Between The Lines

What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song. I will try not to sing out of key - Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends

Happy Sunday and welcome to Between the Lines. Leadership lessons are life lessons. And it’s in the lines we speak and the fine lines between life & death, triumph & tragedy, and peace & persecution of our life that we as the main characters find these lessons. As a coach, what happens between the lines is also a leadership laboratory. I’ve lived through these many times in my story and in doing so have gained a unique perspective on how leadership exists. Just as you stop to feel a cool breeze or the sun shining on your face,leadership lessons are all around us. You just have to pay attention close enough and stop to soak it in. From tests come testimonies and tragedy changes you. It adds a lens to your life perspective. It, along with another day to live, are gifts from God. And each week that’s what I’d like to offer you. A different view on the normal around you, on life, and on leadership. Need main character energy in your life? Then as my college rugby coach so lovingly used to say, “Get on the line.”

Do you remember that feeling you felt when you first began working at the current organization you’re in? How fired up you were to attack the grind with a new team? Or the excitement you had about leading a new department or project? As you read the mission statement, vision, and values you were PUMPED and in love with the ideals that you were committing to.

Now fast forward to three or more years later. The new has worn off. You began to find flaws in the armor of the ironclad bastion you’d committed to. It becomes easier to complain, finding more and more flaws and mistakes. Negativity creeps into your daily outlook and you might even begin to question the decisions you’ve made to be where you are. It happens to us all. And perhaps it is time for you to move on. But it might also be time for you to analyze your commitment.

Your outlook on work and possibly life can get stormy from time to time. Your forecast may be dark and cloudy but keep in mind “this too shall pass.” Friday night a round of thunderstorms with more than 70 mph winds cut through our region leaving thousands without power, home damage, and big messes to clean up. I wasn’t exempt from this by any means. I have to admit, normally I’d be highly upset about the fact that my Saturday was filled with cutting, loading, and hauling limbs rather than planning for my next week, napping, and reading. But in May our region was hit by huge tornadoes and by God’s grace we were spared though we were in the path of a tornado that was three football fields wide that dissipated a mile from our home. God is good. Life presented me with a wonderful lesson on commitment come Saturday morning and a whole day spend with people I love. I got by with a little help from my friends.

If you’re like me you get busy with life. Any chance you get to catch your breath is spent resting and trying to get prepared for the next round of busyness. You lose track of friends and family, keeping tabs on them through social media but not fellowshipping how you’d really like to. You promise to make dinner plans but don’t follow through. “Hey we should get together,” gets snuffed out by kids’ games, trips to the grocery store, or because you can’t get yourself up off the couch. You make mistakes, your friends make mistakes. Complacency grips your relationships. That is, until it’s time to demonstrate your commitment. Saturday morning 8 friends pulled into our drive with chainsaws and work gloves ready to attack the day. We all worked for 8 hours stopping only for water in the August Arkansas heat and for a few slices of pizza. Whole tops of trees were blown into our yard and scattered across our acreage. The progress made would’ve taken me and my family weeks if not months to clear. I’m not the perfect friend, and neither are my friends. But that day, their friendship and their commitment to me and our values and ideals could not have been more perfect.

In our friendship I had surely “sang out of tune,” but they had not “stood up and walked out on me.” Though our bonds are tested by time and separation, when our commitment to one another was tested, they held fast and stayed true. And so it is with our professions, teams, and appointed positions. Our zeal in our role fades over time. We begin to look for shortcuts and possibly recycle ideas in order to save time and energy. We allow negativity into our narratives, dialogue, and interactions. We allow our love for leading to wither.

Here are some steps you can take to daily, weekly, and monthly keep not only commitment, but also connection burning bright and holding steadfast.

1 - Reiterate and Revisit Values Often: 

I began sending a daily devotional, no more than 3 min. read time, to a friend/coach group recently. Encouraging that group, reminding them of our values and purpose, and breathing life into our relationships. You can do the same for your team/organization daily through communications, social media, short meetings, and check-ins with the people you lead and those that lead you. It takes less than 5 min. to deliver a meaningful message each day if you plan them out. Eventually your values become the vernacular. Holding everyone accountable to these familiar pillars of culture is then something that if familiar and resonating with everyone.

2 - Lead Up The Chain:

Haven’t heard from your leader lately? They’re human too. Go seek them out. Check in on them, encourage them, and ask how they’re doing and what you can help them with. Demonstrate your shared values to them. This is so highly encouraging to leaders. It’s a sign that they’ve been impactful and that what they are doing matters. It also delivers a shot of confidence and trust in you. Try to make this a habit each month. Perhaps you and your supervisor even schedule it. Look forward to it and commit to the time set aside. Prepping for this monthly meeting is like putting lighter fluid on your leadership fire. Far too often my children read our devotional or point out some simple sign of God’s grace or wonder that they have for our world and it can absolutely turn any frown of mine upside down. They’re leading up the chain to dear old dad and encouraging me.

3 - Analyze and Reflect:

Each session my assistant and I debrief the day. I’ve made a habit of this every year for the past six years and across multiple assistants. The perspective shared, compared, and contrasted offer valuable insight and really allow you to narrow down what areas are truly your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the appropriate means and methods to address them. Try debriefing after meetings and completed projects, even journaling and collecting feedback in weekly time frames. The communication and interaction offer numerous opportunities to once again reiterate values and expectations and to ensure that those are incorporated into all plans by you and those you lead. It’s also the perfect chance to positively recognize jobs well done.

Give these three strategies a try this week. Reflect on how the week goes for your leadership, as well as for you personally. When our values are aligned in all areas of our life, positivity becomes not only attainable but routine and infectious as we recently discussed. Reignite your commitment to these values, reinspire those around you that you lead. Do these often. And what you’ll find is that whether things are bright and sunny, or the storms are rolling in, your “team” will be motivated and anxious to help each other and you get by with a little help from each other.