Who’s the Leadership Expert??

A few days ago I was giving a talk to a business organization, made up of CEO’s entrepreneurs, small business owners, and corporate professionals. Speaking of course, on my passion, “Abundance Leadership”, and how it applies to everyone, how it makes a difference to everyone whom you influence or with whom you interact, how it means growing as a person, serving others, etc., etc.

I was quoting some of my favorite, foremost leadership experts, authors, consultants, coaches, researchers, and observers. My passion was flowing. My audience was captured and inspired (oh so I thought). When I opened the floor for questions, I got one that took me aback.

A longtime business owner (I’ll call him Jake) asked, “Do you have any quotes from real (i.e. “famous”) business leaders?” I thought that John C. Maxwell, Stephen MR covey, Marshall Goldsmith, and Peter Senge provided a pretty strong list of experts for my quotes. But that one question threw me into the realization that maybe not every business owner is reading the leadership books. Maybe some people want leadership as penned by Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, Larry Ellingson.

I wanted to shout to this person, “Don’t you know who John Maxwell IS? Don’t you realize that Peter Senge wrote what is practically the BIBLE on leading organizations?” I wanted to top off my imaginary response with a final barrage stating that the CEO’s of large corporations don’t necessarily model Abundance Leadership. Some, in fact, treat other people in pretty shoddy ways. That’s not what Abundance Leadership (also called Higher Ground Leadership, Higher Level Leadership, New Story Leadership by various experts) embodies.
However, my need to honor all people, coupled with wanting Jake to save face in front of his colleagues, led me to promise to find some quotes and email these to him.

But there’s one more thought I want to send to Jake, and that’s the fact that someone doing “it” may not be able to explain “it”. Someone who’s leading beautifully and inspirationally has learned from someone else…and the someone elses are the people I was quoting. And even the ones who are being coached to be at their best, only have a limited vista of the actions, knowledge, thoughts, & transformations that are taking place with thousands of leaders around the world. However, the people who are observing them, studying them, coaching them, training them have a huge base of data to draw from. A single leader only has one—himself.

So there. Next time I get that question, I’m prepared!
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Passing Along the Wisdom

Today I spoke with Carla Cobb Davis, my radio guest for the week. Carla is a colleague of mine, but I can’t really say that I know her well. I have always sensed the abundance leadership qualities within her, but I never knew her power and gifts until today. She spoke such wisdom and truths, that it was as if she knew Marshall Goldsmith’s book (“What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”) by heart. Some of her pearls (greatly condensed):
A Leader is someone who influences others to follow. This is done by having a clear & powerful vision that is communicated, looking for solutions, not problems, then unleashing your people to use their talents to develop a solution. It means letting go of the need to be in charge of the outcome, and growing your people, letting them own their ideas and solutions…and not let yourself be caught up in having to get the credit. It means listening (times 3!), watching, touching and feeling in order to understand what your people need, then doing it. It means being a “servant Leader”, by showing that your role is all about them…the employees.
So, it’s all about setting an example and not letting your ego get in the way.
When I asked her how leadership fits into the lives/behavior of women & men who aren’t managers/CEO’s, her response was: “Wear your integrity”. Integrity is a hallmark of a great leader that we can all display.

Woo Hoo! What power in my guests!

The last two interviews I’ve done on my Abundance Leadership shows have been, as my producer said, “Marvelous”! Two powerhouses: Sandra Yancey and Marshall Goldsmith. What’s remarkable as I work with leaders, read about real leadership, speak with inspiring leaders, and interview experts who work with leaders is that it comes down to some very basic things:

1. Those who lead others must first lead themselves. We bring all of who we are into what we do, so if you’re not getting the results you want, or if people aren’t following you…look in the mirror to find the reason why.

2. Leadership starts with inspiration. Are you inspired by who you are and where you’re going? If you are (and if you can articulate it!), then others will want to be part of who are are and where you’re going. I love the line that John C. Maxwell quotes that states. “If a person says he’s leading, but has no followers, then he is just taking a walk”. When we bring inspiration to ourselves and to others, with it we bring a passion that pays off with overall organizational effectiveness and profits.

3. As Stephen MR Covey says in his latest book, The Speed of Trust, great leaders are those individuals whom others can trust. How do you build trust? By caring, by serving others, by have integrity, by having courage, and by being authentic.

As Marshall Goldsmith told me, today’s organizations are comprised of “information workers”, who demand more, know what’s “out there” in the rest of the world, and who understand, at some level, that they are meant to be respected. It takes a special kind of leader to lead in this 21st Century environment.

If you missed these shows, listen here: go to www.modavox.com/voiceamericabusiness and listen or download from the archives.
Blessings!

Plug in and Power Up For Abundance Leadership!

Abundance Leadership…what does this mean? It’s the title of my 2008 “live-talk” radio interview series on voiceamerica.com… a title that my producer, Stephan Jacob, and I created. But it’s more than a title, it’s a way of being as a leader. Its outgrowth is a culture of leadership that honors the human-ness of each person, and has as its hallmark the commitment to the growth and excellence each individual. Its symptoms are servanthood, self respect, respect of others, authenticity, courage, integrity, communication, caring, and effectiveness.
If this sounds like fantasy, I’m happy to report that it’s not. Numerous organizations are embracing the values and behavior of Abundance Leadership, and are reaping the benefits. What benefits? How about improved efficiency and productivity, lower employee turnover, higher customer retention, higher revenue and profits?

I kicked off my 13-week radio show on August 26th, 2008, with an overview of Abundance Leadership, armed with research, writings and experience of some incredible consultants, coaches, CEO’s and authors. Since then, I have interviewed Marshall Goldsmith about the mistakes that leaders make which limit their effectiveness and growth (professional AND personal growth). I’ll write more about this entertaining and interesting conversation with Marshall in a later post. Stay tuned!