Leadership Lessons Learned

A few weeks ago, a “friend” (pictured) stopped by.  He slowly ambled by within ten feet of the house looking around and with no rush to be anywhere or no plan on where he was going next the best I could tell.  As I snapped a few photos of him in the quiet that I love at 4:45am, I reflected on why, when and how we find and set our bearings as well as on decisions to keep or stick to them.

Reflections have flowed more actively the last few weeks, in no small part due to the proximity of passing of Bill Walton, Jerry West, and Willie Mays.  Whether a sports historian, life student, or leader, a great deal can be learned by reflecting, remembering, and reading about their impacts in and beyond simply their incredible athletic pursuits.  Reading about Walton alone and diving through his favorite John Wooden quotes by and of itself is worthwhile.  My favorite of which happens to be one that I’ve grown more fonder of as I’ve aged; “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

I have found myself advising, consulting, opining, and hopefully assisting a host of leaders in various organizations and situations lately on topics fluctuating from customer service, selling, leading, structure, exit, market share, KPI’s, mergers, product development, positioning, and employee growth and development.  Whenever I specific topic or situation is explored or engaged upon, I always try to find similarities from past situations, occurrences, or events to try and reflect not just on what was done, but how determination was made, why the choice was made, what it was, and how it was initiated, deployed, enacted, modeled, improved, measured, and ultimately maintained.  In essence, and perhaps most importantly was it aligned with our bearings that were initial found, set, and kept.

From my perspective and realizing others may differ and for good reason, I like to hope that any bearings I have been part of finding, setting, and hopefully keeping have always been mission oriented.  Mission matters most in terms of ensuring whatever you undertake within any function, team, department, or organizationally is going to work or not.  If the change (add, edit, delete), the enhancement, or the decision is made based on meaningful contribution to the mission, all else will flow out of it, including successes intrinsically, externally, and even yes economically.

Music appreciation despite having lower than zero musical ability has always been a passion of mine.  Searching for meaning in lyrics to coincide with decisions (past, present, future) can perhaps help you as well to step back, step outside, or step aside if appropriate for the most impactful success of the mission to occur.  Bob Seger crooning about the Fire Down Below as the one thing in common can have significant teachings about will and strength of people and outcomes that can result based on passion.  Billy Joel reminds us that we must keep fighting even if We Didn’t Start The Fire.  Whitesnake ensures we acknowledge that Here We Go Again and we’ve travelled roads similar prior and at times alone so we need not have fear.  The great Eminem tells us to not be afraid to Lose Yourself in the moment or the situation and the opportunity that might only come once.

Sometimes keeping your bearings might even result in playing The Clash and making determination about Should I Stay Or Should I Go.  What you use as your muse or draw from as you start anew or maintain, the key is finding, setting, and keeping your bearings to the meaningful mission that matters the most to you.  Don’t let other measures confuse that.  History tells us otherwise, and if you don’t believe it to be the case, simply pour through and/or google if you need to the 120 references Billy Joel makes to historical people, places, or events in We Didn’t Start The Fire.  Or, google Bill Walton’s favorite John Wooden quotes to draw lessons from not just successes realized, but how they measured them and what really mattered most.  If you ever want to connect on finding, setting, or keeping your bearings, my N of 1 opinion is always available, and hopefully every now and then even helpful.

#itmatters #leadership #mission #bearings #mentorship