Leadership

Passing along a great reminder for leaders, teachers, parents ... anyone in a position of influence. ***************** Are you asking people to be great? May 2, 2011 David Witt My friend and colleague Jesse Lyn Stoner featured a great story about Abraham Lincoln on her blog site. Lincoln would often slip out of the White House on Wednesday evenings to listen to the sermons of Dr. Finnes Gurley at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. He generally preferred to come and go unnoticed. So when Dr. Gurley knew the president was coming, he left his study door open. On one of those occasions, the president slipped through a side door in the church and took a seat in the minister’s study, located just to the side of the sanctuary. There he propped the door open, just wide enough to hear Dr. Gurley. During the walk home, an aide asked Mr. Lincoln…

Inertia is generally bad, especially when it comes to problem-solving.  Changing your mood or outlook may be as simple as changing your posture -- getting off your behind and moving around.

The same office may have two windows: one opens to the wall of another building and the other has a view of the ocean (or hills or golf course, take your pick). Most every situation or circumstance we find ourselves in also have multiple windows.  Discouragement or despair may mean you need to change windows.  Without leaving the room -- or situation -- you can see things differently.

It's no secret that we weren't made to live or work in isolation.  With the exception of cats, most pets even know that. The beauty of working as a team is that we will be in different emotional states.  When one is down, it's likely someone else will be up.  When properly assembled, teams complement one another, making us stronger together than we could be individually.

When we wander too far from the basics, it's easy to get trapped in a never-ending cycle of bigger, better, and faster.  Bigger, better, and faster may be nice -- even necessary -- but they can also be draining.  Discouragement sets in when we realize we've lost sight of what's really important. Every leader needs to know what the basics are that provide for growth and effectiveness and then return to them periodically.  It's also one of the best gifts we can give those we lead.