I find that there are many ways to learn. I hope to provide some insight on the ways that I learn, share knowledge, and be a great community citizen to the web.

MEASURE - SPEND THE TIME

When looking up measure in the dictionary, I was struck by one of the core definitions: reach the required or expected standard; fulfill expectations Admittedly, most of my work has had ambiguous or ill defined measures. But as I am maturing as a leader, I have started looking for ways to measure what I am doing, either for myself, management, or the company. Here are some lessons I am learning:

MISTAKE - WE ALL MAKE ONE OR TWO

I remember the T-Shirt I got on a family vacation. You know the ones back in the 80’s, glitter and rainbow decals. These famous words were transcribed on front: I thought I made a mistake once, but I was wrong. Over the years, I used this saying whenever I did make a mistake as a way to brush it off. It was my way of reconciling with incorrectness on my part. We all make mistakes, how we handle them makes all the difference. Here are ways I believe great leaders handle mistakes:

FUTURE - LEADERS PREPARE FOR THE UNKNOWN

One universal truth, no one knows what the future will be. The brother of Jesus sums it up best (James 4:13-15): Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

SHALLOW - YOU KNOW THERE IS A DEEP END

I am convicted as I write about being shallow. There are so many areas of my life, where skimming the surface wading into the issue ankle deep is comfortable. My contributions in work suffer from superficial dedication to solving the problem. I pretend to listen deeply, but treat all the words as white noise on the outer edge, while getting my thoughts ready for the next rebuttal. I use shallowness to play ignorant or feign a lack of expertise about subjects. My roots aren’t firm and my convictions blow away at the slightest turmoil.

FULFILLMENT - LEADERS COMPLETE WORK

I have now been working about 6 hours today. I wish I could say it is for enjoyment, but rather I am trying to fulfill a work commitment. Sometimes it takes extra effort, persevering through frustration, or just time to complete. Fulfillment is that finality of completion, the realization of a achieving a goal, or getting to the end. Leaders take fulfillment very seriously, both for themselves and their subordinates. In order to complete work, here are two key leadership behaviors:

AMAZE

The dictionary shows the following synonyms for amaze: Astonish, astound, surprise, stun, stupefy, awe. But beware of the trap. People are often amazed by the superficial, the crowd favorite, the unique, or obscure. We miss out on the truly amazing that many times is mundane, common place, or steady. Great leaders don’t work to amaze, but rather to take on the tough issues. There solutions may seem extraordinary, but they are built on blood, sweat, and tears. Great works are forged through collaboration, and persistence. Here are some leadership examples which amaze me:

BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING

As I am studying great leadership, I find that most have learned how to overcome being anxious. Their outward appearance is one of a calm demeanor, they have a steady hand, and command with ease the most difficult situations. Being a former military person, I saw how well officers would make decisions with determination, even though lives may have been at stake. Nehemiah always comes to mind as a leader who didn’t worry, but sought God’s council in his decision making and charged ahead. Here are a couple of ways that leaders overcome that sense of worry.

SOLITUDE ISNT ABOUT BEING LONELY

When you hear the word solitude, what is the picture that pops into your mind? Is it one of calmness, maybe a lake that is perfectly still, or a person cross-legged with their eyes closed and meditating? The word solitude is defined as “a state or situation of being alone.” However, it also infers that you are not lonely in this state. We have all experienced some solitude in our lives. Some have made it a practice to seek solitude frequently, others just by happenstance. From a leadership perspective, it is critical to key decision making, getting clear focus and vision, and acquiring much needed rest. Let’s look at some examples from the Bible:

VALUABLE MEETINGS

Meetings. How many of them can be changed, disregarded, and not even attended? Can one spend their time on more valuable work?

A PROPER RESPONSE

Having the right response to others makes collaboration much easier.