-Frontline Leader in Healthcare
Every time people around me use statements or questions from the list below, I feel an aneurysm coming on. They make my head hurt just reading them.
What is it about our human nature that causes us to seek excuses for when we fall short? Even some of the best sales people and leaders I have been around, can identify something outside of their control that caused them to miss their goals.
Excuses are easy. Breaking the habit of making excuses is hard. I addressed the way West Point handles habitual excuses in an older blog: West Point: How Leaders Seize Responsibility.
But, what if we turned our thought process around? What if we questioned who was responsible for the wins in our lives? Continue Reading…
Every male freshman (plebe) entering West Point has a mandatory class that few other colleges offer much less require. Boxing.
Each morning that boxing was on my schedule I woke up thinking about it. I would sit in calculus, chemistry or computer programing class thinking about boxing. It didn’t matter that I had tests or other graded exercises in those classes. Boxing dominated my thoughts.
Most people do not look in the mirror and think - hypocrite. But, if we pick and choose when we act with Integrity, what should we call ourselves? Answer: Hypocrites
Part time Integrity is not really Integrity. It is hypocrisy. If we only choose Integrity when it is easy, what are we? Answer: Hypocrites. Continue Reading…
Who do I trust? And why do I trust them? There are a lot of things that play a role in whom I trust.
Integrity, consistency, and reliability are just a few. I trust people who display these attributes - most of the time. However, even the most honest, consistent and reliable person will lose my trust if they are arrogant.
In a nutshell: “Your character is who you are when no one is watching.” We can all justify our choices by saying others won’t get hurt. But we all know there can be collateral damage to others when a leader makes a poor, private choice.
However, I want to focus on the character implications of these private battles we face. The definition of character I use is: Character is our habitual way of operating. In other words, HOW I AM IS WHO I AM. Continue Reading…
Thank goodness politicians are not the only examples we have for leadership. Rarely do their words match their actions. They may be great speakers, but who cares! Our words mean nothing unless our actions follow those words.
The actions of an introverted Leader of Character will lead a team to excellence before the eloquent words of hypocritical extrovert. Our actions create followers more than our words do. Continue Reading…
Who I am as a person is determined by the choices I make in life. Courage is a choice. Humility is a choice. Integrity is a choice. Selflessness is a choice. Duty is a choice. Positivity is a choice.
My circumstances may not be in my control, but the choices I make in the midst of those circumstances are. Each time I am faced with a choice, I am either moving closer to the person I want to be or further from it. Continue Reading…
They just stood there! When the captains left the court, none of the other players stepped forward to lead. It was funny. It was sad. It was telling. Communication broke down and chaos ensued.
I was watching a high school girls sporting event. Unfortunately, I have seen this in the business world too. When the leader is gone and nobody steps forward, a bump in the road can cause a relatively smooth running team to end up in a ditch.
Fear is a natural part of the human condition. We all have fears and anxieties that we must face. Fear kicks in when we recognize risk. If there is a perceived or actual risk involved in an activity, fear raises up inside of us and will try to rationalize all the reasons we should avoid taking action.
We become the cowards we never pictured ourselves to be, because we let fear dominate us. So what are we afraid of? Continue Reading…
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