5 Rules for Leaders

This post is inspired by a YouTube speech I saw by Simon Sinek. (You can watch it here.) 

1. Go after the things you want.
   1. Simon tells a story about a long line for some free bagels. The friend that he was with didn't want to stand in the long line. But Simon wanted a free bagel! So Simon walked up, reached between two people and grabbed a couple of bagels.
   2. The moral of the story is that some people focus on the thing they want while others can only see the thing that's preventing them from getting the thing they want.
   3. There is a caveat however. You're allowed to go after anything you want. You're just not allowed to deny anyone else the right to go after what they want.
2. Sometimes the problem is you.
   1. In the 18th and 19th centuries there was a problem where women would die within 72 hours of giving birth. They called it the Black Death of Childbed (also known as Puerperal Fever). Doctors (surgeons) who performed autopsies during the mornings would call on women in the afternoon and assist with childbirth - without washing their hands in between! When one doctor finally figured out the link and advised doctors to simply wash their hands - he was ridiculed for decades, but finally was proven right.
   2. You need to take accountability for your actions.
   3. You're allowed to take all the credit that you're due - as long as you also take the blame when you mess up.
      1. One caveat - a GOOD leader gives credit and takes blame!
3. Take care of each other.
   1. When Navy SEALS were asked to describe the type of person who makes it through SEAL training, they replied that they couldn't tell you that. The COULD tell you the kind of person that DIDN'T make it through. They said it was the muscle-bound guy that wanted to prove how tough he was. It was the college star athletes. The guys that made it through were the ones that, when cold, shivering with fear, not sure they can go another step, reach out to help their fellow trainees go one more step.
   2. There are (and will be) times when you're not sure of what to do, that you feel like you're stumbling along, and you feel like no one is there for you. That's probably because you haven't reached out and asked for help!
   3. Ask for help when you need it and offer help when it looks like it's needed.
4. Speak last, listen, and ask questions.
   1. Nelson Mandela was the son of a great tribal chief. He said that one thing he always remembered when he followed his father around to speak to other villagers and other tribal leaders was that his father would always speak last.
   2. You see, when you're the leader and you speak up, "Here's what I think we should do but I want to hear your opinions.", no one is going to feel like you're truly listening to them.
   3. Just because they made you a leader doesn't mean you have a monopoly on good ideas. It also didn't automatically make you any smarter. Listen to others - you just might learn something.
   4. Ask questions about what you've heard. Ask questions to understand WHY the other person thinks the way they do.
5. The good coffee cup isn't for you - it's for the office.
   1. There was a former under-secretary of some government agency that was speaking at the same conference he'd spoken at when he was the under-secretary the year before. He was on stage with a Styrofoam coffee cup and, in the middle of his speech, stopped and looked down at the cup.
   2. He told the attendees that the year before, when he'd spoken at the conference as the under-secretary, he'd been flown there business class. He'd been picked up at the airport and driven to his hotel where they took him straight to his room because they'd already checked him in. The next morning they met him in the lobby and drove him to the venue where they took him in the back way and escorted him to the waiting room where they offered him coffee in a nice, ceramic cup.
   3. He smiled and told them that at THIS conference he'd flown coach. He'd taken a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The next morning he took a taxi to the venue where he went in the same door as all of the other attendees. When he finally found his way backstage he asked for some coffee. One of the event staff pointed to the coffee pot in the corner of the room and walked away.
   4. That's when he realized that the nice, ceramic coffee cup, the VIP treatment, never was for HIM. It was for the office he held.
   5. The higher up you rise, people will treat you differently, nicer. Just keep in mind that NONE of those perks are for YOU. They're for the position you have achieved. YOU deserve the Styrofoam cup!