WORDS TO LEAD BY - Zeal

Continuing with lessons from Wally Adamchik's book, titled Construction Leadership from A to Z which explores "26 Words to Lead By."

This session's word is ZEAL

ZEAL

Zeal - fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor

"Experience shows that success is due less to ability than to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work, body and soul." - Charles Buxton.

How bad do you want it? No matter what it is, for you to get it, you have to want it. Enthusiasm is a Marine Corps leadership trait. The Corps defines it as the display of sincere interest in and exuberance in the performance of duty. No false motivation; just pure fervor for the cause.

(c) Boians Cho Joo Young

If you don't care, neither will your employees.

Leadership is not a popularity contest. Leaders face challenges on even the best of days. More often they are running an uphill race to implement change in the face of employee resistance and economic uncertainty. Who motivates the motivator? The better question is what motivates the motivator? Passion is the answer.

Smith says that passion for anything starts the moment you get a glimpse of the potential for the project, yourself, the mission, and so on. When you get that glimpse, the passion is born. Of course, this means you actually have to have an open mind and be on the lookout so you actually can catch a glimpse. (Zig) Ziglar breaks passion into three steps: (1) analyze what you want in life and develop a plan, (2) take steps toward those goals, and (3) use your head to work with your heart to gain maximum benefit.

"Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion." - Hegel

Zeal Jumpstart:

• Develop goals and work to achieve them.
• Spend time doing what energizes you; it creates more energy.
• Find ways to merge your passion and your work. (Do you even know what your passions are?)
• Smile.

Remember when you wanted that bicycle with the banana seat and sting-ray handlebars (or, Lady Gaga CD or MP3 player) so bad that you were willing to mow as many lawns (or, pick cotton or deliver pizza) as it took to earn enough money to buy it? Some lawns were easy, some were uphill (both ways), some had the added stress of the neighbor's dog barking and snapping at your heels, but they all helped earn the coveted goal. You were filled with enthusiasm and desire, and nothing was going to stop you! Let's choose to live our life with that same zeal today and every day!

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc

WORDS TO LEAD BY - Yield

Continuing with lessons from Wally Adamchik's book, titled Construction Leadership from A to Z which explores "26 Words to Lead By."

This session's word is YIELD

YIELD

Yield - to give way to influence, entreaty, argument; cease resisting

"You got to know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em, know when to walk away, know when to run." - Kenny Rogers, The Gambler>

As a leader, you face challenges every day. Some are easily overcome; others, not so easily. The art is in knowing the difference.

Clearly there are some causes worth fighting for. But there are many worth not fighting for. In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Falstaff tells us, "The better part of valour is discretion; in which the better part I have saved my life."

The concept of losing the battle to win the war is not new. Sun Tzu wrote of this in the sixth century B.C. In fact, it is one of the keys to success for leaders. Time simply doesn't allow you to do everything you think you need to do. Your inbox is full, and there are people who don't see things your way. In an ideal world, you would address all of these things. Reality is different. Sometimes you need to know when to walk away.

(c) Stuart Miles

"We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep." - Elizabeth II

Yield Jumpstart:

• Recognize you don't have to win every battle. Some simply do not have the need to be fought.
• Ask yourself if the fight is worth giving a piece of your life to.
• Delegate.
• You can be happy or right.

The heavy snowfall a week ago certainly gives this lesson a dose of reality. Anxious to get the walk and driveway cleared, I considered grabbing my snow shovel. (Yes, I have a snow shovel...and I know how to use it!) But, is that really a battle I need to win? Is that fight worth giving (possibly) my life to? Nope. That's when I decided to take the time and make the effort to get my snow blower ready to go. (Yes, I have a snow blower too!)

In short, let's choose to yield the battles that are not worth fighting, today and every day!

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc

WORDS TO LEAD BY - X Generation

Continuing with lessons from Wally Adamchik's book, titled Construction Leadership from A to Z which explores "26 Words to Lead By."

This session's word is X GENERATION

X GENERATION

X Generation (and Others) - a group of individuals, most of whom are the same approximate age, have similar ideas, problems, attitudes, etc.

"It's hard for me to get used to these changing times. I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty." - George Burns

(c) africa

Your challenge as a leader is to understand and navigate those differences.

Within each generation are people who want to excel. They want to be led, and it is up to you to lead them.

In Generations at Work, Zemke, Raines, and Filipczak present the ACORN principle for leading across generations. This principle is:

1. Accommodate differences.
2. Create workplace choices.
3. Operate from a sophisticated management style.
4. Respect competence and initiative.
5. Nourish retention.

"Different" is not a question of good or bad. It is simply...different. If you accept that leadership is about building positive relationships with people, then it will not be difficult for you to accept your responsibility to get to know each of your people. It may be harder to get to know some more than others, but the final outcome will make it worth the effort.

"There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age - I missed it coming and going!" - J.B. Priestly

X Generation Jumpstart:

• Get to know someone from a generation you have a hard time with.
• Remember what is was like when you were young - then get over it.

This most recent Thanksgiving Day family gathering was an "in your face" reminder of the many generations each of us encounter every day. Helping Grandpa to the head of the table to carve the turkey, hushing the crowd to lay the baby down for a nap, holding the door open so the cousins could carry in their contribution to the dinner, and washing the dishes (without drowning the rest of the family) requires working together across all ages. Let's choose to enjoy the differences and to lead across the generations today and every day!

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc

WORDS TO LEAD BY - Willing

Continuing with lessons from Wally Adamchik's book, titled Construction Leadership from A to Z which explores "26 Words to Lead By."

This session's word is WILLING

WILLING

Willing - disposed to; consenting; inclined; ready

"The extent and complexity of the problem does not matter as much as does the willingness to solve it." - Ralph Marston

(c) Stuart Miles

But you must be willing before you can participate. This is where initiative comes in. One Marine Corps leadership trait is defined as “taking action in the absence of orders” – a willingness to act in the face of uncertainty.

Willingness is a key to creativity and to achieving what is possible. Rhodes Scholar Edward de Bono wrote, “One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and look at things that no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.” And it won’t happen unless you are willing.

Business guru, the late Peter Drucker, once said that consistently successful businesses are led by people who are “willing to make courageous decisions.” Where does courage come into play? It comes in the willingness to let go of what we are used to and the assumptions that we have made about what we do and how we do it.

If you are not willing, you are not open. A lack of flexibility and an unwillingness to be open to the possibilities is not a success strategy. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

"Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great." - Niccolo Machiavelli

Willingness Jumpstart:

• Say YES.
• Be open to unexpected outcomes.

We must be willing to let go of the old to experience the new. We must be willing to break some eggs to enjoy an omelet. We must be willing to remove our hand from the side of the pool to learn to swim. Let’s choose to live our life with willingness today and every day!

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc

WORDS TO LEAD BY - Visionary

Continuing with lessons from Wally Adamchik's book, titled Construction Leadership from A to Z which explores "26 Words to Lead By."

This session's word is VISIONARY

VISIONARY

Visionary - a person of unusually keen foresight

"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." - Jonathan Swift.

(c) Stuart Miles

...the two basic questions we want to address with vision are:

 "Where are we going?"
 "Why are we going there?"

Yet they are the ones least frequently answered.

When we talk about vision, we simply mean an orientation toward the future.

Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there. And how does a leader accomplish this? By creating a picture in his or her mind of what they want to happen, and then getting other people to see and buy into that picture, too. The more clarity and detail, the better. People who succeed in the world see themselves succeeding.

There is never a right time to do a difficult thing. A leader's job is to help people have the vision of their potential.

Success does come to those who think about the future. Research confirms that successful people spend at least fifteen minutes every day thinking about what they are going to do in the future and what they can do in the present to improve their lives. How is that possible when we are all so busy? This confirms the power of vision. It is worth the effort to create and sustain because it energizes people and steers them toward their goals.

"A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position." - John Maxwell

Visionary Jumpstart:

• Write the speech they will make the day you retire.
• Make your bucket list.
• Conduct a "five whys" exercise for the vision you have for yourself.
• Develop a vision for your company or work group.

No matter if we lead a company, a region, a crew, or simply our self, it is critical to know where we are going. If we don't know where we are going, how will we know when we get there? We can establish a vision of reducing idle time in our trucking fleet by 25%; increasing tons per hour while paving by 10%; reduce the time to process payables by 15%; or increase uptime at our plants by 33%. Set the target and then aim for it. Let's choose to live our life with a vision today and every day!

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc

WORDS TO LEAD BY - Communicate

Repost from February 10, 2013

Continuing with lessons from Wally Adamchik's book, titled Construction Leadership from A to Z which explores "26 Words to Lead By."

This session's word is COMMUNICATE

COMMUNICATE

Communicate - to impart knowledge of; make known; to give or interchange thoughts, feelings, information or the like by writing, speaking, etc.

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - George Bernard Shaw

(c) Renjith Krishnan

Leaders get people to do things. These actions may be of the leader's choosing or they may be a shared objective, but the leader is the one who gets it all started. The leader is the one who helps people understand their role and their contribution. The leader tells they story and explains the "why".

Communication is not about your monologue; it is about the message interpreted by the receiver matching the message intended by the sender. Effective communication means that what is heard is actually what was meant to be heard.

Communication is most effective when it flows evenly between people. Thus, listening is equally as important as speaking. The only way a leader can know what is going on in the ranks is to talk with people and be genuinely interested in what they tell him or her.

Generally there are two ways in which a leader can influence others to do something. The first is by setting an example or modeling the desired behavior. The second is by communicating personally and organizationally to others to help them understand the vision, the objectives and the plan. This helps people understand their role in accomplishing the objectives - why they are important and the impact they can have.

Clear, open, effective communication is the bedrock of successful leadership. And, at its core, leadership is about relationships. Effective leaders have more effective and positive relationships. And like all relationships, good, ongoing communication is essential

"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." - Epictetus

Communication Jumpstart:

• Learn to listen better.
• Turn the cell phone off, leave it in the car, go face to face.
• Respond, don't react. There is a difference.
• Sit, don't stand. It sends the message, "I have time for you".

Communication!

 "Nobody tells me nothing."
 "The communication around here is bad."

Who hasn't heard that? Maybe even said it? But how can that be? Who among us doesn't think they are a good communicator?

 "I told you how to do it."
 "I told you not to do it."

Is that communicating? Probably NOT.

We communicate by setting the example, by listening, by building relationships. Effective communication is not easy. It takes work. It takes commitment. It takes a desire for things to improve. Let's choose to truly communicate today and every day!

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc

WORDS TO LEAD BY - Balance

Repost from January 26, 2013

Continuing with lessons from Wally Adamchik's book, titled Construction Leadership from A to Z which explores "26 Words to Lead By."

This session's word is BALANCE

BALANCE

Balance - a state of equilibrium; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.

"To acquire balance means to achieve that happy medium between the minimum and the maximum that represents your optimum. The minimum is the least you can get by with. The maximum is the most you're capable of. The optimum is the amount or degree of anything that is most favorable toward the ends you desire." - Nido Qubein

In the short run, balance is nearly impossible. But in the long run, it is essential.

"There's so much said today about leadership. But I don't think in business you can forget the fact that you don't just have to lead, you have to manage." - Lee Scott, former CEO of Walmart

(c) Renjith Krishnan

Balance of focus says we know what to do and when to do it.

Balance with others is about operating fairly. The people you lead do not expect equal treatment. They generally understand and accept the nuances and accommodations made for people if this approach is applied to everyone you lead.

Balance applies to praise and critique also. Notice we are not talking about giving equal measures of both but about giving each as necessary.

The families contribute to the success of what you are doing.

A vivid vision in your mind of a balanced future is the best way to create a balance now.

"Life is best enjoyed when time periods are evenly divided between labor, sleep and recreation...all people should spend one-third of their time in recreation which is rebuilding, voluntary activity, never idleness." - Brigham Young

Balance Jumpstart:

• Say no appropriately.
• Keep a food log for one week; adjust your eating habits to improve your balance.
• Get the right amount of sleep.
• Maintain and refer to your time log and analyze what you should be doing versus what you are doing.

These are very demanding times. The economy is challenging. We all are being asked to do more with less. We know the upcoming work season will bring long days and many hours away from home. This is the business we have chosen because of the many rewards it offers, including personal satisfaction and professional pride. And, to fully enjoy these rewards, we must constantly strive to keep a balance in our life. A balance of self (family, work, recreation); focus (managing vs. leading); and others (treating people fairly). Let's choose to keep our life in balance today and every day!

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc