It was August 2006 when I received the good fortune to be a weekly guest on one of Canada’s top rated news stations AM800 in Windsor, Ontario. Jason Moore, News Director and Keith Chinnery, Program Director made it happen and the profile I received in Windsor/Essex was incredible. Morning Drive hosts Mike Kakuk and Lisa Williams always made me sound good. On the Streets reporter Arms Bumanlag had me on his shows as did Lynn Martin and Melanie Deveau. Many AM800 staffers made me feel welcome, helped promote seminars and contributed with their engineering and voice over talents.
Over the two and a half years and more than 125 segments, we jointly offered public seminars and business seminars attended by more than 350 people.
Good things come to an end and as the Morning Drive tweaks its format, segments need to change and so my last regular segment is Monday, March 30th at 6:50 AM.
So I reflected back on the past 2+ years and thought about what the three most significant leadership lessons I would like to leave with listeners:
1. Leadership is not the same as Management – The reality is that most managers are not leaders. Managers are focused on maintaining the status quo and allocating resources to do jobs faster and cheaper. Leaders are focused on making change and improving results by growing the capabilities of the people who work along side them. People are craving leadership and very few people are willing to step up to the challenge.
2. Leadership is more about Mind Set, not Skill Set – Having taught thousands of leaders, the secret isn’t in techniques – it is in having a constructive mindset that is focused on Achievement, Encouragement and being Approachable and Open. If you can shift from being overly aggressive or passive you can be a leader people want to follow. Remember that the situation could easily be reversed and you could be working for the people who report to you.
3. Motivation involves three things – helping people feel that they are important part of the team, giving them positive feedback for a job well done and challenging them to grow, make decisions and solve problems. Heaping more work on good performers makes them resentful. Avoiding addressing poor performance causes a lack of respect for your leadership ability.
I am launching a new podcast called BeABetterLeader which will be available through my website and itunes so if you haven’t signed up for my mailing list, please visit LeadershipWizard.com.
