Teaching

To Everything Turn, Turn, Turn

 

In 1965 the American folk rock band The Byrds recorded the song Turn! Turn! Turn!  The message of the song is, to quote from one line, “There is a time to every purpose under heaven.”

We can all think of examples of this timing:

  • The seasons always come in order – spring, summer, fall, and winter
  • The phases of the moon always move in the same order from new moon to new moon.
  • The farmer has to till before planting and water before harvesting.

I have found that leadership also has a time to its purpose.  I call it the Three Phases of Leadership Development:

  • Relationship – Through the forming of a trusting relationship, the team will follow as the leader shows them how to be successful.
  • Understanding – By modeling after the leader’s example, the team will understand how to achieve their own success.
  • Knowledge – Through mentoring, the team will gain the knowledge of when to apply what is understood.

For your leadership journey to be successful, follow the Three Phases of Leadership Development with every new team.

Listen While You Work

“Leadership is influence, nothing more nothing less.”  I learned this from John Maxwell and I teach it to everyone I mentor.  The beginning of influence is trust, and trying to influence another person without first eliciting trust is as futile as trying to boil water outside of a kettle.  Trust, like the kettle, is the vessel in which all things work together to generate powerful action.

Developing trust comes from understanding one another.  Ralph Nichols, an expert in the field of listening, says, “The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”

If you think about the command and control leadership style, you can picture the leader in front of a room filled with their employees and a microphone in their hand. They talk from the beginning of the meeting to the end of the meeting; telling their team what they need to hear.  That style of leader doesn’t understand their team, won’t develop trust with their team, and can’t influence their team.

Kevin Turner, the COO of Microsoft and former CEO of Sam’s Club once described the secret to Sam Walton’s success.  He said, “Walton didn’t have an open door policy; he had an open ear policy.”

The Anam Cara – Friend of the Soul

My family and I went to an Irish goods store over the weekend.  As I skimmed through limerick books, I was reminded of the many stories my Irish Grandmother told.  I bought a book titled Anam Cara, a Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue.  The name comes from the early Celtic tradition of a person who acts as a teacher and guide; that person was called the Anam Cara, or friend of the soul.  The book has many fables that teach Celtic lessons on various aspects of life.  One fable called “The King and the Beggar’s Gift” taught that difficult situations are often disguised opportunities for growth.

As I am reading Anam Cara, I am reminded of one of American History’s most famous leaders, Abraham Lincoln.  It is said that among his favorite books growing up were the Bible, Aesop’s Fables and The Pilgrim’s Progress.  Each one of these great books taught its lessons through parables, fables and allegories.

We know that Abraham Lincoln was a great story-teller. He often disarmed a crowd or an adversary with a folksy tale in which they could see themselves and understand his point of view.

As a leader, you are your team’s teacher and guide.  If you want to be their friend of the soul, their Anam Cara, you have to connect with them personally.   Following the path of great leaders before us, I recommend using parables, fables, or allegories to teach and guide.  Nothing gets to the heart like a well told story.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere the Signs

On a recent tour of Europe with my family we spent time in Italy. The history, food, gelato, and the architecture can only really be appreciated through a personal experience.  We traveled in a tour group of forty four made up of families with children ranging from about 10 to 18 years old.

We met our tour guide who handed out radios so we could hear her every instruction on the busy streets. She taught us Italian phrases we would need and pointed out signs all along our trip for us to remember in case anyone became lost.  One of our stops was Venice. We learned that the city is built on stilts and contains many winding, inner-connecting water ways and streets that are intentionally confusing. Venice was built this way as a defense against invading armies.

We all took an early morning walk to a shop to make Venetian Masks.  As promised, the walk was very confusing and seemed to take us through at least twenty different streets that all looked alike.  Our tour guide pointed to several signs overhead labeled “San Marco” which pointed to St. Mark’s Square and Basilica in the center of Venice.   This is where our hotel was located and where we would meet later in the evening following an afternoon on our own.  We were cautioned to pay attention to these signs to guide our walk back, as it would be very easy to get lost.  One more word of advice we received that made following the signs even more important was that the number one way to spot a pick pocket in Venice was if anyone approached you and said “Excuse me, do you speak English?”

That evening forty two of the forty four tour group members met for dinner.  We found out later that two of the older boys had become lost on their walk home because they didn’t pay attention to the instructions of our tour guide.  They didn’t look for the “San Marco” signs.

Remember this story as you lead your team.  To you, the experienced guide, the signs of success are obvious and everywhere.  But to some, you might was well be speaking a foreign language.   Like our tour group, many of your team members will understand and follow the signs.  But some may not grasp their importance and find themselves lost.

Have you had this experience as a leader?  How do you make sure everyone follows the signs?

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