Right Wisdom

Today I want to talk about the word enemies. This is one of the “ 5 common words that create failure ” an article found on Inc.com. These are five words that should not be in the vocabulary of a leader. Leaders need to avoid these words and they will be better off in their leadership journey. Today we are on the second word, enemies. In leadership there is no place for enemies. Competition yes, but not enemies. Competition will help build character, help you work harder and help you create a network. Enemies cause divisiveness and animosity and will eventually lead to loss of your leadership expertise. Last year I ran for a Division Governor role within Toastmasters. It was a contested race so I had to run against someone else. I didn’t win but instead of being upset and holding a grudge toward the person who beat I extended my services to help in any way I can to make the division a successful one. This type of gesture will go a lot further than making enemies. I have had no...

During the next five days I am going to discuss an article from Inc.com I read about the “ five common words that create failure .” It fits well with the mindset of a leader. A leader has to have words that will illicit success not failure. The link above will allow you to read the article as a whole I will expound on each of the words in more detail putting my personal perspective on it. The five words are Luck, Enemy, Rejection, Hate and But. Today I will look at why Luck is one of the common words that create failure. If you depend upon luck you are not doing anything to create the success yourself. You are just looking for something to help bail you out. Luck really doesn’t require any hard work on your part it really shouts to a lazy way to reach success. Think about the lottery. People buy lottery tickets and sit back and wait for the numbers to roll their way. If they don’t win they try again the next time. People are looking for that instant success but lea...

I put a shout out to a leader group on Linkedin to see if they could nominate anyone for the Legends of leadership piece that I do. So far I have received three good suggestions. Today I am adding my next person to my list of Legends of Leadership. It is my belief that the best type of leadership is Servant leadership. It is the highest calling of leadership it allows the leader to serve and thus lead the way that others should serve. With that in mind the latest addition to the legends of leadership is Robert K. Greenleaf (1904 – 1990). Robert Greenleaf is the founder of servant leadership although he wasn’t the first to perform this style of leadership he is the one who coined the term “servant leadership”. Most of the following information can be found on the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership website. What does Mr. Greenleaf’s resume and accomplishments look like? RESUME: ·          Director of Management Research at AT...

It has started. A Minnesota tradition that has transcended time and generations. That event is the Minnesota State Fair. Every year for 12 days at the end of August people come to the Minnesota fair grounds located in Falcon Heights Minnesota. They come to be entertained. They come to entertain. The come to eat and they come to watch the best that Minnesota has to offer. The fair has changed over the years but the one constant is the hunger for any food on a stick. My daughter won tickets to get into the fair and we are all looking forward to going. We have made a list of all the things we want to eat, see and do at the fair. The list continues to grow. State fairs are a great opportunity for leaders to spend their weekends or even a day off with family. It is a fun time but extremely exhausting. I don't go every year so it is more special to me because there are new things to see every year. Here are something I like to eat at the Great Minnesota Get Together. · ...

Yesterday I started a series where I post a leadership quote and then discuss. Today I am posting my second quote. I also would love to have your analysis of the quotes that I post. Today’s quote:   "I praise loudly. I blame softly." (Catherine the Great, 1729-1796.) A short and sweet quote, that I think sums up leadership in a nutshell. This whole year I have been writing often that leadership is about people and how you treat them. As this quote says praise the people loudly. Let others know that you appreciate what they do and how they do it. If there is a problem and things go wrong the leader needs to be quiet about it. Talk softly and in private to those who are to blame. A leader doesn’t want others to perceive there is a problem on the ship. Blame and problems are kept quiet but resolved. It is important that you sweep the problems under the rug but instead address them quietly and resolve them. Instead a leader wants everyone to see a ship sailing ...

I would like to give you a quote on leadership and then give you my spin on the quote. I will do this over the next few blogs and the next few days. "People ask the difference between a leader and a boss.... The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads and the boss drives." (Theodore Roosevelt) I like this quote because it really defines very quickly the difference between being a leader and a boss.   Essentially a leader leads people. They show others the way to go and they blaze the path for innovation and vision. A leader wants others to see them work because they want the followers to follow and be guided by the vision of the leader. On the other hand a boss drives or another word for that would be boss. A boss bosses people around. They tell their people what to do. They really don’t have vision they just know what needs to get done and they tell others what to do. The boss sits in their office dictating to others what needs to b...

Yesterday I blogged about ways that leaders can help followers make that career change. Difficult as it might be for a leader to lose good people it happens that people need or want to pursue other goals. Gone are those days of someone graduating from college and finding an entry level position in their field and then staying at that company working their way up the ladder for 40 years. Today I will give you some ways the Leader can help make that career change for him or herself. Maybe they want to be a leader in a different area or a completely different field. Here is the article again. BOSTON, MA -- Q. I am 35 years old and have been in sales since college. I don't feel any satisfaction from my current role and am considering a change to the creative side of marketing. People say I'm too old to make such a big change. Your thoughts? A. You have 15 years invested in a career that is no longer fulfilling, and you have at least 30 more years to work. Working 30 mo...

I read an interesting career question today and it got me thinking, what role do leaders play in the careers of their people? You may even think about a leader making a career change. I received this article in an email from Career News, it was abridged from the Boston Globe. BOSTON, MA -- Q. I am 35 years old and have been in sales since college. I don't feel any satisfaction from my current role and am considering a change to the creative side of marketing. People say I'm too old to make such a big change. Your thoughts? A. You have 15 years invested in a career that is no longer fulfilling, and you have at least 30 more years to work. Working 30 more years in a field that doesn't bring you enjoyment will be much harder than a job search you start today. You are absolutely not too old to make a career change, and changing roles, functions or industries is just another type of career plan. Your career plan needs to chart a course toward a new role. People make a...

Sometimes leadership can feel like a real zoo and a leader has to get away from it all and escape from the zoo of leadership. I had that opportunity yesterday when I spent the day at the Como Zoo with the kids. It is always fun to spend the day with the kids. If you are not from Minnesota we have two zoos in the Twin city area. One is the Minnesota Zoo and one is the Como Zoo. The Como Zoo is smaller but it is free and is run on donations. There is also a small amusement park attached. Plus there are multiple picnic areas. All of this makes for a great day on a small budget. One of the polar bears from Como Zoo Picture taken by my daughter We enjoyed the animals; we saw the seal and the polar bear from the flood stricken Duluth zoo. The only animal we didn’t see were the wolves. They were in hiding. Before we finished seeing the animals we went out to the car and had our picnic lunch in a grassy area near some gardens. After lunch we went back to finish with the primate se...

Leadership can be lonesome. Once you become a leader those who you used to hang out with and socialize with somehow shun you. They don’t always include the leader in their personal discussions or the camaraderie they may have. It doesn’t have to be that way it is up to the leader to make sure that it doesn’t become an “us versus them” situation. Sometimes the leader is the one who starts to associate only with other leaders and not with the followers or the co-workers. Leader shouldn’t be lonesome. It is a people position and it isn’t about the leader it is about the people they lead. That is why the leader needs to include others and make sure it is about the followers. Here are some things to do to make sure you keep leadership a people role. Find out what your people like. Ask them about their day or weekend. Be genuinely interested in their life. If possible include yourself in department activities. If the group goes out to lunch and they invite you, go if yo...

Today I am going to throw a question out there and I would like to see your responses in my comments. The question today is “What is your most frustrating part of being a leader?” We learn by asking questions and we learn buy understanding what makes ourselves and others frustrated. What happens when a leader is frustrated is that they can let their guard down and lose control of situations. A leader needs to either be in control or always seem like they are in control. The one thing that frustrates me as a leader is when people don’t listen and they don’t do what you expect of them. When this happens it sometimes means extra work for the leader or taking extra time to explain the process. In the busy world of leadership you want people to get it right the first time. To be fair it may not be their fault it is important that you as the leader explains things clearly the first time. Here are some things the leader can do to prevent them getting frustrated when people don’t lis...

How many of you remember the show “Frasier”. It starred Kelsey Grammer as a radio psychologist doling out advice over the airwaves. His phrase when people would call up his radio show was “I’m listening”. Leaders should take this advice and use that phrase as a way to better understand the needs of their followers. I am focusing on listening over the next several days. It is a skill that all leaders should embrace and improve upon if it is a weakness. Listening helps leaders better understand needs and then can react to meet the needs of their followers. If you take Dr. Frasier Crane’s advice as a leader and say “I’m listening” I think you will find that your followers will open up and will want to follow your vision. Here are some things to do to make sure that you are listening. Hold a one on one meeting with your followers and let them do the talking. Ask for input about how things are done and if the suggestions are reasonable implement some of them. Show you care ...

Leadership is about communication. If a leader can’t communicate they can’t express their vision and others will be unable to grab a hold of the vision. There is a part of communication that is becoming a dying art. That part is listening. I have been observing and I think less people out there are good listeners. Listening is essential to understanding the needs of others and then being able to react to those needs. This is one of the components of a great leader. However, I believe listening is becoming extinct. More people want to hear themselves speak and pontificate instead of listening and serving the needs of others. Take some time to really observe conversations and see if I’m not right. You will listen to oneside of the conversation and the other person will then talk about something completely different. It is no longer about the other person but it is about the “me”. It has almost become a competition, can you out anecdote the other person without really listening or...

This leadership blog that I have created discusses, analyzes and explores everything about leadership. If you have been following my blog you might say that the weekends I deviate from the idea of leadership and explore activities, events and fun things to do. I call that leisureship. All leaders need a break from the craziness that can be leadership. What I decided to do with my blog is present leadership throughout the week and leisureship on the weekends. With the leisureship portion I highlight some things that Leaders can do during their time off to refresh and renew. Today I spent the morning at the annual Deluxe golf tournament. I have been attending this for five years now and I am really enjoying the time I spend at it. It is a scramble format and we form our own teams. I was the captain of our team and we had a great time despite me not golfing as well as I would have liked. As a team we shot 2 under. We had to use 4 drives from each player with three holes to go our team...

Today we finish our look at Olympic leadership by claiming the gold medal of leadership and standing proud to say that we have reached the pinnacle of leadership. That doesn’t mean that once you are working at the gold standard of leadership that you sit back and don’t look to improve. Regardless of what level of leadership you are at you always want to look for ways to improve and make yourself even a better leader. What does it take to be a gold leader? Let me share an Olympic story. A few days ago the Men’s 400m race was run. The gold medal winner of that race was Kirani James from Grenada. It was the first medal won for the country of Grenada. It was what Kirani did during the semis that makes him a real gold medal winner. After he won his semi final race he went over to a South Africian runner, Oscar Pistorius. Kirani exchanged name tags with Oscar. It is my understanding that this is a sign of respect to the other athlete. You see, Pistorius is a double amputee and the first...

Today it is time to look at what it takes to be a silver medal leader. Yesterday I looked at bronze leadership tomorrow will be gold. As I had said in my previous two blogs being silver or bronze isn’t like losing it is just being at a different stage in your leadership journey. On the Olympics today a US track athlete (Lashinda Demas) was favored to win the Women’s 400 hurdles but ended up earning the silver. Afterward during an interview she said she wouldn’t stop until she earned the gold. She said she will be back in 4 years. That is one of the marks of a silver leader. A silver leader never gives up and continues to work hard toward the gold. What are some other marks of a silver leader? A silver leader is making some smart decisions. A silver leader has the respect of some top people within the organization. A silver leader has a vision and is working on gaining followers to accept and embrace the vision. Silver leadership is the next podium up from b...

What does it mean to be a bronze leader? As I said in yesterday’s blog I am going to add a little Olympic flair to the idea of leadership and look at what it takes to be a gold, silver and bronze leader. Today we are looking at the bronze leader. In the Olympics the difference between third and first can be a matter of hundredths of seconds or hundredths of points. Bronze leadership isn’t bad it represents an emerging leader a leader who might make some mistakes but a leader who is working hard to be a great leader. Bronze, silver and gold leadership all represent different levels of leadership. In some parts of leadership you might be a bronze leader but in others you could be a gold leader it all depends on your reaction to the situation and your ability to lead in those situations. What does it take to be a bronze leader? A bronze leader has definite leadership ability. A bronze leader makes mistakes but works hard at improving those mistakes. A bronze leader is gain...

If you have been watching the Olympics I hope you have been enjoying the competition. With each event they give away a bronze for third, silver for second and gold for first. Leadership is a lot like the Olympics. It isn’t about being first or competing with other leaders instead it is about working hard to do your best that you can do. Athletes in the Olympics have reached the height of their sport. They have worked endless hours and suffered injuries to reach this level of competition. Over the next several days I will look at the gold, silver and bronze level of leadership. It isn’t that one is better than the other but it is more like one is a step closer to the other. Sometimes in the Olympics the difference between first and third is a mere hundredths of seconds. One small error can move someone from the gold medal favorite to the silver medalist. You also well see athletes who four years ago came in third but worked hard over the four year period to reach gold. In the wo...

It is the weekend and time to explore ways that leaders can relax and enjoy some leisureship. I have been spending time on Fridays looking at a numbfestivals from around the nation.  Today I am going to look specifically at art fairs. Minneapolis, Minnesota Uptown Art Fair August 3 - 5 Every year in the city of Minneapolis in a wonderful urban neighborhood called Uptown the Uptown Art Fair is held on the first weekend of August. I had the pleasure of volunteering at this event about 7 years ago and it was a lot of fun volunteering. I also got to view a lot of great art work, meet some great artists and enjoy the people who attended and volunteered. It is art work in all mediums so whatever your fancy you can find it at the Uptown Art Fair. FEATURES: * Professional works of art ranging from limited editions to one-of-a-kind treasures in each of 12 media including sculpture, painting, ceramics, jewelry, mixed media, and more. Over 350 talented fine artists from a...

In an earlier blog I gave my opinion on what I thought leadership was and who can be a leader and why we need leaders. In subsequent blogs I gave what others have said about leadership. Today I give you three others opinion on why we need leadership. From MGR Consulting: The leader’s primary role is to envision an outcome then enable and empower his or her team to achieve that vision. Strategic thinking enables the leader to articulate the vision. As Ralph Nader said, " The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” In the highly competitive and highly volatile world we live in, those with great leaders will do great things. Those with ineffective leaders will flounder. Great leaders have created every great society. From John P. Kotter on MSN News: Leadership is required for mobilising people to handle challenging times. In a world that has no challenges, things are fine and you don't require leaders. In such a world y...