Enklings Studio

The Leader Simple

Over the years, this co-opted ancient-future blueprint for leadership has served me and the companies I have worked with well. While I can't say that I have followed this path 100% of my time as a leader, I most certainly haven't, but it has been a guiding light to get me back on the path of true and simple leadership that never fails.

 

Show Them The Way

    Mission - where are you going, what is driving you, make it crystal clear

    Ethics - what are the boundaries and river banks, teach it and emulate it

    Character - be a trust-worthy and peace-full person, expect it and also live it

    Focus - like a laser to achieve your goals which can be multiple and varied

 

Tell Them The Truth

    Strategy - be clear about expectations and aspirations, both present and future

    Performance - what are the possibilities and how can we individually exceed them

    Feedback - openly and positively communicate what is working and what isn't

    Transparency - be very vocal about everything vital to everyone's success

 

Give Them A Life

    Culture - create an environment where every person feels and is valued

    Compensation - as much as possible, take worry about money out of the equation

    Benefits - as much as possible, take worry about health and well being away

    Balance - care about family and self-care as much as cash flow and profits

 

You don't need a full business book to take these to heart.  Put this triad of twelve points in front of your leadership team or yourself individually, work through each one with your unique mission and your own set of values. If you need help, let me know.

Simply, Tim

Open Hands - Living With Dying

I wrote a short poem a while back about living life with open hands:

I will live my life with Open Hands

Courageously – taking what I'm given
Humbly – supporting what I have
Peacefully – giving what is taken
Faithfully – trusting what will come

I will live my life with Open Hands

This may sound defeatist, but I believe that much of life's happiness comes from contentment. Being content, regardless of your circumstances, is the only path to peace. This doesn't mean you give up. You still scrap and persevere to gain what is needed for life.  It isn't taking the easy road. It's knowing that at the end of the day, or at the end of life, you've done your part and kept commitments to love an live at the highest level you could.

At the time of this post, Cathy and I were both in the process of losing our Dads. Each has been a different path. My Dad had Parkinson's for a decade of slowly deteriorating. Cathy's Dad was in a fight with cancer that until the then he was winning. Both were losing their battles quickly. 

So how does contentment fit in when you are losing someone you love?

I will live my life with open hands

Courageously - taking the pain along with recognizing that death is part of life
Humbly - supporting them through this process along with the rest of the family
Peacefully - giving through grief what will be taken whether I let go with peace or anger
Faithfully - trusting that they will be accepted into something much greater than this

I will live my life with open hands

Contentment is the essence of living with things that cannot be changed.

Courage and humility are the keys to changing how I react to thing with which I struggle.

Peace and faith can be the outcome of the process, it's my choice.

Simply,

Tim