Tag Archives: leadership

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Leaders: Go Get the Best Talent (Finding Top Talent for Your Organization)

A job no one can do other than the leader is to find the best talent. The best talent is called top talent. As a leader, when you farm selecting the best talent out to someone else, then you will never get the greatest talent you can find. Leaders most devote targeted, specific, and intentional time to discovery, recruitment, cultivation, and selection of the best talent. If you are not the best talent selector in your organization, then you are not doing all of your job.

A leader’s job is not only to cast the vision, set the course, and energize followers, but find the best talent and spread them throughout the organizations. There are no shortcuts to finding, recruiting, and developing top talent. There are always highly talented people, but most of the time they are not looking for you. As a leader, you must be hunting both internally and externally for top talent.

What is top talent?

Top talent represents the top 5% of your employee workforce who possess (a) both leadership & followership capacities, (b) ability to attract others to themselves, (c) naturally take ownership in the organization, (d) drive the organization forward, and (e) are committed to personal growth. Top talent is rare, but they do exist. Both graphite and diamonds are made up of carbon. However, the composition of diamonds and graphite differ greatly. At the atomic level, diamonds are composed in a crystal lattice structure that makes them the naturally hardest substance on earth. Conversely, graphite is made up of rings of hexagonal structures that allow for the conducting of electricity (which diamonds don’t have), but makes it incredibly weak when pressure is applied. Top talent leaders are diamonds—their internal composition is different from 85% of the others in the organization (The bottom 5% are probably neither).

Everyone in the organization cannot be top talent, but everyone can be talented. Talent is the combination of composition, capacity and chemistry. Composition is who they are (what qualities they are made of). Capacity is their personal ability to exploit and maximize who they are by what they do. Chemistry is how well they are able to achieve that in the context of others. Talent is present in differing levels in every person on the planet. Talent is not and never will be equal. Talent can be measured, and if something can be measured then it is not equal. Skills are learned behaviors or practices that can make someone more talented, but are not talent themselves. Skills are external facets that an individual learns over time. It is up to the leader to ensure that top talent is skilled in their job duties. For the sake of an organization, skills are traits or practices that you learn that can be both tangible (operational) and intangible (relational).

Becoming a Leader of Leaders

Top talent has a natural propensity to excel in both the tangibles and the intangibles. As a leader if you struggle to identify these in your own life and growth, then you will struggle to recognize them in others. This is why there are so few leaders of leaders. These apex leaders have a natural ability to assess both the tangible and intangible qualities of talent. Typically, these leaders are not 100% in their calls, but they have a much greater-than-average ability to read who the person is and what they may be capable of.

What qualities does top talent posses?

a – Has both Leadership and followership capacity. This cannot be stated enough that your top talent knows how to both judge and serve, direct and follow, & teach and be taught. Followership is the ability to know when to step and where to step. Leadership is directing and guiding the steps. Everyone can’t lead. Therefore, followership is critical of everyone in the organization. Top talent has an understanding of when to step up and when to step aside. They don’t fight for a position, they fight for a purpose.

b- Ability to attract others to themselves. Top talent are likeable, winsome people. They are talent magnets themselves. They are not bullies, bosses or tyrants. Top talent are the warm people who like a fire in the cold of winter draw others to themselves. They praise and encourage others because its a natural part of their personal composition.

c- Natural ownership of parts of the organization. Top talent doesn’t have to be told to take ownership. They naturally see needs and address them. Top talent doesn’t complain, they construct. Construction is the ability to see a need, diagnose the root, and put a plan in place to correct. Ownership is not a certificate or a pass to do what you want when you want it. True ownership is hyper-stewardship that is always working to grow the organization and those in the organization.

d- Ability to drive the organization forward. Not only are top talent naturally good at ownership of the organization, they also posses the ability to drive it forward to reach better results and desired outcomes. Top talent are drivers. They don’t wait for another to take the wheel and play the role of passenger. They want to drive the organization forward. They want to reach goals and see growth. They press into new places and new spaces along the way. Top talent doesn’t think they know where they are going, they actually chart a course, know the road, and start driving toward the destination. They also know when to yield the wheel when the time comes.

e- Are committed to personal growth. Top talent never have to be told to learn, because they are perpetual students. They not only learn, but they apply what they are learning. Top talent also teaches and instructs those around them. You can’t teach someone what you have learned. Top talent keep striving towards mastery. They are internally motivated and disciplined. When correction is needed they subject themselves willingly and make adjustments. Top talent will find their own mentors and models. They do not need to be assigned or told to learn from others. They are way ahead of their peers in this area.

Conclusion

As a leader, one of the most important roles you have is to get top talent in your organization. Once they are there, it is your job to ensure they are growing and developing. Organizations are living institutions comprised of humans who have differing levels of talent, skills, and ability. Top talent act as force multipliers in your organization. They have intangible qualities in amounts that others don’t or they use in them in ways that benefit the organization in ways others don’t. Leaders who farm talent out to others limit the their organization’s ability to reproduce leaders, reach desired outcomes, and sustain success. As John C. Maxwell said, if “Everything rises and falls on leadership,” then as a leader you must go find top talent to infuse energy and facilitate elevation in your organization.

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix:

The Three Ways to Measure Top Talent:

Composition, Capacity & Chemistry

 

The Five Qualities Top Talent Naturally Posses:

1- Has both Leadership & Followership Capacity

2-Ability to Attract Others to Themselves

3-Natural Ownership in the Organization

4-Ability to Drive Organization Forward toward Desired Outcomes or Goals

5- Commitment to Personal Growth

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A Bad Attitude Makes a Bad Job

A job is what you make of it. A job is assigned work or tasks that require your energy and effort to complete. Many people make their job harder by bringing a bad attitude with them. A bad attitude makes every job a bad job. A bad attitude is when an individual allows negative thoughts about a person, situation, circumstance, or job to guide their efforts, energy, and actions regarding that thing.

It’s been well said that a bad attitude is like a flat tire, you can’t go anywhere until you change it!

No Job is Easier with a Bad Attiude

Several years ago, one of my children was recruited to play on a travel team that trained over 2 hours from our home. The commute to training meant I would have to drive 2-4 times a week 4 or 5 hours at a time and, once the season came, games were hundreds and even thousands of miles away. Once, as a family, we made the decision to accept the offer, I knew that I would only make each 4-5 hour commute even more difficult if I ever dwelt on a bad attitude or worse, spoke about it. So, four years later, I don’t give myself permission  to complain or have a bad attitude about it. I considered driving my daughter a job and no job is easier if you have a bad attitude about it. Four years and a couple of hundred thousand miles later, we are still doing it and I am still have a good attitude about it.

Your attitude is your choice.

John C. Maxwell (2006) believes that your attitude is your the greatest difference maker between those who will achieve and those who won’t. A negative attitude is common, ordinary, and it kills your progress. Everyone has a choice to dwell on the negative or look for the positives. A positive attitude is not a naive attitude. A positive attitude recognizes the challenge and chooses to think and express hopeful and joyful expressions while working to the outcome.

A bad attitude makes a challenging job more difficult.

When you have a bad attitude, you are actually making what you have to do worse. A bad attitude has never made a job or task easier, better, or quicker to get through. A bad attitude creates a layer of resistance that compounds the level of difficulty they already exists. Bad attitudes are like glue—they are sticky and slow things down. Positive attitudes are like grease—they make things move.

A Bad Attiude Magnifies the Problem 

A bad attitude magnifies your challenges and makes them feel like problems that are bigger than they actually are. This means the problems drags on longer than it should. A positive attitude accepts the challenge and attacks it with gusto to eliminate it as soon as possible. Positive attitudes shrink problems to bite-size pieces that are easier to deal with and manage.

A Bad Attitude Attracts Bad Company

A bad attitude acts like a magnet drawing past negativity and buried negativity to the surface. The negative magnetism of a bad attracts the negative thoughts of others giving those thoughts life. Bad attitudes love company. A person with bad attitude who spreads their negativity will draw out jealousy, negativity, pride, envy, strife, and hatred.

A Bad Attitude Slows You Down 

You bad attitude is an anchor for the journey you are on. All a bad attitude does is slow you down, divide your team, and work against productivity. A bad attitude will never propel you forward. In fact, a bad attitude not only drains energy but but stifles productivity and momentum.

A Bad Attitude Signals a Weak Mind 

A perpetual bad attitude is a sign of mental weakness. Those who can’t get over or get out of a bad attitude are mental dwarfs. Bad attitudes are reflective of weak minds and hard hearts. A positive attitude is a indicative of a strong mind and a willing heart. The heart is root of your attitude.

A Bad Attitude Creates Fixations

A bad attitude looks at what you don’t have as opposed to what you do have. A bad attitude fixates on the problem. The negative thoughts associated with a bad attitude attach themselves to the fixation making the problem appear much bigger than it really is an making the outcome seem much more distant. 

The Root of a Bad Attitude: Selfishness 

At the root of a bad attitude is simply selfishness. John C. Maxwell said, “In a word most bad attitudes are selfishness.” Selfishness is putting what you think and what you want above reality. When you are selfish you are living in a world of make-believe. Selfish people are impatient, frustrated, and demanding. They put their perceived needs and wants before anyone else’s including the organization they serve.

A Positive Attitude Promotes Peace 

In challenging times, preserve peace with a positive attitude. Get over yourself and realize that everyone else is under pressure as well. Bad attitudes retard progress and diminish productivity. They are vacuums sucking the energy out of the environment and organization. A positive attitude is an energy multiplier. Positive energy comes from a positive attitude.

The Leader’s Role Regarding Attitude 

A leader who doesn’t stop negative attitudes is complicit in draining the organizations energy. Leaders must lead with a positive attitude and then require all those under their authority get positive or get gone. A leader is responsible for the overall attitude of the organization. Demonstrating a bad attitude or allowing bad attitudes to go unchecked is leadership failure. Effective leaders don’t do bad attitudes.

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
– Thomas Jefferson

 

References:

Maxwell, J. (2006). The difference maker: Making your attitude your greatest asset. HarperCollins Leadership.

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Building a Better Team

Great teams are hard to put together. To make a team you must build the team. Simply putting people together doesn’t make a team, it makes a group. A group is a loose association of members. A team is a tight. For teams to be tight, the fit must be right. If you want to find success as a team, then you must move from merely a group to a team that will go to great lengths to serve one another in pursuit of the team’s goals. As a leader, the decisions and choices you make will either build your team up or inadvertently tear your team down.

The team is always a reflection of the leader. If you want a better team, then work on becoming a better leader. The second you take your personal leadership growth for granted is the second your team starts falling apart. You can never take your team or your growth for granted. Leaders aren’t leaders without followers and followers make up the team. Many leaders complain about the quality of their team. This is a direct reflection of the leader. A complaining, selfish and whining leader will attract weak people. A humble, selfless and serving leader will attract strong people. I have a rule regarding people and that rule is “like attracts like.” People aren’t like magnet where opposites attract. This is why we have heroes and those we look up to—because people are drawn to people like them. If you allow negative people to influence your organization or if you, yourself, are negative, then that is who you will attract. But, if you get positive, stay positive and demand positivity then you will drive the negative away because they will stick out like a sore thumb. In my organization, our second Core Value is a “Positive Community.” If you can’t be positive, we promote you to customer. If you want a better team, then be a better leader.

The strongest teams have the clearest mission. Weak teams don’t know what they are doing, why they are doing it or where to start. Strong teams have clear missions. The English word mission really comes from the Spanish word “missio” and the subsequent Latin word “mittre” which meant “the sending” or “to send” as in Christianity in the sending of the Holy Spirit from God to His people. A mission has a transcendent purpose or call buried in it. This is why mission is always more powerful than a purpose or an objective. Objectives are markers on the mission’s road. It is imperative that leaders keep the mission simple and the communication clear. A mission is much more like a calling than merely picking a convenient purpose.

The best teams have the best culture. Culture is king on any successful team. The leaders of the team are the creators and carriers of culture. Without leaders, sub-cultures spawn and values are changed. Your values define your culture. If you want a new culture, then get new values. If someone wants to hijack your culture, then allow them to devalue your values and they will shortly be replaced. It is imperative to over-communicate and tie your values into everything you do on your team. Never meet, never communicate and never plan without keeping one or more of your team’s values as the driver of that objective. In recent years, my core values have become much clearer on my team. Every thing that touches a team member has one of our five core values embedded in it. Our orientation is where we discuss the values at length. Our interview guides and team member reviews all have our core values embedded in them. Former GE CEO Jack Welch simply said, “Culture drives great results.” If your culture is struggling, then you either haven’t transmitted your core values across your organization or you need new values.

Everyone on the team is replaceable. Yikes! This can feel scary and unknown and certainly there are some people that are very difficult to replace. So don’t miss this: some people are really hard to replace. But, everyone is replaceable. There is always someone else that can do the job and there is very often someone who can do the job or task better. This may not seem like this, but if we simply look at the records that exist in the world, each new generation finds a way to beat them. It may take a while and some things may have to change, but change is going to happen whether you want it to or not. There are times where we think believe that certain members of the team just can’t be replaced. But, these team members have stopped listening, aren’t coachable or have started negatively affecting the chemistry of the team.

As a member of the team, make yourself hard to replace. I don’t say irreplaceable, because everyone including the overall leader is replaceable. But work to make yourself very difficult to replace. Not because you are difficult to work with, withhold information or become obstinate, but because you are committed to personal growth and the growth over others on the team. Those who are committed to growth are hard to replace. This means always see yourself as a student. Keep learning. Stay humble and work hard to not be replaced. Recognizing that even you are able to be replaced will help you stay more humble. Team members that are hard to replace embrace the team’s values, carry the culture, work with conviction, have a growth mindset and work well with others. Team members that are easy to replace are focused primarily on one thing: themself. Being hard to replace means you focus on team goals over personal goals and others over self. It’s very difficult to replace selfless people.

Learn to replace yourself and you become hard to replace. When you learn, share. As y0u share what you learn, you are actually sharpening and strengthening those around you. Sharing is a selfless, sacrificial act. Share your best not your left overs. This means be intentional to pass on what you have learned or what you know with others. I believe God blesses this and in fact, I have seen it over and over again. As a leader who seeks to grow other leaders, I learned early on that I must share sooner what I have learned with those who are following me. There is very little I don’t share with those I am mentoring, training and teaching. Why? Because if you can learn earlier in your curve you can have longer, more sustainable success over the duration of your involvement–the growing leader can grow stronger, faster and get results earlier. Many leaders want to withhold information or knowledge because they want to be the grand dispenser of growth. Really what they want is to be in control. Leaders who learn to replace themselves are more interested in growth than control. If you want racehorses then you must expand the room they have to run. If you want mules then yoke them and hem them in, they wont go or grow very far.

Basketball Hall of Fame Coach John Wooden said, “The best way to improve your team is to improve yourself.” Improvement takes time, intention and challenge. Thinking about improvement and actually improving are two very different things. To get better people, you must become a better leader. The onus is on you, the leader, if you want to build a better team. This is a building work that is never done. There is always work to be done. Team work building never stops. The best teams are always highly committed to building a better team and continuously working on it.

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Effort is the Great Equalizer

Talent doesn’t advance alone. Effort is the equalizer of success.

If you think that just because you are the most skilled, the most talented or the most gifted, that you will automatically advance or progress or get the promotion, then you are sadly mistaken. Talent is important. Skills are important. Giftedness is important. But, effort is more important. What you lack in those areas, make up in task knowledge and effort!

Effort is the great equalizer in regards to talent, skills and giftedness. It is true that not all people are not equally gifted, not naturally skilled and not automatically talented. It is true in a classroom, on a field or in a board room that there are disproportionate levels of skillfulness and talent around you at any given time. But, there is one equalizer that will level your chances in the classroom, workplace, pitch, field or office and that is effort.

If you want to advance, give greater effort. 

But, first understand what effort is and what it is not. Effort is your commitment made and your energy sustained over time. Before you can sustain your energy you have to invest. A little bit of exercise makes a little bit of difference. A great amount of exercise will have a much greater difference. Think of effort like exercise. The more effort you give, like exercise, that is sustained, regimented and consistent will produce the greatest amount of results. Too many developing leaders or aspiring individuals think that one performance one day either on the field or on the job is enough to get the recognition or advancement they are looking for. Or they think that because they are more talented or more skilled, then they deserve to advance. Most people want to advance, but very few earn it. Effort is how you earn advancement.

Great effort takes time. 

To give the effort, you have to put the work in. To put the work in, you have to commit the time. Great effort takes great commitment. To commit means to bind to a certain course of action. Think of giving effort like bonding or connecting yourself to something–put with a sense of permanence. Effort is super glue. So if you aren’t super-glued to what you are committed to, then your effort will decrease over time. The advancement or progression that you are looking for most often takes time. The exception is that a person can show up and have mastery immediately. The rule is that to learn, progress and develop you must invest time. This time requires effort sustained. Time means you will have to wait. Most people see waiting as a waste of time. Those who advance see waiting as an opportunity to improve. Every day that you are waiting for what you are working for is an opportunity for you to get better, do better and get better results.

Four Phases of Effort: Preparation, Mentality, Energy & Action 

Phase 1 – Preparation.

Waiting is not wasted time if  you invest while you wait. Waiting is not resting. Resting is different than waiting. Waiting is the period of time or season from when you enter until you exit. A rest is a pause. To prepare you must work as you wait. To prepare you must train and hone your skill set, refine your results and improve your ability. Things left alone don’t improve themselves. Set goals, targets and objectives that will enhance the advancement you are looking for.

Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”

Graham Bell who would eventually go on to found the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) which still is in existence to this day, filed his first patent for the recording of the human voice a mere two hours before his rival, Elisha Gray, tried to file one of similar design. The bottom line in this illustration is that Alexander Graham Bell was simply more prepared than his rival. Prepared people find more success because they are ahead of others.

The reasons don’t matter, the excuses don’t matter, because the most prepared people increase their likelihood of success and advancement. If opportunity is the door, then preparation is the front porch. Preparation is all the work, all of the time and all of the energy you are willing to invest in pursuit of your goal. Success is discovered on the march of preparation.

Phase 2 – Mentality.

Your mentality is not just the attitude of your mind. It is also the power of your mind. If you have a weak mentality, then you have weak mind power. Your mind is powerful if you train it to be so. Mentality is formed over time and through conditions. The highest performers on your team, in your organization or in your office always have the strongest mentalities. You have to have great mentality because to accomplish anything of substance, to find any success, you will face adversity. Adversity is not only an assault on your physical capability, it is often even more of an assault on your mental capability. Developing a strong mentality is like climbing a ladder of mental discipline and emotional self-control.

Without a strong mentality you will never overcome strong challenges. Strong challenges crush weak mentalities. 

A weak mentality comes from allowing the wrong thoughts to dominate your thinking and from allowing emotions to run out of control in your mind. Emotions are a part of our lives and our thinking, but they must be checked as they appear. True, some emotion can help our mentality, but in moments of our greatest challenge it’s not the emotion that will carry us through, it is our mentality.

In 2019, in the Champions Leagues quarter finals, Liverpool FC was down 0-3 to Lionel Messi led Barcelona FC. Jurgen Klopp’s Reds would have to score 4 home goals and maintain a clean sheet to overcome the hole they had dug for themselves in the first of the two-leg quarter final. By 10:10pm that night, the Reds achieved the improbable and Klopp described his team as “mentality giants.” Riding the momentum of that game Liverpool FC would go on and win the Champions League title.

A mentality giant or someone with a strong mentality is someone who can withstand incredible odds, adversity and pressure, while giving or increasing their effort to produce even greater results. A mentality giant is someone who controls their emotions and controls their thoughts. They exert incredible mental, physical and emotional focus. They have the ability to narrow down the urgent from the critical and the distracting from the important. A mentality giant is practices a patience and endurance that his or her peers lack. Therefore, a mentality giant will achieve more even if it takes longer or is a more difficult path.

Phase 3 – Energy.

Energy is from two Greek words and remains nearly unchanged after thousands of years. The Greek words are “en” meaning “in, within” and “ergon” meaning “work.” Thus, energy is, literally, translated “work within” or “the work within.” This is what really separates those who wish and those who achieve: the amount of energy willing to be given to a particular job, task or responsibility.

Energy comes from within you and it is both physical and mental.

Energy is the ability for your body and your mind to produce into your limbs. Energy is both biological and psychological. In order for a human body to expend energy and utilize the “work within” sleep, rest and diet must be regulated and regimented. Too many individuals are too careless with how they rest, when they sleep and what they intake into their bodies. We live in a day and age where we have very little excuse for not being able to make wise choices regarding the nutritional intake of our bodies.

Secondly, rest is critical to giving and maintaining maximum effort. Rest is often over-looked, but the body and the mind need rest. Staying up into the wee hours of the morning mindless binge-watching or scrolling hour-upon-hour of social media feeds will never allow your mind to rest. In fact, it actually hijacks the mind and keeps it awake without truly being alert. This state is what I call the zombie mind: awake, but not alert; moving, but without purpose. Rest also gives your body the proper amount of time to recharge. Your entire body must sleep. You cannot sustain permanently and perpetually the same, continual usage of motion and energy. You will crash. You will burn out. And it will not end well. Rest is not a vacation–a total disconnection. A rest is a purposeful pause before continuing. A vacation is a hard stop before you begin again.

There can and will be no great efforts without great energy.

There is a third type of energy that is often overlooked. This is because it is the most misunderstood. This is spiritual energy.  Spiritual energy is the deepest type of energy. It affects the essence of who a person is: the soul. It can only be replaced and replenished by the spiritual and drained by that which is hostile and detrimental to the soul. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10) meaning the source of this spiritual energy/power comes from the Lord.

Phase 4 – Action.

Effort is action. To get to action the other three parts needed to be harmonized and synchronized. Effort is more than just what you think about. Effort is what you do about what you think. Effort is the fruit of your preparation. Your actions dictate who you actually are, not who you think you are. What you do is your effort. Many people today think they are giving great effort without actually doing anything.

Effort is action with sacrifice.

Now, what is sacrifice? 

Sacrifice is what you are willing to give up, let go of or even let pass by in the pursuit of what you are after. Sacrifice is something that is popular to allow others to do today, but not actually do yourself. Two of my daughters play very competitive soccer. The most competitive teams in our state play a couple hours away. When we made the decision to not just play travel soccer, but actually travel to train and practice with a travel team, each girl and both mom and dad had to count the cost of the sacrifices we were going to make individually, relationally and as a family. We wanted to make sure we (the parents) and each girl knew the full sacrifice, the full cost they were going to have to make.  Then, together we laid it all on the table for discussion, conversation, prayer and then the decision. Then, we took action. We took the step and kept on moving. The hardest step is not the first step, but he first correct step in the right direction. We often take steps, but they are the hard step, the right step or the costly step that will create the path to success.

Sacrifice is the cost you pay and keep paying while you pursue what you are after. There is no great effort without great sacrifice. This is the path to action: measure your movements, count the cost and then act.

Summary: 

Without a sustained effort, the results, the success and the progress that you would like to see will never simply occur. You don’t have to be the most talented to get the greatest results. But to discover the most success you can achieve, then you must give the greatest effort. Effort is composed of preparation, mentality, energy and action.

“Whatever you do, do with all your heart…” Colossians 3:23

 

 

 

 

Questions for Discussion or Introspection: 

  1. Why do organizations often value talent over effort? Can you think of a situation in your organization or team where effort equalized talent?
  2. What can be challenging about the preparation phase of effort? How can you prepare better in your organization or team? How do you think that might help?
  3. How do you strengthen your mentality? What hinders you from having a stronger mentality? How do you know when you have a strong mentality?
  4. If energy isn’t equal, then how can you have more energy to achieve better results on your team? What are barriers to spending or giving your energy wisely?
  5. Why is sacrifice so challenging? When is a time you sacrificed for something you wanted? What was it? What results did you achieve?
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Leadership Lesson: Doing the Right Thing Makes the Biggest Difference

Leadership Lesson:  Doing the right thing always makes the biggest difference. 

Don’t walk by wrong when you know what’s right. Don’t accept wrong, when you already know right. You don’t know right, you do right. You act right. You get it right. 

“It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

You don’t do right to get an advantage. You do right because right is the advantage. Some people will try to do right because they think it puts them in a more favorable position, but they are not truly concerned about the correctness of the act.

Right always strengthens your position, even if you don’t see it at the time. When you do wrong and allow wrong, you are actually weakening your position. Wrong doesn’t change things for the better.

Doing right is always an investment in your longevity. When you do wrong you are sapping your strength and shortening the influence and impact you can have over time. Doing the right thing makes the thing last longer, produce more and sustain better.

The ability to make a difference is negated or neutralized when you don’t do the right thing. Doing the wrong thing or even maintaining a neutrality and indifference to what is right shortens your impact-span or life-span. Your impact-span is your ability to make a positive impact over time.

“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” (Proverbs 21:3)

Popularity does not make right.  Success does not make right. Power does not make right. Beware of a popular decision that sound good, but before God isn’t right. Beware of your success. Success will often blind you over time to what is right. Beware of unchecked power. Power unrestrained is not an admonition of what is right. Power is simply a force to do what is right. God is the ultimate judge of what is right. It is more important to be right in God’s eyes than right in the world’s eyes.

Right with God brings unseen blessing and favor at a time when you need it most.  Do the right thing and trust God with the fruit, the outcome or the results.

God honors those who do right.

 

(C) Alex Vann

 

 

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Learning to Lead in a Turbulent World – The Z Leader (Episode 1)

The Z Leader Podcast: Turbulence – Episode 1

Turbulence is one word that I would describe today’s collective environment that leaders have to develop and lead in.

Turbulence is the state of agitation, disturbance, unbalanced or instability—lacking calm.

There is very little calm and balanced about our world today. Generation Z has been described as being born between 1995 and 2010, meaning that the oldest of them are about 22. We live in a world in upheaval, meaning elements of our society that were once viewed as stable, as norms and some even sacred are changing right in front of our eyes. Add to that the advent and availability of the smart phone, and we have the most unstable, distracted and insecure environment that our world has seen in a long time.

This is the world that leaders have to navigate. It is a world filled with uncertainty.

Uncertainty = Insecurity

Leaders today need to establish and communicate clear paths of security. A clear path is clearly visible. The day for invisible paths has past. There’s no more “just wait and see” or “we’ll get there eventually.” Clear, concise and visible paths are needed. There simply is too much uncertainty to be obscure and aloof in the path you are helping create for those you are leading. Because security, today, equates to stability.

Security = Stability

1- The Z Leader needs to be a calm voice and a calming presence.

We can’t talk about keeping calm. You actually have to have a leadership voice that communicates and broadcasts to those around you that everything will be okay. The unspoken reality is that many of those on your team actually don’t think it’s going to be okay or they don’t feel like it will be okay.

“Panic causes tunnel vision. Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options.” ~Simon Sinek

When you are calm you are able to see, think, process and react more clearly and more quickly.

2- The Z Leader needs to demonstrate a clear path.

When insecurity threatens, no longer the proverbial “trust me and keep quiet will work” everyone has a voice today, it is the calm voice with the clear path that leaders must demonstrate in today’s world. People can’t figure out how things work any more, because the old norms are in upheaval. The idea of “just figure it out” hardly exists anymore.

The Z Leader needs to make consistent decisions. Our world doesn’t need any more catered to, inconsistent decisions. Consistency is key to longevity. A machine that is consistent in its movements lasts longer than a machine that is inconsistent and warped in its movements.

3 – The Z Leader needs a smooth flow.

Your flow is how you move. People are looking for leaders like never before. If you can’t flow in today’s turbulent world, you wont have many followers. In fact, there is a manic nature about who to follow. Because there is so much inconsistency, your flow, your movements tell people where you are going. You have to be visible, you have to be public, you have to be where the people are if you are going to lead them. People today are choosing any voice rather than no voice to follow.

This is the first of more to come on the idea of the Z Leader. The Z Leader Podcast will be landing on other platforms as well.

Keep learning. Keep leading. Find your flow and walk in it…

“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise” 

~Ephesians 5:15

(c) Alex Vann