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Inspiring Video On Leadership

You could write a post that contains all of the statements and quotes in this video, but it would lose it's power and punch. I love what they've done here. Everything sounds better with a powerful soundtrack backing it up!

Were you inspired? (even though it ends with an ad?)

How can you incorporate video into your next training?

Finding The Next Great Leader

Looking for potential leaders?

Excellent article over at Learn This

The patterns that emerged were often surprising even to the researchers. The researchers determined that great leaders were passionate about doing what was best for their companies. This drive for the advancement of the company took precedence over their drive for personal advancement and recognition. The leaders of these companies also exercised personal humility by passing forward credit and accepting blame. Additionally, they asked questions as often, if not more often, than they gave answers. This empowered their people to make important decisions which increased their confidence, skills, and commitment to the organization. These leaders also exhibited commonalities within their personal lives. Many of the leaders studied were extremely modest. They often preferred domestic cars or pick-up trucks over exotic sports cars. They also had a tendency to live in moderate houses instead of sprawling mansions or estates. Though humble and modest, these leaders were not meek. They tended to be stoic when it came to important business decisions. They would make tough decisions without great emotion and fanfare but rather with quiet resolve and determination. In short, great leaders are defined by their humility, integrity, determination, and strength of character, not by their stage presence and strength of personality.

You could create a pretty good checklist based on this paragraph alone.

Read the article in its entirety - Why Is It So Hard For Companies To Find Great Leaders?

The Studentlinc Core Leadership Training BOOK Available

It's ready and available for student leaders!

The Studentlinc Core Leadership Training Book is completed.

This has been a slow learning process for me as these lessons have evolved from material that I use to teach and train student leaders into a book that I can put into their hands.

Here's some of the highlights of this release:

1. The lessons were previously written to those who work with and advise student leaders. In the process of creating this book, I've changed the audience and written it directly TO student leaders.

2. The lessons were previously sold as a pdf download on studentlinc for $49.99. The book is actually cheaper (by $20 or almost 50%) and is being sold through Lulu for the price of $29.79. The reason? I want you to be able to put this resource into the hands of your student leaders. I didn't write this material to fund my retirement and I don't want money to get in the way of your students having this. In fact, with Lulu, if you start buying the book in bulk the price goes down!

3. I went with a spiral-bound book. It's 252 pages and I want students to write in it, refer back to it, and work through the questions and action items in each chapter. A spiral-bound book allows you to lay the book flat on the table and is much easier to write in.

Again, I'm pretty excited to get this resource into book form. It's something that your student leaders can work through over an entire student leader year. For a little more information visit the Studentlinc Core Leadership Training page on this site.

Do You Recognize Any Of These Signs?

The Dumb Little Man blog has an excellent article on 7 Signs Of A Leader, which he entitles a "must read."

Guest author, Mr. SelfDevelopment, writes the following at the start of the article...

We all need leaders in our lives: mentors, people to look up to, people that simply get it. Leaders inspire us, help us accomplish our dreams, and teach by example. Leaders make us better people and give us an ideal to strive for.

The measure of leadership is always influence; leaders have an amazing ability to influence our lives. Leaders lead wherever they go; they lead at work, at home, or wherever they happen to be.

So after that intro, it's easy to conclude that being a leader is not an easy task; it requires a collection of very important skills that have to be ingrained into your daily practice - your soul.

Check out all 7 Signs: Vision, Discipline, Emotional Strength, Experience, Respect, People Skills, and Momentum & Timing. Read the article in it's entirety here.

Do you possess any of these signs in your leadership? Are there other signs that you would add to the list?

They Can See Your Weakness

When I got married, something crazy happened.

All of the ways I was relationally-challenged (self-esteem, anger, critical, selfish, etc) became obvious.

I had done such a good job of being on my best behavior during the dating phase of my relationship. It wasn't that I was trying to be inauthentic or be someone I wasn't. It's just that after a period of time, when you let your natural self come through, you start to show the cracks in your own cement.

Marriage exposed my weaknesses in relationships because it was the most intense of all relationships.

I think the same is true when you and I aspire to be a leader. When we campaign or interview or step through the hoops to serve in a leadership position, we tend to try and show what's great about us. We demonstrate how our strengths will be an asset and our weaknesses are actually thinly-veiled strengths that we simply haven't tapped into properly (example: I'm inpatient because I want the team to always strive for excellence).

You Don't Have To Be Out Front To Lead

I went to see my daughter perform in the musical, Jungle Book, over the weekend.

Of course I'm so proud of her. She is typically quite shy and not comfortable on a stage. Yet there she was, dancing, singing, even saying a line or two. It was a fun performance.

As I looked around there was one person who was visibly absent - the director.

I kept looking around during the first half-hour of the show trying to spot him in the crowd or at the sound booth. Didn't see him anywhere.

I finally spotted him way back in the corner of the auditorium. He was sitting there enjoying the show along with everyone else. I thought to myself, "He must have a lot of confidence in the kids and the crew backstage to simply be sitting in the back as a spectator."

Relevant Leadership #6

Relevant Leadership = Relevant Presence
By Kenton Lee

What happens when people say “The boss is coming!”? Usually, employees stop doing what they are doing and start working. They are nervous when the boss is around. They aren’t themselves. Employees act differently when they are in the presence of their superior.

So what would a relevant presence look like? Relevant presence is completely different than the common perception of what happens when the boss is around. Relevant presence is a kind of presence that people desire; people actually want you to be around. It is the presence that brings inspiration and motivation. It is the kind of presence that encourages and guides.

Relevant Leadership #5

Relevant Leadership = Relevant Success
By Kenton Lee

Success. That’s what it’s all about, right? Everything we do – all of our efforts, resources, time, and energy – all goes to ensuring success. But what is success? And, more appropriately, what does success look like in today’s society? What is relevant success?

Relevant success is different than you might expect, but it makes sense. Relevant success is all the people around you and the people attached to your mission. True success is all about people.

A leader could run their team into the ground trying to make money. A person could backstab and ignore others and lie and cheat and steal to get to the top. Organizations can lose sight of everything else in hopes of achieving a goal.

But what really matters?

In the end, the only thing that matters is people. Gaining money while ignoring relationships is not success. Achieving goals at the expense of hurting or ignoring people or damaging the opportunities for a good and full life is not success. The beginning and the end of relevant success is all about people.

Relevant leaders seek relevant success – and that success is centered on people.

Impact on People is the Highest Success

What is the highest pinnacle of success for you?
How do you measure your success?
What kind of success do you seek?

What is success for you?

__________________________________________

Kenton Lee works with student leaders on a daily basis and is committed to helping them be relevant in all areas of life. Got a question for Kenton? Email him.

Relevant Leadership #4

Relevant Leadership = Relevant Relationships
By Kenton Lee

Relationships are the foundation of leadership. You cannot do anything without relationships, and you can do everything with relationships. People communicate better when there is a relationship. People are better motivated to achieve goals and missions through relationships. People respond better in difficult situations when there is a relationship. Basically, every area of leadership is better with relationships. So how do you have a relevant relationship with the people around you?

Relevant relationships begin with the understanding that they are all about other people. There cannot be a relevant relationship that is built on selfishness and “what I can get out of it”. A relevant relationship is centered on the other person. There are four key pieces to the puzzle of any relevant relationship with the people around you.

First, there must be authenticity. Authenticity breeds authenticity – and nobody wants a leader who is aloof and fake.

Second, relevant relationships must have availability. Leaders need to be available to the people around them for their times of crisis and times of need especially.

Third, a relevant relationship is built upon listening. Sometimes leaders need to simply sit down and listen for a while. 

Finally, the glue that holds a relevant relationship together is caring. Even if a leader does not have the best interpersonal skills, they will have a life full of relevant relationships if they simply care about the people around them. 

What’s the Recipe for Relevant RELATIONSHIPS

Authenticity + Availability + Listening + Caring = Relevant Relationship Soup

Relevant relationships are all about other people…. Who are your relationships all about?

Relevant relationships gain impact when leaders truly care….. Do you truly care about the people around you?

Relevant relationships take effort, intentionality, and time….. Are you willing to work hard for relevant relationships?
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Kenton Lee works with student leaders on a daily basis and is committed to helping them be relevant in all areas of life. Got a question for Kenton? Email him.

Relevant Leadership #3

Relevant Leadership = Relevant Communication
By Kenton Lee

Communication is at the center of most everything that leaders do. Whether it is organizing an event with multiple parts, publicizing something to the community, or speaking one-on-one with someone on your team – leaders have to communicate their messages in ways that people can receive them effectively. What is one of the best ways to communicate? People want communication that is relevant to how they prefer to send and receive messages. But what is relevant communication?

Relevant communication is finding the best way to communicate with someone and then taking the initiative to communicate with them through those means. It is texting the person who you know never checks their email. It is Facebooking the person who you know checks their Facebook page everyday. It is calling the person who is constantly on the go. Relevant communication is not about what is easiest for you…it is about what is easiest for them.

How Do You Do It?

In order to communicate in the most relevant way with those around you, there are two things that must happen:

1. You need to know the people around you. Develop relationships with those with whom you need to communicate. You need to get to the point where you know them so well that you identify their preferred means of communication. This cannot happen if you lead from afar. You need to get in close and know the people around you.

2. You need to take the time and give the effort to go above and beyond in your communication. Granted, sending out a mass email is easy and does not take very long. But is it the best way to communicate? Nope. Take the time to relevantly communicate with people in ways that will truly get the message across to them. Give the extra effort to reach someone the way they want to be reached. By going above and beyond to communicate relevantly, you will reap a harvest of understanding, accuracy, timeliness, and response.

Leaders who want to communicate relevantly and effectively with the people around them will find out their preferred method of communication and take the time and effort to utilize it.

How do the people around me like to communicate best?
Are there more relevant ways that I can communicate my messages?
Who do I struggle communicating with? Do I know their preferred method of communication?

Am I willing to take the time and effort to communicate relevantly with those around me?

__________________________________________

Kenton Lee works with student leaders on a daily basis and is committed to helping them be relevant in all areas of life. Got a question for Kenton? Email him.