I think it is important to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. When we do try something new, we become a better version of ourselves. My kids are not afraid to try anything. Why are we afraid to potentially fail or not be good at something? Who cares? Go do something new and see if you want to invest your time into getting better at it. Any experiences out there where you tried something new and failed or succeeded?
Almost every single time that I have given in to my fear, I later regretted it. I knew I could have succeeded where my fear held me back. Yet, I still give in.
I have watched leaders whom I truly admire just sit back and take it all in. They would listen to everyone’s opinions, gripes and everything else. The only time they would break their silence was to ask clarifying questions. Then after listening to all, they would share their decision. True wisdom isn’t just showing what you know.
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 used to go to work everyday with the idea that my team is writing my EPR and I tried to live up to their expectations more than those of my actual rater.
One of the hardest things to do as a leader is to stand in front of your team and tell them you failed. However, we all make mistakes and need to own them quickly. Once we acknowledge our missteps, we can learn from them and move onto a smarter path for the next attempt. Our teams respect us more when we can admit we are not perfect and they are more likely to ask us for help when they make a mistake.
I still get angry at myself when I have to learn lessons the hard way. I love to read and learn from others and see many of their triumphs and their successes. However, so often I do not adopt the principles or practices to ensure I am not making the same mistakes. It is not until I fall into the pit myself that I finally realize the danger. We all fall down, but most of our falls could be avoided if we focus on the lessons others are trying to teach us.
“How was school?” …”Fine.” This is the response on most days as I drive home with my kids. Sometimes, they just don’t want to talk about their day and sometimes something bad happened. The trick is to look for the real meaning behind the words. This is why it is so important to look our team in the eyes as we speak to them and not rely on texts or emails.
Most of us struggle with telling someone ‘no’ or something else that could crush a dream or even just disappoint. We lead our friends on about something they want us to do with them, but we have no desire to do. Then when it becomes time to act, we make up lame excuses. Just like when you were a kid and broke something, the earlier you came clean the lighter the punishment. Be honest up front and it will be appreciated much more than an empty excuse later.
My first day of work as a MSgt, I was looking for all of my minions to serve me. Instead, I walked into the office and my boss tore into me about something that happened on the other side of the flightline on a different shift. I learned very quickly (literally day one) that I was responsible for everyone and everything in my scope. It was my job to watch over and push those on my team, not have them serve me. I do admit, having minions would be cool 🙂
