Helping Expand Your Leadership Influence
I cannot tell you the amount of time I’ve spent in my life moving cattle. But, that doesn’t mean we can learn something anyway.
That’s where this post comes in. Here’s a line:
Mapquest can’t map out a cattle drive.
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Have you ever considered that you are not who you are today without who you were yesterday? Is that confusing enough for you?
Think about it like this: in the last few days, my youngest daughter has lost 2 teeth. This is a normal part of the growth process. Every adult has lost at least one tooth along the way. But, if we didn’t have our baby teeth come in first, those adult teeth would be a killer.
If you’re a parent, think about that for a little while. What if your baby never cut teeth? Then what do you blame the nasty diapers on? Oh, and there’s the whole chewing food thing that becomes essential for health.
So, in order to have our adult teeth come in, we have to have baby teeth come in first. This seems like a simple concept, and it is, but do you think about your leadership the same way?
If you’ve been leading for very long at all, I’m sure you can think of a time where you were cutting your baby teeth. It was undoubtedly a big deal at the time. Then, as you’ve grown, that baby tooth has fallen out and been replaced by another tooth, one that has stood the test of time.
One example would be the foolishness and arrogance of a minister in their early 20s. I knew everything at 23-24. Except, I didn’t. As that baby tooth of confidence (which was important at the time, but eventually taken too far) made the initial cut, it made the way for the adult tooth of realizing I don’t know everything and I need to ask more questions, and always be learning.
What’s your most recent tooth loss? How have you grown in the past few weeks as a leader? Are you willing to grow some more? What tooth do you need to pull?
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Very few things frustrate me more than feeling like my opinion does not matter. In fact, if I feel like someone is listening to what I have to say, I am generally okay with the outcome of a decision, even if it is not my decision.
I have seen this happen in rooms when planning summer camp. There will be a discussion, ideas being tossed about, and then I offer my opinion. Several times, I have offered a foolish or small-minded opinion or suggestion, and the conversation moved on. And I’m okay with that.
But the reality is that when I feel valued, I want what’s best for the situation.
The next question then becomes: if I feel that way when I’m not in charge, how am I treating people when I am in charge? Am I listening to those around me, or am I bulldozing ahead with what I want to do?
The challenge of leadership is knowing the people you lead and learning what speaks to them. Leadership, therefore, is not something we do in a vacuum. On the contrary, leadership is very much a process focused on people.
How are you connecting with the people you’re leading? You don’t have to bow to their every idea, but find what motivates them and watch your leadership influence increase.
