On Leadership, Reality and Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Dr. Dan Roberts

Monday Morning Quaterbacking

DATELINE: FEBRUARY 3, 2013 | ATLANTA, GEORGIA USA | SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

So, it’s the day of the big game! I am looking forward to a nice quiet evening watching the Super Bowl.

But I am not looking forward to the day after the big game.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

It is not because I party too hard or stay up too late, but it is because of all of the “should’ve, would’ve and could’ve’s” that come to surface. It is amazing, the number of experts who sit at home on the Monday following the game in their comfortable arm chairs and know better how to play the game than those who make the roster.

You hear things like:

“Come on, I could have caught that pass!!!”

or

“What is he thinking, he should have never called that play!!!”

Yep, the world is filled with arm-chair quarterbacks who never make bone-headed plays or the wrong calls.

Oh to live in such a perfect world.

On Talking and Walking

But do you know the difference between those who talk and those who do? It can be summed up in one word, REALITY! I always want to ask, “Well why didn’t you make that catch,” or “why didn’t you call something different?” You know why the didn’t, they were not really in the game.

It is much easier to muse about the possibilities than it is to take part in the realities.

Leadership is much the same. I find that some of the grandest criticisms of leadership come from those who have never really led. They sit back in the comfort of their lack of responsibility and accountability and say things like, “Well no wonder it didn’t work, he should have done it this way,” or “Everyone saw that mistake coming.”

It is amazing that the simplicity of leadership is questioned by those who seem unwilling or choose not to even be in the game.

On Doing it Right

Leadership done well is not easy. It takes a special calling to be willing to shoulder the accountability and responsibility of leadership. The first to come and the last to go, and often the one to put up with the most criticism, she is the real leader.

If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. But they don’t, do they?

Real leaders find themselves fighting it out in the trenches when others have left the building. Real leaders miss sleep because the decision weighs heavy on their hearts while others simply scoff at why they didn’t get their way.

Leaders who really lead know that the results far outweigh the credit and they do not mind when the nay-Sayers amazingly get on board when all of a sudden that sure to fail task doesn’t.

On Playing Well

Are you a real leader? You have to know that the arm-chair leaders will criticize, complain and question. It comes with the territory. But those of us who play the game know that even when we don’t please everyone, leadership is essential and serves as its own reward.

Keep on leading! REALLY!

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——————–
Dr. Dan Roberts
Dr. Dan Roberts is professor of Organizational Leadership at Point University
His teaches “If you desire to lead, you must decide to serve.”
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter |  Web | Skype: Danroberts531

Image Sources:  southerngameday.com

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On Leadership, Simplicity and Getting Results

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Dr. Dan Roberts

Simplicity

In this ever-increasing age of complexity, there is within each of us a heart of desire for the simple. Certainly we look for ways to make our lives easier.

But easier and simpler do not always equate.

Easy is Not Simple

Just because we find something easy to do does not make it a simple task, in fact some of the easiest things to do matriculate through a highly complex set of steps or processes that cause many parts to fall into place.

Think of the ease of the act of simply scratching your nose. Now consider all of the body parts and systems that it takes in coordination in order for the task to be accomplished.

Easy and simple are not always the same.

It is easy to scratch one’s nose. However, it is no simple task.

Achieving Focus

The quote “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” has been attributed to many. If you look it up on the internet you might find that Honest Abe Lincoln is reported to be the originator, or maybe Mother Teresa.

Certainly it was popularized and most quoted by the late Stephen Covey. He distinguished between easy and simple. Simplicity is best described in the understanding of focus.

To adequately focus is to be able to simplify any process.

Again, it may be a challenging and complex task, but focusing allows us to simplify it into an accomplishable outcome.

Leadership and Simplicity

When we talk about leadership, I think one of the clarion calls of the leader is to simplify. I think resting squarely on the shoulders of leadership is the need to keep the outcome so focused that all who contribute to the process do so knowing what their role is and what they must do to fulfill that role.

Leadership is about:

  • Visioning
  • Aligning
  • Empowering
  • Guiding
  • Evaluating

All in order to take others along a journey that yields a common and desired end.

It is not easy, but if the leader is to succeed it must be made simple.

Focus is the Remedy

Getting to a place of common good where the desired results are achieved is the goal of every leader. Without focus, too many things can go wrong.

  • If the vision or tasks involved are too complex, the followers will abandon in confusion and frustration
  • If the journey is too random, the motivation to produce is lost
  • If the mission is too unclear, the buy–in of vision never takes place.

Focus and simplicity will get the job done.

Dirt Road Leadership

Growing up on the dirt road, I learned an important lesson that when you start a job, you need to finish that job. Other things may come up, but stay on task, keep focused and finish what you started.

This takes focus. This takes simplicity.

It is like the fellow at the circus that spins those plates on the stick. Pretty impressive really (you don’t think so – try it – but not with the good china), but once you reach a point of too many plates (non-simple) you start defeating the outcome.

We make things too complex all the time, but it doesn’t make sense to do this. We crowd our intended outcomes with extraneous and superfluous tasks.

To remedy this tendency, take some time today, focus on what really is important, strip away that which clutters and makes your life and leadership complex, and choose the simple route.

It may not be easy, but it will get the job done.

So what tasks or lists can you winnow down to help simplify your main objectives and help you achieve your goals sooner? How can  you make the journey more enjoyable and let confusing for your followers? What steps can you take today that will help you simply your life and the lives of the people who look to you for results? I would love to hear your thoughts!

**********

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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Dr. Dan Roberts
Dr. Dan Roberts is professor of Organizational Leadership at Point University
His teaches “If you desire to lead, you must decide to serve.”
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter |  Web | Skype: Danroberts531

Image Sources: appitive.com

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Filed under: Authentic Leadership, Leadership Lessons Learned, Life Balance, Organizational Health, Values-Based Leadership | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Dirt Road Leadership

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Dr. Dan Roberts

Dirt Road

I have a dirt road heritage. Much of my roots stem from a tiny patch of land in the mountains of very rural Alabama.

Proud? You bet.

And really it is not just a heritage thing. It is mostly because I was raised with some very strong values. Values are the foundation in my life. And that is a good thing.

On Leadership and Values

Values are the foundation of leadership as well. A new buzz in the current leadership books depicts Values Driven Leadership as all the rage. Values are absolutely the frame that surrounds the picture all of our best laid plans.

But how do we determine them?

Getting Started

Here’s an idea that will work. Take your blank legal pad and your trustworthy writing implement. Open up the flood gate of ideas in bullet form fashion and as fast and furiously as you can list all the things that you count as important to who you are and what defines you as an individual.

Let this be a time of idea fluency.

Green light every idea, don’t second guess anything as you list every little thing you think is part of the definition of your existence.

Now take a break, step away from the pad, go let your mind do something else. Get something to drink – I suggest Diet Coke.

Round Two

At some not so distant future time, come back to the pad and cross out half of them that if you had to choose only half, could be eliminated.

Now take a break, step away from the pad, go let your mind do something else. Get something to drink – I suggest Diet Coke.

Again, return to your thoughts and cross out half of them that are the lesser important statements.

Take a break, you know the drill.


———————————————————————

Values Sorting Exercise with Recalibrate Cards

Values drive decisions. Decisions drive behaviors. Behaviors drive results.
www.RecalibrateCards.com

Recalibrate Cards - Values Sorting & Prioritization Exercise

Round Three

Repeat this process until you absolutely cannot eliminate any other statements because they are just too important to you. These remaining ideals, friends, are your values. These are the core of your existence, the things you would take a bullet for.

This is the outline for your values statement which gives you the framework for your mission and your vision. These are the foundations of your life. You have a reason and means to define your existence.

Interestingly enough it works for your team, in a corporate setting as well. Give it a try, it will give you sure footing in an ever-changing world.

Here’s to dirt roads, diet cokes, values and leadership.

So, how fully aware are are you of your personal values? Have you taken an inventory to see what is driving your decisions, behaviors, and results? If not, take a minute and see how powerful this can be to help you raise your level of personal leadership effectiveness. You will be glad you did!

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today.
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Dr. Dan Roberts
Dr. Dan Roberts is professor of Organizational Leadership at Point University
His teaches “If you desire to lead, you must decide to serve.”
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter |  Web | Skype: Danroberts531

Image Sources: 99mag.com

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Filed under: Practical Steps to Influence, Servant Leadership, Values Measurements, Values-Based Leadership | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

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