Are you in pursuit of your dreams?

Are you someone that wakes up each day wondering, what if?  What if I haven't made the right decision? What if I'm not going in the right direction?  What if I haven't provided the right guidance to my kids?  The what ifs can mount up and weigh you down to the point that you stagnate, and you cause those around you to shut down as well.  Take a look at this movie clip….

Jon Gordon, in his book "The Energy Bus" referred to those who suck the positive energy out of a room as "Energy Vamps".  Energy Vamps have a hard time of seeing the forest through the trees and are reluctant to see that new directions can be taken and fostered through positive energy.

One of the things that this clip represents to me is that no matter how old you are, never give up on your dreams.  If you are not where you want to be today, are you going to allow others to remain there.  The great thing dreams is that you decide how you get there.  All your present situation allows for is to create a foundation for future growth.  When a person is reluctant to grow, they stagnate.  When they stagnate as a leader, everything around them becomes stagnant and future progress for the organization  is stifled.

As a leader, not just in the workplace, but in your personal and volunteer worlds as well, if you are not willing to be part of the solution.  You have to first make sure that your vision is alignment with the organizations vision and then do everything you can to achieve those goals.

Too frequently, when we see people leave an organization, there are probably clues that they checked out long before their security ceased working.  When that person leaves, they join a new organization with a renewed energy.  Why as leaders do we have a such a hard time harnessing that energy and enthusiasm?  Instead we allow those individuals to just leave.

I challenge others, as I am challenging myself to figure out what their dreams and aspirations are first, and then begin to work with those around you to see where they are?  Have they checked out?  Do they present a sense of hopelessness of future success like Will Smith's character does in the above clip?

This is my first post in almost a month.  I have spent a lot of this past month working on recapturing the energy that has allowed for opportunities to present themselves for me in my career.  There is still much introspective work to be done on my part, but the process has been underway since the beginning of the year.  What I do know, is that you never know who you have had a positive impact on.

"Don't let anyone ever tell you, you can't do something". - Will Smith from the Pursuit of Happiness

C'mon New Year!

2013 is ending like the setting sun, giving way to the rise of 2014.

The new year is where people begin making resolutions that they hope will create positive improvements in their lives.  Although I have a ton to work on, I am choosing to not make a list of resolutions that I know right now I won't be able to maintain.  My focus for this year is to improve my listening, understanding, and inclusion of others perspectives in order to create win-win scenarios for not just myself, but for those around me as well.

As a result, here are my goals for this year.

1. Self improvement
2. Home improvement
3. Financial improvement
4. Employment improvement

The reason I chose goals like these is that just like the airlines say, first take care of your own oxygen, then help others around you.  If you don't put yourself first, you can't really help others if you are not at 100%.

I look forward to the New Year as I do every year.  I know that while a lot has gone right this past year, I have so much more to work on over the course of the next year.  I know that this year is going to be a year of change, a year of challenge, and a year of collaboration.  But, if I am able to accomplish these goals, it will be a year of growth and success.

Have a great New Year and a more positive and successful 2014!

A Schoolhouse Rock Moment...

Just to preface this post, this is post is no way reflective of a political leaning in either direction.  I usually don't discuss politics in this format.  This is instead a reflection of a childhood memory and how it impacts me today.

I remember as a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons.  While some of the cartoon characters stick in my mind, what I remember most are the shorts under the Schoolhouse Rock umbrella.  They were a catchy way to remember english, history, science, and math.  The one that I have been thinking about the most is the short that taught about the formation of our country and the preamble for the United States Constitution.  This is something that I think that politicians these days have really lost sight of.

As a reminder, the preamble says this....

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

In my opinion, the United States was established as a union of colonies that aligned themselves against British rule.  Taxation and religious freedom issues were key issues for early colonists.  Early Statesmen understood that aligning resources towards a common goal was the best recipe for success.  At the end of the day, while there may have been much discussion and dissent they understood that their goal was to "form a more perfect union".  The "how" they would form a more perfect union lay among the rest of the preamble as these were the basics for the remainder of the constitution.  Government's purpose was to:

• Establish justice
• Insure domestic tranquility
• Provide for the common defense
• promote the general welfare
• secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
• posterity for all colonists

To understand what our forefathers were attempting to establish as their goal was something much different than what was occurring on the European continent.  In Europe, remember that each country could easily be considered a state.  Thus the creation of the United States of America was a union of colonies united together to form that more perfect union of states on the North American continent.

Over the past 224 years since George Washington was first inaugurated as our country's first President government has been transformed based upon interpretations of the constitution.  At the end of the day, what has been at the root cause is the interpretation of states rights versus the role of the Federal government in the lives of the citizenry.  Government in the beginning served to create a common law of the newly formed nation and provide defense against those who threatened the union of states. 

In my opinion, regardless of political affiliation, we as Americans need to get back to the basics of how we came together as the United States of America.  The role of government in the affairs of the citizens needs to be reexamined.  Our government, defined as all three branches of government, are not meeting the constitutional expectations as outlined in the preamble of the constitution.

In business, if organizations are not meeting customer needs, or the needs of their shareholders, leadership changes occur.  In our government, there are far too many in the legislative branch, regardless of party affiliation, who do not have real accountability back to their electorate.

Just some food for thought for the week.... Take look back at the Schoolhouse Rock series.

Have a great week!

Inspect what you Expect

One of the greatest attributes of a leader is to be able to develop those whom are being led, as well as become a leader among their peers.  As a leader of people, it is drilled in that in order to be successful an effective leader must delegate.  What happens often times is that leaders delegate tasks, however, they do not effectively follow through to make sure assigned tasks are completed competently and on time. 

When assignments are not effectively executed, many leaders become managers, or even worse, micro managers because in their minds, they can not trust that when they delegate the task is able to be completed.  As a result, a leader can never truly develop their direct reports. 

It is important to remember that most tasks fail not as a result of the person the task is delegated to.  They typically fail because the assignment of the task has not been set up properly.  There are a myriad of leadership classes that leaders can learn the principles of effective delegation, but here are a few key reminders.

• Provide background  - What is the problem that is needing to be resolved and why is it important to the organization?
• Gain commitment - Is this a problem that has relevance and is not perceived as simply busy work.
• Resources needed - Who and what is required for effective execution?
• Time frame - When does the task need to be completed?
• Checkpoints - When will there be progress reports?
• Review - Once the task is completed, ensure that feedback is provided to the person that the task is delegated to.

Feedback throughout an assignment is essential, but in setting up the task assignment, it is important for the leader to allow two way feedback to all of the above points.  A sure way to see a task fail is if the person responsible for completing the task gets the feeling that they are flying blind.

By allowing mistakes and course corrections to occur, leaders develop others by providing them valuable experience and instilling confidence in others abilities.  At the end of the day, we always need to be thinking succession planning.  The best way to do that is by allowing others to drive results and providing individual feedback when timely and appropriate.

Remember, leadership is not about us, it is about the constant strengthening of the organization and applies to all organizations.

Have a great end to the week!

Are you reaching your Nemo?

Are you reaching your Nemo?  You are probably trying to figure out what I am speaking about when I say your "Nemo".

I have had the privilege of working with many very talented individuals in the past.  One such individual made a comment one day about organizations that followed a "Nemo Principle". 

He related to me about the part of the 2003 Disney Movie, Finding Nemo, when Nemo and the other fish were stuck in the net.  All the fish caught in the net were all trying to save themselves by swimming any way they could within the net.  When Nemo suggested that they all start swimming the same direction, the fishing net could not contain the hundreds of fish working in unison for a common goal, freedom.  Eventually, as the fish worked together to reverse the direction of the fishing net.  This resulted in  the net breaking and allowed the fish were to swim free, much to the dismay of the local fishermen. 

What is the organizational lesson here?  When organizations share a common vision, and have aligned goals, that success is inevitable, even against unimaginable odds.

Organizational failure occurs when divisions, departments, and teams are focused on their own survival that they forget about the greater direction of the organization.  When this occurs, the results can be catastrophic for the business. 

The movie, "Finding Nemo" produced a myriad of underlying leadership lessons, many of which you can read about on the internet.  Leaders need to not only have a vision, but also make sure that their vision is in line with organizational goals.  Most importantly, leaders must communicate.  Not every detail needs to be communicated, but enough to motivate and inspire others to follow your vision.

Start working today on reaching your "Nemo". 

Have a great Monday!