LEADERS VALUING

[a piece being worked on for upcoming book]:

Think about the phrase, PEOPLE, OUR MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE. Seen that or heard that somewhere before? For many years it has been a popular slogan, motto or marketing used by companies to make their people believe that they are considered important. First off, organizations don't make this belief a reality, every individual leader does......or doesn't.

Rarely does it really play out in the WALK, it’s just TALK…many employees tell me this. You're thinking the same thing right now aren’t you; about your current job or recent situation or organization where you worked?

In fact, this is probably the resource that is the most UNDER-valued. Consider for a moment, all the other resources within your organization…time, money, inventory, machinery, facilities, etc. Think how much effort is put into managing these other resources - doing preventive maintenance, planning and organizing, fixing, repairing, replacing, etc.
Organizations tend to be pretty proactive regarding other resources; however when it comes to people, it is pretty much all reactive.

We do spend time on people - reacting to people problems: behaviors, performance issues, conflicts, problems, lack of team skills, leadership ineffectiveness, relations on the team and between depts, etc.

The PEOPLE-SYSTEM (the culture, teamwork, leadership, relationships, management, morale, baggage, history, attitude, promotion, succession…) receives the least amount of effort on the front end typically.

Here’s a really important question for the leader to reflect upon: Do you REALLY value him/her/them? Do you feel like each one of your folks is just as important as the others? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

Hope you are feeling valued. Have a blessed day, BOOKER

not a blog, just sharing TEACHING/PRAYING

NOMINEE FOR "E-MAIL OF THE YEAR"!!!...don't know who gets credit for it, just passing on...

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said: 'Let me see if I've got this right. 'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.
'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride... 'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.
'You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams. 'You also want me to provide them with an equal education
regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.
'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

'You want me to do all this and then you tell me... I CAN'T PRAY?'
WOW, am I glad I am in adult education :))

Leadership / Spiritual WISDOM

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding PROVERBS 3:13

He who loves discipline loves knowledge, he who hates correction is stupid PROVERBS 12: 1


What is wisdom anyway? As I think of it in regard to leadership, I am sure most of management believes it to be centered on how the product(s) is made or how we provide our service(s). Since there are many in management who know the product/service, but still struggle does not it have to be something more?

Is it really about that technical/operational know-how, or could it be something different? I believe it is undoubtedly about ALL of it: the knowledge of the business, people skills, human behavior/nature, process/systems-thinking, group dynamics and even some organizational behavior/development thrown in. If I knew much about all that and practiced it in my role as a leader, I would likely have to be a pretty wise leader, huh?

Whatever it is, it can be a double-edged sword. You see, leaders frequently believe they are there, they have arrived; and therefore they must know it all (or at least more than those they lead). If that is so, how do I use that wisdom? Do I share it, teach it to others, keep it to myself, or just use it to make all the decisions myself?

* I always have to be careful here in challenging management/managers. It is not about anyone being bad, but just about bad management (leadership).

The scriptures above encourage us to find and discover wisdom, maybe above anything else. Again, I ask you to consider here, what is leadership wisdom; what do leaders need to know?

Along with our own understanding, opinions and beliefs in this matter, we should seek the input of others around us. We should work on our leadership competencies and ask others to help us with this learning and growing. We need to be OK with it (them) when they do correct us, challenge us or point out where we are falling short. Wisdom would tell us that old phrase, two heads are better than one- is a truism. A lack of wisdom would cause the leader to not ask other opinions or not involve the team.

Enough said for now. Ponder it and maybe keep in mind this which was shared by my Pastor (regarding being open to change): A grave is much like a rut, only with the ends kicked out.

Use some wisdom here and be open to what that analogy says.

Gods best to you and yours this day, BOOKER