Little Miss Muffet and Her Arachnophobia

I'm continuing my series on leadership lessons we can learn from nursery rhymes.  I hope you'll recall the one I posted a couple days ago.

I’m willing to guess that you once again couldn’t get the following nursery rhyme off your mind after reading this title. Let’s say this one together:

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet

Eating her curds and whey,

Along came a spider,

Who sat down beside her

And frightened Miss Muffet away

This is another great nursery rhyme, with another great leadership lesson. Let’s dissect it, shall we (the rhyme…..not the spider).

Fear is difficult to deal with as a leader. Maybe there’s something you (as the leader) fears, or maybe it’s something your follower’s fear. Either way, fear can be what keeps us from becoming GREAT. Fear can be what stands in our way of success. Fear can be a crutch.

Little Miss Muffet can sure sympathize with this fear as a crutch notion. She sits down to enjoy a nice little meal, and what happens? Her biggest phobia nearly smacks her right in the face! That would be scary for anyone.

It’s Little Miss Muffet’s reaction that I want to analyze. She succumbed to her fear. When dealt with a decision, she decided to run from her fear, instead of staying to face it. She had an opportunity to show her friends and followers that her courage as a leader could allow her to “face off” with her fear, but she instead retreated. Hey, there are some fears and battles that we need to run from. It’s up to us as leaders to decide if retreat is the best approach. However, we need to remember that we are being watched, and if we want to convince our followers to “buy in” to our vision; plan; direction (as was discussed in the previous post), then more times than not, we need to stand tall to our fears.

What fears are keeping you from reaching new heights as a leader? What steps can you take to help build that courage needed to stand tall to your fears? Are all your fears worth running from?  Is this one I should run from or face? These are questions you need to ask yourself as you further grow as a leader. “Am I being ‘Little Miss Muffet’ today?”

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Don’t be embarrassed. Your 1st thought after reading that title was the same as nearly everyone’s first thought after reading that title……which, in fact, is why I titled it the way I did.

We all remember that great nursery rhyme don’t we? In fact, my 3 year old is now old enough to recite it, and my 5 year old is getting close to being able to read it. Will you join us?

“Mary had a little lamb (little lamb, little lamb).”

“Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow.”

“And everywhere that Mary went (Mary went, Mary went).”

“And everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.”

I love that nursery rhyme. It reminds me a lot about leadership. See, to be a leader, you need at least one follower. You can’t really be “classified” as a leader until you have someone that is willing to follow you: Someone that “buys in” to your vision; your plan; your beliefs; your cause; your direction. A person may call themselves a leader because of the way they speak or act, but only when they have someone who is willing to follow them, can they truly be a leader.

Mary was a leader. She had a lamb that followed her everywhere she went. Now, you may be thinking “It was an animal, for crying out loud!” I challenge you with “So, what?!” Don’t we observe many “Mary’s” and many “Lambs” every single day? Mary had a plan; a vision; a direction she was heading, and she was able to get that lamb to buy in to her plan. That lamb was a follower. Mary was a leader.

What are you doing to attract “lambs”? How are you ensuring that you are truly being a leader, and not just calling yourself a leader? Are you able to effectively convince others to believe in your vision; plan; mission; etc? These are all questions to ponder as you continue to build your leadership knowledge. “Am I being a ‘Mary’ today?”

note: picture courtesy of http://www.nurseryrhymesonline.com/mary_had_a_little_lamb-2395.php

Favoritism in Leadership

My big question for you (I usually save these for the end) is: Can/Should a leader play favorites? Is there ever a place for favoritism from a leader? I've discussed this before, but I'd like your input


I’d really like your input on this. It’s something I’ve been pondering for some time now. I’ve been cruising down the path of “No!” That is, I don’t think a leader should play favorites. Sure, a leader or manager may have a “go to sales guy/gal” or a “go to project manager,” but it should be based on performance and that “sales guy’s” ability to get the job done, and not just because s/he’s a friend. (Maybe this discussion depends on one’s definition of favoritism. If so, what’s your defininiton?)

I see favoritism as a morale reducer in the workplace. Those that aren’t the “teacher’s pets” begin to question their importance to the organization. They begin to lose sight of where they fit within the organization and more importantly, they begin to question their own abilities. I’m afraid that it may become a destructive path, whereby the “last gal picked for the team” starts to care less about her work, and eventually reaches apathy.

So, is this the case? Have any of you seen this happen? Or, am I just way off base here? I haven’t had a lot of exposure to this yet, but I can sure imagine that it happens in many organizations. And, if this does happen (favoritism leading to apathy among the non-favorites), is it due to the environment of the organization, or just a weak/frail personality of the non-favorites? Playing favorites: Should it be done in leadership?



note: picture courtesy of http://www.bonappetit.com

Leadership Wellness

It’s important, as leaders, that we continually improve our leadership skills. Just as we would take care of our physical wellness through exercise and healthy eating, we must also take care of our leadership abilities through “exercise and healthy eating.” Where do you go to get your “leadership exercise”? What mental food do you consume to keep abreast of your leadership wellness?


I’m a big believer in continuous improvement and life-long learning. Although I’m a bit of a perfectionist myself, I also realize that we can never be perfect. Once we’ve gained perfection, there’s nothing more to strive for. However, in the persistent pursuit of perfection, I’m committed to honing my leadership skills and abilities, so that I may continually improve as a leader.

So, I ask you again: Where do you go to get your “leadership exercise”? What mental food do you consume to keep abreast of your leadership wellness? Do you read books? Go to conferences? Use social networking?

Please share your experiences, thoughts, and tips. Here are just a few of the places I go:

A Dog’s Advice to Leaders

Leader Business

Extreme Leadership: Steve Farber

Lead Quietly

Brain Based Biz

Manage to Change

Erika Andersen

Terry Starbucker

Angela Maiers

 
note: picture courtesy of http://www.ericpark.org/?cat=26

Opportunity, Is That You?

Opportunites abound! They are everywhere. In everything people do and say. In every positive or negative influence, an opportunity presents itself. The key is: Do you recognize it as what it truly is? An opportunity.

I think many of us get so caught up in the past, in what just happened, that we fail to recognize opportunities. When something negative influences our life, it’s easy for us to react. Some people will fall down, get right back up, and keep moving forward. Others will fall down, get hurt, and stay injured for way too long. In either case, what we fail to do is reflect and process what just happened, which in turn, causes us to fail to recognize another opportunity.

The same can be said about positive influencers. Something good happens to us, and we are too busy celebrating or being congratulated, that we fail to “see” another opportunity.

Let’s think about this another way. The inputs (something affects us) are presented, and something internal and external happens to us (the process), and we kick out a response or reaction (the outputs). What we fail to realize is that another output has been ejected from the system, a hard to see output, a hidden output…..an opportunity. Maybe it’s a learning opportunity, or a teaching opportunity, or an opportunity to express patience, or forgiveness, etc. Maybe it’s a career opportunity. Whatever “it” is, it definitely is an opportunity. And, my challenge to you is to become better at learning to “see”, the hard to see opportunitities.  What are opportunites are you failing to recognize? 

note: picture courtesy of http://andrewhansen.name/