...Is divided into four sections:
- Foundations
- Relationships
- Systems
- Balance
In my leadership work, I group skills and strategies into the four areas above. First, Foundations give the leader the clarity to know how to lead the team because the final result in clear; second, build and maintain effective relationship to assist in getting to the vision; next, develop effective systems allowing each team member to excel and to work together efficiently; and finally, create balance in work, in life, and between work in life.
This month I would like to to offer quotes from thought leaders from many disciplines. I have added some content that I created several years ago from my first two books: Moving Spirits, Building Liver: Church Musician as Transformational Leader and Moving Spirits, Building Lives: A Workbook for Transformational Leaders.
Enjoy!
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FOUNDATIONS
Building strong foundations is key for the Transformational Leader. In order to succeed, it is crucial to know what you want. To know what you want, it is important to know who you are and what you value. The worksheets in this section provide a format for discovery and planning. Start where you are, but first identify the current reality. Identify what you value before going on to structure your Vision and Mission. Once these steps are complete, then it’s time to identify specific goals and write them down.
The other key factor that you will discover is that winners don’t work in a vacuum. The concept of a “Mastermind Alliance” developed by Napoleon Hill in 1937 is still as valuable today as it was then. Hill interviewed numerous successful leaders and constructed his theory of success.
A five-year plan remains relevant if it is revised and updated each year. It is an organic model that remains five years in the future each year as it is revised. Do not fill these worksheets out and put them away where they will be forgotten. Put them in a place that will provide a prompting to view them on a regular schedule. Major goals may be important enough to view each and every morning! Keep these positive affirmations in the front of you thinking patterns constantly. Believe it can be accomplished and it will!
Drive deep for rich and complete thoughts using specific language. Know what you want. Identify it exactly. Then you will know how to get there. Use the objectives section to articulate “baby steps” toward your goal. Don’t get discouraged by a big picture goal that seems too big. Give yourself small steps and celebrate accomplishing each one of them!
Some quotes to ponder
The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. ~ Stephen Covey
Change is created by those whose imaginations are bigger than their circumstances ~ Unknown
All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions. ~ Da Vinci
Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. ~ E. Nightingale
You have to think anyway, so why not think big? ~ Donald Trump
Focusing on your values may provide you with meaning, but it won't simplify things. ~ David Allen
The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become. ~ Jim Rohn
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible. - Orison Swett Marden
RELATIONSHIPS
Consider creating a Mastermind Alliance plan, you are prepared to celebrate success due, in part to the synergy of professional relationships. That kind relationship is important. It was not included in this section because that dynamic is foundational in a networking, mentoring, coaching business culture. Other relationships are also crucial to the Transformational Leader. Relationships with those whom you lead are a critical factor.
Transformational Leaders control outcomes not by the power of their position, but by their person influence with those in their care. Cultivating and sustaining values relationships is key to a leader’s future. Any of us have gaps in our skill set. We surround ourselves with those who can fill in those gaps and a complimenting way. This is in no way a weakness in leadership; it is, in fact, a strength. Being honest with your team and identifying ways that skill sets can complement others will bring support and participation. If the leader pretends that that he or she has not gaps, then a negative dynamic is supported which is counter productive to synergistic teamwork.
Transformational Leadership Traits
- Clearly Articulates Vision and Goals
- Defines Things Others Can Do
- Builds Leaders within Teams
- Delegates
- Encourages Boldness
- Gives Information and Support
- Affirms and Celebrates Competence
- Respects the Individual
- Avoids Micromanaging
- Models What They Preach
Build strong relationships.
Some quotes to ponder
To solve any problem, here are 3 questions to ask yourself: What could I do? What could I read? Who could I ask? ~ Jim Rohn
It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed. ~ Napoleon Hill
Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he is best suited. ~ Napoleon Hill
When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion ~ Dale Carnegies
When people are lame, they love to blame. ~ Robert Kiyosaki
People will choose unhappiness over uncertainty. ~ Tim Ferriss
The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. ~ Carl Jung
Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. ~ John Wooden
A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse. ~ Florence Nightingale
In the last analysis, what we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do. ~ Stephen Covey
A bore is a person who opens his mouth and puts his feats in it. ~ Henry Ford
SYSTEMS
Relationship BECOMES Process
Process CREATES Trust
Trust FORMS Community
Community BUILDS Relationships
The Transformational Leader works with people. Working with people means establishing systems that people can understand and follow. The sequence above is true about teams. You recruit a person for your team because you know and trust them, however, factors in a personal relationship do not necessarily transfer to a good team relationship. You tend to overlook the faults and inconsistencies of friends. In a team, that is not always possible. Each team member must depend on other members to perform. If the leader overlooks the faults of a friend, then the relationship with other team members is damaged.
Therefore, you recruit a person because of a relationship, but process replaces that relationship and creates trust, community and a different relationship for the team members as a whole.
Transformational Leaders understand change. Change is necessary for transformation. The leader, however, must be willing to change first before expecting others to be willing to change. The transformation begins with the leader, and then moves to the team.
The templates and worksheets that follow are intended to give the leader some structure for discipline.
In order to be creative there must be a foundation of planning, structure and commitment to excellence. A creative person that creates alone can be whatever they wish. However, to lead a team, creativity is free when the vision is unified and there is synergy with the team.
Look at your skill set first, then help others do the same. They will respect your discipline and preparation.
Some quotes to ponder
Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. ~ Tony Robbins
You will never find time for anything. You must make it. ~ Charles Buxton
You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first. ~ Frederick B. Wilcox
It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action. ~ Al Batt
You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. ~ Richard Bach
Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. ~ Soren Kierkegaar
The morality of compromise sounds contradictory. ~ Andrew Carnegie
Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know. ~ Jim Rohn
BALANCE
Winning isn’t everything. Winning is having a life that is fulfilling and joyful. Success is defined by each of us and we value it. The 12 indicators specified by Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Association are:
- Education
- Employment
- Energy
- Environment
- Health
- Human Rights
- Income
- Infrastructure
- National Security
- Public Safety
- Re-Creation
- Shelter
For the purposes of this post, I have limited the quality of life discussion to the following:
- Personal Relationships
- Spiritual and Physical Health
- Balance and Wholeness
In his book Exceptional Life, Kurt DuNard points out “To live and exceptional life, we must keep complete balance in all areas of our lives and those areas must be in relationship and complimentary to our raison d’être, our purpose or our calling….It regulates all our other goals so that everything ultimately matters.”
I agree that everything is connected. If we are not happy in our personal life, how can we succeed on our professional life? If we do appear to succeed, does it make us happy? Does it really matter?
Some quotes to ponder
Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. ~ Les Brown
They were seeking out the treasure of their destiny, without actually wanting to live out their destiny. ~ Paulo Coelho
If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. ~ Jim Rohn
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~ Winston Churchill
At the end of the day, the questions we ask of ourselves determine the type of people that we will become ~ Leo Babauta
Concentration is the secret of strength. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
SUCCESS
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
