Leading One at a Time

 

You’ve probably read or heard, even learned, that leaders lead people. I may be the only person who will ever tell you that that’s wrong. Effective leaders don’t lead people. They lead persons. Persons are individuals who have their own values, purpose, vision, and influences.

 

You’ve also read or heard, even learned, that you have to develop your own leadership style. I may be the only person who will ever tell you that that’s wrong, too. If you only have one style, you’ll alienate everyone on your team except the person or persons who appreciate that one style you have.

 

If you’re going to be an Effective Leader, you HAVE to lead each individual. You HAVE to make that person, for that moment, feel special.

 

My daughter, Elyse, and her four children were at Caribou with Deb and me this summer. There were several times that Opa corralled the kids into the Jeep and took them off to play at the playground a few miles away. That was management. What almost wore me out, in a good way, was that I had to invest time and intentional effort with each of those four persons, in their own way, making each feel special, in an effort to inspire them to love me. It’s the same with being an effective leader. You have to do what you have to do for each individual.

 

As with your followers, I can see and feel when my grandkids feel loved and special. It permeates their spirit. I just finished reading Jon Gordon’s book, The Power of Positive Leadership. I commend it to your reading. Mr Gordon says that “Leadership begins with love.” He goes on to say that “Research from the HeartMath Institute shows that when you have a feeling in your heart, it goes to every cell in the body, then outward—and people up to 10 feet away can sense the feelings transmitted by your heart.” 

 

Leading effectively requires that you love each person. One at a time. The essence of love is unconditional giving. You have to figure out how to give each of your followers what they each need to reach their unique potential. And you do it one at a time. 

 

Until next time,

 

Be GREAT!

 

You ARE!

 

¡HEIRPOWER!

What If?!

 

What if everything isn’t a leadership problem?

What if we teach people to be leaders before and instead of being followers first?

What if we taught people to be considerate?

What if we respected each other instead of trying to manipulate them for our own purposes?

What if we focused more on leading than on being a leader?

What if we focused more on being a courageous follower?

What if we talked more about being humble than being first?

What if we learned that leading is done from the center instead of the front?

What if we found that leaders who pull are more effective than those who push?

What if we valued people for who they are instead of who we want them to be?

What if people chose to follow us?

What if we’ve been wrong all this time?

Then, what?!

Until next time, 

Be GREAT! 

You ARE!

¡HEIRPOWER!

Celebrating 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 expects us 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 complimentariness.”  If we are to be united, we have to be willing to accept, appreciate, and celebrate each other’s differences. 

 

As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which is 15 September through 15 October, join the fun!  Get involved!  Make time to enjoy the various events scheduled throughout the celebration!  You don’t have to be of, or know a lot about, the culture. The people who have labored hard to organize the events will gladly teach you and will welcome your support.  You’ll learn a lot and you’ll find a kind of gratification you can’t find elsewhere.  The education you gain and the relationships you develop will make you better and they’ll make America better.  Together, we can go forward!  

 

                           ¡ADELANTE!

bob vásquez!

 

Effective Leaders C.A.R.E!

 

Decades ago, I studied with a professor who taught me that “Life is simple…once you understand its complexities.” Profound thought, if you think about it. Similarly, leading is simple, once you understand the complexities. Effective Leaders CARE! That’s it! If you do, you will! CARE and lead, that is. Here’s what it takes.

 

     Effective Leaders are COMPASSIONATE. Two key complexities of being compassionate are being there and being empathic. When you’re NOT there, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, you’re not leading. You can’t! When you ARE there in those four areas, you’ll have the opportunity to lead. You still may not accept the opportunity, it’s always your choice, but at least you’ll have that choice. Effective Leaders always accept the opportunity. Being empathic requires understanding. That’s all! NO JUDGMENT! That’s the hard part. You have to accept your followers for who they are, not compare them with who YOU are.

 

     Effective Leaders ACKNOWLEDGE presence and presents. You can’t imagine the power of greeting someone, especially eye-to-eye. The eyes don’t lie. They express compassion, or not. Letting someone know that you know that they’re there is critical to being an Effective Leader. And expressing to them that they’re valued because of the gifts they bring to the team will last way longer than the expression itself. 

 

     Effective Leaders RESPECT their followers. On THEIR FOLLOWERS’ terms. We often attempt to show respect on OUR terms. That doesn’t always work. How do you show respect? Ask! “I want to refer to you as (fill-in-the-blank). Is that okay? I want to be respectful. Please tell me if it’s not.” Once you have permission or guidance on how that person sees you as respectful, practice it until it becomes habitual.

 

     Effective Leaders EMPOWER their followers! Okay, no one empowers anyone. That’s a myth. People empower themselves. Telling or making someone do what you want isn’t leading. It’s coercion. Inspiring and equipping your followers to empower THEMSELVES to be their best selves is empowering. When you do that, people will follow you.

 

     See how simple this all is? The complexities are practicing these key components in a consistent way, and with the INDIVIDUALS you intend to lead. We often think that a title or rank or status makes us leaders. NOPE! It doesn’t work that way. The ONLY thing that makes a person a leader is if he or she has followers. Nothing else! If you do what I just suggested, you’ll have followers, which will make you a leader. It’s that simple. And the more you do these things the sooner you’ll become an Effective Leader. Effective Leaders CARE!

 

     ¡HEIRPOWER!

The Ambiguity of ASAP

 

One of the most fulfilling positions I filled during my time as an Airman in the United States Air Force was that of Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Commander of the 92^nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington.

 

I didn’t have a staff to support me, so I “borrowed” my general’s. Actually, they volunteered to support me when I arrived on station. They knew I’d need them before I did. 

 

I was kept pretty busy, physically running around the base, visiting units and people, so I had to use email to ask them for help in completing administrative tasks. I’d often ask them to do something for me ASAP. That means As Soon A Possible, if you don’t know. Most people do know. But what most people don’t know, especially bosses, is the ambiguity of that term.

 

I’d send a note to Technical Sergeant Ramirez, the NCO in charge, with a request ending in “Please take care of this ASAP. Thanks!” I always said “Thanks!” with an exclamation point hoping to inspire some excitement. Most of the time, he or Staff Sergeant Hardy would come to my office, across the hall, and personally tell me that my request had been fulfilled. I always thanked them. They seemed happy to have served me.

 

One day, the Director of Staff, Colonel Larry Jones, came by my office to “chat.” He was a great man and officer. A bit gruff sometimes, but I loved working with him. He was what we called “Straight up.” He started the conversation lauding our support staff. I agreed wholeheartedly. “Do you know how hard they work for you, Chief?” he asked. “For ME, Sir? They don’t work for me. They help me and support me but they’re the general’s staff. I don’t have one.” He replied, “They love you, Chief. And will do anything they have to, to take care of you. They often have more work than they can handle, but when you ask them to do something ASAP, they stop whatever else they’re doing to take care of it and you.” Man, did I ever have an awakening! I didn’t realize that and was grateful that my colonel had brought it to my attention.

 

I invited the staff to join me in my office. I, first, apologized for giving them more work than they already had. And I explained to them that ASAP, to me, really meant as soon as possible, not immediately, but as soon as they could get to it. Being superstars, they had understood it as “now.” I’d thought about this and how to remedy the situation. I suggested that from now on I would be more explicit when asking them to do something. I told them I’d let them know when I need it, not just ASAP, and would gladly hear their suggestions if they couldn’t meet the suspenses. I told them that I appreciated them more than I could tell them. Things worked out better after that. Colonel Jones even thanked me for making the changes.

 

You see, the term, ASAP, is ambiguous. I’ve been late at meeting a suspense before and when I was sounded on it, I told that person that I DID do it as soon as possible. It just wasn’t when he wanted it done. I didn’t feel guilty. He was just ambiguous.

 

If you’re a leader and expect your followers to get done what you need them to do immediately, you’ll probably burn them out without them, or you, realizing it. They’ll give you all they have but it won’t be much soon enough.

 

If you aspire to be an Effective Leader, don’t be ambiguous. Be precise about what you want and when. And always be willing to negotiate the when. Your followers are people, too!

 

Until next time,

 

Be GREAT!

 

You ARE!

 

¡HEIRPOWER!

Take Care of All of Them

 

I hurt my knee a couple of weeks ago. The GOOD one! It took me two weeks to recover. I don’t remember doing anything to hurt it. It just, seemingly, happened. Either way, I had to deal with it. The best thing to do, of course, was to recover from it. So, I did what I could. Now, I’m not a physical therapist of any sort. In fact, I had no idea how to fix it because I’ve never had that type of pain before.

 

Anyway, as I got to thinking about the process of recuperating, I realized that there’s a correlation between how we repair our bodies, maybe our minds, and how we lead. You see, for those two weeks that I was ailing I focused a lot on fixing my knee. At least, getting it back to normal. Normal is different these days, though. You’ll understand one day. Give it about 20 years.

 

It was easy to focus on doing what I needed to do to fix my knee because it hurt. It had my attention from the moment I awakened to the moment I fell asleep. Actually, it hurt while I slept. Anyway, it had my attention. I pretty much HAD to focus on it.

 

What I realized is that as I stretched, worked out, etc, that knee, I neglected the other one, the bad one. I think that’s natural. But in pretty short order the bad one started aching too. Not as badly as the good one, but I started feeling the strain on the bad one because it had to compensate for the good one.

 

Don’t we do that as leaders? Remember the Pareto Principle? It says something like “we spend 80 percent of our time fixing 20 percent of the people.” Something like that. I was investing a lot more time trying to repair the hurt knee while inadvertently putting extra pressure on the other one.

 

As Leaders, when we have a problem or a “problem child,” our inclination will usually be to focus on that. Fix what’s broke. I’m almost okay with that. But what about what’s not broke? What about the 80 percent of the team who are good, even great, workers? Do we neglect them? We usually do. We rationalize that they don’t need our leading or guidance. They’re good to go. Have you ever been on a team or organization where the few get all the attention? And they’re not the most productive ones. The rest of us pull our weight or continue to excel. If it happens often and long enough, eventually, it affects us. And not in a positive way.

 

I remember Old Farts saying that the knees are the first to go. I’m beginning to believe it as I become one. But most of my new aches and pains don’t just happen. They’re the result of wear and tear. Often, in leading, our problems don’t just kick in. They’ve been there for a while, we just didn’t notice or created them through neglect. That’s usually how the knees go. We take them for granted. Until we don’t.

 

We have to deal with the inevitability of time. It will affect all of us. If you aspire to be an Effective Leader, be aware of the time you spend or invest on your people. All of them. Each of them. It’s not as though you can divide your time by the number of folks you lead and invest just that amount in them. They each need to be nurtured. Don’t focus solely on the difficult ones. Be proactive as best you can. Help everyone as they need it so that they don’t become a real pain.

 

Until next time,

 

Be GREAT! 

 

You ARE!

 

¡HEIRPOWER!

To Know, But Not To Do....

 

 

Among many things, I’m a Thought Collector. The thoughts that I collect are often in the form of quotes. One of my favorites is, “To know, but not to do, is not to know.” I’m not sure who said it, but it’s a powerful lesson for aspiring leaders…and followers…Okay, people in general. 

 

I often encourage the development and application of the work ethic. Dictionary.com defines “work ethic” as “the principle that hard work is intrinsically virtuous or worthy of reward.” It goes along with the saying, “Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.” You’ve, surely, heard or read those two thoughts before.

 

I know that you know this but let me remind you that “intrinsically” means that it comes from you. YOU find the work worthy of doing. You do it because it needs doing. Not because someone will force you to do it. The reward is that you did the work. It identifies you as a team player. A worker. If you’re a leader, you want followers like that. People who are willing to do the work to accomplish the task. If you’re a follower and you want to succeed, do the work!

 

Here's the catch, though…. How do you know it needs doing? That, I believe, takes initiative. Dictionary.com uses the phrase, “initiating action” to describe “initiative.” Doing what needs doing without being told is a powerful trait. Yeah, I mentioned that before when describing work ethic. The two terms are like yin and yang! They go hand in hand. To know, but not to do, is not to know. You know by paying attention and by being respectful of the purpose or mission of the team or organization. You’re constantly looking and observing what needs doing that hasn’t been done and you do it.

 

It really doesn’t matter that you know you should do something. The value of knowing it is in doing it. Once you’ve done that there will be evidence that you know. I’ve had many followers tell me that they knew, or know, what they should do. When I’ve asked them if they did, or have done it, I haven’t always received an affirmative answer.

 

Leaders, Followers, People, if you know that something needs to get done and you know how to do it, then, do it! You’ll impress your leaders, your peers, and maybe even yourself. You’ll get the task done. And life will just be better. Know and do. That’s the key!

 

Until next time,

 

Be GREAT!

 

You ARE!

 

¡HEIRPOWER!