As someone who travels on a regular basis, I spend quite a bit of nights in hotels. As a result, the USA Today is a constant companion. In an effort to do some weekend cleaning, the following are 11 Lessons To Keep You Up-To-Date On Current Leadership Thinking I gleaned from recent newspaper articles:
Wednesday, January 11th
- Smart Leaders Should Choose Healthy Cultures Over High Compensation – Because it is more enjoyable and sustainable. It was said of outgoing Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer that taking the job in the first place was “a suicide mission.” So I wonder why did she accept the position. She was the company’s seventh CEO. It had bickering vice-presidents, an unhealthy culture, distrust, falling stock prices, and was being dominated in the marketplace by Google. Based upon the information provided by the article it may be as simple as this – she will have earned more than $300 million during her time there and receive an additional $55 million if terminated.
Thursday, January 19th
- Great Leadership Creates Opportunity And Unleashes Potential – Baylor Bears mens basketball coach Scott Drew said, “From the standpoint of leadership, chemistry and depth – it doesn’t guarantee that we’ll finish in the Elite Eight or the Final Four. But we have the potential, if we keep getting better each and every day to do that. I would think this team’s capable of beating anybody.”
- Smart Leaders Reward Forward Progress But Celebrate Final Accomplishment – Coach Drew added about his then top-ranked team, “Coaches understand the big picture, that no cares who’s ranked No. 1 in January.”
- Anything Great In This World Is Birthed Through Pain – When she was 13 years old, Menzer Pehlivan survived a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in her home country of Turkey. Pehlivan has since dedicated her life to building safer buildings and is now one of the world’s most-renowned geotechnical engineers.
- There Is A Difference Between Sensing Opportunity And Seizing It – For aspiring entrepreneurs, the Trump administration appears to be dedicated to decreased regulations, lower corporate taxes, infrastructure development, and frankly, extremely quick decision-making. Regardless of your party affiliation, the time appears to be right for growth and investment.
- When Leading Millennials Transparency Is King – In an age of misinformation and fake news, the next generation is craving authenticity. It will be the churches and organizations who understand this reality which will thrive in the days ahead.
January 24th
- Great Humility, Consistency, And Preparation Can Change A Culture – According to ESPN, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said of quarterback Deshaun Watson heading into the NFL Draft evaluation process, “(Watson’s) humble, the same guy every day and always ready. He comes to every meeting prepared, and that’s how you change things.”
Bonus – Recent Learnings From Areas Other Than The USA Today
- Brevity Is A Communicator’s Friend – A co-worker of mine said, “Emails should always be short. Think about it – Trump is running the country with only 140 characters at a time.”
- The Battle Between Life Change And Darkness – The Bridge Church lead pastor Marty Schmidt recently told our staff at INJOY Stewardship Solutions, “Life change is great but darkness is happening just as fast.”
- Why So Many Church Plants Fail – Marty added, “Personal ambition gets in the way. Many pastors are not called. Boredom and fatigue set in quick (when the church doesn’t grow). Boredom in tilling the land. You’re reaching for things. Fatigue is from claiming promises that weren’t yours to claim.”
- Some Suffering Is Required For Vision To Become Reality – In the January 30th edition of Sports Illustrated, 50-year-old multiple-Mount Everest climber Brent Bishop said, “Everest is a metaphor for how we approach life. Climbing is still ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And in there is inspiration. We can do extraordinary things if we have the vision and we’re willing to suffer a little bit.”
These are some things I am learning. What new leadership insights are you currently having? Click on my Twitter account and let us know.
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