I was watching Cars with my grandson the other night when something caught my attention. This particular scene revolved around a trip down memory lane for the little town of Radiator Springs (RS). RS used to be a busy town just off Route 66 but that all changed when Interstate 40 was completed, offering commuters a shorter, faster way to get to their destination. Now RS is just a desolate Ghost Town. But in it’s hey day, it was a place where people gathered to eat, sleep and just enjoy life. People were not so much in a rush and actually stopped to chat and get to know one another. The one liner that got my attention was…
You can drive to get somewhere fast, or you can drive to enjoy the ride.
While we all need to be efficient… when was the last time you just enjoyed the ride? When was the last time you stopped to slow down and stop to chat or say hello?
Every leader is concerned with building their team. For some of you, it may be a small team of 3-4 people, for others it may mean hundreds or perhaps even thousands. Regardless of the size of your team, every leader should ask themselves, “what do I want out of my team?”
As you go about building your team, you should ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish with your team. Is it to operate for a short period of time together to get a project completed? Or perhaps it is to build a team that will be together for years? How you approach leading your teams will vary greatly, depending on what you want out of it.
One of the great mistakes many managers and project managers make is to assume that they can use the same leadership style to lead any team. I have seen too many rookie project managers try to manage every team the same way, usually by forcing process and procedures upon them. In a bureaucratic or mission culture this may be acceptable but in an entrepreneurial or clan culture, this can be the start of a very rocky relationship with a team.
Know what you want from your team. Performance, longevity, teamwork, independent thinking, getting along? What’s important to you and your organization? By defining this, it will make building and leading your teams much easier.
While watching So You Think You Can Dance with my family, I couldn’t help but admire these young men and women. The final four are all amazing: Joshua Allen; Twitch Boss; Courtney Galiano; and Katee Shean. Every week, these talented dancers learn new routines and stretch their abilities to the maximum. They eat, sleep and basically live…. dance.
Can you imagine what a great leader you would be if you had the same level of commitment to your profession? When was the last time you studied… really studied, how to be a better leader. Are you serious enough about your business, or your profession to go get a trainer/coach to help you. These dancers have the “best of the best” choreographing for them and helping them get better. Who is in your corner?
In addition to admiring their hard work, I also give them a lot of credit for doing it with joy. Despite long hours of hard work that is both physically and emotionally exhausting, these young people come out with smiles on their faces and bring joy to those of us watching. How positive have you been lately?
Take your leadership development seriously. Dedicate some time and effort into becoming better at it. You won’t regret it.
For those of you who were born after 1965, you may not be familiar with the Lucky Strikes TV commercial that made the lingo “I’d rather fight than switch” famous. It was an interesting ad in that most people my age remember the ad even though it was almost 40 years ago!
I was reflecting on my leadership style the other day, and one of my weaknesses is the desire to avoid confrontation unless absolutely necessary. I’m not afraid to pull the trigger, but it usually takes me a while to get to that point. But – I do get there. How about you? Leaders sometimes have to stand up and fight for what they believe. When was the last time you actually stood your ground with your boss or team? As a leader, we have to stand for something. I don’t know who authored this quote but it makes sense: “He who doesn’t stand for something will fall for anything.”
I would be negligent if I didn’t mention that fighting all the time is not a good thing either. We all know that being a bully or leadership through intimidation are not ideal. Having said that, what do you stand for? Fill in the blank… I’d rather fight than……??
I have been blessed with a very diverse audience as I go about proclaiming Living a Life of Excellence. Men, Women, Young and well… experienced. What I find interesting, is the assumption that those who are a bit older shouldn’t take goal setting too seriously. I usually get a chuckle from a group (especially if there are retired folks in the crowd), when I start teaching setting goals that are 20 years out.
Now, if you’re 100, I suppose that would be pushing the envelope a bit…yet, there are those who live well beyond that. As of April 2008, in the U.S. there are 75 people (64 women and 11 men) who are older than 110. The oldest is Edna Parker who just turned 115. Now I know the average lifespan for men is 75 and 80 for women. However… this is the average! Many live beyond that. Many of us live, thinking that we’ll drop dead when we hit these magical numbers. This is far from the truth. Many of us live longer, much longer.
So my question to you is… why do we stop goal setting after we hit a certain age and what age is that for you? 40? 50? 60? 70? or… 80?, 90, or even 100? If you have just 1 day left on this planet, you can make a difference in someone’s life.
I also have a caution. A roadblock to Living a Life of Excellence that you should be aware of. It is living a good or comfortable life. I heard an interesting statistic the other day about Generation X. During the1980s, the average Gen Xer was hoping to retire in their 40s! Since then we’ve had the .com burst, 9/11, the war on terror, and now the housing crisis. These all had a negative impact on the retirement age of many of us, including Gen X. Now I have nothing per se against retirement. However, why do so many of us look forward to the day we can retire? What does that mean? Time off for me so I can just do what I want? Many of us assume that once we retire, life becomes just playing tennis, visiting the grandkids and meeting for coffee somewhere.
Me… I never want to retire. Sure, I want to be financially comfortable and be able to spend time off with my wife as we visit our children and grandkids. But I don’t want to wake up everyday, with no other purpose than to see what the day holds. I want my life to be full of purpose. I want goals to the day I leave this world.
Living a comfortable life… can prevent you form Living a Life of Excellence. Regardless of your age, take the time to examine your life and set some goals. You won’t regret it.
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