Leaders are Champions

There is an old saying: Champions don't become champions in the ring - they are merely recognized there. Boxing is a good analogy for leadership development because it is all about daily preparation. Even if a person has natural talent, he has to prepare and train to become successful.

One of the most famous quotes of President Theodore Roosevelt uses a boxing analogy: "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause."

From The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by Dr. John C. Maxwell

To lead is to serve,

Coach Carolyn

Empowering Others

I want to share this great article about empowering others by Brian Tracy. Enjoy!

Get the Cooperation of Others
Empowering people is the key to building a high-performance team. Once you empower people by learning how to motivate and inspire them, they will want to work with you to help you achieve your goals in everything you do. Your ability to enlist the knowledge, energy and resources of others enables you to become a multiplication sign, to leverage yourself so that you accomplish far more than the average person and in a far shorter period of time.

Determine the Key People to Empower
There are three types of people that you want to and need to empower on a regular basis. They are, first of all, the people closest to you: your family, your friends, your spouse and your children. Second are your work relationships: your staff, your coworkers, your peers, your colleagues and even your boss. Third are all the other people that you interact with in your day-to-day life: your customers, your suppliers, your banker, the people with whom you deal in stores, restaurants, airplanes, hotels and everywhere else. In each case, your ability to get people to help you is what will make you a more powerful and effective person.

Always Be Positive
Empower means "putting power into," and it can also mean "bringing energy and enthusiasm out of." So the first step in empowering people is to refrain from doing anything that disempowers them or reduces their energy and enthusiasm for what they are doing.

There are things you can do every single day to empower people and make them feel good about themselves.

Satisfy the Deepest Needs
The deepest need that each person has is for self-esteem, a sense of being important, valuable and worthwhile. Everything that you do in your interactions with others affects their self-esteem in some way. You already have an excellent frame of reference to determine the things that you can do to boost the self-esteem and therefore the sense of personal power of those around you. Give them what you'd like for yourself.

Continually Express Appreciation
Perhaps the simplest way to make another person feel good about himself or herself is your continuous expressions of appreciation for everything that person does for you, large or small. Say "thank you" on every occasion.

Thank your spouse for everything that he or she does for you. Thank your children for their cooperation and support in everything that they do around the house. Thank your friends for the smallest acts of kindnesses. The more you thank other people for doing things for you, the more things those other people will want to do.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, continually look for ways to make people feel more valuable and important. Say things to others that you would like others to say to you.

Second, express appreciation for everything anyone does for you, large or small. Say the words, "thank you" on every occasion.

To lead is to serve,
Coach Carolyn

Is it Race... Is it Gender... Or What?

Okay, I am at the end of my patience with the election machine. I say let's just vote already!

I am also quite tired of hearing about race and gender. We are missing the big picture: history has been made. I think that is fabulous. One can submit their name for a public office and not wonder about the color of their skin or the gender they were born.

I may not agree with all that I hear, but I am proud of the way these candidates have put themselves on the line for the sake of this nation; knowing that they will be allowed to voice their concerns.

My vote is not about race nor gender, but about the issues. What about you?

A Servant's Heart

This week, I am in our nation’s capital for a meeting for the Franciscan Action Network, a grassroots organization dedicated to education and advocacy on social justice issues. Because I am in the company of such esteemed colleagues, I ended up watching the Republican National Convention. Okay, I never watch those things; just the You Tube Highlights, you know the bloopers.

Anyway, I did want to check out the nominee for Vice President for the Republican Party, Governor Sarah Palin (pictured). Apparently she’s all that, but I never heard of her until a week ago. She’s cute and perky and had some decent one-liners. But one thing she did say struck me; she spoke of the nominee having a servant’s heart.

What did she mean by a servant’s heart? Well, I wager that her meaning would be the same as mine: a leader who is servant first, displaying compassion, empathy and deep listening skills, among other traits. I totally agree with Governor Palin that our next president should display a servant’s heart; that anyone who is to be an effective leader must have a servant’s heart. Whether I think that will come from the Republican Party will take another entire blog post to unpack, however, I do believe that having a servant’s heart is crucial for great leadership.

A servant leader is also one who can put aside their own agenda for the good of the organization. This is not an easy thing to do when most leadership is governed by ego. When leadership is ruled by ego, then there is no room for anyone or anything else. We must set aside our ego to effectively lead. And if you have to ask whether or not you are leading with your ego, chances are you probably are.

To lead is to serve,
Coach Carolyn