I think "Geek the Library" is a great organization, as well as, one of the better marketing campaigns I've seen in while. In it's spirit, I've realized that I am a bit of a geek myself. Ok....I'm 100% Geek and I’m proud of it.
Need Proof?
I geek the ins and outs of bowling
I geek the finer details of a list
I geek fishing
I geek spreadsheets
I geek slow smoking meats at 225 degrees (BBQ)
I geek leadership
I geek experimentation in the kitchen (Cooking)
I geek my wife and kids
I geek the annual boys-holiday-all-nighter-video-gaming-extravaganza
I geek a good glass of wine with friends
I geek helping my community through firefighting and EMT work
I geek continual learning
I geek board games with extended family
And finally, to steal a line from Pink, “I’m to school for cool.”
Yes, I’m a geek. Are you?
What are the top 5 things you GEEK?
Thursday, December 30, 2010
I'm 100% Geek.....And Proud of It!!
Posted by Eric Peterson at 1:14 PM 0 comments
Labels: Geek
Thursday, October 28, 2010
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:
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?”
Posted by Eric Peterson at 3:08 PM 1 comments
Labels: Courage, Fear, leadership, Little Miss Muffet
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Mary Had A Little Lamb
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.
Posted by Eric Peterson at 1:08 PM 0 comments
Labels: leaders, leadership, Mary Had a Little Lamb, vision
Monday, October 25, 2010
Favoritism in Leadership
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
Posted by Eric Peterson at 10:34 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
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
Posted by Eric Peterson at 1:15 PM 1 comments
Labels: improvement, leadership, perfection, persistence, well being
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Opportunity, Is That You?
Posted by Eric Peterson at 8:33 AM 0 comments
Labels: Opportunity
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Leadership Mission Possible: Helping Others
I've been on a mission here lately. It's a mission to help my sister and her fiance raise money to cover medical expenses for the fiance's battle with brain cancer. It's a personal mission. It's a leadership mission. It's a helping others mission.
It got me thinking about leadership. Isn't leadership all about helping others? To me, true leadership is about taking those around you and helping them become more successful than yourself. This mission I'm currently on, is using my leadership skills to help organize an amazing benefit fundraiser to help raise money for a very deserving family. It's about helping others. It's an easy mission for me because it's personal. It touches home. It's going to benefit someone I feel very dearly about. I'm passionate about it.
So the internal question for me is: Would I do this if it wasn't so personal? If not, then am I truly being a leader? I hope my answer to the first question is "Of course", although it's probably closer to "Maybe". Something, as a leader, I may need to work on. So, what missions have you been on? How are you lifting others up?
Note: If you are interested in learning a little more about Jesse's (the fiance) battle with brain cancer, please check out Jesse Haworth Benefit . Also, please take a look at the flyer below. And, if you are in central Iowa on Oct 2nd, please think about attending a wonderful pancake breakfast. If you feel called to donate to help the family, Donations can be sent to the following:
Jesse Haworth Benefit
Hills Bank
1401 S. Gilbert St
Iowa City, IA 52240
Please make checks payable to "Jesse Haworth Benefit"
Posted by Eric Peterson at 11:02 AM 0 comments
Labels: cancer benefit, leadership, true leadership