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Pretzels, Distractions, and Leadership
Anything can be a distraction for a leader.
I love being an uncle. My nieces and nephews are constantly teaching me new things through their innocent, child-like eyes. The other day I called my parents to ask them something and my two year old nephew was at their house. My mother put me on speaker phone so my nephew could talk to me. He said “Hey Uncle Scott!” and then I asked him how he was doing…absolute silence. It turned out he was distracted by pretzels. At the end of my call, I told my parents that I would talk to them later, suddenly my nephew came back to the phone and said “Hey!” again. The little tyke then proceeded to go back to the pretzels.
There are so many things in life that can distract us, much like my nephew’s pretzels. These distractions may ordinarily be something good, but they can take us away from doing what we need to do or doing it to the best of our ability. Your distraction may not be pretzels – it may be a person, circumstances, money, or any number of things. As a leader, it can be difficult at times because you are not only trying to take care of yourself and grow personally and professionally, but you are also responsible for doing the same for others. When you find yourself going through times of distraction, find a trusted friend or mentor with whom you can share these struggles. Having someone who knows what you are going through makes it easier to focus on the right things.
How do you combat distractions as a leader?
Photo Credit: By Dottie Mae
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Fear in Leadership
Photo Credit: By LeAnn Leagans
“Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.”
– Bill Cosby
As a leader, fear can often be a motivator to help us grow. You have a choice as a leader – you can stay where you are and let fear get the best of you or you can overcome fear and do new things you have never imagined possible. When you choose the first option, you often look back and wonder what could have been and end up living a life of regret. Choosing the second option may be difficult, but in the long run it’s worth it.
What steps can you take to help overcome fear as a leader?
- Surround yourself with like-minded people who will encourage and cheer you on in times of fear.
- Focus on what will happen once you make it past the fear, not the process of going through the fear itself.
- Force yourself to do it – make yourself think there are no other options.
I experienced this first hand over the weekend. I had the amazing experience of going on a leadership retreat at Callaway Gardens. During lunch they announced that everyone needed to look under their chair as one table would win a prize. Our table ended up winning the prize and it was free tickets to the ropes course and zip lines at the gardens. One minor problem – I am terrified of heights! Even though we were harnessed in, I was still afraid that I was going to fall and seriously injure myself. I had twelve other people on the course with me that helped encourage me and let me know that not only was I going to be okay, but I was going to be able to complete the course and look back on the experience as a major accomplishment.
How do you overcome fear as a leader?
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Leadership Elements
Last Thursday, I completed a four week workshop on leadership called “Leadership Elements.” (Thank you Mark Shull for recommending it!) Each of the four weeks focused on a different topic regarding being a leader. What is so great about this information is it can be used in various different environments – in the work place, at church, or even within your group of friends. Here are just a few of the “take-aways” that I learned.
- Influence, not position is what allows us to lead people.
- Influence is always in motion.
- Fair or unfair, we are often judged on the perception of our leadership, not the reality of our leadership.
- Influence comes from who you are, not just what you do.
- Leadership begins with character and ends with influence.
- Competence might make you a leader, but character gives you influence.
- People might not always listen, but they never fail to imitate.
- If you don’t know where you are, you can’t get from there to where you need to be.
- Self-awareness helps prevent hypocrisy.
- You can’t lead others past where you are.
- Self-awareness leads to compassion for others.
- A person who doesn’t have an awareness of their shortcomings comes across as pity.
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Scott Couey 