Barry's Blog

Unconditional Love

What is your earliest memory of a “leader”? Most of us would answer a little league coach, a teacher or a scoutmaster. But our first leadership exposure is actually to someone else (unless they are one in the same)…our fathers. Do fathers really make a difference? This past week Chris Wallace of Fox News interviewed President George W. Bush at length. During the questioning Wallace asked him how hard it was to be the son of a famous father (the first President Bush)? The president quickly responded, “I will tell you one thing, if it weren’t for the unconditional love of my father I wouldn’t be sitting here as President of the United States.”

Regardless of how you feel about his politics, that statement is first person evidence that fathers can have an impact on their children that is unmatched by anyone else. Lasting Leadership means that we have an influence on those whom we lead that lasts long after the job at hand. George W. Bush, by his own testimony, had struggles as a young adult and grown man that would stress the father-son bond. Why didn’t it break? Because his father chose to love him unconditionally. And that’s what unconditional love is…a choice we make to be open to another person without thought of payback. And when they mess up we will hold them to account but it will never affect our support for them as a person.

Who do you chose to love unconditionally today?

Lasting Leadership

I am writing about Lasting Leadership...the kind you see everyday but fail to emulate. I sat with a businessman today who was facing a tough decision. The easy route would be to procrastinate and hope his roadblock went away. And sometimes they do...but far more often they simply get worse. Failure to take action that you know is right is second only to taking action that you know is wrong. If you could do one thing today to advance your business what would it be? That's enough, don't go past your first thought...what would it take for you to act on that thought? You will not completely sovle it today but you can take a step toward a resolution...that's all you can ever do is take one step at at time. We all have more decisions to make today than is reasonable...but what are the three big ones you cannot wait on? By the way, I heard from my business friend this evening...he took the right action and while the problem is not completely resolved my bet is that he will sleep better tonight because he did the right thing. Remember the phrase, "the right thing and the hard thing are usually the same thing"!

Success in Uncertain Times

Do you remember the expression, "It's the not knowing that's difficult"? If you live in the drought plagued southeast, the layoff prone Michigan communities or dealing with the rising price of fuel, then you are probably dealing with a sort of floating anxiety! I have lived thru many ups and downs in the market, interest rates and general unrest. But the business world we face today is different. The fundamental factors of management are not so certain. So, what should you be doing? First, this is the time to really understand your business. Who are your customers? Why are they your customers? Why aren't they someone elses customers? How do you keep them as your customers? Are there any more like them somewhere that you can capture?

Yes, we should be paying attention to these factors all the time. But most leaders give lip service...more of their time is spent on internal politics and positioning. I strongly suggest we all pay more attention to how business comes to us...how we meet its demands...and how we do it better than anyone else. In an uncertain economic time there are always those individuals who have extraordinary success...can you be one of those people?

The Market

When the market is uncertain, in flux or even dropping, what does an effective leader do? They do what they should be doing everyday…paying attention to the business at hand. Most of us have customers/clients that are in front of us each day. We can do nothing to impact the market today but I can impact my business right now by taking care of that customer/client. Ask your team, or if you are flying solo then ask yourself, who are my top five customer/clients? What can I do today to impact them? How can I serve them today? What could I sell them today? When you get home tonight you might hear discouraging news from Wall Street but you will feel good about what you did today to advance your business despite the market…get a good nights sleep then get up tomorrow and do it all over again!

Welcome

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