When you walk into a Barnes and Nobel, surf Amazon or listen to the Preacher man delivering the Sunday Morning address; what truly comes to mind when the received message influences your heart to become a better leader?
What? Back it down! The reaction is almost always the same; we’re told to step up our game in the world of leadership and instantly the response is, “No thanks! Not my game! Don’t want the responsibility! Do you have any clue who you’re talking to?”
I get it! Since the first grade we’ve been trained to believe leaders are overly hyper political figures with egos the size of Mount Mitchell. Leaders are hard driven, seek glorification and feel the need to exceed the limits no matter what the final cost.
Time to reboot your thinking machine!
Tribes author Seth Godin whips the mask off fantasy by placing reality in the forefront of your extremely busy workday. The truest shape of a modern leader is one of the most productive people on staff. They don’t rush through the halls or race between the cubicles shouting, “I’m in control and your job is to listen to me!”
Having and or adopting the attitude of looking out for number one don’t pay off in the chapters and channels of continued success. It only creates motivation through intimidation which is one of the leading reasons why the majority of today’s unemployed refuse to be featured on the lists of employees getting back to a normal life and style.
Godin exposes the CEO with the brightly lit well decorated office with no desire to ever return to a gray dungeon dreary cubicle and the religious leader that doesn’t drive a beat up old gas guzzler but chooses instead to pirate a private jet to press the flesh…
Winning begins when leaders adopt the Jimmy Carter attitude of setting aside worldly wants and requirements to build houses for the poor.
As this nation finds itself poking its American mug up from the rubble created by the rich and need to be famous…new leaders are being born by way of picking up the tools and putting them to use. Undercover Boss on CBS should be a requirement on every block used to rebuild this country.
No day passes that my radio station commercial production room door isn’t open for the CEO of Clear Channel to walk in and see what’s required to take a computer screen overflowing with words and turn it into 5, 10 and 30 seconds of influence that a listener can tune out of two seconds after it first appears on the air.
Jeff in production says its time for the man on top of the human pyramid to find out what the man on bottom is doing to guarantee his rightful place at the peak isn’t going to come crashing down.
Raise your hand if your boss truly knows what you do in the way of keeping those office doors open.
Substance versus symbol…a true black belt in martial arts is constantly reminded of the path to which they must follow; take care of the community. At no time did the Master say, “Let it go to your head and flood your heart. Use it to dominate the class by showing off what you can do to white and green belts locked in the oooh and awe stages of growth.”
The Master said, “Take care of the community.”
Seth Godin reminds us that the strongest tribe is the one mastered by the leader that doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty, their mistakes laughed at or their vision taunted then rebuilt by coworkers seeking the same horizon.
But what if such methods of retraining are mere streaks of wish and wanna-be’s? Then choose to be your own leader. The Egyptian Pyramids are constructed of hundreds of giant blocks on the bottom row keeping that peak in pristine shape. Call me an idiot but that seems to be a place of incredible strength and leadership. The moment a single decision to leave the nest is received the entire process has been gifted with the right to become part of a past that 110% of us will never remember.
Tell yourself and the image in the mirror, “Tired, worn out, excessively over worked and stinky like pig sweat is what it takes to be a real leader.”
What is it going to take to convince your heart that you’re truly the very best at being you?
If your answer is a better paycheck…I get it. Now what are you going to do as a brilliant leader to change that?
I will always believe in you first…
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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