We work with a lot of people who want more time. They tell us they need more time, that there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done. They feel constantly overwhelmed and are trying to live their lives with a focus on what matters most. It's a constant struggle for many of us. The truth is: slowing down in a fast-paced world is hard. Our new book Retreat to Success is all about this topic. It's a story about taking the time to slow down and find your life's purpose.
I read this article recently in USA Today about how difficult it can be for Americans to take vacation. The article says that "Not taking all the vacation time that's available has become an American trait." A 2010 global survey taken of more than 12,500 workers by Ipsos Public
Affairs and Reuters discovered that only 57% of Americans used all
their vacation time. There are many reasons cited for this reality, including a fear of unemployment in a difficult economy, a feeling of having too much work to take time off, and not wanting to deal with a backlog of work upon returning from vacation. Regardless of the reasons, vacation is necessary. We need to take time off to be with those who matter to us, to rest, to think, to have fun, to do the things that make us happy. After all, as John Wanamaker said, "those who do not make time for relaxation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness."
How do you feel about this issue? Are you on the list of people who have unused vacation time every year or do you make sure to utilize your time off? What are the challenges you find with taking time off? What advice would you give to someone who hasn't taken a vacation in years?
Employees: Asset or Investment?
When I read this article by Dr. Richard Ray, I literally stood up and applauded. Dr. Ray challenges us to think about the language we use when we talk about our team members. We've all worked for organizations over the years that have said: "You are an asset" and "Our employees are our top priority." How many times did those words not align with the company's actions?
Don't get me wrong, being viewed as an asset isn't a bad thing. I WANT to be an asset to the company that employs me, but more than that, I want to be an investment. I want the company to invest in my growth and development. I want the company to believe in my potential and provide opportunities for me to learn. And I recognize that it is up to me to take advantage of those opportunities and make the most of them as I seek to advance my career.
Dr. Ray challenges us by reminding us that, "Assets are typically used or consumed and then sold, traded or warehoused in a manner that takes the asset off the books. Assets are property and subject to the will of those that own them. So is this what the CEOs and HR leaders mean? Are people 'resources that are owned and controlled for economic benefit to their
organizations'? Or do organizations see their employees as investments?
Investments are waived for immediate financial gains to focus on future
value. When organizations make good investments, good things happen."
This idea could (and should) change the way organizations approach learning and development. Instead of seeing it as a budget line item and often one that is cut quickly when cost reductions are needed, they should recognize that they are investing in the future of the organization. I often hear C-level execs and HR professionals talk about increasing employee retention and at times they lament "wasted dollars" spent training and developing talent that goes elsewhere. Organizations will, without question, increase employee retention by changing the mindset to employees as investments vs. employees as assets. Not only will employee retention improve but the company will find itself in a better position to recruit top talent.
In a recent study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, opportunity for personal growth and development has supplanted opportunity for advancement as the top attribute that new college grads are seeking from employers. This is a generation of learners, and they expect the company that employs them to provide ongoing opportunities for them to grow.
What do you think? Does your company treat you like an asset or an investment?
And if your company doesn't treat you as an investment, what can you do about it? Are you willing to invest in yourself so that you can create your own opportunity to move on to bigger and better things?
To Lead is to Serve...Characteristics of a Servant Leader - Final Post
Welcome to the final blog in our Servant Leadership blog series, To Lead is To Serve! The first six blogs in this series are listed below:
- To Lead is to Serve...A Leadership Mantra
- To Lead is to Serve...Characteristics of a Servant Leader - Part 1
- To Lead is to Serve...Characteristics of a Servant Leader - Part 2
- To Lead is to Serve...Characteristics of a Servant Leader - Part 3
- To Lead is to Serve...Characteristics of a Servant Leader - Part 4
- To Lead is to Serve...Characteristics of a Servant Leader - Part 5
In this blog series, we have explored the ten characteristics of servant leaders created by Larry Spears based on the writings of Robert Greenleaf. These characteristics include: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people and building community.
The mission of SOS Leadership is “to develop leaders that make a difference.” Essentially, we strive to develop servant leaders.
Today remember that you are a leader, and you can make a difference. What sets servant leaders apart is the desire to make a difference, the yearning to be of service. Servant leaders lead WITH PURPOSE and choose to lead ON PURPOSE.
Leadership is a choice! You cannot lead with purpose until you know your life's purpose, and you must make a conscious choice to lead. Choosing to be a leader isn't a choice you make just once in your life; it's a choice you must make daily.
Servant leadership requires choosing to put these characteristics into practice: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of others, and building community. It requires asking yourself the tough questions. Start with the reflection questions presented throughout this blog series, and use these questions to challenge yourself to lead at a higher level.
Servant leadership isn’t just a powerful concept; it’s a way of life. It offers a path to transform yourself and those you lead. Will you accept the invitation?
Go make a difference!
And always remember:
To lead is to serve.
To serve is to lead.
Reflections from Retreat to Success
"What I am looking for is not out there ... It's in me."
- Helen Keller
These powerful words of wisdom from Helen Keller remind me that the answers are within me. I often spend a lot of time looking elsewhere. I'm searching. Sometimes I'm wandering. What I most need to do is slow down. I need to be still long enough to listen to myself. As an extrovert, I often drown out my own voice with the voices of others. I owe it to myself to spend more time in silence. I need to spend more time reflecting on what matters most and challenging myself to align the way I spend my time with my priorities. If there is a disconnect, I am to blame, and I need to take action to fix it.
Our new book Retreat to Success is all about the need in our lives to slow down. We can't live our lives fully when we never slow down to savor the very moment in front of us. We are constantly adding more to our already full lives. It's becoming a defining characteristic of our culture. But it doesn't have to be this way.
Do you ever feel that you're constantly running? Are you running right past the best time of your life?
If you answered yes to these two questions, how do you change the cycle?
I remind myself daily that every time I say yes to something I say no to something else. I want to say yes to the right people and activities. This mindset has changed my persective drastically. What works for you?
Never Stop Learning
In our Seeds of Success program, SOS Leadership teaches: a leader’s growth determines the growth
of their followers -
when you, the leader, stop growing, your followers will stop growing as well.
Your organization will stop growing. Dr. John Maxwell calls this the Law of the
Lid in his book the 21 Irrefutable Laws
of Leadership. When this happens, you must step aside and let someone else
take over.
There
is always something new to be learned. Legendary singer and actress Eartha Kitt
stated, “I am learning all the time. The
tombstone will be my diploma.” SOS Leadership
Institute is committed to developing leaders that make a difference. We strive
to lead by example in all that we do and strongly believe that people follow
leaders because of their passion, vision, integrity, and love for people. We promote the importance of
a "What Matters Most" focus and encourage leaders to choose a life of
significance!
Obtaining a “What
Matters Most” focus requires work. We must allow ourselves to continue to grow
no matter what stage we are at in our lives. We have to let go of our “we
already know it all” mentality. Even if we think we know it all, maybe we can
gain a different perspective. Robert Brault said, “Each day learn something new, and just as important,
relearn something old.”
If we
continue to learn, we can continue to teach. We can continue to grow. I
encourage you to plant your seeds of success today. I encourage you to
challenge yourself to learn something new everyday and to continue growing. I
encourage you to answer the call to leadership!
3 Reasons You Pursue Other People’s Goals Instead of Your Own
This is the first blog in our new series about goal setting. Authored by SOS Leadership Co-Founder, Bill Moyer, this blog series focuses on the reasons why we focus on the goals of others rather than working toward our own goals.
At SOS Leadership, we share this message regularly with clients: “You are always working on goals. It’s your choice whether they are your goals or someone else’s.”
When we don’t have our own clearly defined goals, we get sucked into helping others achieve their goals. Some of us live in this reality for years. Because we never really know what it is we want from life, we spend our time helping other people get what they want, often wondering when it will be “our turn.” The truth is this: it can be your turn whenever you’re ready. You need to spend the time to clarify your goals and then get to work on achieving them.
When we have clarity and a written plan for our own goals, we choose when and how we help others to achieve their goals. We support other people on our terms in a way that allows us to make progress on our own goals while helping them to achieve theirs.
In my years of coaching and leadership development experience, I’ve found that there are three primary reasons why we pursue other people’s goals and not our own:
1) Fear: We are afraid to fail. Wrapped up in the fear can be serious self-doubt. We aren’t sure we can do it. In some cases, it’s because our conditioning has been such that we’ve been told throughout our lives that we can’t (and won’t) amount to much. Ultimately, we have let other people steal our dreams. We have allowed are past to determine our future.
2) Guilt: Guilt is a brutal emotion. We convince ourselves that our priorities should be elsewhere. I find that guilt is a common reason cited by parents for why they don’t pursue their goals. They tell themselves that they should put their kids’ goals before their own, but what they do instead is abandon their own goals completely and put all of their time and energy into helping their kids achieve. In some cases, their kids are pursuing their own goals, but much of the time the kids are pursuing the parents’ dream, and both the parent and the child think they are doing this to please the other.
This parental guilt can be strong, but I remind parents that their children will learn valuable lessons from watching their behavior. When they see their parents setting and achieving their own goals, they will learn how to do it. If they are being told about the power of goal-setting but see the parent not actively working toward his or her own goals, the kids are getting mixed messages. Ultimately, what speaks louder? Actions or words?
3) Apathy: Perhaps we have reached our comfort zone, and we stay there. We employ an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude. Or plain and simple, we just don’t care. Apathy develops for a wide variety of reasons, and it typically leads to either laziness or years of avoidance behavior. We stop making progress, and along the way, we stop believing that we are capable of change.
What are the reasons you’re not pursuing your own goals right now? What are you going to do about it?
As this blog series continues, we will further explore each of these reasons why we tend to focus on the goals of others at the expense of our own goals.
