Tag Archive for "leadership"

Posts Tagged ‘leadership’

Quit Early / fail

by Ryan Russell | July 7th, 2010 | Posted in leadership, motivation

Your opportunities to quit early are many. At the first sign of resistance. During the middle of the first hard ascent. When the comfort of the bed seems better than the early morning of sweat and hard work. As pain creeps in. Facing an unforeseen and ridiculous obstacle. When you are no longer favored to win. Early on you will run smack into … Anxiety … Loneliness … Pain … Ridicule … Easier Paths … Being behind … Comfort … Conformity … Fatigue.

Don’t trade in your dreams, visions, goals and ambitions by quitting shortly after you have begun. What you are experiencing in those early tests is common to every leader. The resistance sharpens the leader. The pressure shapes you and prepares you for better things yet to come.

Lance Armstrong is a 7 time Tour de France champion (the undisputed, single hardest cycling competition in the world) because he doesn’t quite when things get hard, when others get ahead or when he experiences a set back. He steels himself with resolve, grit, determination. ‘I am done’ is not in his vocabulary when the prize is still out in front. Yesterday he blew out a tire and saw his rivals gain minutes on him in the month long race that is separated by mere seconds in the end. His response:

“Our chances took a knock today,” Armstrong said. “I’m not going home, we’ll stay in the race and keep trying.”

* A short series of failures you can make as a young leader.

Don’t Jump the Shark!

by Justin Humphreys | June 7th, 2010 | Posted in leadership

What are you great at? What are you known for? Why is your company successful?

Keep doing it.

When Fonzie jumped over a shark, he coined a term that we still use today: Jumping the shark. It refers to the point where a TV show goes off its designed path in order to reenergize the series.

A current TV Show that has come under fire for “jumping the shark” is American Idol. They have stopped doing the things that made the show unique and relevant.

Leaders need to understand what makes them unique and relevant and they need to stay true to their goals and priorities. There is no need to try to reinvent yourself or your company when when you are on top.

Don’t jump the shark in your leadership!

What’s Left Behind

by Ryan Russell | June 2nd, 2010 | Posted in leadership, motivation

You can live your life so sheltered that when you’re old and gray, all that you can claim is to have lived long enough to have become old. That’s not my way. - Ed Viesturs; 1st American to climb all 14 of the world’s tallest peaks.

Ed spent 8 years in college and then a few more in practice to be an established veterinarian. He jumped ship to pursue his love for high altitude summit climbing and eventually became the first American to summit the world’s 14 highest mountain peaks all without the aid of bottled oxygen. Many of us have found ourselves wondering if we could leave our current place behind in an effort to chase our dream. You can! You are capable of the same creative processes and leadership required to pursue your dreams and your purpose. But, you will have to leave other things behind.

Wipe It Off

by Ryan Russell | May 26th, 2010 | Posted in leadership, motivation

People are bound to say crap about you… that is the nature of people and also the nature of leadership.
You need to figure out when to let the crap stick or when to wipe it off.

Identify the 2-5 leadership voices that count the most to you and your development. Let them speak into difficult problems, even if you don’t always agree with what you hear. Be willing to give them a full account of your hardest scenarios. Likewise give them full access to the scenarios if needed or when you can. Count on these people to ask you hard questions and challenge your growth. Listen to them and let their guidance shape your life.

Honor, or at least respect, people who have an issue and come to you in person and are willing to speak frankly. Those rare, but open discourses can typically result in good to fair resolutions if you are willing to listen and be open to growing. Learn to slough off and ignore the rest.

As for the people who have the crap to say….
Ignore spineless, behind-your-back conversations. Don’t worry about half-told truths. Delete the all-too-easily volleyed emails, text messages and twitter updates. (You know that person wouldn’t say directly to you what they have written with their new found technology enhanced courage.) Your leadership and your character will always prove itself out in the end.

Life is far too easily consumed with dissections of emotionally charged situations, frustrations, disappointments and disagreements. Do your best as you make your leadership calls. Trust your experience. Admit and learn from your short comings. Keep moving on.

Volunteer Leadership Team

by Ryan Russell | May 19th, 2010 | Posted in basics, leadership

Some quick basics on building a kick-ass volunteer leadership team.

Never go alone. Get people engaged in your initiative from the very beginning. If you can’t take people with you early on when your passion is white hot, then it won’t get any easier for you later.

Get people in on the ground floor. Some people are more inclined to serve with you because you aren’t thoe big and established ‘old dog’. Use this to your strength.

Share your vision of the glorious future. Make it straight forward and easy to understand. Practice this every time you meet with someone. if you don’t have it down to 2-3 quick & easy to understand sentences.

Grow Up! The best leaders will come around young leaders when they see your desire to grow up and do something of import. You don’t have to wear a suit and tie to accomplish this, but you must be ready to work hard. Have fun, but prepare yourself to grow and demonstrate this with how you carry yourself.

Don’t put off inviting in BIGGER minds. Find people that will challenge you. BE SURE to listen to them when they speak. This stop investing if you demonstrate that you aren’t listening.

Keep close a tight group of trusted people. Choose carefully 3-5 rock solid leaders you can depend on in hard times & for key decisions.

Don’t just invite friends, but choose leaders. Diverse strengths and insights won’t come without some effort on your part to seek them out. Just because people are easy to hang with doesn’t mean they will be the best leaders for your project.

Engage your key people regularly. This doesn’t have to translate into more meetings though. Invite them into your processing, your planning, your strategy. Quick phones calls and emails will do the trick.

—> If they aren’t invested, they aren’t invested with their time, money and mental energy that will help your project or organization move towards accomplishing your dreams.

Launching Basics

by Ryan Russell | May 13th, 2010 | Posted in basics, entrepreneur, leadership

Getting ready to launch your own non-profit?

Have a unique focus or problem to tackle - If you aren’t going to be original or if you aren’t going to strive to be the best in your area of focus then go work with the ones who are. There is a TON of redundancy in the non-profit, social good space already. Yes, I am speaking to the ministries too.

Demonstrate & prove your concept - Seek early wins, even if they are small ones. start with your free time. Jump in with your money and energies first. Know what you are talking about from an experiential perspective. Draw from your in the trenches experience to cast a grander vision.

Develop a thorough but basic plan – You don’t need 10 pages to make your point, but you do need a few. Websites are nice, but be sure that you can easily share your plan & strategy with others. Avoid writing a novel but be sure to outline the “who, what, where, why, how, when, and how much” for all who are interested. Be specific and brief.

Recruit leaders - Every non-profit seeks volunteers, but what you really need early on is leaders. Leverage your personal relationships, contacts and networks. Seek leaders by having leadership opportunities for them to tackle with you. Don’t ask leaders for basic things… they want to jump in on real issues you with you.

Communicate a crystal clear mission – Don’t give vague concepts and flowery anecdotes; tell us what is going to change because you are in existence. Be bold. Be brave. Be simple if necessary. Help all of us to “get it”. And it quickly. Without flinch

Pricing the Pickle

by Ryan Russell | April 28th, 2010 | Posted in communication, leadership

Before we began, $60 per month seemed a little steep for a 6 year old’s karate lessons. My wife took our son to the first few sessions and came back with such glowing reports about the instructor that I had to go check it out for myself. Turns out the dude is very good… and not just at the butt kicking part. He smiles with the kids, learns people’s real names, places jokes in the middle of sessions for the parents, stays firm but friendly and gently employs an “evil pickle’” (a padded green baton) to test the children on their acquired techniques. It isn’t easy to maintain the attention, interest and respect of both 6yr. olds and also adults all while delivering REALLY good karate instruction.

There are defects in his business model to be sure but, I was reminded how personal, high quality and friendly leadership goes a really long way when setting value. Once I experienced the karate lessons I was happy to only be paying $60/mo.

*** Oh, and just so you don’t write this guy off as a fun, groovy kid teacher, I want to mention that his dojo wall is line with his world class accomplishments and articles from every major media source highlighting his personal accomplishments.

3 Month Pathfinder

by Ryan Russell | April 26th, 2010 | Posted in gtd, leadership, project management

Don’t let your big dreams or your ambitious project overwhelm you. Try some of these tricks to keep yourself moving toward your big goals.

Pick a milestone. Set your sights fully on a major accomplishment that you REALLY want to have come to fruition 3 months from now. Look at it as biting of a slice of the larger whole. Try to put the more daunting mountain of a dream within your grasp by focusing on this piece.

Dump your brain. Get out everything that you can think that has to get done or that you want to get done on your project over the next 3 months. If you don’t like computers that much, get a pile of sticky notes and a fresh wall…. every time you think of an item or a to-do put it up there.

Walk backwards from your goal. What will have had to have happened in order for you to end up where you want to be? Do you have to raise money? Create a budget? Recruit a team? Find a needed resource?

Think in containers. Try to find 4-8 master categories. Ask yourself what some things have in common with each other. A few usual suspects are: money, people, needs

Create stages. “Month 1, 2, 3″ — “Prep, Action, Wrap up” — “Beginning, Middle, End”. Use something that inspires, seems creatives, or helps you visualize the process. Take the to-dos and give them a stage so you know ‘when’ to get to each item in the proper order.

Start fast and easy! Everyone likes easy stuff. So, if it helps you get excited and see progress, ignore every other things I have said and start with those things. Another trick I like to do is outsourcing items that I hate doing or that slow me down… making reservations in among these things.

Take the necessary time. Most big plans fail for lack of time and planning. Make your goals reasonable. Block out a portion every work day to do the project of your dreams and desires. FOCUS!

History of Sale

by Ryan Russell | April 21st, 2010 | Posted in leadership, motivation

“Salesman” has somehow gotten a bad reputation. Perhaps it was converted into a disparaging term by men who pawn worthless used autos with cheap new paint jobs. My own made up history of the word envisions a young leader and entrepreneur alive with excitement about a new revolutionary product that has radically transformed his life. He so appreciates what difference that this new discovery has made for himself that he now can’t possibly contain his enthusiasm. He must tell others. It’s natural. It really is a part of who he is.

Being great at sales takes nothing more than confidence in your product and pride in your delivery and service. If you have personal ownership and belief in what you have to offer, then every conversation ought to be natural, easy and fun. I have a good friend who can’t but help talk about what he does for a living. Not because he needs your money, but because he really believes in what he does. In turn, he is one of the most profitable and successful ’salesmen’ in know.

So, if you aren’t leading at bringing others along on your journey and in your business… You aren’t proud of what you do OR you need to make your product better. The leadership choices seem rather simple.

White Paper War

by Jon Wren | April 19th, 2010 | Posted in communication, leadership

“We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper.” -David Ben-Gurion, Head of the Jewish Agency for Palestine in September 1939 (he later became Israel’s 1st Prime Minister)

1939 was not a good year to be a Jew. In Continental Europe, Nazi Germany was embarking on systematic genocide of Jews and in Great Britain, a combination of Anti-Semitism and a desire for Arab support in the war effort against Germany created the famous “White Papers”. The White Papers were laws passed in Britain that limited Jewish immigration to Palestine and gave local Arabs the right to control land, travel, and transport for Jewish refugees from Europe. The British Government was desperate to appease and have the support of the Arab population in the Middle East during the war and so it enacted the White Papers to the frustration of Jews in the British Empire and beyond.

So if you’re a Jewish leader in 1939 what do you do? You do something unique. Why? Because you have to. Ben-Gurion decided to launch a 2 front movement with the Zionist movement. It would strongly support the British/Allied cause in World War 2 and simultaneously disregard and circumvent British Authority when it came to the White Papers. Jews were smuggled into Palestine every way possible and at the same time Jews served in the British Army fighting Germany all the way to 1945. Finally, in 1948 Israel became a sovereign nation led by Ben-Gurion.

In leadership, you may find yourself in situations where people need clarity, even when it’s not easy to provide. Ben-Gurion set out to define for Jews a reality, fuzzy, but HONEST. For 7 years they worked at 2 seemingly opposing strategies but ultimately leading to one goal. Sometimes people just need honesty, even when it’s confusing.

Red Bike Leader