Tuesday at 2:00pm with Russ

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

Greetings to you!

Each week I send out a short leadership blog that's called "Tuesday at 2:00pm". The purpose of this is simply to provide a brief thought on leadership that you can read and think about in just a few minutes. I send it out every week at 2:00pm (PST) and encourage you to make an appointment with yourself to pause and think about the thing I'm writing about.

Russ...

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"In order to have influence, you have to be influenced." Stephen R. Covey

What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're going to explore this word INFLUENCE over the next number of weeks. I'm hosting a Global Leadership Summit in Georgia in March with Leader Mundial, and the theme this year is The Influence of a Leader. While we have a number of topics, books and presentations to address this, I wanted to simply look at some quotes that explore this more.

I've always appreciated the leadership principles from Stephen Covey, so when I saw this quote from him last week, I pondered it for a little bit. I think Covey's basic idea is that "to influence, you have to be influenceable."

We have all been influenced by somebody, whether we admit it or not. I believe there's a point in our lives where we open ourselves up to others, instead of insisting to do it all on our own.

Throughout my life, there are times when I sought out others advice and wisdom, and there have been times when I've relied on my own knowledge and abilities.

Here's what I've learned over the years:

There are times that I am completely capable to do things on my own, simply relying on my experience, my strengths and my own abilities.

However, when I bring others into the conversation, into the mix, I do better, the thing I'm working on is better and that leads to greater success or impact.

I think it's easy to believe the lie that says when you rely on other people, you're not capable! This isn't true.

When we rely on others, we're stronger, we're better and we accomplish more.

I go back to this story of my 21 year-old self in my first job as a Youth Pastor. I "believed" that I had to do everything, even though I had volunteer staff that wanted to serve with me and help me. I carried the load, I tried to do it all on my own, and I was an utter failure. My Youth Group shrunk because I couldn't keep up, yet I had all these people standing on the sidelines wanting to help.

Once I began to learn that lesson, things changed. These leaders impacted me, they taught me, they helped me, they supported me, they made me better.

I don't think it was an ego thing, but it was an ignorance thing.

I needed other people speaking into my life then, and I still need them now. This is where my influence comes from.... The wisdom of others!

Think of a time you chose to NOT listen to someone else or to NOT rely on someone else? What was the result? Did you learn anything from that experience?

DEEPER STILL:

INFLUENCE

Here's a lesson from one of the guys who has had some significant impact into my life over the past 40 years.

If you know Jim Burns, then you've heard him talk about this.

Jim's challenge to leaders is that we ALL need 3 key relationships in our life, and he defines them this way:

#1) We Need a Mentor: Someone who is investing into our lives

#2) We Need a Group of Peers: People we can be honest with, people we can talk and share with, people we can do life with.

#3) We Need a Disciple: Someone we're investing into on a regular basis.

He shared this with me when I was younger, but I know this is still true today, and over the past 40 years, I've worked to have these relationships in my life.

A Mentor: This doesn't have to be one person, it can be many. I look to people to challenge me in different areas of life and leadership, and I'm always looking to learn something new or to sit with someone with a different experience than mine. These can be long-term relationships, or they can be short, one-time conversations. The lesson is to keep learning from others.

A Group of Peers: These are friends that you can talk honestly with, friends who you spend time with regularly, and friends who know you well, but who also share their lives. It's a 2-way relationship. The lesson is that we're better when we're together.

A Disciple: This is simply defined as someone you're investing into, someone you're influencing and sharing your life with. This should be intentional and ongoing. These also can be long-term or short-term. The lesson is that when we invest in others, it reminds us of our own story and progress.

If you want great influence, "be influenceable!" Allow others to speak into your life on a regular basis.

 

Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:

Source: www.leadermundial.org