LEADER INFLUENCE LLC, Professional Leadership Coaching, Training and Keynote Speaking
Month: August 2017
TRANSFORMATIONAL INFLUENCE. The Unexpected Changing of Lives in the Midst of Hurricane Harvey
As a Native Houstonian, I am experiencing survivor’s guilt. It is heartbreaking to see family and friends suffering, houses being lost from flooding every day. I moved from Houston 6 years ago, and there is very little I can do but pray and encourage. I am also a first responder in my heart. God has given me the talent to keep people safe, and I am unable to do that. Even though there are things I can do to help and support (and I am), I know that friends and families are struggling, anxious at not knowing what the future brings. As of writing, there is still the possibility of an additional 15-30 inches of rain. Pray for their safety, peace, and sanity. Pray that they will know that ultimately good will come out of this catastrophic disaster.
In fact, I already see the good being done. In a nation where there is a focus on the debate over race, religion, and income equality. In a time where the country criticizes every decision made by local, state and federal governments. Where unity is but a distant hope, I see the people in the nation’s fourth largest city and surrounding areas, banding together in solidarity to help their neighbors, friends, and family.
I see the rich and poor, people of all ages, races, religions and rising up 
and becoming leaders within their homes, families, and neighborhoods. I see leaders taking time off of their jobs and coming from all over the United States to support and save lives. I see leaders donating money, food, clothes and goods and their time for those who have lost everything. I see leaders risking their lives for others. I see churches and organizations opening their buildings up shelter, clothe and feed those in need. I know there are some working and staffing those shelters that are facing or have lost their home, have family in desperate need and are experiencing the same anxious thoughts as anyone else. But rather sulk in their despair and hopelessness, they chose to serve others and make a difference.
I SEE PEOPLE SACRIFICING THEIR COMFORTABLE LIFESTYLES FOR THE BETTER GOOD OF MANKIND!
What the Houston area is witnessing is called, Servant Leadership. Serving others unselfishly with little or no regard to their circumstances. Out of this Servant Leadership, I see something much deeper occurring. I call it Transformational Influence. Leaders making a difference in people’s lives by influencing through their generous serving of others, and positive and encouraging conversations. They possess a positive attitude regardless of the situation or circumstance. Transformational Influence is a term I created from witnessing the transformation of people’s lives through conversation, prayer, and commitment to others. Transformational Influence occurs when we affect the way a person thinks, acts or behaves through our conversations, personal actions or simply our intention.
How can you have Transformational Influence in a time of crisis?
- Be genuine in your relationship with those you encounter – Focus on the individual’s needs and desires. You can only do that by being sincere, involved and curious.
- Be intentional – Go out of your way to get to know a person. See someone hurting or sitting alone? Go sit with them and let them share their struggles with you. Ask to pray.
- Be a servant – Serve them with your whole heart. Make it a priority to help them get settled.
- Be humble – Realize that you are not them. You are not feeling what they are feeling.
- Be encouraging – Encourage through your conversation or simply just be there for them. Sometimes the most encouraging thing you can do is simply sit there and not say a word.
- Give them Hope – Regardless of the situation or circumstance, there is hope. Hope shines brightest when the hour is darkest. Let them see and hear hope for something better. Hope is our greatest asset and the greatest weapon we can use to battle our losses. Without hope, there is nothing.
- Pray for Them, Daily and Often – Prayer changes people. Prayer changes situations. Even if you don’t pray with them, pray earnestly for their salvation and their success in life.
Use this catastrophic and tragic situation to transform the lives of others through your Servant Leadership. Have Transformational Influence on those you come in contact with.
To the people of the greater Houston Area……..Continue to UNITE and Serve One Another! Show the world why Texas is the Best!
To those who have traveled to the area to assist……THANK YOU! Your commitment and service will be remembered for generations to come.
GOD BLESS HOUSTON, TEXAS!
To Improve Performance, Change Your Attitude
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Life has its ups and downs, its turbulence and its smooth flying. We sometimes stall, but hopefully, we change our attitude and recover to make a smooth landing.
I love flying. I am not a pilot, but I have been interested in flying for most of my life. I love watching pilots perform their pre-check routines. I study every move they make and try to identify every instrument on the panel; altimeter, airspeed indicator, vertical speed indicator, magnetic compass, attitude indicator, heading indicator, turn indicator, etc. If you ever see a nerdy guy sitting up front watching the pilot(s) perform their pre-flight checks, it’s probably me.
I’ve had the privilege of flying in private planes and charters. One of the coolest things is most of these planes have open cabins. You can watch out the front window and every move the pilot performs. I notice that pilots are always watching their instruments. While we gaze out the window trying to identify landmarks or enjoy the scenery, the pilot is intently focused on his instrument panel. One particular instrument, the attitude indicator, seems to be one they refer to and watch most often. In fact, it is placed in a prominent position within the panel, typically right in front of the pilot. While there are other instruments of importance, I believe the attitude indicator is placed in the most prominent part of the panel, because of its significance to the safe operation of the aircraft.
The Attitude Indicator depicts the position of the airplane in relation to the real horizon. It shows whether the wings are level and if the plane is climbing or descending, or flying straight and level. A pair of wings represents the attitude of the aircraft in relation to the sky (blue) or ground (brown). Basically, if the wings are in the blue, the plane is climbing, if they are in the brown, the plane is descending. The attitude of an airplane indicates its performance. To modify the performance of an airplane, you must change the attitude.
Through my recent studies on personal attitude, I realize there is an analogy between the performance of an aircraft to the performance of a person. Just as an airplane’s attitude determines its performance, the attitude of a person will determine their performance.
What happens when a person attitude dictates unfavorable results? How can that attitude be changed? I believe the key to having a good attitude is the willingness to change. To change, one must choose to change.
If you want to achieve and maintain a good attitude, do the following:
- Evaluate your present attitude – Identify your problem feelings, behavior and thinking. Clarify the truth, secure your commitment and act on your decision immediately and often.
- Realize faith is stronger than fear – To succeed, one must have faith from the beginning knowing he/she will succeed.
- Want to change – When all else fails, desire alone can get you on the right track and keep you there.
- Live one day at a time – Success and failure follow us. Forget yesterday and focus on today. For what we do today, has an impact on tomorrow.
- Change your thoughts – What we focus on and remember, determines our actions. Our attitude is developed through our thoughts and feelings. Change your thoughts and feelings, and you will change your attitude.
- Develop the right thoughts – Our attitude is nothing more than our thoughts. It is as easy to form a thoughtful habit of success as it is a failure. Work to develop the habit of success through positive thinking.
- Choose to have the right attitude – The choice of a good attitude is just the beginning. Attitudes have a tendency to revert back to their original pattern. You must deliberately choose to have the right attitude.
The only way a person’s attitude can change is through their personal desire to change. As leaders, we can influence those we lead to change, but ultimately they make their own decisions. Just as an airplane’s performance changes with a change in attitude, so will the performance of an individual. But remember, attitudes can be bad or good. Make the wrong attitude adjustment in an aircraft and the results can be catastrophic. The same could be said for people. Make a bad attitude change, and the suffrage can be devastating.
A Person’s Attitude Influences Their Behavior
I’ll never forget the story my daughter recounted one day. She heard this from a speaker in school. Although the story most likely was not true, it nevertheless painted a picture of what “attitude” is and the impact it can have on a person.
“ A man finds himself accidentally locked in a refrigerated boxcar. Unable to get out, he uses a knife to etch words and phrases onto the wooden floor, such as….”It’s so cold, my body is getting numb” and “I don’t have much longer…” As the hours go by, the man slowly succumbs to death. The next day, the man’s body is discovered. His written records indicate death due to hypothermia, but the physical evidence shows that the temperature never dropped below 50 degrees. If it wasn’t hypothermia that caused his death, then what was it?
If it wasn’t hypothermia that caused his death, then what was it?
ATTITUDE….straightforward.
He was going to die, and there were no other options. This story shows how dominant attitude can be and how it can dramatically alter the outcome of any situation.
So what happens when a person’s attitude interferes and affects their behavior? Can a person’s attitude be changed? I think it can. Let me explain.
I have long taught that behaviors can be changed and modified through training, accountability, etc. However, the individual controls their attitude. It’s a choice. The person will bring their own thoughts, feelings, and way of thinking about them and it will manifest outwardly with time. Attitudes determine our behavior. In fact, Webster dictionary defines attitude as; “a feeling or a way of thinking that affects a person’s behavior.” So a leaders job is to consistently influence a person’s behavior. Be persistent and eventually, you will influence their attitude.
Attitude is more important than anything else, it is more important than money, any of your circumstances, or failures and successes. It is more important than your appearance, your talent, or your skill. It will determine your ability to succeed in anything you do.
Trust, The Glue That Bonds Relationships
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” ~Ernest Hemingway
According to Steven Covey, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that upholds all relationships”. Trust is crucial in the leadership process. In fact, trust is required for effective leadership. Trust can be described simply by comparing it to pocket change. Every right decision puts change in your pocket. Every poor decision takes change from your pocket. The key is to increase your pocket change, rather than always paying it out. Sure we all make mistakes. And each mistake cost us some coins from our pocket. However, employees are tolerant of mistakes as long as we are transparent, quick to humility and strive to regain their confidence.
In his book, Leadership 101, John Maxwell shares three qualities a leader must exhibit to gain trust; competence, connection and character. Violate any one of these three qualities, and you will lose the trust of those who follow. Trust is doing what’s right because it’s right. Mackey and Sisodia state in their book, Conscious Capitalism; “the right actions undertaken for the right reasons generally lead to good outcomes over time.” I don’t think anyone can remain a leader if he or she continues to make poor decisions and break the trust of employees. When we break trust, we damage the relationship. Relationships can be repaired, but with much work and effort.
In fact, a leader can’t be a leader if there is no trust because trust leads to influence. If people don’t trust you, you can’t have influence. Without influence, you can’t lead.
Build sincere relationships and out of your sincerity, will come trust. Only then will you be able to influence and achieve effective leadership.
ATTITUDE, A Quick Insight For Influence
INSIGHT FOR INFLUENCE – Attitude, “it is a little thing that makes a big difference.” For some people, attitude presents a difficulty in every opportunity; for others, it presents an opportunity in every difficulty. Simply put, attitude is how one feels about something, what ever that might be. It is an inside thing that manifests itself throughout our outside actions. Some try to mask or hide it, but it will present itself in our actions and words. Leaders have a tremendous influence on others. In fact, our attitude will have a positive or adverse effect on those we lead. Consider your attitude and influence for positive leadership.
HOW TO REMAIN ENCOURAGED DURING DIFFICULT TIMES
You remember the saying, “Let the good times roll.” Well, sometimes the good times turn bad. We enjoy the benefit of things going well and t’s easy to encourage others when they’re down. But sooner or later, we will enter into difficult times. It’s inevitable. As I said in my last post, “How to Remain Motivated and Influential During Difficult Times,” I stated that, “no one will escape difficulty in life.” The reality is, there will be times of discouragement. But discouragement doesn’t mean we have to fall apart or quit.
I look to the scriptures for my daily encouragement. When difficult times hit, I find it even more important to study and mediatiate. Here are five bible verses to encourage you during difficult times.
How to Stay Motivated and Influential in Difficult Times
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” Zig Ziglar
It’s Friday, you are finishing up a few last things and then heading out for the weekend. As you are sitting in your office reading a report, you hear a light tap on the door. Looking up, you see your boss closing the door. S/he starts out by saying, you have really done an excellent job, but…… you probably know where this ends. Most of us have been there. You are about to encounter the harsh truth, you are out of a job. Maybe you just received news that you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer. Or maybe you find yourself falling on difficult financial times. Whatever it may be, there will be difficult times in all of our lives. Difficult times also bring on frustration, anxiety, and fear of the unknown.
As you stare down on this big ugly beast, realize that your reaction will determine your success or failure. What will your reaction be, discouragement or comfort? Your answer depends on you. I think we all feel disbelief and despair in the beginning. But it doesn’t have to consume us. In fact, I believe we must take advantage of these situations and find ways to stay motivated and encouraged in difficult times.
Here are 10 ways I stay motivated during difficult times:
- Realize life flows up and down – Life is a cycle. There will always be good and bad times. It’s how we react and handle those times that determine our future.
- Remember, things don’t change overnight – Things take time to work out. Be patient and work diligently for your desired outcome.
- Focus on the positive – Although the past is with us, it doesn’t have to haunt us. Focus on what matters today and tomorrow. Remember, yesterday ended last night, focus on today in preparation for tomorrow.
- Continue self-growth – When difficult or trying times hit, it is a perfect time to take personal inventory and determine where you need to grow. Spend time becoming a better you. Physically, mentally and spiritually. You can GROW or GROAN. However, I don’t think the latter will get you much.
- Consider all options – Take time to consider your options. Maybe it is time for a career change, or to downsize in your home, vehicles, etc. Whatever it may be, remain open and ready to take initiative.
- Serve others – As difficult times come upon us, look for ways to help others succeed. In fact, this is an excellent time to move the situation away from you. Serving others creates a heart of gratitude and gives us the opportunity to meet the needs of others.
- Consider the big picture – Remember that everything happens for a reason. You may be the reason you have fallen on difficult times. Whatever the reason, maintain a big picture point of view. Consider your current situation and look for opportunities to achieve your future desires and goals. Never a better time than the present to begin a new road to the future.
- Embrace change head-on – Change. I LOVE IT! Many hate it, fight it and despise it. Become a person who embraces change. Consider the many opportunities change presents and capitalize on them. Remember, the only thing constant in life is….change.
- Never give up – Whatever you do, don’t give up and don’t settle. Too many give in too quickly. Continue to push through the muck and mud, and you will be victorious!
- Pray and stay in the Word – During difficult times, it’s important to understand where your strength comes from. I believe one must stay connected to God through prayer and reading His Word, the Bible.
These 10 ways help me maintain my motivation during the difficult times. I believe one or all can help you do the same. Remember that difficult times affect us all. No one escapes the difficult times in life. However, the way we handle and react in those times determines our success or failure.
When you remain motivated, others see how well you adapt and handle the situation and will allow you to influence them. Tim Tebow said, “I’ll always use the negative as more motivation to work even harder and become even stronger.” Use the difficult times to become a better and stronger person.
LEADER INFLUENCE 