In this month’s video newsletter, David goes in depth explaining the true power of vision.  He shows how one’s genius can be unleashed through the power of vision and makes a compelling case for vision being the antidote to many of today’s business challenges.  If you like the video then sign up for this month’s webinar entitled “What Does it Take to Be a Visionary Leader?” by following this link.

 

It was a sad day for me last week when the reports came out that former Oriole and Cy Young Aware winner Mike Flanagan committed suicide at age 59.

 

As a young boy I worshiped the Baltimore Orioles.   I was fortunate enough to watch them at a time they were at the top of the baseball world.  From the early 60′s through the mid 80′s – the Orioles consistently competed for the division title and won three World Championships.   Many stars emerged during this time and one of my favorites was the 1977 Cy Young Award winner Mike Flanagan or “Flanny” as he was affectionately called.   Tim Kurkjian of ESPN called Flanagan “the favorite and funniest player I ever covered.” And Flangan did not stop contributing to baseball once he retired.  He served many great years in the orioles front office – including 2005-2007 as GM.

It was reported by a local Baltimore TV station WBAL that Flanagan dropped into depression more and more since he left the Orioles front office in 2008 due to what he assessed as his failure in rebuilding the Orioles.  Apparently, he became more and more despondent over what he perceived as HIS apparent failure.   Many will shake their heads and say how could a guy with his spirit and who had accomplished so much allow himself to get to the place of committing suicide.  Yet, for those who feel this way, please know that while this is a sad outcome and a major loss that could have been avoided – there is a good reason Mike made this decision.   No matter how much a decision does not make sense to us – there is always a good reason it is made.  My guess is Mike dealt with a life long issue that many many people face.  Mike struggled with a debilitating inner shame – the feeling he was never good enough.  That he was not deserving of the good that happened around him yet was fully responsible for all “the bad” that happened.

And in his death I see an opportunity to shine a light on shame – one of the key issues that mute success, suffocate an individual’s power and ultimately costs organizations millions. Unfortunately, shame is not something we like to talk about.  It is something we want to sweep under the carpet.  In fact, shame’s very nature is to hide – to be covered over by such surface comments like “everything is fine.”  (more…)

In the last entry we spoke about the Three Keystones of Leadership – Gravitas, Achievement and Influence. The foundation of leveraging these keystones in yourself comes from four primary catalysts:

• A desire to ramp up one’s impact as a leader
• Becoming open to increasing one’s self-awareness around their desired impact and current state as a leader.
• Engaging in some process that measurably increases their power in at least one or more of the keystone areas.
• The willingness to learn and change.

It is clear that developing stronger leadership is absolutely necessary if one is to have both personal fulfillment and greater success. When one realizes they are the instrument for not only their success but the success of their staff and the organization around them – a desire grows to become a better instrument.  As this desire to become a better instrument for the vision grows a leader will begin to become more aware of what they do well and what is holding them back from being an even better leader. As one stays focused on having greater impact and sees the strengths as well as the gaps – there is a growing willingness to stretch, learn and change.  This is a natural unfolding that most experience as they embrace the development journey.

Yet, for many there is a resistance to stepping into the development process.  Why?  Because when you do you must face yourself.  If there is not the recognition around the value of change the very part of ourselves we must change in order to grow resists the process of transformation.  In my view this is why leadership development is not embraced more widely.  It has nothing to do with budget or the questions as to its value.  Even as more and more research has shown the return on investment from the development of leadership – executives and organization’s resist.  Yet, as change continues to escalate and the complexities of a global world impact our competitive edge more and more – executives will come to realize that one of the only ways they can gain some edge is through their own development.  Human beings are funny creatures – it tends to take pain or failure to generate the desire to grow and change.  That being said, every leader I have known who has ever fully embraced the development journey finds it enriching once they get under way with it.  There are always a few rough spots in the development process but for the most part the leaders to step into it find most of the experience quite enjoyable.

There are so many definitions of leadership.  Yet, if you look at most models and their competencies, they all boil down to three keystones.  Let’s take a look at each of these:

1. Gravitas comes from the power of ones self image, purpose and integrity.  It is expressed through a leader’s authentic physical, emotional and spiritual presence.
2. Achievement comes from the power of vision and focus.  It is expressed through the ability of a leader to move forward key personal and organizational priorities.
3. Influence comes from the power to create mutual value, inspire, and motivate.  It is expressed through our ability to engage others in meaningful, respectful and trustworthy ways.

There are many competencies a leader must develop under these keystones yet these are the primary areas to measure a leader’s impact.  Ultimately an extraordinary leader must have a foundation of personal purpose and power, must be able to influence others and ultimately must generate high value results.  In my next entry I will talk, at a high level, about what it takes to develop these keystones.

 

Brene Brown studies human connection — our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk at TEDxHouston, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity.  This video has major implications in how we lead and build cultures.  When you consider that one of the prime drivers of being human is to make connections.  Yet, we find ourselves more and more in a virtual world where human connection is being diluted.  Brown points to some of the maladies of our time like rising debt, addiction, and fanaticism – as symptoms of a loss of real connection.  The rising tide of twittering, texting and email – while wonderful inventions – have dismantled connection as well.  Enjoy this wonderful presentation.