Motivation

I love a good bike ride (the kind without a motor). It’s fun, invigorating and challenging. During the ride I can’t breathe very well, my legs burn from the effort, it’s blazing hot outside and I can’t get cool no matter what I do. So what makes it so great? I absolutely love the way I feel when the ride is over. It’s all worth it. Suffer on the bike. Satisfaction off the bike. Fair trade.

Right now the Tour de France is going on. It’s something I have to watch every day. The problem… the Tour motivates me to ride, but watching it keeps me off the bike. I need a satellite feed to my glasses so I can ride AND watch. Why can’t technology catch up to my needs?

9th grade band

….I am amazed at where I can find the most profound examples of leadership development. They are everywhere. If we experience life at all we can find incredible stories (good and bad) of lessons learned or not learned. Here are two from my life.
….When my oldest son was first starting in tee ball he had the idea that everyone was going to let him win. I vividly remember the first time he was running home. It was the classic footrace. My son against another boy who was intent on getting him out. Chase (my son) was goofing off running home and was tagged out. He cried and cried. It was tough for me too.
….What an opportunity though. I was able to use that moment to teach Chase a brief but important lesson about life. People will not always let him win, he must earn it. Over the years we have learned discipline, confidence, teamwork, humility and the concept of “being part of something bigger than you” – these are all lessons we (myself included) have learned from my children’s involvement in sports.
….In contrast, my ninth grade year I experienced something I had never seen nor heard of before… marching band. I had been in band for a couple of years and liked it well enough but I had no idea what marching band was all about. I whined to my parents and my dad got me out of it. I got to play but didn’t have to march. I learned that day that I didn’t have to play well with others. I didn’t have to participate. I had special priviledges. I know my parents thought they were helping me out but they weren’t. It took me years realize that the world wasn’t created to give me whatever I wanted. That was a tough lesson to learn.

….There are things that help shape us, they make us who we are, they form us for leadership, they form us for life. Some of the stories we tell are not pretty, some are dynamic, all are relevant.

The way a leader leads…

When Hernando Cortez and his crew of 600 landed in Mexico in 1519, he ordered his men to burn the ships. This radical decision closed all avenues for return to the life they knew before. There was no going back, no returning to the old way of life, no thoughts of losing. There was only the pressing need to move forward, to progress, to be victorious. Cortez was totally committed and allowed himself and those he led no option of turning back.

As we pursue our decision to lead, we must be totally committed to move forward, to progress as leaders. There is no going back to what worked before. There is only movement forward. But before we get wrapped up in the greatness of leading, we need to step back and understand the foundations of leadership.

As I was thinking about these foundations, I asked my eight year old what he thought was the most important thing about leadership. He paused and looked up at the ceiling as if contemplating the greatest question ever asked. Then he said, simply yet profoundly, “The way a leader leads is the most important thing.” The way a leader leads…

How am I leading… in a manner that inspires excellence? In a manner that draws people to personal growth? Am I living out my calling in a manner compels others to come along with me?