Pilot International KS-MO District

LEADERSHIP COORDINATOR - Governor Elect Kathy Elevier
LKE2000@earthlink.net

Don’t Take for Granted Your Gifts

When we try to be something we’re not, life gets frustrating. I’ve learned it’s easy to be me. I don’t have to perform. I don’t have to manipulate things. I can just relax and be myself. Do you know I can be a better me than anybody else in the world? Why? Because nobody can beat me at being me. Quit worrying about what you don’t have. Instead, be the best that you can possibly be. Don’t you dare go around thinking, “Oh, I don’t have what it takes.” No, you go around saying, “I am talented, I am creative. I won’t take my gifts for granted.” You are not average. You are not ordinary. You have a treasure buried in you that will come out. You can overcome any obstacle. I believe in you. Do you believe in you?

From: It’s Your Time by Joel Osteen

LEADERSHIP –
Based upon the book “You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader” by Mark Sanborn

A Leader is…

A leader is someone who gets extraordinary performance from ordinary people through influence and inspiration. At the end of the day it’s about a job well done, not about one person getting credit or reward. Leadership is a shared responsibility because a good leader knows no one person is as smart as all of us working together.

A leader does not have to have a title to be effective. A title is not a job description that specifically defines what a person does. A title is only an indication of a “level of responsibility”. There are far more “untitled” leaders among us. Are you one? You will become one when you put the people and the project ahead of yourself.

“When you do a job with initiative and determination to make a positive difference, you become a leader.”

Who is a Leader…
“People who lead – whether they have a title or not – strive to make things better.”

Do you think you make a difference? When you first look in the mirror in the morning, do you say to yourself, “Today I’m going to change the world”?

Probably not.

True leadership is an invitation to greatness that we extend to others. There is a catch though. We can’t give what we don’t have. We can’t extend an invitation we haven’t already accepted.

Volunteers for important or high-profile tasks are never in short supply. More impressive are the leaders who know what must be done behind the scenes to make the big show happen. They take on difficult and time-consuming assignments not because they want to be praised or noticed, but just because those tasks have to be done. As a result, everyone benefits. True greatness is based no what we give in life, not what we get.

Genuine leaders make things better not just for themselves, but for others.

R O I

Leadership is intimately linked to service. When you act as a leader, you go above and beyond the call of duty. When you are leading, everything you do is geared toward creating some kind of positive outcome. “Years of experience have convinced me that everyone who leads is involved in service leadership.”

Did you know the person who suggested the idea of a store greeter that has become such an important part of the Wal-Mart brand wasn’t a manger; he was a cashier – a non-titled leader.

The guy that designed the Java Jacket for hot coffer cups didn’t even work at a coffee shop. He just saw a problem and designed a remedy.

Greatness consists of doing great deeds with little means and the accomplishment of vast purposes from the private ranks of life. To be great at all, you must be great whenever you are.

Can you think of a relationship that needs to be strengthened or improved? Can you recall an outcome that might have turned out differently if you had taken the lead? And what about that idea you’ve been carrying around in your head that will improve your club or service project?

These are your opportunities to increase ROI: Relationships, Outcomes & Improvements.

The Power of Self Mastery…

You can’t lead others until you can first lead yourself. To truly lead, and make a difference, you must always start with yourself. Few of us live our lives to our full potential.

How do you live life? As an obligation, or as an opportunity? Those who see life as an obligation want the task at hand to be done with as quickly as possible, with little regard to the outcome.

The people who change the world around them rarely act from a sense of obligation. In fact, people who act as leaders almost always act from a sense of incredible opportunity. They don’t interact with the world around them because they have to. They do so because they want to.
Genuine, authentic leadership infuses meaning into your life because you know that your efforts count and that you are serving the needs of others as well as your own.

When you act as a leader, you exercise control over your life and help to influence and inspire those around you. Relinquishing control of your life to external situations, circumstance, and culture is the opposite. To act as a leader, you must constantly ask yourself, “Who is in charge of my life? Who is in charge of me?”
People who take an active leadership role in their lives tend to be good thinkers; great leaders tend to be great thinkers. Thinking helps separate the mundane from the significant. It can help to clarify your direction and your purpose.

Many people feel paralyzed by their lack of control over life. By focusing on the things you do control, you being to lead your life rather than letting life lead you.

Motivation
1.  Make time to reflect
2.  Remember the dream
3.  Mirror those who are successful around you
4.  Retreat to advance (review your life & objectives)
5.  Mentor someone else
6.  Enjoy the journey (be grateful)
7.  Live like a victor, not a victim

Think of Self-Mastery as the ratio between promises made and promises kept. You’ve got to follow through on your promises, whether you have a title or not.

The Power of Focus…

Focus and determination beat brains and intellect every time. You don’t necessarily have to be smarter or better educated to succeed. Your power lies in your ability to focus on doing what is important. If you focus on the right things, and work at them often, you will achieve exceptional results.

You can handle just about anything that comes your way as long as you stay engaged in what is going on and don’t drift. Drifting results from a lack of direction. Then it’s all too easy to become distracted or lulled into complacency.

Distraction is detrimental. A recent study of knowledge workers found they face a distraction every eleven minutes on average, and that once distracted, it takes them 25 minutes to get back on to the task at hand. Multi-tasking, once valued as a productivity tool, now more often than not creates a sense of activity while actually decreasing output. The goal of anyone who wants to act as a leader is to move beyond the perpetual distractions we face and focus on what really matters.

To stay focused, you need an agenda of what you hope to accomplish in both the short and long term. It means visualizing your final goal so that the “to dos” move you closer to completion. The agenda is the guide, whereas the “to do” list is the activity to reach the destination. Prioritizing the “to do” list is vital. Creating a daily list of things to do is only part of the solution. Knowing what is most important on that list, and choosing to complete it first, is the other part.

The challenge is to put more life into our time. In other words, making more progress, getting more results, and making greater contributions. That is what acting as a real leader is all about. Live intentionally by focusing attention and care on each moment.

Power with People…

Everything we accomplish happens not just because of our efforts, but through the efforts of others. The biggest difference between people who manage others, versus people who lead others, is how they develop those under them.

Leadership is power with people as opposed to power over people.

Leaders vs. Managers__________________________________

Managers have employees Leaders win followers

Managers react to change Leaders create change

Managers have good ideas Leaders implement them

Managers communicate Leaders persuade

Managers direct groups Leaders create teams

Managers try to be heroes Leaders make heroes of everyone around them

Managers take credit Leaders take responsibility

Managers exercise power over people Leaders exercise power with people

Those who aspire to lead (or lead better) learn to build people up, encourage them, and make them into heroes. Everyone wants to feel significant – to be recognized for what they do. It’s important to let people know there’s someone who believes in them so much that they will not let them be less than they can be.

Have you heard about the 3 Cs? To get others to follow you requires character, competence and connection.

A person of character seeks honest input from others and earns their trust. Trust is vital to leadership. Honesty is vital to trust. Character is also having humility – thinking of yourself less and being concerned for others more.

People who act as leaders exude competence – by their actions, by their appearance, and in everything they undertake.

When we act effectively as leaders, those around us bond with us – not because of our position or title, but because of their relationship with us. But that kind of emotional connection can only occur when you are genuinely concerned about others.

Do you know how to motivate others? People need reasons to do things. You need to show them how they will benefit. But if you don’t know what motivates them, how can you do that? You have to ask what motivates them!

There’s another C word that’s necessary but hard – confrontation. However, if you confront the problem and not the person, you will have better results. Focus on correcting rather than judging and be willing to examine the role your behavior and actions play in the relationship.

And then there’s commitment. When you undersell what you need from others out of fear of rejection, you tend to get little in return. Ask for a big commitment and you’ll increase the likelihood of getting a big effort back.