There is no doubt that every generation faces its own unique set of issues that must be dealt with in a different way. However, the core issue of how to respond to peer pressure has been a dominant right of passage for every generation. This is where parents need to lead instead of just reacting. Mark Merrill has some helpful insight:
“Every child faces peer pressure. I faced it, my five kids faced it, and their kids will face it too. That pressure can be positive or negative.”
I have probably tried more crazy ideas over the years to try to improve my performance than I can even remember. Most of them were fads of the moment and never produced any lasting change. I have found though the repeated use of less than a handful of daily disciplines has proven to be the foundation of any lasting momentum. John Maxwell has a list that you need to read:
“Everyone wants to be thin, but no one wants to diet. Everybody wants money, but not many people want to work long hours or to follow a budget. Lots of people would like a nice yard or garden, but few want to pull weeds.”
We spend so much of our emotional energy thinking about the mistakes of the past or worrying about the fears of the future that we routinely miss the gift of today. I am convinced that our personal and professional success is bound up in the whole idea of maximizing each and every day. David Hoyt has an excellent post on how he does this in his life:
“In just 2.5 weeks I turn 40. As I enter a new decade one of the areas where I’m working on being more intentional is in my daily reflection. The older I get the greater level of accountability I feel to steward my time wisely. No matter your age we all have a finite number of “todays” that we get to experience.”
We live in a time of constant change and the ability to leverage change may be the single most important responsibility of a leader. However, there are some things that should never change and you must guard them at all cost. Mark Miller reminds us of some of those non negotiable items:
“Last week, I wrote a post asserting that leaders must create change. I stand by that. If you and I can’t create positive change, we won’t be allowed to lead for long. However, there’s another facet of our role. We are also the guardians for what should not change.”
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Work and life balance is a hard thing to come by these days. The reality is that we bring our work home too much and we know it. On the other hand we must all remember that we bring our home to work as well. Personal productivity demands we are being successful in both areas. Casey Graham has some practical suggestions:
“We just conducted a survey with over 100 small business owners & asked them some open ended questions about their biggest challenge in business. About 1/3 of the responses had to do with the issue of balancing business & having enough time to do everything.”
In our day we use teams to get things done and those teams are made up of a lot of different types of people. They all have strengths and weaknesses and you must know how to shift your leadership style to get the most out of everyone in the room. Ron Edmondson works with high capacity teams and offers some insights on working with creatives:
“Leading creatives can be difficult. In fact, I love having creatives on the teams I lead, but, honestly, they can make leading much messier. In case you’re wondering, here’s a definition of a creative:relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.”
There is not a week that goes by that at some point in time I don’t feel stuck. Sometimes this can build up to the point of a total loss of momentum and even discouragement. Thats whey its so important to have some clearly defined steps that you can take that have worked in the past. I love everything Brad Lomenick writes and this one is near the top:
“Sometimes we just feel stuck. Not that anything is really wrong, but more the sense that we’re not going anywhere. That place where you sense that things are okay, but not great. Where it seems like you are just going through the motions. Dependable and reliable, yes. Consistent, absolutely”
For the most part the majority of us are not good listeners. How many times do we already start thinking about what we should say before someone else is finished talking? We all drift off in meetings and hope we don’t get caught surfing on our smart phones. The ultimate failure is when we don’t listen to the people that matter most. Mark Merrill has some things we men need to hear:
Okay, men. You get home from work, walk in the door, and your wife starts talking about her day. Frustrations with her boss at work, her lunch with a friend, and challenges with a child are the first things she shares.”
There are some words that really get either used too much or applied in the wrong way. In marriage two potential damaging words are never and always. When I use these words in a negative sense, they sound so right but in reality they are never true. The same is true about the words we use as leaders. In this great post Carey Nieuwhof has some pointed reminders for us all:
“Words matter when you’re a leader, and not all words are equally useful .In fact, you should banish at least three from your regular vocabulary. Nobody wins when you use these words regularly, and they might be damaging your leadership without you even realizing it. I end up using these words when I fail to make a decision.”
So much of what gets done today in any work environment is done through teams. These teams are not just worker bees doing the bidding of the queen but highly competent individuals that have to come together for a common purpose. Brad Lomenick is a highly successful team leader and as always has some great things to say:
“Leaders: one of the key things you must ALWAYS do is empower your team. As I’ve learned over the years, most leaders at their core are control freaks, which is part of the reason they are successful.”