Tag: Decisions

Leadership and an Airport Terminal

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Currently, I’m sitting in an airport terminal in Richmond, Virginia. A combination of mechanical issues, weather, and vacation chaos has culminated in a delayed flight (sitting at 3+ hour delay so far, and that doesn’t count the fact we were at the airport early!).

Some things are out of our control. Weather, mechanical failure, and attitudes of those around us are all outside of our control.

What we do control is the attitude we use to respond.

I do not know if I am at ease because its the end of my vacation (that has been wonderful), or if I just really enjoy flying so waiting a few extra hours in a terminal with my family seems quite bearable. But I decide how I respond.

The same is true for the clerks working the desk here at gate A7. The people who are paid to handle situations when storms move in two places hundreds of miles from each other appear to have the proper attitudes. No one is grateful for the delay, especially not the girl stuck in the terminal store with a sideways screen, but most people seem to be managing the unfortunateness.

So, let me ask you this: how are you handling the unfortunateness in your life? Let’s narrow down a little: how are you handling the unfortunateness in your leadership?

What’s your attitude as your decisions come under scrutiny, or as those you lead start to show signs of unrest?

What’s your attitude when those you lead completely ignore the direction you are trying to move?

What’s your attitude when you face dilemmas you have never faced before?

What’s your attitude as you peer the future directly in the eyes, not sure if you should jump or stand your ground?

Take some time today to put things in perspective. You will face leadership struggles. You will face leadership failures. You will face leadership storms. But the way you respond, that’s up to you.

As for me, here’s hoping I get to board my flight in the next few hours.

3 Ways to Overcome Mistakes

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Over the course of the summer I was able to sit down with student leaders from different churches and help them grow in their concept of what leadership looks like. One week, over our time together, we had two people share a similar message: leaders make mistakes.

Today, I want you to hear the same message: Leaders make mistakes. You will make mistakes.

The challenge in leadership is not avoiding mistakes, but what we do when we realize we have made a mistake. Here are three steps to help your mistakes lead you to growth.

(1) Know You Made a Mistake.

For some of us, this may be the most challenging step. Maybe the mistake you made grew more out of a reaction to a decision you made or something you said. Maybe your mistake was a planning mistake, or it had something to do with a choice you made along the way.

No matter what, until you realize you made a mistake, you cannot move forward and learn from it. This is where key voices play an integral role. Having people around you whom you can trust to say what they think you may not want to hear makes all the difference in the world.

Years ago, I served a church and enjoyed a strong relationship with my pastor at the time. We had an important meeting with another church leader one afternoon, and it ended poorly. Later that day he and I came together and I was able to share my opinion on where the meeting went south. Because of the relationship we had, we were able to work through the situation and move forward.

(2) Own Your Mistake

If you want to grow as a leader, please understand you are not infallible. You will make mistakes. What’s worse is that sometimes the people around you will know you made a mistake long before you know it. But, once you realize a mistake has been made, what you do next is paramount.

When you make a mistake, never be afraid to admit it. I would advise against wearing your mistake as a badge of honor, but also don’t treat it like a toothache–if I ignore it long enough, it’ll go away or I’ll die.

When someone in authority over me makes a mistake and admits it, more often than not I respond with a higher level of respect for them. I had a high school basketball coach who tried to get us ready for a game by showing us the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. He wanted us to know we were only playing a game, and the game should be fun, but the desired outcome is not what he hoped. Instead, we played poorly. Later, when reminiscing about his decision, he admitted to me he made the wrong choice in trying to motivate us that way, and I respected him for his honesty.

Own your mistake. Take responsibility for it. Apologize when necessary. But most importantly, once you own your mistake…

(3) Correct it for the Next Time

Very few people enjoy stubbing their toe on the same support beam in the same spot of their house. They either move into a new house or change how they walk around. Actually, can I say no one enjoys stubbing their toe?

Now we get into the nitty gritty of leadership. The leader who makes the same mistake over and over eventually drives away the people he or she is leading. After all, very few people enjoy following someone who is unwilling to learn or to grow.

If you, however, can learn from your mistakes, you become someone who adds value to the lives around you. Then, over time, you slowly begin to make fewer and fewer mistakes. But it does take time, and lots of it.

 

The bottom line is this: if you want to grow as a leader, you have to learn from your mistakes. So, are you learning from your mistakes? Are you making changes? Or are you repeating the same action over and over and hoping something (or someone else) changes in the process? Learn from your mistakes and see what happens.

 

Leadership Lessons from the Cleveland Indians

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On July 10, 2018, the Cleveland Indians had an unfortunate situation arise. The Manager, Terry Francona, walked out to the mound in the 9th inning to call in a relief pitcher for the closer, and the wrong pitcher walked out of the bullpen. You can read more about what happened here.

Yesterday, as I was listening to a podcast interview with Francona, he was asked about the situation. His response was incredible: It was my fault…I felt bad for Otero (the pitcher who came into the game). I feel bad that we put him in that spot.

Here is a Major League manager who admitted his mistake. There was a breakdown in communication (OP and OT do sound remarkably similar), and it cost the team the win.

Francona, however, still takes full responsibility.

So, what can we learn from this? Leadership means we will make decisions which impact those around us. Sometimes, those decisions are the right call at the right time, but others times the decisions we make lead to embarrassment for other people. It was Otero, after all, that stood on the mound and pitched, not Francona.

Is there a situation taking place in your life right now where you are dealing with the fallout of putting the wrong person in the wrong situation? If not, buckle down, because that day is coming.

I have heard interviews with business leaders who talk about how much money making the wrong hire will cost a company, and have seen similar setbacks over my years in ministry.

So, what do you do as a leader when you make a mistake? Check back on Thursday for part 2!

Routines vs Ruts, pt 3

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So far, I have posted twice about Routines vs Ruts. Click here to read part 1 and part 2.

Today, let’s get back to basics: expanding your leadership influence.

Would you care to hear a secret? The people you lead can probably identify your ruts long before you can.

Some ruts are secrets, but some are not.

Routines can serve to give us energy, but ruts drain us. When we are drained, people around us notice. When we lose focus, people around us notice.

Sure, you can fool some people, but the ones who know you can spot the struggle.

So, let me ask you: what would the people around you identify as a rut you’re currently fighting through? Seriously think about it.

Now, ask yourself: is this truly a rut in my leadership?

A while back I wrote about the redundancy of leadership. The more I think about it, the more I realize that redundancy does not bother me the way it bothers other people. I do not mind the mundane nature of some tasks. In fact, I find energy in the redundancy. But that’s a post for another day.

The danger of embracing redundancy is simple: redundancy can dig a rut, too.

In my own leadership, there are areas where the redundancy of leadership has actually become a rut. Maybe the same is true for you?

So, what your next step? Identify the rut and choose a course of action–stick it through and wait for the terrain to change, or steer hard to one side and see what breaks loose.

Either one may not work the way you expect, but at least now you know you’re in a rut.

Lead well today.

Routines vs Ruts, pt 2

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Last week, I blogged about Routines vs Ruts. Today, I have a bit of a confession for you.

I feel like I have several ruts in my life right now, one of them being this blog. So, naturally, the best way for me to process this rut is to blog about it. That makes sense, right?

Here’s my blog rut as I see it: Up until the end of May, I was incredibly consistent. Every Tuesday and Thursday, I would get up and crank out a post of some sort. Sometimes, I would even be really diligent and hammer out the post the night before.

My topics were generally thoughts that came to me as I sat down, but the best ones were ones where I had written them down before as a topic to attack, thus letting my mind chew the proverbial cud of content potential.

That routine worked for a season. Granted, for a significant season. I love writing these posts, even if only for a handful of people.

But over time, recently, my routine became my rut. I knew I would write better if I did not write and immediately publish, but my rut was (is) to write and publish.

As a result, my consistency has dropped over the past five weeks. What used to be clockwork has become cork-work. The routine has become a rut.

So, how do you get out of a rut? In real life, sometimes you have to ride it out, knowing that the rut will change when the terrain changes. Sometimes, you have to steer hard to one side or the other.

Honestly, I am still pondering what breaking out of a rut looks like. But I think a key element is understanding you’re in a rut.

That’s why last week I asked you to write down three routines you have and one rut you’re in. I want you to identify what holds you back or holds you down.

Now, answer this: what are you going to do to break out of that rut? How are you going to overcome it? Write out one thing you’re going to try.

For the record, this is not me saying I am going to take a break from blogging. I enjoy it too much. But I do have to admit that I find myself in a rut that I want to break out of. Maybe you can learn something from my struggle.

Thanks for sticking with me.

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