Leadership

It’s been said that experience is the best teacher. However, that’s not completely true. If experience is the best teacher, then people who have accumulated loads of experience would be much wiser than those with less. However, we can see in our society it’s not true. Many people are no different today than 20 years ago.

Instead of having 20 years of experience many people simply have the same experience 20 times over. The former have learned from their experiences and keep growing to improve. The latter repeat their mistakes and often wonder why their lives are no different year after year.

One of the best learning opportunities is from our failures. We try to avoid failure at all costs. However, when we take risks and fail, we can learn lessons to apply to our next attempts. Every failure has the potential to teach us valuable lessons.

The next time you fail, take some time to reflect on the following questions:

• What went wrong?
• What part did I play?
• What was out of my control?
• What can I do differently next time?
• What is the key lesson from this failure?
• What will I do differently next time?

When you take on the posture of learning from failure, you will fear it less and be willing to take more risks. Failure isn’t final if you learn and grow from it. If you adopt the mindset of growing through your failures, you can keep moving forward in your life and be stronger because of the lessons you learn. Don’t let failure paralyze you. Learn from it and let it help you become the person you were created to be.

Be Intentionally Great today!

John Maxwell’s “Law of Influence” states that “Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.” This definition of leadership should encourage everyone! Everyone has influence with someone in their lives whether at home, work, or in the community. But influence requires connection.

Connection is critical because to have influence, you must earn trust. To earn trust, you must connect with people. To connect, work to implement the following practices from John Maxwell’s book Everyone Communicates, Few Connect:

• Connectors connect on common ground – find commonalities with the people you are communicating with
• Connectors do the difficult work of keeping it simple – make sure your audience can understand what you are saying; don’t speak over their heads or make things complex
• Connectors create an experience everyone enjoys – find ways to engage the person or team in an enjoyable or memorable way
• Connectors inspire people – find ways to give your team purpose that will motivate
• Connectors live what they communicate – be a model of what you expect from your team

Evaluate yourself using the following questions:

• Where are you strong?
• Where are you weak?
• What can you do to become a better connector starting today?

Regardless of where you rank in connecting currently, you can improve. Connecting is more skill than natural talent. Make the decision today to improve at connecting and watch your influence increase.

Be Intentionally Great today!

In our culture today, it’s easy to want instant results. Like a quick snack or a fast meal, we want our development to be microwavable. Unfortunately, growth is a lifelong journey. It is a process.

As we prepare to begin another new year, many people get wrapped up in making resolutions that don’t last. If you want to be successful over the long haul, your commitment to growth must be long-term rather than a weak resolution that will be forgotten in a  few days or weeks.

As a huge sports fan, one lesson I’ve learned from watching great teams over the years is that they look at each season as a process. They don’t expect to be great at the beginning of a season, but they focus on building each day to become better and better. They want to start strong, but they are more concerned about ending strong. They want to be the last team standing holding up the championship trophy. To get there, they develop a process to work on throughout the season.

Your life should be viewed similarly. Look at your life long-term. How do you want to be described by those closest to you at the end of your life? When you take a long view perspective, you can achieve many goals along the way, but you will always be a work in progress on your growth track.

To accomplish this, start with the end in mind.

• Who do you want to become throughout your lifetime?
• What do you want people to say about you at your funeral?
• What goals do you want to achieve along the way? 

Look at your growth process as a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself. Set intermediate goals along the way, but don’t become content just because you accomplish them. Look ahead to the next one and keep moving forward. Enjoy the process. Trust the process. Be intentional about the process.

Be Intentionally Great by committing to a lifelong growth journey. You’ll be glad you did in the end!

“Vision is foresight that comes from insight gained from hindsight.” – John Maxwell

Vision is critical to achieving the results you desire. Just like blurry vision in our eyes creates problems for us to see where we are going,  blurry vision in our personal and professional lives creates problems for us to achieve all that we dream of. You have to see the end result in your mind before you start if you want to be successful. Everything is created mentally before it is created physically. If you don’t like your current situation, check your vision.

• What do you want to achieve? – Begin with the end in mind.
• Who do you need to include? – Nothing great happens without a team.
• What resources do you need? – This could be finances, materials, etc.
• What is the timeline you need to execute the steps? – When to do something is as important as what to do.

Define your vision, then think through the steps that you need to accomplish it. If you start a project without an end in mind, you will run the risk of working tirelessly trying to achieve something that isn’t defined. You will wear yourself out. If you define your vision and write out a plan to accomplish it, you will be able to invest your energy and resources appropriately.

As you conclude 2015 and look forward to a new year, spend time developing a vision for what you want to accomplish in the next 12 months. Write down action steps and a timeline that will help you achieve it. Reflect on your past to learn lessons that will help you move into the future. As the saying goes, “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” Learn from your past and apply those lessons to achieve your vision for the future.

Be Intentionally Great Today!

As an executive and personal coach, I help people clarify their vision for their lives and organizations. We then develop a plan to take the steps to achieve the desired results.  Contact me today if you are in need of an objective partner to become all that you are designed to be.

It has become a bit cliche to use the airplane oxygen mask illustration, but if you don’t help yourself first, you won’t be able to help others.

When it comes to becoming more valuable in your family, marriage, friendships, and workplace you have to invest in yourself. If you are the same person five years from now that you are today, you won’t be nearly as valuable as you have the potential to be. If you don’t start developing yourself today you are hindering your growth tomorrow.

What do you want to be remembered for? Are you working on becoming that person yet?

What level do you want to achieve in your career? Are you positioning yourself to achieve that level by how you are developing yourself today?

I recognize that it is difficult to do the grinding work today when you won’t see results until later, but if you don’t fight through those feelings you will not move forward to meet your hopes, dreams, and goals down the road.

I was greatly impacted by a John Maxwell video I watched several months ago. He asked “What is your goal for 10 years from now?” Then he asked “What do you need to do in the next 30 days to move towards that goal?”

10 years may seem like a long way off, but when you look back on your life, it will feel like the years flew by. Before you know it, another decade will pass. Will you have done the work needed to see the results that you desire?

Don’t let another day, week, month, or year slip by without taking action to move towards your goals. Invest in yourself. As you do, you will become more valuable to the people around you. Your growth will spill over onto the people in your life.

Be Intentionally Great Today!

My mission as a success coach and leadership trainer is to help you take action to become the best version of yourself. Contact me today to discuss how I can help you and/or your organization achieve greater results!

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying that we should have “the attitude of gratitude.” While that sounds great and inspiring, it is not always an easy virtue to live out. I believe we are all thankful for various people and things in our lives. But do you express it?

Think about the people you have influence with. Are you thankful for them? If so, do they know it?

It is Thanksgiving week. During the month of November each year you can find people posting on social media about who and what they are thankful for. This is nice, but I believe it falls short. We should be expressing regularly throughout the year our thankfulness. And it doesn’t have to be on public display. It can be a private conversation.

Gone are the days of “leading” people with the attitude that they should be glad to have the job they have and their paychecks are thanks enough. Yes, their paychecks are in response for the work they do. However, to lead people well today the best leaders are thankful leaders. They share with their employees and coworkers that they value them. They write notes and emails expressing their thankfulness. They look them in the eye and let them know regularly that they are thankful that they are on the team.

This needs to be authentic. If you are not thankful for someone on your team you need to explore why and address that issue. Assuming you are thankful for them, you need to share it with them.

As Thanksgiving arrives yet again, reflect on who you are thankful for and why. Write them a note. Stop them in the hall and tell them. Invite them to lunch or to have coffee and share how you value them. Be creative!

It is easy to let days, weeks, months, and years slide by without expressing thankfulness. If you have to make a note in your calendar to remind yourself to share your gratitude, do it! Your team members will appreciate it and you will build greater rapport and credibility as a result.

If you are not a thankful leader, I encourage you to reflect on why that is. What is keeping you from being grateful? Explore that deeply. This could be a breakthrough moment for you and your team members.

Be Intentionally Great (and Thankful) Today!

If I can be of service to you or your team in building a more thankful culture please contact me. I would love to partner with with you!

In “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” John Maxwell’s “Law of Magnetism” states that “who you are is who you attract.”

Are you pleased with the team around you? Are you pleased with the friends and acquaintances you have? If not, then it’s time to look in the mirror. Are you becoming the person that you want to have around you?

Determine your ideal team members and/or friends. What characteristics and qualities do you want to have surrounding you?

Once you’ve made this list, evaluate yourself. Are you displaying those qualities? Are you a living example of them?

Do you want to be more successful? Work on your personal and professional development. Become the person that attracts top talent and high-quality friends.

Do you want to have a higher caliber team? Become the person you are wanting so you can attract people of that quality.

In order to have or achieve more in life, you need to become more. Where do you need to start today?

Be Intentionally Great Today!

Do you desire to stand out among your coworkers and get a promotion? Are you seeking a salary increase? Take the following four steps to stand out and be noticed in your organization:

1.) Be the first to help.

Take the initiative and offer your services to your supervisor and team. Team members that show initiative will stand out and be recognized. Remember, someone is always watching how you work. Make a good impression each day!

2.) Demonstrate the ability for the role you desire.

If you are seeking a promotion or lateral job change, start working today as if you’re in that role. Learn the skills needed. Develop your work ethic for that role. Observe others who are working in similar roles so you can get a good feel for the job. Become the employee that the supervisor would want to have on their team.

3.) Be consistent.

Employers want to know they can count on you. Give a strong effort each and every day. Let your supervisor know what to expect from you and deliver. Managers have many details to handle and when you work with consistency you give them one less thing to worry about.

4.) Make your boss look good.

Whether you like it or not, how your boss appears to his or her superiors will either help or harm your cause. When you work to help your boss succeed in his or her role, you will stand out. Ask if there is anything that you can take off their plate. Ask how you can be of greater service to the team. Go the extra mile. Add value daily where you can.

While nothing is guaranteed in the workplace, if you follow these four steps you will be on your way to standing out in your organization. Don’t settle for mediocrity in the middle of the pack. Work to stand out each and every day.

Be Intentionally Great Today!

Chris McClure is a certified professional coach and leadership trainer with The John Maxwell Team. Contact him today to discuss how he can assist you and your team to achieve greater success and significance.

John Maxwell’s “Law of the Lid” states that “leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness.”

While I often write about personal growth and development, I want to challenge you today to help others grow. Think about the people you work with. Think about your family. Think about your friends. Whose lid can you lift?

Lifting someone’s lid is about helping them grow from where they are to where they want to be. It’s about giving people tools and insights to become a better leader. We don’t often see the areas we need to grow in. We need someone else’s perspective to show us our blind spots. This requires you to gently share with people what you are observing and offering to help them take steps forward.

Many people don’t believe they need to grow as leaders because they aren’t in a “leadership position.” However, Maxwell makes it clear in his “Law of Influence” that “leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.” Everyone has influence with someone. Why not excel at it?!

Today, be a lid lifter. Offer to help someone grow. Offer to read a book and discuss it together. Offer to share your observations of their strengths and weaknesses so they can formulate a growth plan. Help them become a better version of themselves.

Be Intentionally Great Today!

“The first year that I engaged in intentional personal growth, I discovered that it was going to be a lifetime process. During that year, the question in my mind changed from “How long will this take?” to “How far can I go?” – John C. Maxwell

Have you ever seriously thought about how far you can go in life? What is your growth ceiling? What is the highest level you can achieve in your career? How far can you grow until you’ve “arrived”?

It’s much easier to tell ourselves what we can’t do than it is to convince ourselves that the sky is the limit. Instead of thinking “I can’t do that” start asking yourself “How far can I go?” Start dreaming. Start writing out ideas that you could achieve. While you may decide not to go after everything you write down, take action on a few things and watch yourself grow.

Your willingness to stretch yourself is the only thing holding you back. Don’t blame external circumstances – there are many people who have achieved great success against the odds. Determine right now that you will take steps of growth. Make a daily commitment to ask yourself “How far can I go today?”

You were designed with a purpose. You have incredible gifts and abilities within you. Stop telling yourself what you can’t do and start dreaming about how far you can go. Then take action and go after those dreams.

Be Intentionally Great Today!