A Leader has Friends

Being a leader, I have a lot of friends.  When I walk into a room people smile at me, say hello, and act like my friend.  My world is probably nicer than most because people at work smile at me more – because I am the boss.  Just telling the truth here. 

Do I like it?  Yeah!  It’s nice!  But the truth is, my positional power gets me instant friends when I meet people.  Some call me “Sir” or “Mr. Janesky”.  (I tell them to call me Larry.)

(Funny how when I go to a place where nobody knows me it’s like being in a different world – something is different. I’m just an average person!)

Most of my best friends work for me.  (A person who was trying to cut me down once said “You pay all your friends”.)  lol.  True!  

I obviously have a healthy relationship with this idea and with my friends.  Of course, how you handle all this makes a difference.  If your ego balloons due to your positional power, or you start talking down to people, then others will see that and the percentage of fake friends you have will grow, and the number of genuine friends will shrink.  

Leaders will get a lot of fake friends who want to kiss up to get something.  Knowing the difference between real friends and fake ones is important.  Real friends will tell you where you can improve – fake ones would never do that.

No matter what, leaders will attract fake friends.  It may be people just showing respect and they are a bit awkward in trying to be friendly.  Put them at ease and smile back and take an interest in them.  

When you identify someone who is a dangerous fake friend, who makes you feel uncomfortable, your gut saying “watch out”, keep them at arms length or remove them from your organization.

“A bad friend can be more dangerous than a determined enemy.” -Dr. Mardy Groethe

Of course, leadership isn’t always sunny faces around you because you are the leader.  Some will hate you just because you are the leader (“the man”), and others will blame you, publicly or privately, for all the imperfections and ills of anything you could possibly control somehow. 

Hey – you wanted to be a leader!  

Learning how to deal with your position and celebrity effectively is important for a leader not to be destroyed by his own rise to the title, however that happened.

As for me, relationships are important. and I respect those that can do their work well, get results, and want to be here.  I hope I have a million friends, and over 40 years in business, have learned to enjoy the people around me with all their idiosyncrasies.

” A homemade friend wears longer than one you buy in the market.” – Austin O’Malley

Trust Your Gut

Your Intuition is screaming at you.  Listen to your gut.

Ego will fight your gut, but your gut is all-knowing.

Most every time I ignored my gut I made a mistake and paid the price for it.

How about you?

Show more appreciation

When your house “appreciates”, it’s value goes up.

When you “appreciate” people, their value goes up too.

Ideas do not make you a leader

Having a great idea does not make you a leader.

The ability to get a team to accomplish results that people want, does.

Are you leading a team to perform well?

What were you doing yesterday?

You can look at someone’s situation today and understand what they were doing yesterday.

You can look at a business and see what kind of leadership they had yesterday that lead them to their situation.

What you do today, this week, this month, and this year will matter and show up tomorrow, next week, next month, and for years to come.

“The future is for everyone, but only those who heed its call, speak its language, and explore its directions, will be able to get a fair share of it.  The future knows no waiting, delay or procrastination.”

– Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, leader of Dubai

Lead with Fear or Love

Leading with fear is a job any human can use their primitive faculties to do.  The problem is it’s no longer strongman rule, you aren’t popular, and people are free to leave.

Leading with love is far more sustainable.  Sure, some people won’t love you back, won’t love the team or work, will have their own agendas, and will leave anyway, but they weren’t the ones you wanted or needed on your team anyway.

Really caring about your team and what you are doing and who you are doing it for is a mark of a leader who is doing it right.  Of course, we need other leadership skills too, but when you go for win-win-win because anyone losing because of your leadership is unacceptable, you will be more likely to win, and win for the long run.

Prioritization and Time

Does the amount of time you are spending on ___________ match its importance?

What is more important?

Where should you spend MORE time then?

The Business Artist

This quote is on the wall in our facility – 

“A man that works with his hands is a laborer;

A man that works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman;

But a man that works with his hands, his brain, and his heart is an artist.” – Louis Nizer

Don’t be just a businessman or woman – be a “business artist”.

Character in leadership

“99% of all leadership failures are failures of character.” – Norman Schwarzkopf

Do you have and demonstrate the character of a leader who can hold a team of good people together and have the group accomplish goals?

Who not How

I read this book which I highly recommend – Who not How.  It’s by Dan Sullivan – sort of.  When you read the book you will know what I mean.

The idea is that as “doers” businesspeople are always trying to figure out how to do stuff, and often do it themselves.  But instead, we should be thinking about WHO knows how to do this. 

WHO has done this before? 

WHO do I need to get on my team or do a freelance project for me?

It’s Dan Sullivan’s book – but he did not write the book.  That’s an example.

Let other people use their talents and time to accomplish your goals.

WHO, not HOW!