Musings on Leadership

If Steve Jobs hadn't been fired from Apple, he never would have bought Pixar and then revolutionized Apple when he went back to the company. Walt Disney was fired as a newspaper editor for his lack of imagination. If he hadn't been fired, we never would have had Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, or Disney World. Colonel Sanders got his start with a restaurant by the side of the road. If it hadn't failed, there wouldn't be a KFC today. Failure isn't necessarily a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it's impossible to achieve great things without it. But it's what you do with failure that truly matters. 1. Learn from the experience. Failure is just feedback telling you that something wasn't working and that you need to change it. Treat "failure" as feedback that will help you improve. Did you not work hard enough? Did you overestimate your abilities? Did you have the right resources? Do you need to tweak your plan? Remember your first few speeches? Did you g...

There's actually a "thing" called "impostor syndrome". The term was coined in 1978 and is described as a feeling of "phoniness in people who believe they are not intelligent, capable, or creative - despite evidence of achievement." Basically they feel like frauds despite evidence of success. Here are some things you can do to battle impostor syndrome: Start by acknowledging it. Recognize and acknowledge these feeling when they emerge. Once you know what it feels like, you'll have an easier time overcoming it. Change your mental programming. Realize that what you're feeling isn't founded on anything real. Feelings of inadequacy are in your head. Instead of thinking, "I don't know how to do this.", why not tell yourself, "I'm still learning, but I'll figure it out." Realize you aren't perfect. NO ONE IS! (Neither am I apparently, no matter how many times I tell my wife I am.) If you wait for your ideas to b...

Think about your own children, or back when you were a child. Your children imitated what they saw you do, just as you imitated what you saw your parents do. Your officers (and members) will follow your lead IF they know you've got their best interests at heart. (Remember - they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.) One of the best ways to check to see if you have your officers' and members' best interests at heart is, when you ask them how they're doing - do you REALLY care about the answer?

A good leader inspires their team. If you take all of the credit but never any of the blame, how likely is it that you team will walk through fire for you? Always make sure you give as much credit as you can to anyone even remotely involved while downplaying your role in the matter. Trust me, you're going to get plenty of credit and praise as the leader!