Bridging The Gap: Simple lessons from solid leaders in my circle of influence
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Learned lessons will you develop relationships, build teams, solve problems, make good habits repeatable, and so much more.
I have had the opportunity to be associated with many healthy leaders in my life. They are men and women of integrity who openly see challenges as opportunities to grow as people and then add value to develop and empower those around them.
I know this to be true, as I am a partaker who has experienced the care, the mentorship, the coaching and so much more to set me on the paths I have taken and the ones waiting for me to step on.
So, just as my circle influenced my life, I wanted to share a few lessons that I believe, and hope will influence yours.
Lesson 1- Make informed decisions.
You would be surprised at the number of people I have met who are challenged with this deliberate action. They have this fear that immobilizes them and won’t do it due to various reasons. One that sticks out to me is their lack of data surrounding the situation to give them a confident and informed position on the activity. Therefore, they caution on the side of failure which tells them to stay quiet and allow the cards to fall where they fall — Not Good.
Making an informed decision is a muscle that must be exercised long before the decision is necessary. It is collecting data, analyzing data, looking for patterns, understanding trends, and studying human behaviors so that you understand how things are influenced; how they collaborate; and what are the standards to name a few.
This form of tracking better positions you to make healthy and informed decisions. It also helps you to make gut decisions, as you have a healthy sense of the system.
Lesson 2- Seek for function, not perfection.
I remember working on an assigned task from my boss. I completed it in a timely manner but did not submit it to him. To me, it needed to be set up in a presentation format with dynamic transitions to support the theme. For him, those extra things were not needed, and they added unnecessary time and labor to it.
Finally, I submitted it to him- “As Is” and he thanked me for the work rendered. And then shared these simple words, seek for function, not perfection.
They made sense after I digested and thought about them. My adding work to the task took it out of context and removed simple from its original intent.
Today, this lesson holds the same value as it did years ago. I apply it to all my assigned task. So, use it if you are one who seeks for perfection over function.
Lesson 3- Communicate your expectation to drive the flow of your meeting and share your takeaways with participants.
We all have meetings. They help us to share our intent, assign actions, bring awareness, and so much more.
Not sure about you, but I have left many meetings thinking why was I invited. They were terrible, unproductive, and added no value to me. A waste…
Conversely, I remember observing my boss conducting a meeting for the first time. His demeanor and voice variety on the theme kept my attention as he built and drove the expectation of the meeting. He gave us his takeaway, so that we carried a tangible thought and or action to perform our jobs or fulfill a specific assignment from him.
Value was added to all who attended and there was the evidence of him honoring us and our time as he shared his points of view from the beginning to the end of the meeting.
Moving forward, it renewed my confidence in conducting meetings.
It is my hope that you will add all three of these lessons to your toolbelt. They will add value to your life and your assignments.
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