Tag: Developing Students

Check It Out: Shortcuts vs Second Miles

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I’m on a Student Leadership trip today, so I thought it would be fitting to share an article I ran across last week.

Tim Elmore is someone whose blog I always make a point to read, mostly because he has great content. This article, in particular, talks about the difference between shortcuts and the second mile. Here’s a taste:

Now that most of the Millennial generation has entered adulthood, I’ve noticed a predisposition we, the adults, have cultivated in them. The pattern is to always look for a “shortcut.” Find out what’s essential and don’t do an ounce more. Whether on purpose or on accident, we condition our kids (who we feel work so hard) to:

  • Do the bare minimum amount of homework to get by.
  • Do only what the coach demands on the field, not any more.
  • Clock in and out, and give only the time your supervisor requests.

While I understand this shortcut approach is efficient, it does not represent the kind of mindset most employers, most coaches, most friends and most spouses find endearing. The act of getting out of hard work or quitting instead of being patient as we struggle through a difficult task may be natural but it’s not attractive. Doing more than what’s required is what makes us great. It differentiates us and makes us magnetic.

Click over and check it out. It’s a short read and worth the time.

 

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Lessons from the Farm: Teaching on the Go

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I’ve been going through a theme for the first time. I’m calling these posts “Lessons from the Farm”. You can read the first post here.

Just a little background: I grew up working on my Dad’s farm. As I’ve grown older and spent more time away, there are few leadership principles I have realized along the way.

My dad knew how to do everything. Me? Not so much. That meant a lot of on-the-job training. How do you teach an 8 year old how to run an impact wrench? You show him. And you show him again. And you show him again. Right-in, Tighten (a close cousin to righty-tighty, lefty-loosey).

How do you teach a teenager how to “drive” cattle? By talking through the strategy and then letting them learn how to follow the strategy.

The list goes on and on.

But more than what I was taught, I remember how I was taught: in the moment, sometimes being shown how, sometimes being told, usually realizing after the fact I had more to learn.

The same is true today. No matter how badly I want, training does not happen because I think it should. Training happens on a case by case basis, and the best lessons are usually learned after the freedom to make mistakes.

I never learned the best way to change sweeps on a plow by playing with dirt clods–I had to have the tool in my hand and the job in front of me. Often, the best way to lead is to give someone the tools and knowledge they need, and let them go.

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Lessons from the Farm: Training With A Purpose

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So, I decided to do a theme for the first time. I’m going to call these next few posts “Lessons from the Farm”. You can read the first post here.

Just a little background: I grew up working on my Dad’s farm. As I’ve grown older and spent more time away, there are few leadership principles I have realized along the way.

One thing I find intriguing is the equipping of workers that happens on the farm. My dad taught me how to drive a tractor at an early age. Why? Because it was more efficient to have two tractors going than one. We could ride together, and we did when I was very young, but there came a time where the next step was for me to learn how to drive.

I hope this doesn’t sound cold and calculated, but it’s true. When I moved back and spent a few years farming, we would bring new people in to work and they needed to be able to do things on their own.

You never saw my dad running alongside a tractor shouting instructions. Instead, he would equip and let go. There were times where his knowledge was needed to troubleshoot problems, and often the work might have been a little messier than if he had done it himself, but a farm cannot operate efficiently with a micromanager.

Just like on the farm, we need to find ways to equip people and let go. This looks different in every situation, but the principle is always there. When we let go, things will likely get messy or not be done the way we would do them, but an organization cannot operate efficiently with a micromanager.

Who do you need to equip and let go today?

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Big Change Takes Time to Chew

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I fancy myself a thinker. I enjoy looking at situations and dreaming up next steps. As such, I spend a large chunk of my time thinking and considering options.

Along the way, I’ve learned an important leadership principal:

big change takes time to chew

Just because I’ve spent countless hours thinking about a change I want to lead, does not mean the people around me and, more importantly, those from whom I need support in the change, have spent countless hours thinking about the change.

In fact, often times, I’m suggesting a change they may have never considered.

When I include other people in the planning and thinking process, three things happen:

They feel like part of the decision, because they are

When someone feels free to offer opposing views in a supportive way, solutions are more easily sought out and pursued.

They get to work through their hesitations

I cannot tell you how many times in my life I have initially bristled at a decision made by someone above me, only to realize the validity a little time later (sometimes hours, sometimes a few days).

They take ownership of the new direction

Decisions are implemented much more fluidly when leadership is on the same page. One body moving in the same direction proves more effective than chaos.

One Final Disclosure

I am not saying you let the people around you determine the direction, but instead you bring them to the table and treat them like their thoughts and opinions matter, because they do.

I am far from the world’s best at this, and still regularly make mistakes, BUT I do know enough to say: do not let the people around you choke on the big changes, because big change takes time to chew.

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Develop Leaders

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Over the past few years I have noticed a shift in my focus on leadership. As my own leadership has grown, I find myself looking for ways to help others.

This does not mean that everything I do has provided excellent results. Nor have my efforts been error free. But, as I have learned to start developing young leaders around me, and as leaders around me have done the same, I have noticed one thing.

Leadership education happens in a classroom. Leadership development happens through experience.

Educating leaders is not an unworthy task. In fact, as I talked about here, I believe leaders should develop a habit of consistent learning. So, there is a definite place for the classroom in leadership development.

However, knowledge of a subject does not lead to experience in the subject. We cannot neglect real world leading as a teaching tool if we desire to develop leaders.

Each summer over the past four years I have taken a group of students on a leadership trip. The trip is very education focused, and it serves a great purpose. But only recently have I started understanding the importance of giving these student leaders opportunities to lead.

Then, when students (or adults), have an opportunity to lead, they grow. And that’s my goal–to develop leaders.

Develop leaders, don’t just educate them.

 

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