The Five P’s of Leadership Performance

First, I need to issue a disclaimer.  This is not an original idea of mine.  Dan Rockwell’s (AKA @LEADERSHIPFREAK) E’s for Exceptional Leadership blog inspired me.  I decided to randomly pick a letter of the alphabet and see what I could come up with.  I picked P and here is what I came up with:

1. “Do what you’re passionate about.” ~ Lacey Chabert

Leaders must be passionate about their mission.  If you want enthusiastic followers, you will need to be passionate about your mission.

2. “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” ~ Samuel Johnson

Leaders must demonstrate perseverance.  Any mission worth accomplishing will involve overcoming obstacles and at times discouragement.  If you want followers who steadfastly help you accomplish your mission, you will need to persevere when faced with obstacles and discouragement.

3. “I’m generally a very pragmatic person: that which works, works.” ~ Linus Torvalds

Leaders must be pragmatic rather that dogmatic.  Followers need a leader who is more concerned with finding what will work than with proving the leader’s opinions about what will work.

4. “Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible.” ~ Hannah Arendt

Leaders must be predictable.  Followers need to be able to count on the promises of their leaders.  A leader who is not reliable cannot expect to have reliable followers.

5. “There are three secrets to managing. The first secret is having patience. The second is be patient. And the third most important secret is patience.” ~ Chuck Tanner

Leaders need to be patient.  Leaders should not be hasty or impetuous.  Followers will respect a leader who handles provocation and strain with forbearance.

Please feel free to comment on my “Five P’s of Leadership Performance” and/or add your own P’s of leadership performance.

Five Thoughts on a Recent Tweet Recommending of My Blog

My blog this week is about a recent Tweet by Collier Ward (AKA @collier1960) to check out my blog.  Here is the Tweet:

@collier1960 I recently met Mel (@MelCarlton) as the result of a #FollowFriday recommendation. He’s a good man. Check out his simple yet powerful blog

Below are five thoughts that came to mind while reading Collier’s Tweet.

1. I want to thank Collier for his gracious recommendation.  I recently met Collier because we were on the same Follow Friday (#FF) list.  After reviewing his blog and some of his Tweets, I decided to follow him on Twitter.  I did this because he appeared to be a man of good character who was interested in helping others.  Our interaction since that Friday has convinced me that I was correct.

2. I want to thank Charles Hendricks (AKA @G2Architecture) for including us on the same #FF list.  Collier and I would not have met, except for Charles’ kindness.

3. Collier said that I am a good man.  I am not a good man.  The bible says; “There is no one righteous, not even one;” Romans 3:10 (NIV).  The only truly good man walked the Earth over 2000 years ago. However, because of his work in my life I am becoming a better man.

4. Collier said that my blog was simple.  I agree.  I try to keep things simple.

5. He also said that my blog was profound.  If it is profound, it is because the source of my inspiration is the one God who created us all.  It really has nothing to do with me.  God is the source of all wisdom.

Five of the Many Things that the Bible has to Say about Communicating with Others

I am currently reading “The Language of Love and Respect” by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.  This prompted me to look at what the Bible had to say about communicating with others.   Below is a just a small sampling of what the Bible has to say:

1) Communicate with love toward others in your words and deeds.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing one another in love.” ~Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)

2) Let your communication with others be pleasant and healing.

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” ~Proverbs 16:24 (NIV)

3) As Covey says: “Seek first to understand, and then to be understood.”

“He that answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame” ~Proverbs 18:13 (NIV)

4) Be wise in your communication; don’t have the heart of a fool.

“The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools” ~Proverbs 15:7 (NIV)

5) Carefully weigh you answers; don’t respond in an angry manner intended to do harm.

“The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil. ~Proverbs 15:28 (NIV)

Five Lessons that I Learned from a Disturbing Twitter Exchange on Friday 5/28/2010

On Friday, while eating a late lunch at my desk, I checked Twitter and followed several people that were on #FF lists with me.  I also checked their profiles, web links (if they had one), and read some of their Tweets.  In addition, I included them on one or more of my Twitter lists, including my T1 list.   I had been using my T1 list to keep track of Tweeps that had not yet followed me back.  Later in the afternoon the following disturbing exchange, using the Twitter Reply function, occurred with a Tweep that I had included on my Lancaster and Central PA and the T1 lists.   I have not used his real Twitter name to protect him.  I have used Tweep#1 instead.

• Tweep#1 to me: MelCarlton What’s “t1″, and what constitutes me as such, sir?

• Me to Tweep#1: Tweep#1 Pretty observant. You need to follow me back to find out, sir. (Tweep#! is the only Tweep that ever asked about the list.  I thought that he was observant)

• Tweep#1 to me: MelCarlton Why?

• Me to Tweep#1: Tweep#1 I can’t tell. I’ll unfollow you to fix your 22222222 problem!

I unfollowed Tweep#1 and logged of at that time.

FYI, Tweep#1 had mentioned in a Tweet that #FF had messed up his 22222222.  When our exchange began, he had 223 followers, he followed 222, and he appeared on 22 lists.   When I unfollowed him, his numbers went back to all 2’s.  (I was actually trying to be helpful.)

I logged back on to Twitter from my Blackberry later that afternoon while I was lifting weights at home.  I saw that Tweep#1 had posted another Twitter Reply and responded.

• Tweep#1 to me: MelCarlton Pretty sure that you can, and I have the right to know. Why are you being childish / a creeper?

• Me to Tweep#1: Tweep#1 Renamed the list. It should be crystal clear now. Thanks for your help.

I received no response from Tweep#1.

Later Friday night I reviewed all of my list names and edited them to make sure that they were clear.

On Saturday, I sent the following Twitter Reply to Tweep#1:

• Tweep#1 Thanks for the question yesterday. I edited all of my Twitter list descriptions. They should be much clearer now!

I still have not received a response.  In addition, Tweep#1 apparently has blocked me.  I don’t think anyone else ever blocked me.

Hear are the five lessons that I learned:

• Lesson 1: Be careful who you follow.  I thought that I was being careful, but obviously I wasn’t careful enough.

• Lesson 2: Make sure that your Twitter list names are clear.  I created that T1 list when I was organizing my followers.  I should have made the list name clearer.  I have since corrected that mistake.  The new name is “Nice Tweeps that have not followed me back yet”.

• Lesson 3: Answer questions directly and don’t engage in banter with someone you don’t know.  I was engaging in banter.  It is now clear to me that Tweep#1 was not.

• Lesson #4: This one is directed more to Tweep#1 than to me.  Don’t question someone’s emotional maturity and character openly on the Internet.  Especially when you don’t even know the person.

• Lesson #5: Most of all, I learned that communicating through Tweets is not like communicating face to face.  You can’t hear the person’s tone of voice or see their body language.  Therefore, it is difficult to know whether you are engaging in playful banter or are involved in a serious disagreement, until it is too late.

I take full responsibility for what occurred.  I am sorry that I included Tweep#1 on a list with a vague name.  I can see why he got upset.  If my list name was as clear as it is now, Tweep#1 would never have asked the question that started this disturbing exchange.  However, I do believe that Tweep#1’s last Reply was over-the-top and intended to harm me.  I would appreciate an apology from Tweep#1.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.   Please feel free to comment.  In addition, if you are on one of my Twitter lists and have questions or would like to be removed from the list or moved to another list, let me know.

Five Things that I Learned from our Beloved Rottweiler Heidi

Our beloved Rottweiler, Heidi Virginia Carlton, passed away unexpectedly on Mother’s Day morning, as we were preparing to go to church.   Here are five of the many things that I learned from Heidi during the ten and a half years that we were blessed to have her in our family.

1. I learned people food is much better than dog food from Heidi.  I haven’t tried dog food recently, at least not since I ate some on a dare as a child.  However, I am convinced by Heidi’s reaction to people food vs. dog food that people food tastes much better.   She would often ignore her dog food, but if I added less than an ounce of people food to three cups of dog food she would devour it all in seconds.

2. I learned “Dangerous” dogs are not the problem from Heidi.  “Dangerous” owners are the problem.  Rottweilers are considered by many to be dangerous dogs.  It is true that they are very protective.  But, if they are raised in a loving home and well socialized from an early age, they make wonderful family pets.  Heidi was a “gentle bear” of a dog as her eye doctor called her during a recent exam.  She was much more likely to lick you to death than to bite you.  In fact, she never bit anyone or any other animal for that matter.

3. I learned about self-sacrificing love from Heidi.  There is no question in my mind that she would have risked her life to save any member of her family who was in danger.   She usually positioned herself so that she could keep an eye on other family members and in-between them and any perceived danger.

4. I learned about loyalty from a Heidi.  She was very loyal companion to everyone in our family for her entire life.

5. I learned not to take life for granted from Heidi.  The morning that Heidi passed away I was busy with Mother’s Day breakfast and getting ready for church.  I knew that she wasn’t feeling great.  But, I had no idea that she was about to pass.  If I had known, I would have paid much closer attention to her needs and comfort and less attention to the things that could have waited.  Such as making sure I washed the dishes so that my wife wouldn’t have to.  I was being too much like “Martha” and not enough like “Mary”.  I was focused on many unimportant things and not the “one thing that was needed”.  Don’t be like me!  Focus on the “one thing that is needed” not the many unimportant things.  (LK 10:38-42 NIV)

R.I.P Heidi, thanks for all the love and memories.

Snow Blowers cause Global Warming, Health Care Crisis, Childhood Obesity, and Credit Crisis?

1. Global Warming: Snow blowers run on fossil fuels and are contributing to greenhouse gasses.

2. Heath Care Crisis: If more Americans made the healthy lifestyle choices needed to be fit enough to safely shovel snow, we would need less health care.

3. Childhood Obesity: Where are all of the kids and teenagers that used to help their parents with physical chores such as shoveling snow?   Oh, that’s right, they are on the couch watching TV and  playing video games, or on the computer.

4. Credit Crisis: How many snow blowers were bought on credit like so many of the other “boy toys” that we cannot afford?  Definition of cannot afford – if you can’t pay cash, you can’t afford.

Servant Leaderhip Blog #1

I intent to use this blog as a forum to carry on a discussion about servant leadership.  Servant leadership is the only “truly human” form of leadership.  When God created humans in His image, he created us to be servant leaders.

Servant leadership is based on selfless love and is expressed in actions that benefit the followers.  One of the best definitions of love is found in the Bible: “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” ~1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7 (NIV)

Since servant leadership is based on love, some might conclude that it is a weak leadership style.  However, nothing could be further from the truth.   Servant leadership is actually the strongest leadership style.  Jesus who is the only perfect servant leader demonstrated great strength during his life on Earth.  Servant leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi also demonstrated great strength in their lives.

This is my first blog and I would appreciate your suggestions for improvement.  Please share an example of servant leader that you have encountered and how your life has been impacted.  I would also appreciate examples of historical figures that you believe demonstrated servant leadership in their lives.

reBlog from guywhitcroft.com: Whit's End

I found this fascinating quote today:

One thing’s certain – many changes need to be made, and recent surveys showing a significant majority of employees are planning to change jobs as soon as hiring picks up make this an urgent necessity if companies are to avoid the upheaval and cost increases associated with high staff turnover.guywhitcroft.com, Whit’s End

You should read the whole article.

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. ” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. ” – Martin Luther King, Jr.