Tag: perspective

Silent Victories

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On Tuesday I posted about watching as two airport fire trucks doused a plane as it was pulling up to a terminal. If you missed it, click here to go check it out.

Now, the rest of the story. Contrary to my worries, the plane was fine. In fact, it was a plane filled with military veterans. They were arriving in Washington DC on what is called an Honor Flight.

Those of us in the terminal gathered around as the passengers disembarked, and clapped as they passed by. It was remarkable.

I could wax eloquently about the lessons we could learn from the faithfulness of those walking by, or the impact it had on my life, or the joy of sharing that moment with my daughters. But I’m not going to do that.

Instead, let me tie into Tuesday’s post and unknown reasons.

I had no clue what was happening. I had no idea an Honor Flight even existed. But there’s a large network dedicated to Honor Flights. People spend countless hours and energy preparing and carrying out trips.

I watched as one stood in the terminal. She was beaming with joy not because people were recognizing her effort, but because people were honoring these heroes.

The core of leadership is setting other people up to win, regardless of recognition.

My leadership is not better when I get recognized My leadership is best when someone I’m leading gets recognized.

This is why I love working with student leaders. I want to set them up to win long after they are in my realm of influence. I want them to grow and achieve more than I ever could dream, but it has to start somewhere.

We all have to start somewhere.

Are you ready to invite and equip leaders around you? What are you waiting for?

Hidden Reasons

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Last week I had the opportunity to take a vacation to Washington D.C. It was an incredible trip, and we were able to see so much.

One of the most striking things was probably the most unexpected. As we arrived at the airport, we stopped before going through security to grab a donut. Looking out the window, I noticed two fire trucks pull up not far from the terminals where we were going.

Now, just in case you’re not sure, when I get to an airport, I turn into a 7 year old boy when it comes to fascination with airplanes. I’ve always loved planes. So, I was naturally extremely curious as to what was going on.

There was no rush to the movements of the fire trucks. They were parked, waiting. No lights, no hustle and bustle.

Then, a plane started to pull up to the terminal, and the fire trucks sprung into action, spraying the plane with water. At first I couldn’t tell if there was purpose or not to their actions. And honestly, until later, I still wasn’t sure what I had just witnessed.

Leadership can be the same way a lot of the times. The things we see others do may not make sense from where we sit, but most people have a reason for the decisions they make.

We, as leaders, need to understand people are working with information we may never receive. So critical spirits, when we know nothing of the circumstances, are not beneficial.

Likewise, there are going to be things we do that people will not understand our actions or motivations. Sometimes out of necessity (because we can’t share) and sometimes out if neglect (because we failed to share).

If you’re in a position where you are training leaders, be willing to share what you can to help them know what’s going on and what went into a decision.

As for what was happening, more on that Thursday. Click here to subscribe to the emails so you don’t miss it.

Learn and Grow

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Short post today, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about mistakes and mishaps. I blog on this regularly, partly because it’s a fear of mine.

I fear mistakes. I fear a mistake means I’m not good enough. I fear a mistake means I’m not valuable.

Ultimately, I don’t fear failure. I fear surrendering to failure. Until I learn to reframe my fear, I will never be able to grow.

Great leaders know failure is part of life. So take that step today. Have that conversation that may not go your way. Learn from it and grow.

Defining Small Town & Leadership

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One of the things that fascinates me is listening to people talk about small towns. In Texas, we have our fair share of small towns. But here’s the tricky thing: not everyone shares the definition of a “small town.”

Don’t believe me, try it. If I were to walk up to people in my current town of 23,000 and ask if they think we are living in a small town, I think many would say yes.

If you ask me, my answer would be different. This is actually the second largest town I’ve ever lived in, and I grew up in a town of 500. And no, that’s not a typo–there are only two zeroes after that five.

So, which is right? Is 500 a small town, or is 23,000 a small town? Can they both be small towns? At 500 are you supposed to change it from town to village? Is 23,000 a small city? Is it a large town?

Here lies one of the biggest struggles I see in leadership time and again – a lack of shared definitions. We get in a room with a group of people and start talking about a subject, presuming agreement on basic terms, and realize (or sometimes don’t) we are talking apples and oranges.

Have you ever asked a group of people what “deep” means? Chances are in a group of five people, you’ll get six different answers (how’s that for deep?).

Or, how about the way you express emotions. I would say I’m more reserved and intense, but to some people that comes across as detached and angry. I have had times where I thought I was having a wonderful discussion with someone only to find out later our relationship was negatively affected because of our lack of shared definitions.

Learning to navigate the tricky waters of varied definitions provides a very difficult challenge for leadership. But until we get people on the same page, you will find very often the battles you face find their roots in this principle.

What struggles or battles are you facing because of a lack of shared definitions? What adjustments can you make to get on the same page moving forward? Are you willing to do it?

Red Pill or Blue Pill?

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Have you ever seen The Matrix? You know, the Keanu Reeves movies from the late 90s and early 2000s where the world as we know it is all a computer program.

Over the course of the movie Neo (Reeves) discovers he’s been living a lie. Everything he thinks is real is only a computer generated illusion. Through a course of actions he “wakes up” in the real world–a place significantly more hopeless and destitute.

After “waking up”, Neo hacks back into the Matrix for some training. His clothes have changed, his hair has changed, even the ports that were present on his body are no longer there. This is called, if I remember correctly, his residual self image. It’s what he thinks he looks like, or what he chooses to look like.

We all have a similar problem. We have a residual self image we want others to see and believe about us. You have one. I have one.

As we seek to recognize leadership potential in students (or even adults), part of our task is to look past the residual self image a student projects, and discern what lies beneath.

It’s not cool to be a servant leader, but when you see that glimpse of humility, bells should be going off.

For me, those bells are a wonderful thing. I love seeing the potential in a student and learning to navigate the waters of what is currently and what could be in the future.

Are you looking past the residual self image of those around you? Are you starting to notice the potential? Do you know how to start developing that potential? (Click here to read the approach I take.)

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