CategoryLeadership

Improved Mental Fitness Through Physical Fitness

2 Min read

Leader wellness requires physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual fitness.  As I was thumbing through an in-flight magazine today I noticed an article citing research that I’ve long suspected; moderate exercise benefits not only physical well being but also our mental.  Most of us have been through intermittent periods of exercise or non-exercise with higher fatigue, irritablility, and higher stress during the periods inactivity.

I hold that regular and moderate exercise helps me contend with the physical and mental demands I face.  When I get off of an exercise  routine (which is often) even for a few weeks the results are never positive.  Turns out I’m apparently correct.  Exercise influences a multitude of pysiological and phsychological factors including circulation of mood-linked neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine as well as helping  work off anxiety-producing adrenaline.  According to Dr Tedd Mitchell MD of the Dallas-based Cooper clinic reducing adrenaline is like “taking a dose of a tranquilizer.”.

New studies are showing that exercise may build a protective effect.  Animal studies suggest that long-term moderate exercise may cause a lessened response to stressful stimuli.  Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder are finding that lab rats who exercised on a wheel every day for six weeks reacted better to sudden stress compared to the sedintary rats.

These initial findings indicate the mental benefits of exercise last after effects of serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline reduction wear off.

New research is proving that what’s good for the body is good for the mind too. – Charlotte Huff

From “Mental Fitness” in Celebrate Living magazine

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So You Want to be Famous?

3 Min read

I have to ask….Why?

As a father of two teenage daughters I frequently hear their friends and them state somthing akin to “I just want to do something to be famous..”  I cringe every time I hear it because they envision a life of glitz, glamour, and glory….I see a life of discontent, decadence, and diversions.

Jesus was arguably the most famous person to live;  almost 2000 years later his name is known throughout the world. We celebrate holidays dedicated to his life and death (and ressurection). Fame itself is not the problem, it’s how we get there lately that’s wrong.

Too many young people are striving for fame for fame’s sake alone.  Fame for fame’s sake guaruntees one to never be content with enough fame. I’m convinced the famous will not be through seeking until they pass that one in front of them with more album sales, more money per movie, the most awards, wins….

Fame by the worlds standards, especially by United States standards is rooted in decadence. We have young ladies famous only for the devience they gained attention for.  They’ve reached a goal, but at what cost?  With the exception of very few who obtained fame through a narrow business or humanitarian niche the cost to the individual and our culture is just too high. (more…)

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Thirteen Behaviors of High Trust

1 Min read
  1. Talk Straight
  2. Demonstrate Respect
  3. Create transparency
  4. Right wrongs
  5. Show Loyalty
  6. Deliver results
  7. Get better
  8. Confront reality
  9. Clarify expectations
  10. Practice accountability
  11. Listen first
  12. Keep commitments
  13. Extend trust

Franklin Covey

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Truthfulness

2 Min read

Arrogant [Eloquent] lips are unsuited to a fool
how much worse lying lips to a ruler! Proverbs 17:5-7 (NIV)

Truthfulness is an elusive habit for leaders.  We are assaulted daily by situations that beg for lies, half-truths, misinformation, deception, and withholding.  These situations arise at work from difficult communication, positions of disadvantage to us, and fear of retribution.  Within our families they arise from personal pride toward spouses, fear of children’s actions, and discomfort with admitting to wrong actions.

The mad boss asks, “Who made this decision?”
The Christian brother states, “I’m only flirting with her, I can control it.”
The inefficient employee asks, “Am I doing ok working for you?”
The spouse demands, “Where did all of our money go?”
Your child asks, “Where do babies come from?”

A Christian Leader’s response:

1.  Just tell it. The benefits of truthfulness outweigh the costs in the long run as your boss learns to appreciates your trust and candor, your spouse loves the open communication, and your children model.  Warning, blunt truthfulness will mark you as a jerk and harm your ability to influence.  Use gentleness and patience to form your communication in a way that creates an environment of appreciation.

2.  Demand it in return. My initial briefing to new employees has always included the requirement of truth.  My nature I am a trusting person, tell me something and I take it to the bank until that something is proven false.  Once you lose my trust it’s hard to get it back.   My daughters were raised with the same requirement.  I marvel at parents who severely discipline children based on honest disclosure.  Since birth we have demanded truth and lessened discipline with it.  The result, open communication… something seemingly rare in today’s youth.

To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful. Edward R. Murrow

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Leadership Poem

1 Min read

The self authentic
Resolutely turned inside out
Deep core manifest
Purpose-driven intent

Committed in relationship
Seeking mutual purpose
Influencing connections and direction

Action and transformation in the world
Demands personal transformation of leader
An arduous path that calls for

Life-time commitment
Sometimes agony
Sometimes exhilaration
Always risky

This personal stretching requires
Courage, commitment, sacrifice,
All in service

Transcending comfortable preferences
Balancing limits
With counterpoint skills
Interpret the situation

Influence the others
Work for the good of the whole.

M. L. Menikheim

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New Leader Top Five

2 Min read

 I recently hired a new leader for a regional area of our large sales type organization.  During our initial meeting he and I discussed my expectations, talked about the vision for the organization, my leadership philosphy, and near term goals for his area.  I also provided him with a concise list of the top five things he could do to get off to a good start with his subordinate leaders:

  1. Be clear on what you expect and recognize those who meet or miss it
  2. Be available when and where it matters most
  3. Be an advocate for your subordinates without being an enabler of bad behavior/excuses.  Be prepared to say “no” when “no” is warranted.
  4. Be informed.  Track details two levels down
  5. Be a leader.  Don’t expect subordinates to adjust to the leadership style you’re comfortable with, adapt your leadership techniques to gain the most influence.

Of course leadership is more complex than just five things,  but when taking over a new position it’s easy to get disctacted with all of the information and decisions required.  These five things provide the new leader with a framework to build on future success as operations start to syncronize and get into a rythmn enabling them to build on what they initially established.

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Daniel Pink on Motivation

1 Min read

In this 2009 TED Conference presentation Daniel Pink examines motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most leaders don’t: Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think.

(more…)

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Motivation 3.0 for the Christian Leader

4 Min read

I grew up in a time when church frequently included special gospel meetings that featured a guest preacher imploring nightly over the course of a week to get right and reap the rewards of heaven or certainly go to hell. We were encouraged to invite our friends and neighbors where every night the message and volume would escalate until a satisfactory number had responded to avoid the punishment of hell. Unfortunately, the fear motivated responses rarely resulted in life-long change, many left the church quickly never to return.

As I read Daniel Pink’s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us it struck me that we have built a church, family, and work culture based on an inferior motivational model. In a sense, our churches are stuck in a 20th century when such practices were the norm, but fall short with today’s generation. Because we were raised in this environment most of today’s leaders are just modeling what we know.

Pink presents a compelling case for a deeper method of personal, peer, and subordinate motivation. He contends that human motivation has evolved from a basic needs model, to a “carrot and stick” model, and as he proposes, a more stable intrinsic motivation model. In modern vernacular he labels these models in the style of a progressive human operating system upgrade: Motivation 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0.

(more…)

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Arpey on Diversity

1 Min read

Our challenges are too big to let a single employee’s ideas or energy go to waste, so sustaining an environment of dignity, respect, and collaboration – where different perspectives are not only welcome but sought out – is critical.

Gerard J. Arpey Chairman and CEO of American Airlines in American Way magazine January 2010

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