Leaders are typically hard on themselves.  We tend to look at our performance and immediately begin to ask ourselves what we did wrong.  We’re rarely satisfied and have high self-expectations.  This can be positive because it drives us toward constant improvement.  But it can also be negative because it can decrease our confidence or cause us to focus on improving things we’ll never be good at (which is a waste of our developmental energies).

So this week instead of focusing on what you’re doing wrong, give yourself a break and focus on what you’re doing right.  Effective self-development comes from assessing and improving your leadership strengths. We don’t think about practicing this because the things we do right come natural to us.  But when we take the time to understand our leadership strengths we can work to improve them and use them more often, which will result in increased impact.

So give this a try.

• Reflect on a recent leadership moment in your life and ask yourself or someone else what you did right.
• Write down a general description of that strength.  For example- I coached someone to better performance OR taught in a way that produced life-change OR cast a vision that moved people to action OR counseled in a way that brought spiritual comfort to someone in need.
• Get as specific as possible and write down 4-5 distinct behaviors that make you good at that particular competency.  For example – I listened sincerely, I asked insightful questions, I easily identify options to someone’s problem, I gave clear and concise direction, I spoke words that motivated others, I organized thoughts in a clear and practical format.
• Now, how can you repeat those behaviors in other leadership opportunities this week?  Look for specific meetings or responsibilities on your schedule this week and plan on finding ways to use those strengths over and over again.  As you do this you will notice patterns in your own behavior, you will gain insights that will help you get even better at those competencies and you will go to another level of proficiency that you never would have achieved without intentional self-assessment and processing.

My guess is if you try this you will not only improve your strengths but you will find more fulfillment and energy in your job as well

Execution seems to be a persistent problem that plagues many leaders.  My constant frustration with this led me to re-read Gary Harpst, Six Disciplines of Execution this month.  Harpst provides some helpful charts and a detailed strategic process for execution that’s worth the price of the book alone.

Here are a few of my highlights from the book (sorry, doesn’t include the cool charts!)

• Leaders who build organizations with the ability to balance strong strategy with strong execution over long periods of time achieve enduring excellence.
• Walmart is not great at execution because they are big, they’re big because they’re great at executing their strategy.
• Concentrate on solving the problem that makes all other problems soluble.
• It’s better to have a grade B strategy and grade A execution than the other way around.
• We usually know what to do. It’s just that we don’t always do it.
• “Vision without execution is a hallucination” Thomas Edison
• There are three major barriers to execution: insufficient expertise, prohibitive economics and simple human nature.
• Creeping misalignment occurs everyday, often in very small ways, as the organization changes.
• “Changing people’s behavior: It’s the most important challenge for businesses trying to compete in a turbulent world. The central issue is never strategy, structure, culture or systems.  The core of the matter is always about changing the behavior of people.”  John Kotter
• When people don’t understand each other, nothing gets accomplished. But when communication is clear, there’s little that can’t be achieved.
• We discovered that the foundation of a complete program balancing strategy and execution is having a well defined, repeatable methodology.
• The purpose of methodology is to accelerate the learning of proven best practices for building any business.
• Repeatability is critical to learning.
• The earlier you catch an error, the less costly it is to fix it.
• “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities” Stephen Covey
• An organization that’s not growing is much easier to manage than one that is growing.

Here are a few of the things I’ve been learning lately…

• The most relevant ideas we can discover are typically born out of listening to the need of the customer. Leaders If you need an inspirational idea, listen for need.
• Interest is not the same as commitment.  Many people are interested in what we lead but not everyone is readily committed to join the cause.
• Enthusiasm alone does not a movement make
• Mission is born when the leader spends time understanding the heart, intention and calling of God.
• Values have to be expressed daily in order to truly become ingrained in your corporate culture.
• Leadership is a well that runs deep and requires a lifelong process of learning.
• You don’t have the right vision until it makes your heart race.
• Organizations are more valuable when they are produce cause not just a product.
• Be who God created you to be not what others expect you to be or what your insecurities tell you to be.
• Growth comes in waves be ready to ride it when the big ones hit.

What are you learning?  Write it down, apply it, reinforce it through repetition and teach it to others.

I was at the Right Now Conference in Dallas recently with Alan Danielson and as we sat in the greenroom he was sharing some concepts about leadership liabilities that I really enjoyed.  So, since I had my new handy, dandy Iphone 4 by my side I asked him to share his thoughts on this video.  The picture isn’t real great but the content is.

Check out Alan’s blog at www.3threat.net.  While there I encourage you to check out Alan’s latest Ebook Christmas Reboot, 25 short devotional readings, complete with activities for the whole family.  You can see a sample right HERE If you’re looking for a new plan that works with a family…you’ll want to take a look at Christmas Reboot.  At $7.99, you might even want to buy several and send them on to your friends.

Do you ever get that feeling that everyone’s against you?  About a year in my church planting journey back in 1998 I encountered opposition to my vision.  Over a period of a couple of weeks it really began to wear on me.  I was stressed, overwhelmed and losing my leadership confidence. One day during a long drive I cried out to God, “Everyone is against me!”  Suddenly God spoke into my spirit, “Who is against you?”  ”Oh, I’m glad you asked” I said, “Everyone, everyone is against me.”  God gently asked, “Everyone?  Really?  Now, who is really against you?”  Again with the greatest spirit of self-pity I could muster I said, “Everyone, Bob is against me.  Sue is against me.  Ahhhh, Bob, Sue, ohh I already mentioned them didn’t I.  Let’s see, Bob, Sue and…I guess that’s it.”  All the sudden my opposition felt smaller and I gained a new perspective.

That’s the day I learned the importance of narrowing the scope of our problems.  Somedays we feel like “everything” is going wrong, “everyone” is against me.  But when we narrow the scope of our problem it gives us a new perspective.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by opposition today?  Do you feel like it’s all falling apart?  Stop for a moment and really define the true scope of the problem and I believe you’ll find a new perspective.

Leaders understand that it’s nearly impossible for a passionless leader to inspire a movement.  Passion moves people to action.  But sometimes leaders rely solely upon their enthusiasm to gain support for a new vision or idea.  When they get no response they’re baffled or even get frustrated with people for not responding.  We must realize that passion is only half of the equation for moving people to action. When a leader wants to inspire people it requires more than an energizing speech filled with visionary statements of a preferred future.  It requires a knowledge and understanding of where you’re going and how to get there.  Knowledge gives your passion credibility.  When a leader has passion without knowledge people typically ignore the vision rather than engage the vision.

What are you excited about lately?  Do you have a plan to turn your idea into a reality?