Leadership is often thought of as a mysterious title or set of skills, available only to a priviledged few. That is not the case.
Listen in to my interview with architect and carpenter, Roger Wade. Roger shares an inspirational story of leading by example in family and career.
Listen in by clicking here.
Happy Listening,
-Coach Preston
Career Development, Leadership Development, Marketing, Spirituality
One of the guys in my Thursday morning men’s group asked the following question today:
“What will be different for you in 2010?”
I immediately became present to the difference this group has made for me - what a gift it has truly been. For the past 18 months, I’ve been showing up every Thursday morning to explore my relationships, my faith and myself. Our weekly conversations always invite me to make a difference rather than just accomplish something.
The New Year is a common time of reflection and promise for accomplishment. Did you reach your goal(s) for 2009? What do you want to accomplish for 2010? As customary this process is, perhaps what’s more familiar is realizing the majority of us don’t reach many of our goals.
So what if following this habitual process strategizing accomplishment was actually the thing holding you back? What if focusing on what you want to accomplish is actually the Achilles Heel you’re fervently seeking to overcome?
What if this year, rather than asking “what do I want to accomplish”, you ask “what difference will I make?”
What difference will you make if you:
Consider taking some of these on. 2010 will be a new year of possibility, relationship and connection. It will be a year of you making a difference.
Are you willing to accept you actually can and do make a difference?
What a gift that will be to us all.
Happy New Year,
- Coach Preston
Notice is guaranteed
Expert marketer (and dare I say philosopher), Seth Godin, offered one of the most powerful ideas I’ve heard in years:
“The reason they want you to join them is, that once you do, then they can ignore you.”
How frequently do we want to fit in? Isn’t that the lifeblood of most all communities? So what could Seth Godin mean?
Perhaps leadership is what he’s inviting us to consider.
Leadership means:
Communities, businesses, families and organizations require us to join them so they can thrive. But joining them doesn’t have to mean subscribing to “sheepdom”. Be willing to bring your crazy ideas, your over-the-top energy, your unrelenting pursuit of integrity, and your quest for excellence.
Leadership Practices:
A bumper sticker on a neighbor’s car reads, “Women who behave will never make history.”
I love it.
Happy Attention-getting,
- Coach Preston
Bright moments in presumed darkness
Earlier this week, I was walking to my Wednesday morning men’s group. About eight of us gather each week to read, discuss and explore our faith. Walking out my door I suddenly remembered I failed to get the key from the church office the day before.
Oh, cr#*! Oh, sh@&! Oh, (every expletive I could muster)! How are we going to make this work? It’s 35 degrees at 6am on a Wednesday morning, and there are seven other guys depending on me to open up the conference center by 6:25am. And most importantly, have the coffee ready.
So began my search - I figured there would be someone available at the church since the 6:30am Mass was soon to start. Or a sexton would be there opening up the rest of the church. Or by some miracle, the conference center door was left open by a previous guest. Predictably, none of these were the case.
After my fourth trip in and around the church, I let it go. “Give it up pal”, was all I could say. I began walking across the street to post a hand-written sign directing folks to go a half-mile down the road to a local coffee shop. I figured we’d start about 20 minutes late, but at least we’d meet. I had given up faith in getting into the conference center, but I was determined to have our men’s group happen.
That’s when Jim appeared. He’s one of the church administrators. I see him regularly, but never on this side of the church and certainly not at this time of the morning. I stopped to ask him if he knew of anyone who might have a key. He smiled, reached into his pocket, handed me a key to the conference center and said, “I guess it’s your lucky day Preston”. It was 6:21am.
Luck?
I struggle at times to understand why, in the moment we give up control, what we want actually appears; or at least a close version of it.
A friend once shared with me a definition of faith that I’ve never forgotten:
“Faith is the willingness to move forward without any visible sign it will work.”
Yet this is exactly the opposite of what our culture promotes. The business world is constantly seeking measurements, metrics, data, analytics and historical financials to prove whether or not to take a step forward. In other words, to prove faith?
I spent some time on LinkedIn Answers yesterday and responded to a question inquiring what “the best ROI metrics to use in analyzing an investment in social media” would be. It dawned on me that in our quest to research this information, we’ll end up expending more resources trying to find the right answer than actually investing in our objective.
What if we were to actually practice faith in business? What if we were to take on making bold promises for a future we want to have without seeking evidence if we could actually get there? For most of us, this not only goes against “conventional wisdom”, but is completely scary.
Alas, perhaps that’s what true leadership really is - making bold promises, inspiring others to take action in service of that future, and holding the vision of what’s now possible once that future is realized.
Leadership Practices:
I once heard of a man who unrelentingly tried to sell his fried chicken recipe to restaurants; all of whom turned him away. Based on his ROI, he was destined to fail.
Ever heard of Kentucky Fried Chicken?
Gobble-gobble,
- Coach Preston
One of the founders of the coaching industry, Thomas Leonard, came up with a list of 546 goals to keep us focused and evolving. I wanted to share one of my favorites:
Goal No 29 - Start reading the books that will help you evolve instead of merely develop.
I’ve not shared much about the books I read and the impact they have on me - shame on me. Perhaps one or several will make an impact on you as well.
Here are several in no particular order:
The list will go on.
Please email me at preston@prestontrue.com with other book suggestions on leadership, faith and discovery.
Happy Evolutionary Reading,
-Coach Preston