IDEA-tion

In the early years of my NGO named Just Leadership Foundation (JLF), I attended an idea exchange led by very successful leaders at National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria. The genius of this event was that successful leaders shared their best practices with others who had the chance to ask questions. Young up-and-coming leaders also got to share their fresh ideas with more experienced leaders, who gave them feedback. The atmosphere of the conference was that of contagious hope and creative thinking because the entire experience was based on questions. It was a place where ideas were being reshaped into even better ideas.

I never forgot that experience, and later it was the catalyst for this weekly devotion, in which I share with leaders my ideas on salient issues of life. Believe me, it has been a worthwhile experience.
As a just leader, you must understand the value of questions. Desire the success of others. Add value to others’ thoughts. Don't be threatened by others’ strengths. Bring out the best thinking in the people around you.

Loads to Manage

Our generation, the jet age has mandated us to have a proper understanding of what and how to manage. Think about it. We have time management, financial management, relational management, weight management, career management, and many, many more.

The fact is though, that we don’t manage any of those things. What we do manage is ourselves, as they relate to those things. We don’t manage time. Time clicks by, second by second, whether we do anything or not. What we do is manage ourselves, and our activities, as the time passes. We make choices as to what we will do and be involved in. The problem as well as the solution lies not with time, but with us.

We don’t manage money. A pile of money will sit there forever if left alone. It won’t grow or shrink. What we manage is ourselves and the decisions we make in regard to how we will spend the money.
So as we live our lives and pursue success, one of the keys to grab on to is the idea that the most important thing we can manage isn’t a thing at all – it is our self!

Know your priorities and schedule your priorities into your schedule or budget or whatever structure governs that area of your life. Remember, one of the greatest gifts God gave us is the ability to choose. And we can choose to manage ourselves appropriately and according to our priorities. As we do, we will find ourselves feeling less and less of the personal pain and frustration that we feel when we are out of control.

Prioritize and lead well.

Decision At The Speed of Light

Several nations come to a standstill during the World Cup soccer tournament, as people pause from their daily routine to tune into the football action. Part of the excitement comes from the fact that games are often decided by a single goal. One well-timed kick can make all the difference.

With such a small margin separating victory and defeat, the decisions made by referees play a significant role in determining the outcome of a match. This is particularly true when two players collide within the penalty box, and officials must determine whether or not a foul has been committed. If so, a penalty shot is awarded and one team gains a golden opportunity to score a goal.

With tens of thousands of spectators in the stadium, and millions of fans watching on television, referees are under immense pressure to make the right call. Whatever decision they make will be subject to endless scrutiny and fierce criticism.

Like soccer refs, leaders eventually face situations that require making a tough call. Each tough call has the following in common:
- It demands a risk.
- It will be second-guessed and criticized.
- It is costly.
- If made correctly, a tough call will lead to a breakthrough that lifts your leadership to a higher level.

You’re not making smart decisions if you’re always giving the go-ahead or thumbs-up. By saying “yes” to everyone; you’re not being helpful and empowering. Instead, you’re irresponsibly robbing resources from what matters most.

Success is Everything

People often say that money isn't everything, and I think I know what they really meant. When we put this in the perspective of success, it is quite intriguing to affirm such belief. This is because money can either be numerator or denominator for success.

First, you need to succeed to survive. We must take the seasons and learn how to use them with the seed, the soil and the rain of opportunity to learn how to sustain ourselves and our family.

But then second is to then succeed to flourish in every part of your life. A good question to ask mature people is, “If you could do better, should you?” I think almost everybody would answer the question in the positive.

It is like Zig said: “Improving in every area of your life to see if you can't, with satisfaction, at the end of the day, week, month and year say, ‘I have made excellent progress this year for myself, for my family, for my business, my career and my health.’” I think that kind of success is something everybody recognizes as legitimate and something we should all strive for.

As we progress into the second phase of 2014, the onus is on us to wake up to the task ahead and redirect our strength towards success and success only.

Life Choices

Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives.

The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To have less. To read less and think less. To try less and discipline ourselves less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.
To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing at all.

Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability and desire will permit. To settle for doing less than we could do is to fail in this worthiest of undertakings. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of whom and what they have become.

Impact on Others

Early in our careers, we tend to be concerned with success, personal development and self-advancement. We think about what others can do for us. We spend the bulk of our time trying to get other people interested in our ideas and abilities. To this end, we trumpet our accomplishments and show off our knowledge. In short, they try to win others over by being impressive...(all because they were (are) leaders in the making).

As I mature into the art of leadership, I have began to understand that we will only go farther by focusing first on the advancement of others. Instead of trying to impress others, we should search for ways to show how we are impressed by others.

One of the best ways to demonstrate that you are looking out for the interests of your colleagues, teammates and subordinates is to do something for them that they cannot do for themselves.

Ratio - 20:60:20

I believe you've heard and read about pareto 80:20 principle. Today, there are variants of the principle such as 70:20:10 and mine: 20:60:20.

There are the top 20%, they are the great performers. You have the bottom 20%, these people are looking for a free ride. Then, you have the middle 60%.

Here is what the problem, leaders and managers spend their time trying to motivate, inspire and correct the problems of the bottom 20%. They drain all their energy and income trying to make them better, they are not going to get better, they don’t want to get better. You may need to be let go of these people...

The top 20%, stay out of their way! These people are the best! They will do their job because that is the kind of people they are. If you didn’t show up, they would still do their job. If you weren’t there and didn’t tell them what to do, they would figure out what to do.

The middle 60%, that is the job of a real leader in my opinion. Here is what you have to understand about the 60%, the minute you dump your bottom 20% you will have a good portion of the 60% who cannot wait to drop down into that category. That’s right. They are just looking for room. You will create a vacuum and they will immediately go down there. Now, understand this about the top 20%, they are going to leave you eventually. They are always looking for bigger and better opportunities, they will leave and there is nothing you can do about it. But, a portion of the middle 60% can’t wait for the people at the top to leave and make room for them---they are ready to step up. Your job as a leader is to set that vision, challenge, scare, motivate and inspire them with the strength of your conviction.

Leaders have to understand the middle 60%, they can go either way and it’s the leaders job to constantly give them the opportunity to go either way, out the door or up the ladder.