In This Issue:

Ohio National Guard Leadership

Demonstrating Leadership in the Face of Failure

What can we Learn from Third Graders?

Take our Leadership Poll!

What do you Want to Finish?

Back to Basics

Ohio National Guard Leadership
By Steven L. Anderson, Ph.D., MBA

Recently I had an amazing experience with the Ohio National Guard (ONG) Refueling Wing out of Rickenbacker Airport that I wanted to share with you.  Last spring I gave a speech on leadership and afterwards I was approached by Lieutenant Colonel Kathy Lowery and Sergeant Major (ret) Atrel Henderson.  They talked to me about doing leadership training for the Ohio National Guard.  They also invited me to fly on a KC135 refueling tanker on 9/17/09.  I excitedly accepted their kind offer.

To be honest, I didn’t expect much when I arrived at Rickenbacker Airport on 9/17/09.  Boy was I in for a surprise.  From the moment I walked into the briefing room I was impressed with the ONG personnel.  They were enthusiastic and professional.  It was obvious that they take their mission seriously.   (continued)

Demonstrating Leadership in the Face of Failure
By Jason Janoski

We all strive to demonstrate value — to our employers, our clients and to the people who trust us to help them be successful. But we all fail from time to time. It’s inevitable. Our failures highlight our deficiencies and flaws, but they give us an opportunity to address and strengthen them. Your ability to rebound and make strides during tough times will demonstrate that you’re a teammate who can be counted on, in good times and bad.

Failure is not fun.  No one damages a relationship or wrecks a car and says “I can’t wait to do that again!” The same applies when we fail in our professional lives.  Whether we lose a sale, get passed over for a promotion, or don’t get that raise — it stings.

Don’t give up. More importantly — don’t live in denial. Persistence is an admirable and valuable trait, but refusing to acknowledge reality impedes growth. If you can accept criticism and employ the necessary course corrections, you’ll demonstrate leadership and foster confidence.    (continued)

What Can We Learn From Third Graders?
By M.J. Clark, M.A., APR

 I teach Sunday school to a lively, curious and talkative group of third graders. One thing I have discovered about them is that if I ask a question that leads a child to mention his or her pet, I immediately see about 10 other hands go up, because all of the children want to tell me a story about their pet. These additional stories are often completely irrelevant to the topic, and sometimes I let these kids go on too long because they are so darn cute to listen to.  (continued)

What Do You Want to Finish?
By Kim Radison, SPHR

What have you started lately that still needs to be finished?  A half-finished basement project, a few pictures to put in the scrapbook, a pile of old clothes to be donated to a needed charity?  Why haven’t you finished these projects?  What’s stopping you? 

Day in and day out, I make myself a cup of coffee that I never finish.  At the office, I pour a full cup every morning at 7 a.m., and every afternoon at 4 p.m., I dump the full cup down the drain.  On the weekend, I fill my favorite mug with a fancy flavored coffee, I reheat twice throughout the day, and then I pour it down the drain.  Every day, it’s a little something that I am disappointed that I never take the time to enjoy or complete.  So, I sat down last weekend, made myself a full cup of coffee, and read the newspaper until I finished it. Having two small children and a hectic work schedule, I felt like I had just won the Boston Marathon or the Tour de France.  (continued)

Back to Basics
by Walter Kalinowski, guest contributor

In effort to sharpen my leadership skills I have been reading a book called Uncommon; finding your path to significance, written by two-time Super Bowl Winning Coach Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker. A seemingly easy read the message presented is both heavy and powerful and applies to all leaders in all walks of life. There are no earth shattering views or high tech shortcuts to be found in this book – much of the message for leaders is what we’ve learned before.

As a father of young boys one quote from the chapter on role models and attributed to Robert Fulghum really grabbed me: “Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” How basic is that? More importantly how powerful is that?  Think about it; as a leader or a parent are you modeling outstanding behaviors every minute of every day? Are your actions ALWAYS driven towards achieving world class results? Is that not what we want and need from our teammates and children?  Easy to do? Absolutely NOT, but then again GREAT results don’t ever come easy.

Be sure to remember great leaders do not live by the “do as I say not as I do” motto.  Great leaders model the right behaviors.  We all must know AND remember that our actions are always being watched.

So, leaders, don’t worry that your actions are being watched. Focus on modeling excellence in everything you do!