a mistake. You can no more make a leader than a leopard can change its spots. You can no more make a leader than dirt can turn into water. Church leaders, your job is to make followers of Jesus Christ, not leaders for your organization, ministry teams and committees. Stop thinking about the Body of Christ like a Fortune 500 company. It’s not. True leadership is organic (more on that later)–organic being natural, innate or born.

Don’t do death by leadership development. I see more wasted money, more wasted time and more wasted energy trying to develop people who aren’t leaders into great leaders. I’ve seen more frustration, more pressure and fewer leaders developed. I’ve seen leader after leader kill themselves, blow up their organization because of some new book they’ve read, some podcast they heard, or some seminar they paid out the whazoo to get a golden nugget. So they go back and change everything and all they create is more frustration, more pressure, not more leaders.

Wake up and eat this nugget: leaders are born not made.  We used to believe that until we turned into a world where everyone is supposed to be a winner. Go back to your childhood. Leaders were always born–born in a moment and born for a moment. You can’t teach charisma. You can’t coach drive. You can’t make some be self-disciplined. Transcendent leaders have one foot in this world and one foot somewhere else. They are driven by a force no one around them can see and have an energy that no one around them can manufacture. But, they have a character that can be emulated. A natural born leader has a spark, or fire that no one put there and that no can put out. Everyone else who is not born a leader is trying to find that spark, trying to find that fire. Leaders have it. It’s in their eyes. It’s in their soul. Everyone else is trying to find “their passion.”

If you can’t develop leaders that’s your fault. So, stop trying and just work on building really great people. Somewhere this vision of the “super” leadership developer organization sprang into our world as someone who we must become. We’ve been sold to invest more resources to get better leaders. I tell you, invest in more relationships and you’ll get better people. Then, the leaders will come. Great leaders don’t like working with bad people. Stop trying to find great leaders and just work on building great people into a great team.

You need leaders. Every organization needs leaders. But before you need leaders you need great people. Stop hiring for leadership and start hiring those who will let you speak into their lives while they work really hard for you and demonstrate loyalty. Better a lot loyal with a little quirk then a not loyal with no quirks!

Leaders Have Vision

I find that many “leaders” today lack real vision that inspires those in their organization to stay. People stay for vision. Why? Because people have always and will always follow a leader with a compelling vision. People stay when they are energized and inspired. If you can’t sit down and speak to someone’s heart and paint a picture of where you are going, then you lack the ability to inspire others. You don’t have to be the most gregarious, but you better be the most grounded.

Grounded People: Foundations & Facelifts

Grounded people have great character. Grounded people build foundations, not give facelifts. I find that modern leadership development is focused on giving facelifts, not giving foundations. Foundations get ignored. Facelifts get attention. Work harder to build foundations in your life and the lives of those around you. Don’t give them a facelift. A facelift is a temporary stretching to cover a wrinkle a blemish or a defect. Character development is foundation building. Leadership development has become like a facelift.

The greatest leader ever, Jesus, spent no time in leadership development, and all his time in character development of those following. He picked twelve. Of the twelve, he had three: Peter, James and John.  And of the three, there was one. Peter.  In fact, the one time we read about when his followers jockeyed for a leadership position, he smacked them down for focusing on the wrong path. There was never anyone more grounded than Jesus. He spent three and a half years developing the character of those who would carry his message far beyond his feet.

To the Aspiring Leader

Let’s say that you’ve read this far and are an aspiring leader. Here’s my word for you: Stop trying so hard to be a great leader and work even harder to have great character. Be the most “beyond reproach” individual that you know. Be the most humble. Be the most energetic. Be the most encouraging. Take the most initiative. Be the most responsible person you know. Stay longer, work harder and give more than anyone else you know. Stop worrying about being recognized. Great leaders know where their great followers are and are not. God knows where you are. Rest in the fact that the Almighty knows exactly where you are and learn to be content, yet hungry. Learn to be humble, yet confident. And learn to have character not be a character.

(c) Alex Vann, 2018

 

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Redwall Leadership Thought of the Week: Busyness

Redwall Leadership Thought of the Week:

Busyness Brings Emptiness

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”

~Socrates

Busyness is a lively, yet largely meaningless activity. It is easy for a leader to get busy and stay busy. Because, if you are like me, you would rather be busy than bored. If you don’t protect your time, then no one in your organization will. Now, protecting your time does not mean you are unavailable or unengaged. Protecting your time means that your preserve your time for the functions and facilitation that are the greatest investment of your time. The larger your team, your organization or your endeavor, the greater need to protect and preserve your time you will have. The larger the organization, the more demands on your time.

It’s absolute arrogance to try to be everything for everybody, just as much as it is complete arrogance to be be nothing to nobody.

Busyness often happens because you don’t let others help you. It’s easy in leadership to suspect the motives of others. Discernment is certainly important. However, there comes a time where you must ask for help and receive help that is offered. I struggled with this for years for two reasons: (1) I thought if it was done right, I should do it myself (arrogance) and (2) I thought it made me look weak to ask or receive the help of others (insecurity). Arrogance and insecurity are two sides of the same coin of pride. It was through humility I became less busy, because I became willing to ask others to help me do what they could do better than me.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Barrenness is what happens to your soul when you get busy if you are not careful. A barren place is an empty place. There are a ton of leaders who are crazy busy, yet completely barren. I don’t call this “me time” I call this boundaries. Your time has limits. You have limits. You can’t do everything. You can’t serve everyone all the time. The greater the scale and scope of your leadership responsibility, the bolder the lines of your boundaries must be. This does not mean you disappear from the scene, vacate your responsibilities or leave your followers wondering where you are and what your doing.

“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Proverbs 25:28

Busyness often reflects not only poor boundaries, but the absence of them. Everything of value must be protected. This includes your time. Your time is only as valuable as you make it. Don’t over value your time, like “my time.” It has more to do with your calling. Jesus was the greatest leader to ever walk the earth and he had crystal clear boundaries, yet he spent a tremendous amount of his time with others. But, he didn’t let the work drive him, he drove the work.

How did he do this?

A clear calling makes a simple life.  A simple life is a less busy life.  Jesus’s  calling was clear.  He knew when to say yes and when to say no. He knew when to dive in and when to walk away. A clear calling gives you clear boundaries. The clearer my calling becomes, the more focused I can be. I am called to be a husband. I am called to be a father. These are more valuable and give more meaning to my soul than any amount of business success or recognition I can ever receive. The right relationships help restore the emptiness of your soul. The right relationships always have the right boundaries and they are simple.

 

(c) Alex Vann, 2018

 

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Redwall Leadership Thought of the Week

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Redwall Leadership
Thought of the Week: 
Lead with joy. 
“When joy is a habit, love is a reflex.”
-Bob Goff
Leaders must demonstrate a love for their teams and their people above a love for their position, their recognition or their results. Leaders must lead with joy. Joy is a contagious energy that warms the hearts and souls of those around you. It is a well of happiness that refreshes the lives of those around you. Make joy your habit. In order to do this you must get over yourself.
A bad attitude blesses no one. A bad attitude tells everyone two things: stay out of my way and I’m miserable. It’s unacceptable for a leader to live with a bad attitude. A bitter spirit is a poison pill. If you want to bless those who labor with you and for you, greet them with joy. Joy is infectious energy that lifts the hearts and minds of those working with you to another level.
Work takes us down. Joy lifts us up. Love keeps us up. A joy-filled work environment has to be created. Joy exercises the demons of bitterness, jealousy and bad attitudes. Joy and disgruntlement have a hard time existing in the same space. When people are lifted by your joy, they feel loved. Love creates life and loyalty. Joy lifts an atmosphere, love changes it.
A leader’s responsibility is not to increase the misery, but to decrease the pressure by bringing the joy. 
(C) Alex Vann, 2018
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Podcast – Unlocking Millennial Myths

The truth is between technology, helicopter parents and a lack of perseverance Millennials are being told some myths that are affecting the way they work, the way they think about work and how they see their lives. And sadly, it’s not helping. It’s time to unlock these myths with a good, healthy dose of the truth.

Seven Myths Millennials are being told and sold today:

1 – The Myth: Development is someone else’s responsibility. The Truth: Development is your responsibility. Most development takes a while. Most Millennials don’t want to wait. There is an impatience problem with many millennials today. If development isn’t your responsibility, then you are waiting for someone else to carry you.

2- The Myth: If you want something, ask and it should be given to you. The Truth: If you want something, go work for it. Figure out where your organization is going and get ahead of it. Think of a boat. Paddle out in front of where you see things going. Don’t just say “Hey, someone needs to help me, someone needs to give to me, someone needs to do this for me.” Start by Going to work for it. Take initiative in the right direction. This is called alignment.

3 – The Myth: Showing up is work. The Truth: Work requires more than just showing up. Showing up doesn’t mean you added any value. Putting the work in is where the value comes from. You may not get recognized for the work that you do. Great results are undeniable. Keep working, keep getting results. It’s impossible over time to neglect great results.

Many Millennials think they are doing the right thing. Are you sure? You may just be doing your own thing! Do what is required of you. Sometimes that’s hard, takes a long time and is uncomfortable.

4- The Myth: We learn well in comfort. The Truth: Comfort is a terrible teacher. The most valuable lessons we have learned have often come from the most pain. Comfort is a terrible teacher. We live in a culture that wants to celebrate comfort. Celebrating comfort is a form of selfishness.

5- The Myth: The easy way is the best way. The truth: The best way is almost never the easy way. Life isn’t easy. If you believe that life is easy, then you’ve believed a lie. Life is full of challenges and uncertainty. If you aren’t careful you will plot a “risk-free” and “safe” life. I don’t propose being reckless in regards to risk, but you will have to make some strategic bets and take chances. Things that are easy to acquire have little value. Life is difficult. If you have an easy job, with an easy boss and easy assignments you will rarely get anywhere. Getting somewhere worthwhile requires great effort. Read the biographies of those people who accomplished really great stuff: they all underwent some really hard things.

6 – The Myth: You define yourself. The Truth: What you pursue defines you. What you give your time, energy and resources to is what people will remember you by. Most often what you will eventually find is that you are at the center of what you are seeking. When you define yourself, you are simply revealing that you are pursing yourself. What you find with really selfless people is that the pursuit is not about themselves. It’s something outside of them. The position never fulfills you, the pursuit does, if it is the right pursuit. You must pursue something greater than you. Pursue something that can truly make a difference in life.

Jesus told his followers to “Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and (then) all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). He was saying, “Get over yourself, get outside your self and pursue something greater than you.” I’ll give you the target. I’ll show you the way. But, you must do the work. You must be in hot pursuit.

7- The Myth: Information equates to learning. The Truth: It’s only learning if you apply the information correctly. More information does not equate to learning. It just means you are becoming full of information. Lots of information without application just confuses.  I see too many Millennials who want to poll a bunch of people and collect a bunch of information, yet still make the same mistakes over and over again. This tells me that they have actually learned nothing, because they haven’t applied the information in a way that demonstrates wisdom.

This world is full of complexity, uncertainty and challenges. You need truth in order to navigate the most successful and productive path in this world.

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free“

Jesus

 

(c) Alex Vann, 2018

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Don’t be an Impressive Leader, Be Inspiring

The most effective leaders are the most inspiring ones.

The world we live in today is uninspiring. It’s depressing, dark and filled with uncertainty.

It seems that more people are depressed than ever before. Simultaneously, more leaders are trying to impress others and be impressive like never before. I’ve seen more leaders in tight shirts, plucked eyebrows and unbreathable jeans than at any point in human history. I’ve seen cooler clothes, hipper furniture and cutting-edge ambiance.  But, are we really impressed? Are our organizations, our teams and our people actually better for how impressive we appear? No, they aren’t. And if we live to impress or be impressive we will lead and live uninspired lives among uninspired people.

I have found and seen that historically the most effective leaders, the ones that get the most done, don’t do it for themselves, but they actually inspire others to be better, get stronger and go longer. If you want to see growth in your life, development in the lives of those emerging around you or a fresh wind blow through the lives of those in your organization, get outside yourself and learn to be a leader that inspires the best in others. Don’t worry about being fresh, cool or hip. Inspiration is fresh air. We have too many organizations, teams and people sucking stale air in new suits.

We get our English word  for inspiration from from the Latin word that means “breathe into.”  Therefore, literally, when you inspire another you are breathing new life into their lives. People need this–desperately need this. The world is cruel, unforgiving and deflating. An inspiring leader inflates or brings fresh air the lives of those around him or her gasping for life, for hope and for a future.

Impressive leaders have more fans than they do actual followers. To lead is to inspire others. And we live in a largely uninspiring world. We talk about dreams, but most of our dreams die. We talk about hopes, but half the people we know are borderline depressed. We talk about success, but wallow in defeat. We are impressed but empty.

An inspiring leader has the ability to elevate the way that you see yourself. An impressive leader has the ability to elevate the way you see them.

An inspiring leader directs their energy and focus on making those around them better and brighter. This kind of leader is more called than driven. There is a depth to their life that comes from the heart. Not only are they passionate about what they are doing, but they are even more passionate about why they are doing it and who they are doing it for.

Inspiring leaders have a selflessness that is refreshing in the midst of a self-centered atmosphere. In a cold, selfish world, a leader who inspires others warms them up by their selfless demonstrations of care and concern. This doesn’t mean they stay or shy away from the truth, but rather they have skill to lay truth as new life and energy into the lives of those around them. If you really want to make a difference, serve selfless those around you.

Inspiration is about energy. There are many people who work really hard who are unmotivated and  drained. An inspiring leader has the ability to transfer energy into their followers lives or spark dormant energy that already exists. I find that most people aren’t as drained as they think. They are simply just living uninspired lives, seeing little value in their work and little lasting result from their efforts. They think they are drained. They don’t know how to endure, how to suffer and how to work for the win.

“Care is like oxygen. When you don’t feel cared for it’s like lacking oxygen. A leader who cares for their followers blows fresh air into their lives.”

An inspiring leader creates value by caring for the heart. If you really want to win with others and win others, you have to win their heart. And there is absolutely only one way to win a heart: care for it. It’s safe to safe that in the climate of our homes, business and organizations, most people just don’t feel truly cared for. Not feeling cared for and cared about is like lacking oxygen. Each breath, each step is more laborious because you lack the molecules that sustain the drain on your energy. Inspiration is oxygen. When you come alongside of and care for and care about others, you pump fresh air into their lungs. And when the lungs get air, they can pump oxygen to all parts of a flagging and sagging body.

Be a leader who loves. Love is the greatest motivator and indicator of care on earth. Nothing, absolutely nothing beats love. True love is both sacrificial and selfless. Leaders who aren’t sacrificial, sacrifice their followers in pursuit of impressing others. Leaders who aren’t selfless demand to be served by those who are under their authority. Love never demands. And a demanding leader may get results, but they are always at the cost of draining the lives of their people and driving them away. An caring leader gains ground in the heart, which is the most important ground for a leader to gain.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus was the greatest inspirational leader to ever live. He loved others, cared for them and laid his life down as an act of ultimate service. We need more leaders that are willing to lower themselves, lower their opinions of themselves and learn to serve their people. A leader who serves his followers is a leader who cares about his followers.

Inspired people are loyal people. When you are inspired, you work harder, stay longer and give more. Loved people are the best kind of loyal. There are different kinds of loyalty. Loyalty is like a bond. Money can bond people. Opportunity can bond people. And even fear can bond people. These three types of bonds are actually very weak because they are easily replaced by a more favorable offer. Love is the most unbeatable and unbreakable bond. Why? Because great love once received is not given away or broken easily.

Inspiring leaders create the strongest bonds among their followers,  constituents and partners because they demonstrate consistent, selfless and sacrificial love.

Don’t be an impressive leader. Why? People are too easily impressed. Life is hard and any accomplishment or measure of success can quickly and easily impresses others. Think of social media. It’s a web of false pretenses and filters we design to impress others with our own version of what we want our reality to be. If we see a celebrity or famous person, we try to get a picture with them and post it. Why? To impress others. We go somewhere others don’t have access to, we post it. We see something rare or unique, we post it. We change things up and do the “humble brag,” we post it. Why? Mostly to impress others.

True inspiration affects the heart, which is the seat of the soul, the very essence of who someone is. When others are impressed their minds and emotions are affected. It’s easy to give a better argument or flatter someone to make them feel better. When the heart is moved, the feet are sure to follow.

Do you want better followers?

Move their hearts and their hands and feet are yours.

Inspiring leaders capture and win the hearts of those around them by both strategic and spontaneous acts of kindness,  expressions of encouragement and measures of appreciation.

Conversely, impressive leaders tend to bask in the glow of recognition and the admiration of those around them. They tend to celebrate results more than relationships. They tend to recognize performance over people. Impressive leaders create a culture built on performance  and pressure. Performance in pressure in and out themselves are not negative things but they are unsustainable elements over a long period time. They have a diminishing returns. However, inspiration is not only sustainable,  it’s transformational. If you want to see the lives of those around you change for the better, inspire them.

Inspiring leaders point to people, a lot. And inspiring leader redirects the attention to those they are serving. Attention is a form of energy. And inspiring leader redirects that attention/energy onto it into the lives of those around them. They easily recognize other and give credit. An Impressive leader enjoys the attention  and like a vacuum drawls the energy into them selves. This has the unintentional effect of draining or neutralizing the energy in their followers. Energy is so important in organization between a leader in between followers because energy is what facilitates momentum. And momentum is what moves a people, an organization, a relationship, fulfills dreams and reaches goals.

Leadership is about people. Life is filled with them. The best, most effective leaders have learned that inspiring their people is far greater than impressing them. Don’t waste your time leading to impress others. Rather, invest your time serving to inspire others–it has the power to make a life, change a life and fill a life.

Don’t be impressive, be inspiring. The world needs it. Your world and your people need it.

 

(c) Alex Vann, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

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Podcast – The Millennial Mentor (Episode 1) – Other than My Title, Why Would Anyone Follow Me?

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You are not a leader unless you have followers. Everyone can exercise personal self-leadership, but not everyone will be a leader that connects and collects with followers. You will not collect followers until you connect with people. Even those with a title or a position, may not have real people follow them in real time.

To be a leader that others follow you must…

1- Demonstrate a care for others that is greater than yourself. Care is three parts: (1) concern, (2) love, and (3) loyalty. A leader who doesn’t show concern is demonstrating a selfishness. People love a selfless leader. A leader must show unconditional love. A heart connection is the deepest connection. Leaders must learn to love their people more than their position. Finally, a leader must demonstrate absolute loyalty to loyal people. A lack of loyalty from a leader to his/her people is an automatic eject button.

2- Hold yourself to high personal standards, but be ready to give grace. Followers need consistency in conduct. Leaders must have impeccable integrity and set themselves up as the example. Followers don’t want to follow leaders who get a position and them reward themselves with perks and allowances. Followers love leaders who hold themselves above personal privilege and perks. This also speaks to holding others accountable. A leader must hold a consistent firm line with everyone, but they must consider each one as an individual. Leaders make allowances for your people, not for your self. Be ready to give grace instead of giving grief. Leaders who start with grace are leaders that others want to follow. There are no perfect leaders and no perfect followers, so a leader should be ready to give lots of grace.

3- Set a positive tone with a positive attitude.  The leader is the the thermostat, not the thermometer. The thermostat sets the temperature, the thermometer reads it. Don’t do negativity. Don’t be naive, but start from a positive place and build on that. People follow positive people. Like attracts like. If you have a team or organization full of negative people, then your leaders are probably negative and the same if you have a team full of positive people. Drive negativity and bad attitudes out of your organization. Negativity is like mold. You can’t find it, but it stinks up the room. Positivity is like sunshine. It warms and welcomes.

4- Be the first to take responsibility. Don’t shift blame, pass blame or start with blame. Be ready to admit as the leader that you are ultimately responsible and it starts and ends with you. People want to follow a leader who will step up and take responsibility, even when it probably really isn’t their fault. People love a leader for that kind of a behavior.

5- Know where you are going and clearly communicate direction. People need a vision. They need to know where they are going. People would rather go the wrong way with a good leader, than to go the right way alone. This is why leadership is so important. It is up to the leader to not only provide the direction or vision, but to make sure the information is communicated clearly and timely. Followers like to be “in the know.” Most people if they are loyal can handle more sensitive information. Leaders must practice more sensitivity than secrecy.

 

 

Questions for teams to consider:

1 – Rate your organization 1-10 on how much you think people feel cared for. How can you demonstrate greater care for those in your organization? What will it take to get that number higher?

2- What is grace? What positive effect can it have on those in your organization? How do you hold high standards, yet give grace to others?

3- Rate your personal leadership on “positivity” and “energy” on a scale from 1-10? positivity:_____ energy: _____ : What will it take from you to get those scores higher? What prevents you?

4- How does blame make a team more ineffective and less productive?

5-What is the vision of your organization today? Compare your answer with others on your team. How clear is the vision and direction? Why is it clear or unclear?

 

 

(c) Alex Vann, 2018

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Leadership Word of the Week: Wait

Ah, this week’s word is a word we don’t like to hear and even more we don’t like to experience. We live in a give-me, give-me-now, what’s-taking-so-long society. And the by-product is that we are becoming cold, demanding and we are developing fewer high caliber leaders.

This week’s leadership word is wait.

To wait means you delay your response or activity until a more suitable or favorable time appears for you to act or react.

Waiting is good for you because it teaches you delayed gratification. We live in an instant gratification world. Instant gratification is the process by which that which pleases you is gained quickly. The problem with instant gratification is that it is short-lived and short-sighted. Not only that, but instant gratification diminishes the value of things that have to worked for. Delayed-gratification means you are willing to work and wait for something valuable. Delayed-gratification actually increases your understanding of value, both to yourself and of the thing or opportunity you are working for.

Waiting teaches you to tell your self “no.” And if we have ever been living in a day and age where we need to learn to say “no” it is now! I watch young parents who don’t feel like telling their screaming kid “no” just hand them their phone, put a video on and even slap a pair of headphones on the kid. What they should do is tell the child “no” and then when the child pitches a fit, enact their parental authority and merit consequences. If we won’t tell ourselves no, then we certainly wont tell others no either. No is a word that restrains us. We need restrain, because without no, we expose ourselves to unnecessary risks and temptations. Just because you want it doesn’t mean you need it. Waiting helps you discern your needs from your wants, helps you determine what is necessary from what is unnecessary.

“Waiting is key to developing others because it allows them to catch up.”

Waiting teaches you to when to say yes. Waiting is not all about no. It is also about when to say yes or when to pull the proverbial trigger. Anyone who has shot a bow and arrow or used a rifle understands that there is an optimum time to say yes and many other times to say no. Waiting teaches you to find the right window. There will be more options that you think there will be in your future, especially if you are talented and have a positive personality. Thus, as you learn to wait, you also learn when to say yes. Waiting for the right time, the right opportunity or the right person is the value of delay. Delay is not a denial. Delay allows the best opportunity to present itself.

Waiting increases your perspective. Perspective is the value of time over distance. And when you don’t learn to wait, you have a flawed, narrow perspective. When you have to wait you have the opportunity to see more and think more. And leaders definitely need to spend time doing both of these activities. Instead of rushing to solve a problem, first seek to understand the problem. Instead of cutting off a person who is talking to you about an issue, wait and listen to what they have to say.

There is a fear attached to waiting. We often think that if we wait, then we will miss out. This is not true. What we miss when we don’t wait is the best opportunity and the best option. There is always a time for decision and action, but it is after you have learned the principle of waiting.

Waiting helps you learn patience which is a key to love. Leaders must love others. And those who are impatient are often the most unloving. Love is patient. If you want to see those around you grow and develop, sometimes you have to wait on them to catch up and be patient for them to get it. Smart people are often the most impatient people. This is why so many all-star professional athletes make terrible coaches; the game was easy for them, and they grow impatient when it isn’t easy for others. Great leaders know how to wait on their people, because they value their people. Things you value, you are willing to wait for.

Waiting is fertile ground for innovation and creativity. Waiting doesn’t imply you stop working. It simply implies you stop forcing, worrying or demanding action that is premature or unnecessary. When you have to wait, when you experience silence, your mind actually has to go to work. And a mind at work is where the creativity and the innovation really happens. As you wait for your next opportunity, you have time to experiment and to test some ideas you wouldn’t normally have. Waiting gives you time to edit what you have been working on. Too many good ideas make poor actions, because there wasn’t enough editing of the idea going on.

Waiting can make you stronger. Development never takes place in an instance. A change in direction can take place in an instance, but changing direction is not development. A new mindset takes a while to set in. Any muscular development needs action, then rest. Waiting is a form of rest. Your mind needs rest. Your body needs rest. Accepting waiting as a form of rest is a mature leadership practice that all the truly transcendent leaders have understood. I love the Bible verse, “for those who wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). One reason why we have such poor leadership and so many empty leaders is that they haven’t allow themselves to wait. Rushing will never renew your strength. But, waiting certainly will.

Waiting is not a curse, it is often a blessing. So as you think about your personal leadership development, allow waiting to be a significant part of the course. Waiting is good for us.

“I’m sure God keeps no one waiting, unless he sees that it is good for him to wait.”
-C. S. Lewis

 

 

 

*Today’s word is the fifth Leadership Word of the Week in this series:
1-Hustle
2-Presentation
3-Grit
4-Drive
5-Wait

I love hearing from you. Leave a comment and I may be able to reply. Keep leading, it’s need more than ever.

(c) Alex Vann, 2018

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Leadership Word of the Week: Drive

Everyone is motivated by something. The problem is that many people don’t have a clue what motivates them. They live life just reacting to the stimuli that they are confronted with. This kind of person lives a very shallow and dull life. They are moved or carried by the currents of life.

What so many people are lacking today is simply: drive.

Drive is the invisible, internal force in a person that is where motivation meets activation.  Drive takes your desires and makes them become directions Drive is what keeps you moving when everyone else has quit, gone home or accepted defeat. A car in park does not serve it’s purpose. Cars are designed for transport. Just like cars, there are too many people in the world today who have placed their lives in park or neutral. Park means you are going nowhere. Neutral means you will be pulled or pushed into the direction of another.

Drive is more than desire. To express a desire to do something, to expound your thoughts about doing something, these are not drive. These are merely desire. Desire is either fuel or fumes. Fumes happen when the only energy your desire meets is in your mind. The fumes of your desire escape and you move nothing, do nothing and gain nothing. Desire is fuel when you possess drive. But, having desire alone is an empty gas tank. A car in drive with no desire moves nowhere.

When you have drive, you enjoy the ride. You enjoy the journey. Too many people today are so obsessed with the next step, they don’t enjoy the one they are standing on. Escape is not drive. Don’t mistake escape for drive. Escape is a feeling of just wanting to get out. Drive is understanding why you are here and what you can do about it–what you can learn while you are hear. Drive is not as much about the destination as about the journey. The journey is where the joy happens. For example, you enter your vehicle in a road race. Which joy is more lasting, the trophy or the time spent on the track. The most powerful memories come from running the race, not receiving the rewards. Trophies are meant for shelves and collect dust. Great lives are not determined by the number of trophies, but the number of miles on the track. And no race is won with a car stuck in park or neutral.

Drive is a differentiator. If you want to differentiate yourself from your peers and excel to a level beyond them, then drive on in learning, in understanding and in output. Your input often determines your output. The reason you don’t get as much out of something, a job, a position or a work is that you simply have put enough into it. And it goes beyond just putting in, you need to pour in. Pour your emotional energy, your mental energy and your physical energy in to what you already have. Too many today in our workplaces simply take more out than they put in. Those who have drive, pour more in than they take out. Those that are driven have an internal energy that burns when the external encouragement dries up. Those who live for feedback lack drive. Driven people don’t need lots of encouragement. Conversely, they are little affected by discouragement. A person with drive moves on despite the applause, despite silence and despite boos.

Drive reveals your mental and emotional strength. There are too many weak-minded people and emotional cupcakes in the world today. Drive reveals itself in a solid, steady and strong mind-set. Drive keeps you going when everything and everyone quit. Drive brings you in early and keeps you late. Drive goes the extra mile and does the extra work. Drive is not accepting poor performance or inferior results as final. Drive keeps working, keeps seeking, and keeps knocking.

Drive is also like hunger–a hunger to do more, see more and be more. Drive is a hunger to learn, to grow and to develop. Drive is an appetite and those that have it stay lean and hungry. They don’t arrive. They don’t push back from the table. They keep themselves lean and hungry, not lean and cranky. They have an insatiable appetite to experience for themselves what others merely look over, pass by or completely ignore. Drive is a kind of curiosity that keeps you turning over stones, looking behind bushes and digger deeper.

People who have drive are able to press on when they get push back.

In a world of passengers, be a driver. In a world of floaters, be a driver. In a world or spectators, be a driver. Those who drive experience fuller, more productive lives.

 

(c) Alex Vann, 2018

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Leadership Word of the Week: Grit

In a furious world full of snowflakes, we need strong men and women who don’t melt at the first thought of heat. We need to teach our children, our teams and our people to rise to the occasion and stop dropping our heads and evaporating when life doesn’t go their way.

We need to teach our kids, our teams, our people and ourselves one word above all others today: Grit.

Grit is being tough when you feel weak. 

Grit is both your ability to step into adversity and stand up under it. Grit is where your energy meets adversity. Call it perseverance. Call it endurance. Grit is where courage rejects fear. Grit is the place your heart grows stronger than your sight, your strength and your mind. Toughness and single-mindedness define the one who is filled with grit. In a world where weakness is being modeled and praised, we need a movement to bring grit back!

Grit leaves a legacy. But you will never leave a legacy until you first leave a mark. Most people today, because they don’t have grit, just simply leave altogether.

Sandpaper has grit. Sandpaper leaves it’s mark. Construction paper is colorful and makes all kind of cute dioramas, but leaves no lasting mark on its environment. The first storm and construction paper turns into destruction paper—a wet, weak mess. People without grit are like construction paper – colorful, but impotent. Sandpaper on the other hand is strong and makes an impression when rubbed.

Have you ever rubbed construction paper?

Construction paper can’t stand up to the pressure. Because, construction paper has a weak constitution. You, literally, can rub a hole right through it. But, sandpaper is made of a different constitution. Part paper, part glue and all grit (sand grains) makes sandpaper a formidable force for any surface.

Grit makes you formidable. We live in a pressure packed world. But, those with grit can handle the pressure. Grit allows gives you the determination to be undeterred. The world wants to crush you. Seriously, nothing in the world improves itself. It all decays. All the forces of this world will pull you down. We used to have men and women who fought for things and built things. Now, we just have people who want to be given things.

No one can give you grit. You get grit by setting your face like flint to hard things, clenching your teeth and taking one step at a time. Grit takes no shortcuts and keeps you in it for the long haul.

Grit makes sparks in your soul. The reason there are so many passionless people is they are looking for a passion instead of looking for grit. Grit says, “Give me the hard way.” But, no one wants hard things anymore. Our world’s mantra is “make it easy and make it sweet.” You will never learn grit that way. The grit gets sucked out of you and you become the wrapping paper instead of the construction paper.

Grit goes to work. Listen, life is not fair. Stop wishing it was your version of fair and just get to work. And once you get to work, keep working. I see so many young people without grit, without stick-to-it-ness. When they don’t get what they want. They quit.

Grit don’t quit.

Life is not going to go your way all of the time, in fact, most of the time. And life, certainly, isn’t easy. So, when life doesn’t go your way, you suck it up and go to work. This is grit. And grit is only learned as you work hard. Because, grit can only be learned as you work hard. You can’t learn grit playing video games or watching videos on the internet. You can’t learn grit by letting someone else fight your battles. You can’t learn grit by reading social media posts or listening to popular pundits. You can’t learn grit from having a mentor or getting feedback. You can’t learn grit from running from your problems. You can’t learn grit by hiding from adversity.

You learn grit when you don’t quit. We have a world full of quitters today. They call it “advancement” or “leaving for the next opportunity.” But, too many people leave too early, simply because they don’t have the mental, emotional or even physical fortitude to suffer through one fruitless season into a more fruitful one.

“Over time grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimless ones.”
~John Ortberg

Grit is a divider. It divides the morally strong from the morally bankrupt. It separates the winners from the losers. It separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls. Grit puts it’s big boy and big girl pants on and gets to work. Grit is the line between those who stay and those who just want out. Grit is the line between those who absorb the pressure and  those whine to get their own way and escape the pressure. Information will never make you stronger, but straining under hard things will always make you stronger.

Get some grit and get to work. Those with grit will outlast and out-perform those without it.

Grit means “getting results in-spite of trials.”

(C) Alex Vann, 2018

 

 

*Special thanks to my iron, my friend and eldest sibling, Aaron, for a discussion about grit that gave me this week’s word.

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Leadership Word of the Week: Hustle

As you develop people, in order to reach them you need to teach them new concepts and use vocabulary that represents these concepts. Using a word or a short group of words often facilitates quicker understanding and quicker application.

This week’s word: Hustle

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Hustle means to use more energy get things done faster. Hustle means to use energy that maybe you didn’t want to because the situation calls for more. To hustle means you have to move quickly. Hustle doesn’t mean you move without thinking, it means that you are able to reach another, higher gear while doing the same task.

Hustle kills sloth. Sloth is a malaise that is always present in the individual lives of your team and also thus, is always growing or dying in the collective life of your team, department or organization.

Hustle creates high productivity. Hustle is where initiative means energy. Successful teams are characterized by members who actually take the initiative, not merely talk about initiative. Initiative is always seized. It has to be taken. And taking initiative always requires more energy than before. This what happens, people like the idea of getting things done earlier and faster, but the reality is they do not want to expend any more energy than they feel like they have to.

Hustle is energy at work. Energy is either gained or drained. Energy at rest never creates a greater capacity for force. Energy like muscle drains if you don’t use it. Using energy gives you a residual, incremental increase in more energy over time. It has to be paired with rest.

This week work hustle into your work.

Hustle comes from the heart. Those who love what they do and who they are doing it for or with, find it reasonable and expected that they will give more energy and more initiative before they are called upon, but especially if they are called upon.

Those who hustle knock on opportunity’s door most often.

 

(c) Alex Vann, 2018