Leadership Archives - Page 2 of 2 -

Updated on November 8, 2016November 8, 2016BLOG

What questions are you asking yourself?

Hand pointing at a Personal Development Word Cloud on white background. — How do you determine your personal growth?

Regardless of your position, title or industry, leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. I believe this to be. However, to grow as a leader, I believe their is one important element you MUST be doing as leader regardless where you are at in your organization. This one thing is something only you can do and can’t rely on others to do it for you.

It is a question you should be regularly asking yourself and it is: Am I investing in myself? This is a question of personal growth. My mentor and leadership expert, John C. Maxwell states, there are 3 main factors that determine if and how you will invest in yourself. In his book, Good Leaders Ask Great Questions, Maxwell lists these factors as:

1. Your self-image: How you see yourself.

How do you view yourself? Would you be the type of leader you would want to follow? Do you serve others before yourself? Are you a positive person to be around or do people avoid you? This should be an easy question to answer, if you’re honest enough with yourself. If you were to describe yourself, what would you say? What you don’t realize, is how you view yourself determines how you will invest in yourself. And the way you view yourself will always match how much you invest in yourself. If you were to rate yourself as a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10, this also describes your willingness to invest in yourself and this will never change. Which explains why those with low self-esteem usually don’t make great investments in themselves because they feel they’re not worthy. Maxwell writes,

“its not what you are that keeps you from investing in yourself; it’s what you think you are or are not. You will never be able to bet on yourself unless you believe in yourself.

2. Your dream: How you see your future.

I often ask people what their dreams are and I often hear, “I don’t know” or I’m not sure. If you don’t know what you want in life or how you want your future to look like, how do you know you’re on the right path? Furthermore, if you’re not dreaming, how do you know what its going to take to achieve it. Maxwell states, “the size of your dream determines the size of your investment. If you dream is large, you will invest in yourself to achieve it. If you have no dream, you may not invest in yourself at all. Your dreams should fuel your desire to grow.

3. Your friends: How other see you.

I once took the Leadership Circle assessment – its a 360 assessment that assesses your creative competencies and reactive tendencies. This shows where you view yourself and how others view your in those same components. I was surprised to see how others viewed me, especially in areas where I scored myself low, they saw them as some of my greatest strengths and also where I thought I was strong, they showed I needed some improvement in. It can be beneficial to your personal growth to participate in those kinds of assessments because they can unlock the realities and raise your awareness if you want to invest in yourself. Maxwell writes, “People need others to help them stay inspired and growing. Missionary Doctor Albert Schweitzer asserted, “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flames by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle our inner spirits”. If you have friends who list your inner fire, you are very fortunate’ they will make you want to keep investing in yourself and keep growing. If you don’t, find some, because nothing is more important for your potential as a leader than your personal daily growth.

This last one can be very challenging but it’s essential to take a look at your inner circle. Your potential as a leader is determined by those closest to you. This is the Law of the Inner Circle. Those around you, have influence over you whether directly or indirectly and how they see you can inspire you or bring you down. Its important to have those around you who will add to your investment in your own personal growth.

I hope this has been helpful to you as a leader. Are you wanting to grow personally? See my free tips and articles at the sites below and be sure to sign up to receive my weekly newsletter. https://johnwaynemullins.com/

Updated on September 2, 2015August 28, 2015BLOG LEADERSHIP

What is a Mastermind Group?

Mastermind groups are relatively new to most people, even though Napoleon Hill created the concept around 75 years ago with his book, Think and Grow Rich. A mastermind group is designed to help you navigate through challenges using the collective intelligence of others.

How does a mastermind work? A group of like-minded people meet weekly, monthly, daily, to tackle challenges and problems together. They lean on each other, give advice, share connections and do business with each other when appropriate. It’s very much peer-to-peer mentoring and if you are lucky enough to get invited to one, you will most likely see a marked change in yourself and your business.

Here are 7 reasons why a mastermind might be right for you:

You’ll be part of an exclusive community. Joining a mastermind typically involves you being invited by the members or going through an application process. The other members need you just as much as you need them, so quality of experience and knowledge is crucial to all involved.

Advisement. Once you are involved in a mastermind, that feeling of “being alone” while running your business or achieving a life-long dream or goal is gone. The other members of the group turn into business advisors of sorts and vice versa.

Collaboration is the name of the game. You may find someone in the group that is a perfect fit to work on a project with you. Or, you may be the perfect person to help another member as well. The group works together collaboratively, to achieve more together.

Extend your network. Joining a mastermind expands your network exponentially and rapidly. If you are in business, you know how important your network is. By joining a mastermind, you instantly add to your network and typically gain the networks of those in the group with you.

New learning. Everyone in the mastermind is unique in skill, experience and connections. By interacting and sharing your challenges, it’s almost certain that someone in your mastermind will have a solution for you and you may also be able to offer a solution, connection or tactic to help another in the group.

Cross-promotion. When you join a mastermind, you will most likely find ways to help each other by utilizing cross promotion. Finding ways to help each other through promoting to your respective networks.

Think BIGGER. Being in a mastermind will truly give you a Master Mind! You can’t help but think bigger and stretch beyond your boundaries when surrounded by amazing people doing amazing things.

Masterminds are incredible and can do wonders for your business as well as for you, personally. Growing in a group is not only more effective, it’s quite a bit more fun!

I’ll be hosting two new Mastermind groups beginning Sept 29, 2015 for seven weeks discussing John C. Maxwell’s 15 Laws of Growth. Location: Virtual Webinar. Groups will be limited to 10 people per group. Comment below if interested in joining or email me at [email protected]. Cost will be $200 per person.

John C. Maxwell says in order to reach your potential, you must be intentional about personal growth. This training curriculum will help you understand how personal growth really works, and how you can develop yourself to become a more effective and fulfilled individual. You will learn how to build up your sense of purpose and become more successful in every area of your life. Come alongside John in your growth journey to become the person you are destined to be!

Are there tried and true principles that are ALWAYS certain to help a person GROW?

Leadership Author and Guru John Maxwell says the answer is “yes”. He has been passionate about personal development for over forty years, and for the first time, he teaches everything he has learned about what it takes to reach your potential. In the way that only he can communicate, John teaches…

The Law of Intentionality: Growth Doesn’t Just Happen

The Law of Awareness: You Must Know Yourself to Grow Yourself.

And you will learn so much more…

Updated on August 21, 2015August 21, 2015BLOG Communicating LEADERSHIP

How to become a better thinker.

Author Napoleon Hill said, “More gold has been mined from the thoughts of man than has ever been taken from the earth”. When you take the time to learn how to change your thinking and become a better thinking, you are investing in yourself. Gold mines tap out. Stock markets crash. Real estate investments can go sour. Bet a human mind with the ability to think well is like a diamond mine that never runs out. – John C. Maxwell

Maxwell (2009) lists six ways to becoming a better thinker.

Expose yourself to good input.

What and who are you allowing yourself and your thoughts to be influenced by. What are you reading and how are you developing your thoughts.

2. Expose yourself to good thinkers.

In Proverbs 17:17, we learn that sharp people sharpen one another, just as iron sharpens iron. Are those around you sharpening you or making your dull?

3. Chose to think good thoughts.

Thinking is a discipline. Learning to capture every thought is easier said than done. But once you hone this skill, you’ll begin to realize the good and bad thoughts and how those thoughts are influencing your actions and behaviors.

4. Act on Good Thoughts.

Ideas have a short shelf life. You must act on them before the expiration date (Maxwell,2009). It’s been said that the human brain thinks up to 50,000 thoughts and ideas every single day. That’s a lot of thoughts.

5. Allow your emotions to create another good thought.

Don’t ever give in your thoughts based on your emotions or feelings. Have you ever done that and later regretted it? I know I have.

6. Repeat the process.

Momentum also makes a huge difference. When you have no momentum, even the simplest tasks can seem to be insurmountable problems. But when you have momentum on your side, the future looks bright, obstacles appear small, and trouble seems temporary. But once you start thinking good thoughts and capturing them, it’s like the gold miner who is mining for gold. Once they find it, they continue the process.

Updated on May 22, 2015May 22, 2015BLOG Communicating LEADERSHIP

How do you define Leadership?

The definition of leadership and what makes a successful leader has been an ongoing debate. From 1900 to present day, this debate has evolved into many theories, which has shaped our thoughts and behaviors on leadership, what the best approach is and what defines a leader. With the increase in the global environment, these theories have created an unclear message in how are leaders are defined and which is the best approach for organizations to take.
Leadership was once perceived to be reserved only for “Great Men” who were born with natural traits and abilities of a leader. Coining the phrase “Great Man theory” because only great men of notoriety and significance were considered leaders (Northouse, 2010). With the developing interest in leadership, in particular to a leader’s skills, behaviors and actions towards his/her followers, the “Great Man” theory was questioned and many others theories were developed and the pursuit of defining leadership theory evolved.

Global Change

These leadership theories have significantly changed how leadership is defined and thought of throughout the 20^th century. With the baby-boomer generation for example, leadership was about getting the job done and achieving the end result. However, with the increase in the global environment, specifically with the Y generation, leadership has shifted from results based to performance based. Leadership roles have changed and have become more about quality and effectiveness and building effective teams and relationships with their followers.

Call to Action

Leadership guru John Maxwell has been quoted saying that “Everything rises and falls on leadership, but knowing how to lead is only half the battle. Understanding leadership and actually leading are two different activities”. Leaders today, must be aware of this and not only know the theories but know their own style of leadership and how to apply it. Scholar without action is a mute point. You can study all of these leadership theories and understand them but if you’re not actually applying your knowledge and making a difference, then you’ll never know what leadership is about and what you’re capable of.

Leaders need to rise up and start being the example to others. Followers want a leader they can trust to lead them to success. Trust is vital to the leader-follower relationship and must be earned; it requires the leader to serve their followers by serving them first as Greenleaf (2002, p. 12) stated.

Leaders can no longer rely on their titles and positional power to gain influence; instead followers are demanding a leader who actually leads. Leaders must learn the heart of service by volunteering and being a part of the solution and not the problem. Leaders must continue to invest in themselves and their followers by supporting leadership and the professional development that will initiate and promote growth and change.

Leadership is changing and will continue to evolve. The successful leaders know this and understand that leadership is a process that made up a team. John Maxwell teaches the Law of process and that leadership “is developed daily, not in a day” (Maxwell, 2007). If we can learn anything from history, the successful leaders are the resilient leaders who are out there leading and learning and attempting to make a difference.

Updated on August 22, 2015May 7, 2015BLOG LEADERSHIP

Is it Dangerous or Necessary to bring your Whole Self to Work?

“Whether or not organizations want the whole person, whole persons report for work” (Sheep, 2006).

Henry Ford said, ‘bring us your hands, and you can leave everything else at home.’ D.J. rejected that idea and said completely the opposite: ‘I want all of you here. I want the whole person” – D.J. DuPree

I think it’s important that organizations recognize their employees as whole people – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Organizations should certainly be mindful of this whole body approach, as they have to deal with them on a daily basis. But what does being whole look like in the workplace?

Friedman (2014) defines being whole as “acting with integrity and respects the fact that all of the roles you play make up one whole person and encourages others to view you the same way”. But is it just integrity that would empower an individual to bring their whole self to their work? Being whole in the workplace requires a certain amount of authenticity, from leadership and its culture. Authentic leadership focuses on the character and motives of a leader. Authentic leaders are genuine, have strong convictions and values and their actions show it. Authentic leaders know their purpose and “understand their values and behave towards others based on those values” (Northouse, 2010).

Being whole means an individual is able to be exactly that – their whole self and when they are able to be who they are at work – it creates an environment that is about people and accepting of their values. Hargrove (2003) stated, “The key to creating a value-added culture is to have a philosophy about people”. When people feel accepted and are able to share their whole self, the dynamic shifts. When people feel good about themselves, they are naturally more creative and productive. They add a lot of value to their jobs. You can’t measure it, but you can feel it when you take walk through the halls” (Hargrove, 2003).

Robbins (2015) wrote, “I believe that for us to thrive professionally, especially in today’s world, we must be willing bring our whole selves to the work that we do.” He then offers 3 principles, which help him to exercise the principle of “bring your whole self to work.” They are:

Embrace vulnerability
Be willing to have sweaty palmed conversations
Stop trying to survive

While I agree by willing to bring your whole self to work can help you to thrive professionally and personally in one’s life. But, how common is that being done? How many people are actually willing and able to bring their whole self to work? Some may be able, while others may actually not be willing. Especially, when society and some cultures have drawn these cultural barriers or politically correct lines that may prevent or inhibit certain aspects of one’s life to be shared or lived out in a work setting. I believe as Hargrove (2008) pointed out, to engage in dialogue and “discuss the undiscussable”. What I’ve seen and experienced is that when you do have those discussions, suddenly, those fine lines aren’t as hard to cross as we believed they were and people are open to them and want to learn and discuss them. People want to have those discussions and want to bring their whole self into work. This is where, I believe coaches can serve and almost force those conversations by asking the right questions that stir up those conversations. Being whole, to me, means living out who you are, not hiding behind titles or positions and being who God created you to be. God has called us to serve in the positions we’re in for a purpose, but if compartmentalize that part of our lives in our workplace, then how we expect to serve God and fulfill His plan for us?

References

Hargrove, R. A. (2003). Masterful coaching: Inspire an “impossible future” while producing extraordinary leaders and extraordinary results. San Francisco,, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

Friedman, S. D. (2014). Work + Home + Community + Self. Harvard Business Review, 92(9), 111-114.

Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Sheep, M. L. (2006). Nurturing the Whole Person: The Ethics of Workplace Spirituality in a Society of Organizations. Journal of Business Ethics. (4). 357.