REMEMBER ... YOU ARE THE LEADER!

Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. Romans 4:4 (NIV)

Take a moment and look at that word, "leader." The beginning of it contains the word "lead" for a reason. The best leaders lead through example. Great leaders lead; poor leaders direct.

An often-heard adage in the military was, "Do as I say, not as I do." Many administrators in the military were those old chiefs and seniors who went around in their dress uniforms with a cup of coffee in one hand and their finger pointing the direction they wanted you to go with the other. It's amazing that in the military, many managers often do not even have experience in the area they are managing. More often than not, rank is the most important thing. I'm not going to say those guys are not successful. I just think they have a harder time getting respect from others because they don't have the same work experiences.

Wow, isn't that an important word ... respect! That's what successful administrators are entitled to. It is the ultimate prize that a person can gain from someone else.

The military heroes of the past all had this same philosophy. Air Force leaders were commanding the lead bombers during many famous bombing raids. Army leaders jumped out of the plane with their squadrons. Marine leaders stormed the beaches with their troops. Navy leaders were the last to leave their sinking ships. These are stories that true American heroes will be remembered by.

There are many military leaders who are remembered for such heroic acts. Some of those who come to my mind are General "Hap" Arnold, General Dwight Eisenhower, Lt. General Holland Smith, and Admiral Chester Nimitz. All are World War II heroes who not only carried out their assignments but did so with courage, determination, and desire to make a difference in the lives of their men and the world as a whole.

Do we still have military leaders today who have this same philosophy? Consider General Colin Powell. At age fifty-two, he became the youngest officer and the first Afro-Caribbean American to serve as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense. During his chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs, he oversaw twenty-eight crises, including the invasion of Panama, Operation Desert Storm and the Persian Gulf War. During these events, Powell was given the nickname "the reluctant warrior" because he rarely advocated military intervention as the first solution to an international crisis; instead he encouraged diplomacy and containment to resolve the conflict.

Another modern warrior to consider is General David Petraeus. Petraeus was a well-known leader of the multi-national forces in Iraq and later in Afghanistan. In 2010, he was personally selected by President Obama and seconded by the U.S. Congress to become commander of military forces in Afghanistan. His well-known and popular leadership success earned him promotion to four-star general and he is probably the military leader best known to the American public.

I can't imagine any of these men ever complaining about the job they had to do. I am sure they relished the desire to take on the responsibility that was asked of them. They were also the type of personalities that did not relinquish their job to someone else, just in case things did not work out. I am sure these officers were on the front line, working side by side with their men and being actively involved with the success of their missions.

They took responsibility and showed their troops what it meant to be a leader. I can't think of a better legacy than to be remembered for my efforts with my fellow team members. I don't want to tell anyone how to do their job; I want to show them how to do their job.

These were the type of leaders that I tried to be like when I was an administrator. They were my leader heroes. My ultimate desire is to be remembered as standing side by side with my employees, not afraid to get my hands dirty, helping them to provide a successful program.

When people pass on from this life, we all want to be remembered in a certain way. We want to leave a legacy. What better legacy than to be respected for what you have done? My philosophy along these lines is, "Don't expect someone to do something that you are not willing to do yourself ".

What I need to ask you before we go any further is this, "How do you want to be remembered by your family and at your job?" Just as we want to be good examples to our family, those that mean the most to us, we should also concentrate on being good examples to our staff.

I once had a class assignment in which we were expected to write an obituary of ourselves as we thought it would be written in our local newspaper. I had never done anything so difficult in a classroom before! I asked myself, "What type of legacy would I leave if I died today?" "What would my family and friends remember about me if I were no longer living?" "What successes would I be remembered for that I was able to accomplish while I was alive?" Try it yourself and see how you think your obituary would appear if you were to die today.

Write your own obituary, including what accomplishments you have had during your lifetime. How do you want to be remembered?

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Who are some individuals that you consider to be heroes that you would like to emulate as a leader?

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Your own thoughts:

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BE CONSISTENT!

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No;' anything beyond this comes from the evil one." Matthew 5:37 (NIV)

I don't think anything destroys an organization more than being inconsistent. It creates hurt feelings, mistrust, and confusion among your co-workers.

Think about those policies that come out one day, are broken the next day, and are swept under the rug the third day. Any time an administrator puts out a memo that tells how something will be done, he should expect that policy to be followed. The last person to ignore a policy should be the supervisor.

One organization that I worked for had a shaky history of not expecting all policies to be followed all of the time. It was not that the policies were unimportant, but they were often issued out of anger concerning something that had happened when the supervisor did not know any other way to handle the situation but to put out a policy. An example of this was a policy that paramedics were to respond to all local calls that warranted a paramedic and all calls outside the city limits. Our service covered parts of three different counties and there usually was only one paramedic on duty. Unfortunately, not all calls received gave a true description of the situation going on. Some were much more severe than expected, while others sounded desperate but were nothing but a minor situation. To protect the citizens we served, a policy came out concerning out-of-town calls being answered by the paramedic on duty. Whether or not the policy was followed was determined by the paramedic on duty and often the time of day that the call came in.

One such call occurred at approximately two o'clock in the morning. The call came in and described a man who was fighting a grass fire and had received some burns to his legs. Even though the location was about five miles outside of town, the paramedic sent the other crew, who had an intermediate and a basic on the truck. I was an intermediate working as the partner to the paramedic on duty. About seven or eight minutes later, the phone rang again and the crew on scene requested that our crew respond to the call. En route to the call, I asked dispatch to place the medical helicopter on alert in case we needed transport to the burn center, approximately fifty miles away. When we arrived on scene, I opened the back door to step into the other ambulance, turned around, and requested the helicopter be launched immediately. In the back of the ambulance was a person with second and third degree burns over 90 percent of his body. His boots were the only clothing that had not been burned off. Not only had he been electrocuted by electric lines that were down, but he lay in the grass that was burning due to the electric lines being on the ground.

Did the few minutes that a paramedic was not available make any difference? Probably not, due to the severity of burns, overall body percentage involved, and the compromised airway due to the heat. Chances for survival were slim to none. However, due to the policy not being followed, this person did not have a paramedic available to administer pain-relieving medications for several minutes. Policies should be made to protect the people you serve, the people who work for you, and the organization that you represent.

That brings up a few important rules to follow:

Consider the policy before you implement it.

First, think about that policy before you put it out. Have you thought through the consequences of having such a policy? Have you worded it the way you intended for it to be perceived? Does it really say what you want to have happen within your organization? I was thankful I had a very intelligent, team-centered individual whom I depended on to bounce ideas off of before putting out a memo - my wife, someone who knows me and is sincere in wanting me to be successful.

Don't put out that policy and then ignore it a week later.

If you change your mind and decide that what you were thinking won't work, don't be afraid to come back and say "Hey, I messed up!" Let folks know that what you wanted to do isn't getting accomplished. By simply ignoring your mistake and leaving the policy out there, you are setting yourself up for failure the next time you put out a policy. Your co-workers will think, "Don't worry about it; he will change his mind (or forget about it) in a week." If you really want to be taken seriously, then either stand by your decisions or let folks know when you change your mind.

Don't be influenced by every Tom, Dick and Harry.

You've heard the saying that some folks just like to "blow smoke under your skirt"? Well, let me tell you, not all breezes you feel under that skirt are natural. Believe it or not, there are folks out there who are out for the betterment of only one person ... themselves! They sit around the office, laugh at all of your jokes, and tell you what a terrific job you are doing. All the while, they try to influence you into doing something that might be terrific for them, but terrible for your organization. Be careful with whom you hang your hat. Make sure they are sincere and want what's best for your fellow co-workers. If you don't, you will soon find yourself out on a limb, and no one is going to get a ladder to help you down.

Avoid favoritism.

The same goes for those guys who seem to get all of the extra benefits of the job. Be careful not to be so painfully obvious with giving the same folks any benefit that comes along. These might include recognition, promotion, or extra pay due to overtime being available. Yes, hard working folks deserve to get rewarded when possible. But, when they get their cake, and get to eat it too, you are creating jealousies that can't be corrected, hurting both the boss and that special employee.

I once heard a fellow employee tell our boss, "You just don't like me anyway!" I really don't think that was the case. Unfortunately, there was a lot of favoritism going on at that time, and I think because of it, the employee only got it partially right. The underlying problem was that with so much open favoritism, the employee felt that the boss didn't care for her. Irreparable damage can result from staff members who don't feel appreciated or given the same opportunities as other employees.

Consider carefully your policies before you put them out to be followed. Are you willing to see that they are followed? Are you willing to support your staffwhen they follow the policies and are you willing to deal with staffwhen they do not follow them?

Under what circumstances would you consider "ignoring" a policy?

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What steps would you follow to implement new policies within your organization?

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Your own thoughts:

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IF IT'S IMPORTANT, HE'LL SAY IT AGAIN!

"'Consider carefully what you hear', he continued. 'With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more.'" Mark 4:23 (NIV)

Communicating with each other is something that man has tried to deal with since recorded history. It began with such primitive methods as someone beating on a log or drum, and progressed to smoke signals, and then to using a shiny object to reflect the sun's light in a particular direction. With the invention of papyrus and primitive ink, man was able to save what he wanted to pass on to someone else in a more permanent method.

In 1837, William Cook and Charles Wheatstone patented a telegraph which worked by electromagnetism, so people were able to communicate over long distances. Almost forty years later, on March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell finally succeeded in speaking a few words on a telephone with which he had been experimenting. In another room, his assistant, Thomas Watson, waited for the test message. Suddenly, Bell spilled some acid from a battery on his clothes. He cried out, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you!" Bell had invented the first successful telephone.

Today, technology has progressed greatly and we are able to communicate in much more sophisticated ways. We can now use instant messages, emails, and satellite telephones that can be used from virtually anywhere on Earth.

Technology has changed, but a person's ears have not really improved much to receive information through the years. We still have selective hearing or are desperate for information to be passed on to each other. Communicating to one another with information or instructions is essential in assuring success of an organization. Besides that, people have a tendency to get a little frustrated when they don't know what is going on that affects them.

There's a fine line between successful communication and harassment. As an administrator, I could have met with my staff weekly and passed on pertinent information to them. However, if I had asked them to meet with me weekly, they would not have appreciated me infringing upon their after-school hours. A little creativity and a variety of techniques kept my staff from giving up their time but allowed me to pass on information that I considered important.

One of the things I did to keep frustrations at a minimum was to write a weekly newsletter for my staff and leave it in their mailboxes. Not only did it give me a chance to pass on important information, but it also was instrumental in "patting staff members on the back", and sharing motivational quotes and messages.

To get feedback from my staff, I preferred to meet with small groups during school hours by providing assistants to cover classes while we met. That way, we were able to share ideas and be on the school's clock. Any business can use the same idea to deal with select employees.

When it was necessary to meet with an entire staff, there were three rules I felt needed to be followed:

1) Start your meeting at the time you tell your staff you are going to start.

2) Keep it brief. Go over your materials and give time for feedback.

3) Keep those after-hours meetings to a minimum.

By keeping to those three rules, I was telling my staff I appreciated them and their time. Not only that, but if my staff knew I promised to follow these rules, they were more willing to be on time and prepared when I was ready to start.

How important is it to get information out to the folks who work for you who are truly in the "trenches"? All of us have been in situations where we do not feel we have been given the entire picture of what was going on. How did you feel about that situation? I've been there myself. I felt like I was not important enough to be included in the selective circle of influence. I also felt frustrated that I could not do my job properly because I didn't have the knowledge needed to be successful. Not only did that hurt my chance of success, but our business's chance of success as well. As an administrator, you need to let your folks know as much information as is feasible regarding what is going on. The information you get back from them could be beneficial to your organization's success and make your job much easier at the same time.

What ideas do you have about passing information on to your workers?

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How important is it for workers to "hear" the information you are telling them? What are some of the obstacles you need to overcome?

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Your own thoughts:

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