FAU OWL.com©

1

Leadership is a lot like taking something and covering it with paint. A leader is one who protects the goals and methods of success in an organization. There are many different ways to lead, but most of all a leader is one who sees the end before the end comes. He is the one who can direct an organization while avoiding pitfalls along the way. In order for an organization to grow, one or more leaders must steer the ship. Much like the way a Coach rallies the team when there is a proverbial storm at sea, utilizing calming techniques and maintaining direction can be a lesson for leading a group of people.

Group dynamics aside, a leader should utilize thinking and problem solving while in the day to day operation of the business. John Maxwell says that a leader is one who spends a lot of time thinking, both creatively and rationally about various outcomes. Not only is deep thought necessary in achieving ones organizational goals, but a consistent and focused mind is important. Maxwell also uses the term uncertainty and creativity interchangeably. Accordingly, we should embrace those times when the climate seems uncertain. Those times when we know where were going, for example to a meeting or that we are going to be at work at 9 am in the morning – little change is needed. If however, before a decision has been made, when things seem uncertain and things are changeable, this is when we can make significant strides or modify our direction. When everything is up in the air, one can make an analogy that it is a wellspring of ideas, a fountain of possibilities. Once we get set in our ways, we may lose our motivation, become complacent or lose focus. Consistently honing your ideas, sharpening your skills and moving on to the next task can be a goal of an organization. Taking out time to smell the roses should also be part of any individual’s goals. If your organization is in Sports, and you get a chance to sit in on a Football, Basketball or Baseball game, you reap the rewards of entertainment. If you enjoy sports, can you think of a better way to spend your time than watching a quality competition?

Keeping our goals in perspective is always something that drives our little steps. Taking one step at a time makes things more attainable. Allowing you to see the end result in your minds eye, can keep the engine running while it may seem you are in park. At times it can seem you are not reaching your goals fast enough, and this is when you have to put something more attainable in your way. Building on your previous success and accomplishments gives you a sense of confidence. A person does not become self confident without putting in the necessary work to sustain positive reach. It takes work, and Creating success means you are reaching your little goals along the way.

3

Continued

Creating success means you are reaching your little goals along the way. Being self driven costs a heck of a lot less than investing in motivational classes and organizational tapes, or looking to the outside for replenishment. While all of that is great, don’t forget to look inside you. You have all the necessary tools at your disposal within you. Communication, persistence, patience, mental attitude, resolve, and many others host your goals and achievements. There is a school of thought that says you should never look back, always forward. I think most would agree that learning from your mistakes so you don’t repeat them is more relevant than never looking back. Some say a wise man is one who learns from others mistakes and chooses not to walk in that path. Would you prefer to ask a lot of questions today so you don’t have others answer them after you have failed? I’d rather ask my questions today, so I don’t have to wonder about what I should have asked in the future. Of course there is no tell all that is going to say exactly what to do for each unique situation, you have to test the waters yourself and make a few mistakes along the way. Be willing to make the mistakes knowing your going to succeed more than fail. Michael Jordan was a proponent of that thought which says if I succeed one more time than I fail, than that is considered a success. There are lessons all along the way that you can gather for motivation. One comical instance is the story of the tortoise and the hare. As the hare runs past the tortoise with his head in the air, the tortoise just keeps his head down plodding through until the finish line. In the end the tortoise wins the race because he kept true to his goal of finishing the race, and not necessarily worrying about where he placed. The hare ended up getting distracted along the way, since he was so far ahead of the tortoise. One can derive a meaning that it is the one that is not so concerned with finishing the race, but enjoying himself along the journey and staying true to his goals. Life is not a race, it is a journey.

4

When you pitch an idea, not everyone is going to be in favor of it. Don’t get discouraged; make it fodder and extra motivation for success. Maybe you won’t get that job you have wanted, or that promotion you thought you deserved. It’s not your place to wonder why, but to find your way to success another way, or within that same arena. If someone won’t give you that account, form another account and put your energies into satisfying that customer, and make it your own. There is always a way to find a sense of purpose and accomplishment in the little failures you may have. Allow yourself some time for reflection, but not too much time when something doesn’t go your way. You will always be able to find the right answer in your minds eye. Now it’s time to test it in the

4

Continued

Market. See where your ideas take you; find a destination that’s suited for you for the time being. Give yourself a break, remember perfectionism is only suited for God. We

are all flawed and filled with imperfections. Allow you to make a mistake, be kind to yourself. If your not kind to yourself, than who will be? You say you have a family, a good friend or significant other. That’s all well and good, but you are the first line of defense, you have to be nice to yourself first, then others are nice to you. Protect thyself, for thine own good. Sometimes people will ignore you, or take you lightly. Let them, for they will come around sooner rather than later. If you let them know that their opinion counts, and that what they have to say has relevance, eventually you may find a best friend. Some who are best friends started out as the opposition. Some will test you, and will try to see what you are made of. Maybe they want to see if you will stand the test of time, are in it for the long term or only for a spell. However you look at things, rest assured that things always will fall in your favor in the long run. And remember, we are not in this for a spell; we are in this for the length. Ninety-nine percent of the time should be enjoying the process, while the other one percent is the completion of that goal or task. Challenge yourself to overcome objections in the workplace for the good of the Company, not just to prove you are right. It’s one thing to be the King of the Hill, but who is going to join you at the top after a trivial argument. A great analogy can be made for the 2009 New York Yankees Championship Baseball team. Coach Joe Girardi stated at the Parade that the Owner stated right after the game had ended that we should go for back to back Championships. Some might think that that is a selfish Endeavour subsequent to the Yankees winning the World Championship. However, the truth is reaching for the goal is the beauty. Once the goal is reached, that celebration can be fleeting, which leaves one to ponder what’s next. The Owner put the team on notice when he stated Pitchers and Catchers report to practice in 80 days. For one of the most successful baseball franchises in history, you can be rest assured that the Owner has his priorities in order. Perhaps not everyone likes him, but no one can argue with his success.

5

Developing your own unique Corporate Culture could be one of the most exciting events you may embark on in your business career. Likewise, understanding a preexisting corporate culture, and influencing the way people do business can likewise be exiting and beneficial for you and your co-workers. Disney has a unique corporate culture. They utilize traditions and learning as a basis for becoming indoctrinated into the Disney Way. They even have a dedicated University which teaches the ways and means of Disney and its Culture. We will use Disney as a prime example of learning in a systematic way, the Culture of an Organization. Please keep in mind that you’ll want to put your own lens on while learning about other Corporate Cultures to find your own unique way of doing

5

Continued

Business. One of the great things Disney does is to teach you the history and about it’s founder Walt Disney. Walt was a creative genius. A cartoonist by trade, he formulated ideas based on the Amusement Park principle, and enlisted the help of his brother to crunch the numbers and formulate a feasibility study of the finances. In the early stages of the Disney creation, Walt purchased a huge plot of land in the middle of the State in the city of Orlando. He envisioned his own Government so as to avoid red tape of some Governmental Organizations. Today this unit is called the Reedy Creek Organization and is located on the outskirts of Walt Disney World Park in Orlando. The Reedy Creek Organization is dedicated to managing Disney. From the roads, bridges, financing, expensing, refuse, managing natural resources and many other functions of a city-like government, Reedy Creek covers the function of the cost of doing business. Eventually you may need to learn about a Companies handling of overhead to complete your learning of an organization. Formulating your own Corporate Culture in light of other successful organizations can be a daunting task. However I assure you, it is certainly attainable and feasible to develop your own brand of Corporate Culture. I decided for my Organization that I would recruit students to write Sports for each respective school website. So I would have a fleet of undergraduate and graduate students working on their own Schools sports stories. Once you formulate an idea, you should put it into practice. And that takes some doing. Imagine recruiting students that are sports minded to write about there own school all on course schedule constraints. Eventually you will all have to get them on board with your ideas, and in turn formulate a way to make money doing it. Of course the students are going to have to get paid, unless you recruit on a basis of volunteerism; which is entirely possible. For that you are going to need support, from staff and others in the school organization. Sewing the seeds of corporate culture is a lot like drawing a map with different destinations. One destination is your Accounting Department and how the culture will be formed there. Another may be your human resources department, and how you will address employees or in the case of Disney, cast members. A Policy and Procedures manual is essential when it comes to hiring and in unfortunate circumstances, and letting employees go. There should be rules delineating positive and negative behaviors as well as rewards and consequences of those actions. An employee manual is another part of Corporate Culture that one organization shouldn’t be without. Corporate culture should also outline a Companies beliefs and what they hold dear to their way of doing business. Maybe your company will practice dressing down on Friday’s. Maybe your company will give out holiday pay or gifts to their employees. Having a competitive advantage with respect to providing benefits for members of the organization is something you may want to keep in mind. Always remember, with a solid foundation in empowering your employees, you can have them knocking each other over to get to your door. Never underestimate the power of people, their ability to modify or change their behavior, and become a winning member of the team. Having a few things in common always helps a little too. Become genuinely interested in your hires, and they will become genuinely interested in your companies agenda. According to Dale Carnegie, he states that one should give hearty approbation and fruitful praise to all his employees.

In Carnegie’s book “How to win friends and influence people”, the author mentions becoming genuinely interested in the endeavors of others. Instilling these principles in the workplace can help to create a satisfying and fulfilling workplace environment for employees. Developing your Corporate Culture will combine ideas and attitudes across the stratum of your business marketplace.

6

Getting started using predetermined mapping is an idea in line with the rudimentary of any business plan. Having goals you want to accomplish before the work is undertaken is as important as knowing which step to take first. Just taking a step is the most important part of any business goal and a step toward realizing your mission of success is your ultimate path.  Setting the foundation before you get started is worthy of discussion. Knowing your going to need trusses before you build a roof is essential in setting a framework for a house. Knowing your going to need a computer work station before you begin to collect information is essential. Knowing you’ll need three tennis balls before you start a tennis match is important too. You get the gist, be prepared. Great thinkers think alike and they often say if you fail to prepare, than you prepare to fail. Be detailed; orient yourself to potential flaws or mishaps. Run the path over in your head, alternate paths and alternate ideas to solving an issue. Show yourself that you are ready to battle, mete out your enemies and win the war. Getting started is something you may have already done, and in most cases giving birth to an idea is a form of getting started. The point is not to stop until your goal is met. Then you will have time to think of the next great idea you are mulling over in your head. You can see that everything is on a continuum, with highs and lows designated for various events in the life of your idea and business. If I want to start a manufacturing company, I should first buy some machines, or at least hire some people to make the product. The way automation is today, it may be in your best interest to consider going the machine route. I have a family member that is in the food business. They started out small in the 70’s with hiring a few people to prepare the food. Eventually, they found a machine which could produce the food in whole and they would do the packaging. Later on down the line, they were able to find a machine that would do the packaging as well. The moral of the story is that all things take time, and when you are fully involved in your business you will begin to see the possibilities open up for your firm. Ideas will begin to pop in your head about doing things a better way and understanding how do get there and with what. If I want to learn how to take a bus, I’ll first want to get the bus route and schedule. Then I’ll observe where I have seen the bus and begin to develop a plan where to take the bus. From here to there is where I’ll take the bus at first. Then I’ll learn where else the bus goes and see if I can get from there to here. Just like that, you are off on a new mission and adventure.

6

Continued

Always know when you start something, keep it close to your vest, like a cherished secret you eventually reveal to the world. People know you are serious when you cherish your ideas, and they will hop on board if they believe in you.

1. Covering the Organization – Overview of the leadership role
2. Problem Solving – Shaping your ideas, thinking about outcomes
3. Keeping things in Perspective – reaching goals, improving
4. Not everyone’s going to like You – Overcoming objections, stories of success
5. Developing and Understanding Corporate Culture – Learning your Culture *Needs work ie. Disney etc.
6. Getting Started – How to, examples, and general advise
7. Defining your Objectives –

7

Knowing where you are going is just as important as where you start. Having clear ideas in mind about where you want to be in a year’s time is a good place to start building your objective platform. Let’s say you would like to have at least a three computer workstation in your office for your employees in a year. The first thing to decide is where to buy the computers, printers, faxes etc. Are you going to buy them all in one place or are you going to buy them one at a time. Will you purchase them retail or wholesale? What are you willing to pay for each individual unit? Can they be purchased as a bundle? If so, who would be willing to do that? Then you might want to consider software, and what kinds you may need and how much will it cost. Would you have the software pre-installed or will you install it yourself. Where can you find favorable pricing for these peripherals? Also you’d like to know how long you will keep them in service. Based on depreciation, you can generally expense a computer over a three year period thereby expensing your revenue and lowering your taxes. A good accountant is also a great idea to keep in mind. Hopefully it is someone you trust and is reliable. Remember, you make your partner in business; the accountant’s reputation as well as he can make yours. Much the same way in life, you should be kind to people because there is always something at stake, your reputation and your reciprocal treatment. The World is a great place. It offers so much, sometimes it's hard to choose. Whatever your idea, formulate it with a backbone and develop the strength from within. Everyone has limits, regardless of the profession - so you should utilize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. It's always smart to start with something you know well. Give it 110% and watch your ideas gain steam and

7.

Momentum. Once force is behind your ideas, sometimes the machine just goes on its own. Where your ideas take you is a sure bet you may be in the right place? Developing an understanding of personnel is also very important, something which requires an amount of your time and dedication. Always allow people to make mistakes, and they will thank you when they solve an issue on there own. You may be teaching them to work independently, and to develop a sense of pride in the end product. Being clear about what you don’t want. That can be an important idea too. If I want to limit my customers to those who have only interest in a certain thing like Sports, I will foster that belief within the organization. Determining what the customer wants is an important thing too. Having an idea what the customer needs could be an essential tool in defining your goals. Once you find out what the client wants, you can work on providing that thing to them.  Most things like sports occur seasonally, so that means when one thing is being played, the other is at rest. Having alternatives to one sport can cultivate your customer base, while serving the other. Having an idea about the demographics of your customer group can be very useful in setting your goals for the organization. Are most of my customers under the age of 18, or are they between 18-35 etc. Knowing who your target audience is essential. Appealing to these different groups takes some work.

Having a nice attitude can assist you in the workplace or as a leader in an organization. When you are fully engaged in the business, your latitude can move you up. Being fully engaged takes a lot of focus and concentration. Most people work, and those who don’t look at their job as a form of work, but fulfilling ones career path may find more success. They say work at what you love and the money will follow. Most will agree if you love your job, you are bound to succeed. There is definitely some truth to that theory, but keep in mind there is going to be bumps along the way. Would you agree that some days are better than others? If you reply in the affirmative – then you are on your way to understanding a big lesson in life. We can’t be all things to all people, and becoming more aware of our behavior can feed your desire to understand why you do what you do. Take yourself seriously, but not too seriously. Earn respect by showing respect and try to be nice to all people. Just earlier in this chapter I stated that being fully engaged takes a lot of focus and concentration. For example, practice smiling to the first ten people at the beginning of the day, and slowly increase the numbers of smiles each day and your on your way to becoming a friend of many. It might take some work, but you will begin to realize that your circle of friends will expand and your sphere of influence will follow.