This phrase actually came from Tiger Woods. At his news conference before the 2010 Masters.  He actually said that his father told him he must, “Learn to help himself, before he helped others.”  But I decided I liked “lead” instead of “help” so thanks Tiger for the quote.

I have experienced many types of leaders through my life.  Many of them never really lead as much as they told those that worked for them what to do. They then went about taking credit for the good, and giving blame for the bad.  I worked with a man once that complained about Dr. John C. Maxwell’s writing on leadership, but never read any of it.  I would suggest he never learned to lead himself.

Discipline is hard, but discipline is a must for anyone who wants to be successful at whatever they do.  If you are always late, it is because you are not disciplined enough to be on time.  Not because your family is a late family and you always have been.   When I was in the Navy I learned this lesson first hand.  I was relieved from my watch every day by a man who was consistently late.  I reported the man several times and he was moved to other watch sections but his tardiness never ceased.  He was finally taken to Captains Mast and reduced in rank before being released from the Navy.  His inability to be on time cost him his job, and he never knew why.

Control your tongue. Swearing is one of the best signs of an  undisciplined mouth.  In the bible we are told that the tongue is like the rudder of a ship.  A rudder is small in comparison to the ship, but turns the thing.  Your tongue can lead you down roads you do not want to travel.  Swearing is not the only sign of an undisciplined tongue.  Arguing, sarcasm, complaining, and gossip are other signs.  No one wants to be around someone who complains all the time.  It’s just not fun.  Learn to control what you say and do by Forming Better Habits which can take some time, but pay huge dividends in the long run.

Discipline is more than being on time and controlling how you talk.  But being on time is a good start and controlling what you say is a good start.  Make a list of things you need to do and stick to the list this way you can be encouraged by you progress, and prodded when you slack.  Always remember, you can only accomplish something if you do it.   The minute you put it off, you will stop and lose your momentum.

From Mary Jo Asmus  Stuck? Admit It and Ask For Help

Proverbs 29:18 is often quoted when vision is brought up in churches, so why would I not mention it here.  “Where there is no vision the people perish.”  Vision is not merely sight, nor is vision is being able to see more than most of the people around you.  Real vision is being able to help the people around you see what you see and understand how they are going to get there. Real vision is application of what you know to what you see.

The word used here is also translated revelation in some version of the English text.  So I would contend that any true vision of where you or your organization are going must be a revelation from God.  When this type of vision is grounded in a group that is truly seeking to do what God wants them to do, the resistance level will go down, and the determination level will go up.  Don’t misunderstand that, the calling may not be easy, but the internal resistance will go down.

Set The Stage

When you are trying to help those you are leading see what you see, you need to set the stage.  By setting the stage I mean you and your leadership team need to tell them what you feel the vision is.  This is done in smaller settings first. Talk to a few or even one at a time.  Get their vision first.  Once you understand what the person you are talking to thinks the vision should be,  lay the two visions on top of each other and help them see where their vision ties in with the vision of the leadership.

This is the longest stage and where most visions fail.  If you can not help the majority of people see where their vision fits with the larger vision you not going to be able complete the vision. This could take six months or longer. During this time you must keep your leaders focused and moving toward the goal.

Cast the Vision

When you stand up in front of the crowd and say this is what we are going to do and most say, “We see it.”  Don’t mistake this for a my way or the highway kind of speech.  You will need to continue to lead the people into the scene you showed each one of them.  When they can see where they fit in the process you will truly be leading them with vision.

Continue To Play The Movie

You must continue to show each person involved how they still fit in the picture.  When new people arrive they need to be shown the film as well and see what character they are in it.  You can not do this enough times.  When you think the people are sick of hearing it, they have only begun to catch the vision themselves.

Not everyone will buy into the vision.

There are people that you have in your organization that will fight you and push you and try to derail your leadership.  These people have to be dealt with in some fashion.

1. If everyone is against the vision, you may have the wrong vision or the wrong time.  you need to deal with this internally and see where you need to change or restructure what you think the vision is.
2. If the majority is for the vision and a few are against it then they need to be guided personally by you or members of your team.  This may be just asking them some questions and clarifying what the vision actually is and how they fit into the vision.  If this is a strong minority you will need to talk to them as a group and listen to their concerns.  You are the leader and you need to be the person who helps this group into the fold.
3. If only a couple are against the vision then they need to be weighed.  My friend Ken Bish say to look at their sphere of influence.  Are they going to influence others into fall away from the vision.  If not then their weight is minimal and you can move on.  If they are influencers then you need to find the hang-up and either bring them on board or monitor their talk.  These people are usually all bark and no bite so use your best judgement when dealing with them.

Image Public Domain via Wikipedia

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Working through the problem of our lives or business can be draining, but also opportunity for growth. At Ford Motor Company President and CEO, Alan Mulally uses color coded folders to help everyone at the table see the problem then help to fix it.  In an interview with Steven Pearlstein of On Leadership  Mulally explains how this works.

Whether it is Hammurabi‘s code, or the Ten Commandments, there have been codes of law and codes to live by for as long as there has been a written language.  But what about you?  Do you have a set of rules that you aspire to live your life by every day?  In His Article Successful People Create Their Own Orange Code  Bud Bilanich uses the “Orange Code” from ING as a model for helping you create your own code to live by. 

Mr. Bilanich is a commonsense coach, and here is the kicker in his article, “Successful people develop a clarity of purpose and direction to help them create the career and life success they want and deserve.”   That is a powerful message.  If successful people know the purpose on their lives and the direction they are going, shouldn’t you know the same thing if you want to be successful.  How can you know when you succeed when you don’t know what success looks like.  Take a look at the whole article here.