Leading without Limits

Have you ever wondered what you were really capable of? What you could do, if you didn’t know what you couldn’t do? Our world is full of limits, some which are legal limits to give us boundaries to keep us safe. Other limits are imposed on us, sometimes by people around us, and sometimes by ourselves. Legal limits are important and are therefore not the subject of this newsletter. However our self-imposed limits are!
Have you ever heard someone say – “I can’t do that!” Why can’t we do more than we ever dreamed we were capable of. The reason most people can’t and don’t is because they decide they can’t and then they fulfill that destiny. Effective leaders are visionaries, they allow themselves to see the potential and to ignore the imposed boundaries. If we lead others without limits then we allow them to think, we encourage them to express themselves so that new opportunities can be shared. We make discoveries. We grow. Take a look at some of the most successful companies today! They are companies who had vision, who had determination and who believed in testing and trying things that pushed them beyond the limits of most peoples imagination.
So why do we have limits? We have them because we have listened to people who were programmed to listen to limits. I use the word programming loosely, but much of the world has historically been divided, as it is today, there are those who want to discover and those who don’t. The discoverers or leaders have paved the path to our technology and exploration. But these people are the minority. The majority have been conformist, in that they don’t want to seem greedy, they dream of having only what they absolutely need to survive, because to them it would be selfish to want for more. They are reluctant to believe in bigger goals and therefore settle when they reach the first goal rarely striving for the 8th goal. They settle and begin to live within limits.
Living without limits – is as much a mental process as it is anything. We have to believe we can achieve which is the first hurdle. Then we have realize that we are going to work toward that goal. I was with Jim Cathcart Saturday, author of the Acorn Principle, he reminded me that when we get stuck in limits, we may need to dream for a moment, about what we want to be, and then aim so that we become that person or reach that goal. What would you like to be? What limits are stopping you from being the leader you need and want to be? Be careful because this question often invokes our blame characteristic, when we are often the only person there is to blame on this issue. I understand we all have a maximum capacity, at which we become tired and unproductive, but I also understand that if we keep working this capacity it can grow. As a skydiver, I want to grow and to test my ability to learn more about this sport, it causes me to stretch and that helps me to change my limits. In 2006 and 2007 I walked in the Susan G. Komen 3 day 60 mile walk to fight Breast cancer. For many the thoughts of walking 20 miles a day is overwhelming. But when we break it down into small segments it becomes something we can do.
I am completing the final touches on my book Closing the Gap: Brining Generations Together. Any limits I had about writing this book, were mine. I have 25,000 subscribers to this newsletter and not one of you, said I couldn’t do it! I created my own doubt, but I decided to let go of my limits. In this book on the various Generational Issues all over the world I talk about Generation Y or the Millennial Generation born after 1977. They are a generation that tests the limits. They need leaders without limits regarding potential, because they are ready to move us faster and farther, if only we will let them. Today, challenge yourself to see the potential that lies within you and those you lead, instead of accepting limits.

Generational Differences

Have you noticed that people of different generations approach work differently? That each generation has its own unique communication style? Most of us are aware that differences exist, but many people are unaware of what causes the difference or what to do to bridge the gap. So lets get started with building a bridge. Take a few minutes and think of defining moments in your life, moments that impacted you as well as the country that you grew up in? These events changed the way you perceived the world and your safety within it. For example, September 11th, 2001 redefined the security of people who were going to work? International terrorism landed in the United States and changed the way people thought about the typical day. It changed the way workers and employers looked at emergency management plans. These items suddenly became more than plans on paper and become way of keeping people safe. Now not all defining moments are negative, but many of them are.
Our experiences and the response of society and family to those experiences directly affects how we respond and what we learn to do. For example, Generation Y born from 1977 to 2000 are a generation that communicates in acronyms. They grew up with PDA’s DVD’s CD’s and MP3’s Their communication is filled with words that are simply letters – LOL and this is very natural to this generation. While older generations such as the Mature generation born 1930’s to 1944 were raised with acronyms which they too invented such as AC for air conditioner , typically their vocabulary has been more restricted or censored. The mature generation was more consistently raised to use polite phrases, thank you, please, your welcome, while younger generations found these phrases to be optional and in some areas eliminated these phrases all together. In the workplace leaders may need to take a moment to re-evaluate communication methods for each generation and how communication techniques and styles can increase productivity and clarity or cause it to depreciate. We all lead someone, we just have to know if we are leading down the path that will improve our relationships. Have a great week.

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