The Dilemma in Today's Corporate World: To Manage or to Lead that is the Question

      We live in a world of knowledge. We know that there advantages to using synergy and teams in developing our business and in accelerating our personal and professional potentials. So why would anyone want to be a Manager instead of a Leader (or Coordinator).  The definition of a manager is a person who's job it is to control movement or behavior. While, leaders are defined as people who guide others. According to the definition "managing" could make work easier, if we really had the power to control the actions of others, but the reality is we don't! Leading people requires more self-control and encourages personal and professional growth for all.
      The best way to lead is to use a model I call the 3-R's of Leadership: 1) Role Model, 2) Recognize, and 3) Reward.
As leaders, we must serve as role models for everyone we work with. If we want people to greet us with a smile, then we must greet them with a smile. If we want them to speak to us, then we must speak to them. If we are in a leadership position or hope to be in that position, then we must model our best behavior 100% of the time. Remember the role models that we had growing up; we watched them even when they didn't know our eyes and ears were on them. And based on what we saw and heard we began to model ourselves after them. If people you are working with are not where you would like them to be then look at what you can do to be a better role model for them. The benefit is this approach is that it increases our accountability for our own actions. In addition, everyone who takes on the Role Model approach at work is making a statement about his/her self, because where we work and how we work defines who we are.  Leaders understand the leadership is a serving relationship and that role modeling is only one step in developing relationships. The benefit of leading is twofold: 1) it helps us to serve and guide  those around us, and 2) it has a self-serving benefit in that it increases our personal awareness and encourages us to always do better. We are all leaders in our own world. Today begin improving yourself and your world by being more aware of how you are as a Role Model. (The next two newsletters will focus on Recognition and Reward.)

Quote:    "Leading means you have the ability to serve people in a special way.” C. Krosky

The Essence of Leadership
"I observe that there are two entirely different theories according to which individual men seek to get on in the world. One theory leads a man to pull down everybody around him in order to climb up on them to a higher place. The other leads a man to help everybody around him in order that he may go up with them."  By  Elihu Root

Power of Positive Projection: The Triple Your Success with the PPP Plan

    The power of positive projection allows us to examine our goals, strengthen, and increase our success rate and to maintain our success momentum. We all have different roles, some days I am providing Executive coaching to clients, or helping a board develop strategic goals other times I am providing a keynote or doing training. Building this business wasn’t about just building a job, it was about building a life that worked with my career. I am in the business of speaking and coaching, so that lives may be improved. These are simple statements, yet powerful in the message they give me. The order of the wording reminds me that success is dependent on managing both my life and the speaking business. Remember in English class when we learned about modifiers, what we didn’t learn is that how we modify or say what we do has projective power. To be successful in projecting positive thoughts we have to state first what we are doing, then why we are doing it. Large businesses understand this on a corporate level; employees often don’t know how to apply the message and small business owners can lose sight of the order. This is why a mission statement or vision statement that is easy to repeat has such value for any organization. It gives life to the business and allows the employees to embrace and own it. For example: Walt Disney’s “Making dreams come true.” A cast member (employee) can see a family struggling to find a location and can help guide them, making them happy as they aren’t wasting time trying to find where to view a parade.  

 One area that we all can benefit practicing the power of positive projection in is in our personal lives. Those of you who have heard me speak know that one of my life goals is for my life to outlive me, which means that I seek to be better tomorrow than I am today and to make a positive difference in someone’s life. I want to live a life without regrets, that means being true to the people in my life and to myself, by embracing every moment I can and living life to its fullest. In order to do this successfully I have applied the triple P program of business to my life. As you examine the steps below, understand that plans may require adjusting as tremendous life changes or unexpected events happen.

 Plan - The first step is to create a business plan (for living or for business) it should incorporate: 1) goals for personal growth and achievements, 2) financial goals, for making it happen, 3) plans and directions for taking the first steps, 4) smaller goals to check on quarterly to determine if you are on track, and 5) congruency between your life and business plan. The whole plan is based on positive projections that generate success. Plans are meant to have some level of flexibility as there will be unexpected obstacles.

For Positive projection to have real power, share your written business or life plan with someone who believes in you. This could be a life coach or a good friend. Get this person involved by getting their input and support so that they can help keep you on track. Finally, apply a business strategy of checking on the status of your plan regularly, either every quarter or monthly; apply this same accountability to life plans. In my life plan, I check on some items daily and other items monthly to make sure I am on track.

The most successful months I have had were when I stayed in tune with my plan, my business grew, and I grew. No matter what you do or where you want to go, you can’t get there without starting. Traveling out of the country, we encounter some inevitable questions asked by the agents in customs. "Where are you from? Where are you going? What are you brining with you?" So think of the answers to those questions as they relate to your business and life, as the answers will help you move toward success. It is hard to get ahead when we are only looking backwards at where we have been.

Quote: "Success is a matter of mind, if you mind what matters you are successful."
C. Krosky

Because people frequently ask, when one of my programs is open to the public, I wanted to share that on April 21, 2013 I will be speaking at Stuart Congregational Church, in Stuart, FL providing the message on Leaving a Legacy. http://www.stuartcongregational.com/