What’s Your Legacy?

 

A legacy, by definition, is “a gift.” I looked it up! When you lead, you’re providing a gift to your followers. If you’ve done it right, you’ve given them a gift that they will, in turn, pass on to THEIR followers. That’s the value of leaving a legacy. And we all do…leave a legacy. I’m convinced that most of us, if not all of us, would prefer to leave a legacy of being good leaders.

 

The other day, I was walking the halls of the United States Air Force Academy when I noticed a young captain leaning against a wall, looking at his cell phone, probably texting. As I came upon him, he acknowledged me by saying good morning, and as he did so, he noticed who I was and smiled as he almost proclaimed, “Chief Vásquez!” People do that! Often, with the expectation that I remember them. I’ve met a lot of people in my short time on this earth. I can’t remember them all. It ain’t old age! It’s the altitude! Anyways, I said hello and, not being able to help myself, I stopped to chat with him. Yeah, I know that not everyone has time to listen to my stories, but most people respect me enough to humor me. I appreciate that.

 

The captain reminded me that he’d been one of my students about seventeen years ago. Man, I REALLY don’t remember that far back! We talked about the workshop he’d attended with me. I asked him if he remembered what I attempted to teach him. He did! Not everything, but some things, which is, I think, enough. What he recalled most was how I made him feel, which was “good.” Empowered is what he described. Empowered to strive to be a better person daily. That’s my legacy.

 

As I said before, we all leave some kind of legacy. What will yours be? When you leave the team, group, or organization that you’re a part of now, what gifts will you leave those who remain? What will they say about you? You know they will, right? What would you LIKE them to say? You can control that to some degree, you know, by your behavior. If you want people to remember you as kind, be kind! Loving? Love! You catch my drift.

 

In my life, the measure of success, especially as a dad, which is one of my most important roles, is that my daughters know that I love them. The test is when I tell them that I love them and they respond with, “I know.” One of my favorite maxims is, “When you came into this world you cried and the people rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you leave this world the people will cry and you will rejoice.” Strive to leave a legacy that people will appreciate. Start now!

 

Until next time, Be GREAT! You ARE!

                                             

¡HEIRPOWER!

 

bob vásquez!

 

 

 

The Key to the Many, Is the ONE!

 

Dr Stephen Covey taught me that the key to the many, is the one.  We often think that being an effective leader is tied to leading lots of people. Although the truth is that it’s often more like leading lots of cats. We often believe that the more people we lead, the more effective we must be as a leader. That’s all rubbish. We can “lead” a lot of people and be totally ineffective, as well as lead one person who makes a huge impact on the world and others. The numbers are all relative. Except one. 

 

The key to leading is modeling. You can talk all you want, until you’re blue in the face, and still no one will follow you. But what your followers WILL follow is what you do. Good leaders are good teachers, and the most effective way to teach is to show, especially in the realm of leading. Hence, the importance of that number, one. The key to the many, is the one. I added what makes that statement incredibly effective, I think. “I am the one!” It’s ME! I make the difference. I wish that I’d been able to study with another great Effective Leader who epitomized this entire essay, Mahatma Gandhi. You may remember one of his most profound teachings, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

 

I remember my granddaughter, Nieves, probably five years old at the time, doing something that intrigued me. I asked her, “Nieves, why do you do that that way?” She looked me in the eye, almost surprised by my question, and answered, “Because YOU do, Opa!”

 

If you want to be an Effective Leader, you have to behave like one. You have to do what an Effective Leader does. Jim Cathcart, author of The Acorn Principle, asks another question that every Effective Leader should ask daily, several times a day, as a matter of effectiveness. His question is, “How would the person I want to be do what I’m about to do?” 

 

Be that person. An Effective Leader. Act like one. The key to the many, is the one. YOU are the one!

 

Until next time, be GREAT! You ARE! 

 

HEIRPOWER!

 

bob vásquez!

 

 

The Mystery of Leading….

 

One of the mysteries of leading is whether or not you made a difference. Did your guiding, teaching, caring, loving help to make that person a better person? More often than not, we’ll never know. That old saying, “We don’t know what we don’t know,” is powerfully true when attempting to lead others, maybe ourselves, too. I’ll have to ponder that one.

 

    It’s great when you DO learn whether or not “they got it.” If there’s evidence that they didn’t, you’ll quickly question what you might have done differently and more effectively. Don’t burn yourself out doing that. Too many external influences to figure that out.

 

    What a blessing when you discover that your effort DID work! I was with my daughter and her family in Missouri a couple of weeks ago. Elyse is my baby, so whenever she asks me to do something, I do it. You know what I mean if you have a daughter or daughters. Shortly upon my arrival, Elyse asked me if I would be willing to speak to the sixth graders at the middle school where she works. I love kids! All of them! I accepted her invitation after asking what she wanted me to talk about. Character and leading were what she was looking for the kids to get some guidance on. Those are my specialties, so I accepted, not realizing that she wanted me to do four talks that week. Hey! Anything for my girls!

 

    I talked with all of the sixth graders about making good choices and some of the virtues of good character, selflessness being one of those. As I just said, I didn’t know if they got it. I believed they did, but no way to know, until I did!

 

    I talked with my 11-year-old granddaughter’s class on the last day that I was there. Pequeña, my 11-year-old granddaughter, was in that class. She was like a sponge! She heard every word that I said, evidently. And understood the message. That evening, as we prepared to watch a movie together as a family, Pequeña asked if anyone wanted popcorn. We’re a popcorn-loving family, so everyone raised their hands. She was excited about popping that popcorn for all of us. She did, then filled a bowl of it for each of us. She’s a good popcorn popper, by the way. As we began watching the movie, I noticed that she didn’t seem to have a bowl of popcorn. I asked her if that was the case. She acknowledged that there hadn’t been enough for everyone, so she served everyone except herself. WHAT?! She’s eleven! What eleven-year-old kid does that?! Well, Pequeña does. She hadn’t said anything. She would have gone without had I not noticed. Luckily, her mom suggested that there might be a bag in the cupboard. She found it, popped it, and shared it again, this time, taking some for herself. You know that Warriors don’t cry…but sometimes our eyeballs sweat. Who’s crying? I’m not crying!

 

I can see that scene in my mind and my heart as if it were just occurring. There’s little better than knowing that HEIRPOWER! does exist and that you and I can help our followers and loved ones create it. Whether we’re “successful” will remain a mystery, but also a blessing when it’s validated. THANK YOU, Pequeña, for being you!

 

Until next time, be GREAT! You ARE!

 

HEIRPOWER!

 

bob vásquez!

Hispanic Heritage Month

Every year around this time, I’m approached by people with the same question,  “Hey, Chief,”  they ask,  “why do we have to have Hispanic Heritage Month?  Aren’t we all Americans?”  I never argue that a bit, but there’s more to it.  I’m sure you know we celebrate African-American/Black History Month in February, Women’s History Month in March, Asian-Pacific Month in May, Hispanic Heritage Month in September/October, and Native American Month in November.  The purpose of those observances is to educate those of us who don’t know a lot about those cultures, and to acknowledge the contributions those groups of people have made to our own American heritage. 

 

What makes America great is its diversity.  If you’ll look around you (go ahead, no one’s watching), you’ll notice that what we call America is made up of people from all kinds of cultures, from different parts of the country, or the world. We’re all different, yet we’re all the same. We share the same basic values that make us Americans. We’re invested in making our country and the world a better place for all of us to live. We believe in a democratic system of government where the people have a say in what and how we live. What makes America great is that, although we have different and diverse needs and desires, even though we’re all different, we’ve been able to synergize all those differences to form one unified family that allows us to be ourselves and to accept each other.

 

            We used to talk about the American Melting Pot.  An honorable idea, but I’m not sure it’s attainable.  Why?  Because there is very little, if any, chance that we’ll all “melt”, that we’ll all assimilate, that we’ll all be the same.  And I’m not so sure we all want to be the same.  I think it was General George Patton who said, “If two of us are thinking the same thing, we don’t need one of us.”  There’s a marked difference between thinking the same thing and thinking with the same purpose in mind. Diversity means we can think differently but attain the same goal.

 

The concept of the American Salad Bowl comes closer to describing the culture we live in.  The illustration of the salad bowl describes a dish that, as a whole, is its own entity, delicious and healthy.  What gives that dish its flavor and wholesomeness is all of the different ingredients that make it one.  Each ingredient adds its own contribution to the whole.  Any part of it that’s missing will affect the end result. 

 

            Dr. Stephen Covey said that “unity is not sameness, it’s complementariness.”  If we are to be united, we have to be willing to accept, appreciate, and celebrate each other’s differences. 

 

There’s plenty of propaganda stirring people to adopt a victim mentality when it comes to diversity. Accept your heritage as part of your identity. And contribute what you can to make America great. We can be great only by each of us behaving in that way. Learn as much as you can from everyone you lead, you follow, and you live with. We’re all different, yet we’re the same. We’re Americans! Together, we can go forward!  

 

                           ¡ADELANTE!

bob vásquez!

 

Effective Leaders Don't Ping!

 

I’m going to assume that you’re familiar with the word “ping.” I suppose the next closest term to that is “freaking out.” Whichever term you prefer, Effective Leaders don’t do that.  A critical trait of an Effective Leader is the ability to remain calm, especially when all hell breaks loose. I’ll, again, assume that you know what THAT term means. If not, ask someone senior to you and count your blessings. An Effective Leader practices that meme that’s so familiar that starts with, “Stay calm,” and often describes an event that most of us don’t want to stay calm about. But how does one stay calm in the midst of assumed chaos? Here are some tips in the form of questions to ask yourself BEFORE you freak out. BEFORE is critical, by the way.

What do I know? We make decisions based on the information we have. Before making rash decisions or statements, assess what you know about the event. Ask trusted colleagues to tell you the truth. That may include your followers. They may know more than your fellow leaders. Leave emotion out of it. Just the facts, Ma’am. (Google that.)

What don’t I know? Once you’ve assessed what you know, what DON’T you know? Again, it will probably serve you to ask others. Expand your circle so that you don’t get the same information from the same people you asked the first question of. There’s often more than one perspective on the same event. Objectivity is key. You probably don’t want to ask someone who’s pinging what happened.

Who knows? Again, your fellow leaders or colleagues will probably have a different view from your followers or other bystanders. You want to make the best decision possible. You also want to know who did what. Don’t accept opinions. What was seen, not presumed.

What’s best? Having assessed as much information as you can gather, what’s best for the team, the organization, or others affected by your guidance or decision? Remember that there may be some who don’t agree with your decision, but they don’t have the information, nor gone through this process, like you just did. 

WRITE IT DOWN! Ok, you may not know how to write if you’re a young leader, no disrespect intended. Capture it on your iPhone so that you can go back and review all the data you have to make the best decision. You may have to go through the process a few times, depending on the severity of what happened.

Do stay calm. Be as objective as you can be. Do these things as quickly as you can, but no quicker. Back in the day, there was a deodorant commercial with the tag line, “Don’t ever let them see you sweat.” That’s good advice. Stay cool and calm. Be systematic about how you make decisions, and you’ll be able to control yourself from getting emotional and pinging. Don’t do it.

 

Until next time, be GREAT! You ARE! HEIRPOWER!

bob vásquez!

When Do We Quit?

 

I’ve been watering and nurturing three plants in my backyard since spring began here in Colorado. I can’t tell you when that began because the seasons in Colorado are haphazard at best. We’ve already had winter and autumn this summer. Like they say, If You Know, You Know.

 

It's September now, and the seasons are in the midst of changing again. Soon, it’ll be cold, and I won’t even think about watering those plants. I’ll probably get rid of them in a few weeks. They’ll have outlived their value. Maybe….

 

A few years ago, I nurtured a plant all summer long. It began humbly, but through my efforts and its perseverance, it eventually blossomed into a beautiful plant. Until fall. Fall usually hits Colorado abruptly. That year, it did. All of a sudden, my plant stopped growing and soon died. Not willing to surrender completely, I kept the plant in my garage all winter. A few months passed. One morning, when it had gotten almost warm, I noticed that plant in my garage. It was beginning to revive itself. I don’t know that I’ve ever been happy about a plant recovering, but I was this time. I immediately began re-nurturing it. And guess what? It came back with full force. Within a week or two, it’d regained its nature, and by spring it was beautiful again. I, of course, took credit for its health.

 

You may be wondering what this has to do with leading. It’s almost natural to give up on things once we’ve decided that they’ve outlived their value. Even people. But when do we truly know that that’s the case? As leaders, do we give up on our followers after they’ve reached a plateau, at least in our view? Do we throw them away and get new ones next season? I think that happens more than we realize. Joey had so much potential. I provided him with every resource that I could. He grew. He excelled. And then, one day, he just stopped improving. I replaced him with Dorothy, who, like Joey at first, was an unstoppable dynamo. 

 

Maybe we shouldn’t quit nurturing our followers. Maybe they, like all of Nature, reach a point where they need to revive themselves. Maybe we should accept that and keep nurturing them, not as hard, but hard enough to keep them alive through the revival period, so that they can come back in full force. 

 

When do we quit on our followers? I say, NEVER! You never know when that person, whom you hired because of their potential, has reached that potential. Keep nurturing them. They may be about to blossom. Don’t give up on them! Their best is yet to come!

 

Be GREAT! You ARE!

 

HEIRPOWER!

 

Chief bob vásquez!

The Need to Succeed

 

I hope you’ll make time to read a book by Viktor Frankl titled, Man’s Search for Meaning. It will open your eyes to many things you hadn’t thought about before.

In the introduction, Frankl writes that “success must not be pursued, it must ensue.” The word, ensue, if you’re not familiar with it, means that it is a result of something. When we pursue, we set our sights on that thing and if we’re “truly focused” that’s what we’re engulfed in doing. When something ensues, it’s almost a serendipitous conclusion that’s based on behaviors and actions that affect others more deeply than the conclusion itself.

I’m going to go out on a limb and state that all of us want to succeed. The important questions are at what and how? I recently saw a poster that read “Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader…they set out to make a difference. It’s never about the role - always about the goal.” I’m not sure who said it, but I think that’s what Frankl meant as well. The goal, or success, being making a difference.

Leading requires passion. Effective Leaders are passionate about helping others empower themselves to become who THEY can be, not what the “leader” wants them to be. Another great quote I recently came across says, “The first thing you should know about me is that I am not you. A lot more will make sense after that.” Again, an unknown author.

If your goal or your purpose, your measure of success, is how many people you’ve turned into you, or a semblance of you, that’s not success. Success in leading is when a person becomes who they were meant to be and you, somehow, helped them become so.  

My life’s purpose is to help others achieve theirs. Not mine. I know that my purpose may not be everyone’s. It took me decades to figure that out. I encourage you to consider that even if you don’t agree with someone else’s purpose or mission in life, it’s okay. As My Brother, Dave Campanale, taught me, get over it!

Whether you’re leading at work or at home, figure out what your followers dream of becoming, respect them for it, and help them out as best you can. The world needs all of our successes, not just the ones we consider right. As Pope Francis said, “Who am I to judge?”

Real success is making a difference. That difference is in helping others be themselves.