Tag: Investing

answers, Goals, horses, Humility, Investing, Leadership, micromanager, Potential, Team Building, teams, Uncategorized

Climbing the Insurmountable Mountain

We moved my horse to a new stall on Sunday.  The new stall allows her to be on turn out all the time.  Before I had to pay one of the guys to let her out and that meant she didn’t get out on weekends.  Now she gets out every day, it also means change which my horse HATES.  She is next to 2 mares and they don’t seem to like her either.  None of this is helping.

On Sunday she was nervous, pacing, pawing, not eating.  When I walked away she calmed down.  Yesterday she was better until I put her in the cross ties, she was terrible.  Jumpy, nervous not wanting to stand still.  I moved her over to where her buddy was and she was yawning (which means she’s totally relaxed).

So now I feel terrible, did I make the wrong choice, should I move her back and how the heck am I going to handle her being so nuts again. I felt defeated!  Like I should just give up and let her go back to where she was before.

I told my daughter that I felt sad and upset that we had done this and that I felt like I had taken 10,000 steps back. She reminded me that I only took 1 step back that she was still amazing in the arena, she stood in the other cross ties and that we had to make her new home one where she wanted to be. She essentially talked me off the ledge.

This morning I started thinking again about this mountain that I now feel like I have to climb. I wondered as leaders, how often do we see a task or person or whatever as a mountain that we just can’t seem to get up.  Do we give up on that mountain or do we stop and assess exactly where we need to be.  Do we need to get all the way to the other side of the mountain or can we simply make it to a certain point?

So often as leaders we feel that we must get all the way across in that moment instead of saying I just need to take a step forward.

Today I am going to take a step forward and get my horse to stand.  Tomorrow we’ll take another step but today we are simply moving forward!

Here’s to all my leaders!  Take a single step, you don’t have to get to the top today! You just have to move forward!!

answers, Goals, horses, Humility, Investing, Leadership, micromanager, Potential, Team Building, teams, Uncategorized

Leadership Newsie Style

I had the opportunity to see Disney’s Newsie’s this weekend, if you haven’t seen it – go rent, watch!  It was amazing!!

The whole story is about a rag tag bunch of kids who sell newspapers (or papes) in New York.  When the boss raises the rates of papers the kids come together to try to create a union and strike.

Growing up in Flint Michigan I know the power a union can hold both positive and negative.  There was one quote that struck me especially after we talked about micromanaging before.

Catherine Plummer says “Being the boss doesn’t mean you have all the right answers, just the brain to recognize the right one when you hear it”

OK Read that out loud!  (Who cares whose lisenting!!)

Do you hear it, you, the boss don’t have to have all the answers!  WHAT? You are the boss you should have all the answers right? WRONG!

You just have to know the right one when you hear it!  Even more importantly is to help your team feel safe to provide the answers.  If you spend time asking for answers then shoot each down when you hear it, you aren’t leading you are being a bully!

Your team needs to process through the options and then they can provide the answers.  Next time there is something that needs solving ask your team for input and instead of judging each answer think about how it could work.  What could be modified to make it work?

Of course your team is going to be missing details that you may have and of course giving everyone a raise isn’t always the answer, but maybe there is something in that answer that could make change within the organization.

Good luck and Happy Leading

Goals, horses, Humility, Investing, Leadership, micromanager, Potential, Team Building, teams, Uncategorized

MicroManaging

HI Loyal Followers,

We’ve all had that 1 manager that was a total micromanager.  They can’t seem to leave us alone. Every little thing is nit picked, reviewed and feedback given.  It can be so frustrating!

What IF, YOU are the micromanager?  Now before you close the page telling me that I am so wrong, you are totally not that person!  Stop for a moment!  Most of us think we are really good leaders. I mean we are looking at ways to be better, we are reading books, listening to our mentors, seeking advice, doing all of the things that make us better!! BUT what if I said that those are all great things but you can still be micromanaging your team!

Micromanagers are not always the terrible leaders we expect. They are often people who got promoted to leadership for a lot of reasons.  Sometimes it’s because they are there, or because they worked really hard, and maybe it is actually because they are a good leader.  They just don’t have the tools to allow them to let go of the day to day tasks they are so used to managing.

This week, I want you to think before you send that email to your team.  Think about what you are trying to do? Are you really inputting details that are needed or does the team already know this information and you are just inputting because you feel a little of out control!

And before you give me the “Yea BUT”… there is a reason these people are on your team!  Yes there is probably room for improvement but what if you allowed your team to misstep? Make a mistake and have to deal with the repercussions of that mistake.  (I know you want to protect your team so you are giving them the tools they need to make it right) But what if they already know and are working to resolve??

Take a moment and check your motives, be honest!  Sometimes you have to let your team make a mistake so they can learn next time.  If you are getting pressure from upper management push back on them! Remind them that the team is overall performing well and you TRUST them!!

Happy Leading!

Goals, horses, Humility, Leadership, Potential, Uncategorized

What can you learn from Horses?

ALOT!  And to prove it here is an amazing article written by Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Business

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/29/success/executives-horses/index.html

Horses teach us so much but as leaders they can teach us so much about ourselves.  Horses are very intuitive and can really sense how we are feeling!  When we translate that to our teams we learn even more!

Check out this amazing article and happy leading!

Goals, horses, Investing, Potential, Team Building, Uncategorized

Words are Powerful

I recently had a conversation with my daughter, we were talking about some recent family revelations I’ve had and how those things can change how we see our lives.  She shared that she used to be very confused when I called my mom by her first name.  She couldn’t understand why I didn’t call her mom.

So many times in our world we fail to understand that people are listening to us even when we say the smallest things.  Like, when I call my mom by her first name.  (I do this because technically she’s my aunt but that’s a whole other blog post!!)

As leaders we often say things that don’t really think about or maybe we do but we just feel like it’s not that big of a deal, but guess what it is!  People are listening to you!  whether they know it or not they are taking all of what you say and processing it to determine what type of leader you are.

When we say something negative about a co-worker or speak badly about another department we are setting a tone for our teams and they will act in the same way.  We shouldn’t be surprised when they then do or same thing!

This week as you communicate ask someone you trust to make note if you say something that they feel maybe shouldn’t of been said.  Listen to their feedback, you don’t have to take action on it, but simply listen to what they are saying. You might be very surprised by what you learn!

Your words are powerful, they will have an impact!  You get to decide what that impact is!