There have been a couple of times in my own career where I was given the title as a boss due to my rank. AFPC said I was the best person for the position based on numbers on my SURF. I may or may not have been the best person in terms of ability, but that is not really measured. Teams will listen to “the boss” in terms of compliance, but they don’t follow him or her until they trust the person. Play the long game and earn their trust…don’t just flex your stripes.
Isn’t this the truth?! We spend so much time arguing over certain points and think everyone else is wrong, in denial or just plain stupid. The truth is, they just have a different viewpoint based on the reality of their own lives. We all have different needs, backgrounds and experiences that have forged us into what we are today. We need to worry about what matters to us and strengthen that stance instead of spending our time weakening another. If our’s truly is superior, others will eventually see the light.
As I am writing this, I am sitting in my home office/kid’s playroom. My daughter is playing music on her iPad for her dolls to listen to and my son is crashing cars into LEGO people with full sound effects. I haven’t heard my own thoughts in over 30 minutes. This is how we get at work as we are surrounded with all of the background noise of our coworkers, the buzzing of our cell phones from friends or spouses and it is a true wonder we ever get anything done at all. Seek ways to take advantage of the silent moments you do have and stop filling those times with more distraction.
Yes! This is very timely for me. I was just scrolling through some posts on my news feed and was getting angry at some of the things people were posting. Why? Many of them weren’t posting them to be hurtful to me specifically. Even if they were, who cares? We have to stop giving people so much emotional control over our lives. My pastor says to stop worrying about WHO is right and work towards WHAT is right.
It doesn’t matter where you have been or where you are going. When you get there, you are still you. Learn from your past and improve yourself to be the person you want to become. Look to the future and work to be that person you know you can be. Then look in the mirror today and marvel at the beauty.
Introvert or extrovert. Charismatic or meek. Many of us our led to believe that how others project themselves is what makes them a great leader. Yes, personality will attract others to you, but what is keeping them there?
Isn’t it frustrating that the very first piece of leadership advice we get is the hardest to apply? We tell our children and our teammates to ‘lead by example’ and yet we mess this up all the time. At least, we think we do when we fall short of perfection. Instead of hanging our heads in shame as a failure, this is the exact point we need to step it up. Everyone falls short of perfection; however, not many know how to get through these missteps. Set the example on how to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and learn from the experience.
I have worked for and with so many people who simply could not control their cool. Some of them were scary to be around in high-stress scenarios and others were actually fun to get spun up. I watched wrenches, clipboards, coffee mugs, and many other objects fly across the room or flightline and even a couple people who began to dry heave. All because of stress. Now, everyone else on the plane or team was experiencing the same stress factors, we just had a different response. When you are leading a team and things begin to crumble, it is normal to feel stressed. It is normal to want to throw something, swear or whatever. However, you can’t let your team see this, because they are looking to you to be their rock. I bet the guy in the picture is stressed out; however, he knows he has to remain calm for his team.
I have been a student of servant style leadership for many years and serving those on my team is something I hold as a priority. Servant leaders are not meant to be submissive and weak; rather, using our talents and experience to set our team up for success. This quote from MJ helps me to place my thoughts into words. Leaders need to earn their role and that is done by caring for the team. I go to work everyday with the idea that my team is writing my EPR and I try to live up to their expectations more than those of my actual rater.
