Thoughts on Leadership

Leadership is one of the most searched terms in Google.  Countless books have been written on the subject. 

This is about what leadership means to me.

When I look back on my life to find the first acknowledgment of leadership, outside of my parents or family, the school playground comes to mind.  Recess.

Remember the kid that got a game of dodge ball together?  Or the one that started ‘red rover, red rover’?  That’s leadership in its most basic form, someone following another’s lead.

In my opinion, leadership is a personal acknowledgment that being of service to others is a greater purpose than serving yourself.  Leadership is a desire to see someone else accomplish a thing that they didn’t think they could accomplish.

Leadership is part art and part science.  Leadership lives in the gray matter, it doesn’t know boundaries.  Leadership is not about knowing the answers but about asking the right questions, in the right way.

Leadership is helping another person, team, department or group find the answers, solutions, products, process, etc that exists within themselves.

 

Leadership is being comfortable in the silence, thereby allowing space and room for others to grow. 

The likelihood of me looking back on this 20 years from now and laughing hysterically is about 99.9%.  Leadership evolves.

My 6-word memoir about leadership:  helps others lead a better life

My favorite video about leadership is by Derek Sivers TED2010.  Enjoy.

Making it to 80

I’m so fortunate to hang out with a tribe of friends and mentors that are right smack dab in the middle of their personal and professional sweet spot, at the intersection of their passion and how they make a living.  Peeps like Phil Yanov, Russ Davis, and Natalie and Kamran Popkin.  Let’s be honest, it’s rare, if we’re lucky we’re heading in that direction or even know what direction that is, right?  Obviously, I’ve still a ways to travel on this journey…

Another one of these rare individuals is Travis Runion.  It was pure accident that we met.  He was sent over to take a head shot of me at the request of a friend.  Let’s just say it’s the only picture I’ve ever really liked of myself and I use it everywhere.  Based on that experience with him I asked him to create a video for me of the Super Bowl experience I was a part of so that I could share the pictures and videos with the whole group that went that year; another exceptional experience.  Next, I hired him for several events at work, everything from photography and troubleshooting equipment to videography, production and websites.  His work is simply amazing.  Travis has a unique eye and viewpoint that he brings to his work and his professionalism is exceptional.

I recently learned of a new project Travis is working on, interviewing 80 people that are 80 years or older.  My mother just turned 80 in September and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get a video of her and this is perfect!  Since it’s a ‘project’ he’s doing then it’s not necessarily me asking her to do it, so she said yes.  I’m so pleased with the result that I want to share an excerpt of Betty Thompson.  My mother is the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met, she’s my hero and I want to be just like her when I group up…err, wait, I am just like her, well almost, it’s a work in progress.

If you have a parent or grandparent that you would like to capture on video, here’s your chance and Travis Runion is your guy.  My mother just loved working with him and trust me, she’s a tough cookie, if she thinks you’re an idiot, she’ll just tell you ‘you’re an idiot.’  She’s not always for public consumption.  She shines like the gem she is in this shoot.  Cheers.

ps I have it on good authority that there is a mastermind group in Greenville, SC that urged Travis to get started on this project.  If you're stuck, a group like this may be of assistance and I hear a new session is starting asap.

just vote

disclaimer: this is written for me and I don't recommend you read it, really, you should just stop here and watch a rerun of storage wars or something

How about a little understanding?

If you've ever taken Myers Briggs, on the scale for tolerance, I'm off the chart, so there's that.  With all of this political banter and people being so 'one way or another', I'm a moderate, in the middle, can really see and understand many points of both sides and I don't get hot headed about it.  I mean, when does getting hot headed work anyway? (we won't go there, yeah, I've done it, but it wasn't about politics).

Look, I believe our system is broken.  I believe our politicians become too incredibly wealthy and powerful, and pretty much set for life with thousands of perks, just by representing the vast majority of non-wealthy americans.  And I believe that is wrong.  It has to change.  I believe that change starts locally and by demanding authentic and real leadership at the local level, the state level and on up.

Why are we still discussing abortion every election season?

I cannot believe that abortion is still under discussion as a reason to choose a President.  Really?  And people are choosing a President based on that one factor when a thousand other factors impact our day to day lives considerably.  When you sign up to work for a corporation, do you ask the CEO whether he's pro-choice or pro-life?  Do you wonder if the owner of the restaurant you frequent is pro-choice or pro-life?  What about everything that we buy that is Made in China?  Last I checked, they kill babies, especially girls, for being born in China, they're certainly not pro-life.  Isn't that more 'close to home' important than this 1 individual in charge for 4 years at a time that is charged with leading the free world?  Instead of hating each other based on this one viewpoint, why not volunteer at a clinic, become a foster parent, anything but add another bumper sticker to your car, well, because, that really helps no one.

Look, I'm not saying it's right or wrong, the good Lord knows where we all stand on this subject.  I'm saying that I believe it's not my place to tell another woman what she should do with her life.  That decision is between her and God.  We all sin and one sin is not greater than the other.  I appreciate each religions view on the subject, but people, we've got to tackle this in a different way.  What was happening before roe v wade wasn't a solution, with women dying from improper procedures, infection and trying to do what they felt they needed to do through illegal means.  We can't go back there, that's not a solution.  

I'm totally perplexed as to why this topic splits our country, like a wedge that splits wood, and often decides a presidency.  This country was founded on religious freedom.  Don't we all realize they tell us what we want us to hear anyway? What they think will get them the most votes?  That's what I think.  I think they've all tiptoed that issue to death and the real solution is to get involved locally and help on either side in person as best you can (that does not mean to stand in front of a clinic and scream at women driving up or blowing up doctors offices, seriously, someone thinks that is a solution?).  I believe we should find a way to touch lives in a meaningful way in your community on this subject and help others, regardless which way you side on this issue.

Let's take action and do more about drug addiction and abandonment and take care of the children that need our care and attention, there are hundreds of thousands that need our help.  If we spend more time doing that, I believe that God will understand we saw a greater purpose in the lives that we could personally impact.  I mean, the bible I was taught and read says that our God is an understanding God. 

Am I better off now than I was 4 years ago?

No, I'm not better off than I was 4 yrs ago. Not even close. My Canadian company left the US, selling off all assets in this country except one. In large part due to our government and its policies. Fortunately, I was able to find a job, a great job, but at a 55% pay cut. Not exactly prosperity. I've watched my 401k dwindle and limp along for the past 4 yrs, after losing over 50% of it in 2008/2009. I was lucky enough that my corporation paid a severance, but I had to pay unbelievable taxes for 2011 because of that, taxes that made me choke…and I'm not close to what they consider the top of the middle class threshold.  But I will get there and surpass it and probably get a tax break.  Why does that make any sense?

Mortgage assistance is a joke, I've been to the front lines on this.

I won't bore you with the mortgage train wreck I'm in. My bankrupt builder finished out a $145k townhouse neighborhood with $100k townhomes, right before he cancelled our insurance policies without telling us (Thank You Eastwood Homes). I will likely never see my home regain its value and I can't refinance.  I'm too 'underwater' for the Obama administration incentives to banks to work and make just ever so slightly, by the tiniest of margins, too much for the 'other' Obama administration fixes and incentives. I just hope the past 4 yrs have been better to all of you. Do I think the Romney administration will make this better?  No, I do not.  There are too many people in the exact position I'm in to help us all.  We will pay for the Real Estate bubble that we helped create. Period.  There is no free lunch.

What about all the other stuff?

I'm a registered Republican and I'm an independent woman.  I believe in Global Warming.  I believe we need to take much better care of our planet or pay dire consequences.  I believe in a flat tax, we should all pay the same percent and get rid of all the loop holes.  I believe in a lot of things that don't make sense to a lot of people, and that's what is so great about being an American, I can believe these things and still be a citizen and do stupid things like post this on a blog for anyone to read and dig up in 20 years to hold it against me, after I've changed my mind and run for President.  (just seeing if you're awake)

I have never voted party lines just because of what I registered to be when I was 18.  I vote for the person, the person that is closest to the leadership I can live with for that period of time.  Closest to the issues that I believe are most critical at that time.  Bless me, my first vote was cast for Ross Perot in my first election.  I loved his straight forward charts, I could actually understand what he was talking about.  Yes, it can be that simple when you're not trying to screw the majority of the population out of their paychecks every week.  But please don't judge me on that one vote, I was 18 and ever so slightly naive.

The problem with out Government...

My problem is the policies of our current government, all of the parties, seem to be to pad their own pockets be damned the 'people' and that has absolutely got to change starting with our local government. Our politicians make too much money, get too many perks at our expense for their lifetime and these things must change. I know that Obama and his administration did not create this, this goes way back to day 1, but it's time for a new generation to change the 'government' mindset. I'm certain neither person elected as President tomorrow will make this change or be able to make any difference, but one is an expert in turning around businesses in trouble and one is not.  Our school system has to change beginning with children at birth and the way students are 'tested' and schools are 'graded' or we'll never be the nation we once were. Again, this begins locally with our school boards and being active in our communities, not with the President. When I learned that prisons are built based on 3rd Grade reading scores, I cried. These things have to change to turn our nation around.  It really does start with the littlest of children.  We have a lot of work to do as a nation.

It's time to get busy...

Stealing a phrase from Brene Brown, my favorite TED talk(er), we are the most 'drugged' nation ever, we take more prescription drugs, pain killers and narcotics than we ever have and more than any other nation.  It's time we stopped numbing ourselves against the pain that we feel and get to work in our neighborhoods, our cities and our counties.  It simply starts on our streets.  What can I do to help someone else?  It's time for our country to grow up and take charge.  It's time for us to turn off the television and read more history books.  When TV can show reruns of storage buildings being sold off and someone is actually watching that junk, it's time to do something else with our lives.  When companies can benefit from us watching someone's car being repossessed on TV and that's okay, that's a sign that something has gone terribly wrong and we need to get out from in front of the TV.  You're better off spending your time picking up garbage on the nearest street than watching the crap we're fed on TV.  I believe that if we all spent more time giving of ourselves and our time to others, it would elevate the whole country and maybe motivate our politicians to get back to work for the greater good of all of us.   

The vote.

My vote will reflect my personal experiences under the policies of the past 4 years.  Did Obama walk into a mess?  Yes, yes he did.  Did he fulfill the promises he made that I thought were important to me?  No, no he didn't.  Could any of it been accomplished in 4 years?  No, probably not.

I hope we have the biggest voter turnout that this country has ever seen.  What a privilege to be able to cast a vote.  What an honor to be able to make a choice and have these beliefs without being put in jail or worse, killed for them.  Regardless of who wins the election and becomes our President, he will have my full support and prayers.  After all, I need our President to perform exceptionally well.  I don't want wars fought in my city or my nephew being blown up overseas somewhere in the service of our country or mega storms closing down our shores or the 'Madoffs' of the world taking our hard earned money or crazy people making nuclear bombs or hackers stealing our account numbers.  Our President has a lot of work to do and he needs our support, not a request for a handout, not a request for a free lunch or free healthcare or a free reduction in mortgage interest rates (don't waste your time).  He needs us to hit the streets and help one another... 

We have to work our way back to prosperity, we have to earn and learn our way back to being a global leader and a leading country that others can look up to.  We have to teach our children how to think critically, not how to pass a multiple choice and true/false test.  If we don't, who will?

If you made it this far, well, damn glad to meet you, my name is Tanya and whether or not you agree with me, that's okay, we each have our own opinions and I'd be happy to read yours as well and who knows, you might change my mind on a topic.  Is there anything I can do to help you?  

trust me

Just Do It and Trust Me.  

Have you ever fell for that line?  Yeah, me neither.

This thing we do at the Center for Corporate Learning at Clemson at the Falls, like Leadership Summit, forever changed me, fortunately, it doesn't have that effect on everybody, or does it?  It became abundantly clear to me that I didn't want to end up at age XX with nothing more than a string of paychecks to prove that I was on this planet.  Don’t get me wrong, I like paychecks, lots of them, very large ones and it’s even better when they arrive very often…but I digress.

Fortunately, a trusted mentor, Phil Yanov, recommended this little Progoff class to me last year (details are at the bottom).  He's brilliant and I didn't question his suggestion (I think you'll find a link to his awesomeness over to the right, yeah over there).  It says journaling in the title, but this isn't like your grandma's journal or the one you read that your Sister kept under lock and key.   It's more like 52 counseling sessions, 52 church services, 100 days of running and at least 24 happy hours with your best friend compiled into an 11 hour session, a few hours on Friday night and the daylight hours on Saturday.  No, I don't do this daily; I hope to get to do it once a year, that's why Phil and I brought it to Greenville and closer to our friends and colleagues in this area.

It's a chance to level set and good questions like where am I, where am I going, what's working, what could work better, what's out there for me that I haven't even noticed yet and that road I didn't take last year, is there anything down that road that still has purpose and meaning today?  All the things that tribe leaders should be keenly aware of.

Yeah, it covers all of that and more.  This is a very private, non-networking, professionally guided session that is like setting goals on steroids (and you don't share any of it with anyone, this is a private journey taken amongst a room full of people doing this task at the same time, there is power and support in that, even in privacy).  

Bottom line: I highly recommend it.  

It's straight up pen to paper, no tablets, typing is not the same and many people draw parts of it in addition to or instead of writing.

It's an introverts dream and an extroverts challenge, quietly writing your life, without judgment, just the facts, using a trusted method that often ends with a breakthrough, something you've had in the back of your mind, a new idea, an innovation, a better plan, whatever, has the chance to come out and dance in front of you...talk about rare.

Join us this Fall, if you're ready, if it makes sense, and I promise, you'll have so much more to be thankful for when the end of November rolls around.

Details:  November 16^th (3:15pm to 9:15pm) and 17th (9am to 6pm)

http://journalforlife.eventbrite.com

Cheers.