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Leading in Your Twenties – How to Exercise Humility

We all want to follow leaders who exercise Humility. Yet when you see leadership failures, so many of those failures are the result of a leader’s pride. The leader won’t listen to another person’s opinion. The leader refuses to admit they might be wrong. Or the leader is more interested in how they look to others than they are about doing what needs to be done. So how do you avoid becoming like those leaders?

“The greatest of faults, is to be conscious of none.”

-Thomas Carlyle

The problem is many of us believe that we can not be humble and confident at the same time. Somehow in our culture, we have come to believe that Humility is a weakness and not a strength. We pay too much attention to the people who pound their chests and are always looking for the spotlight.

Humility is not is not a sign of weakness. It is a quiet declaration of strength.

Too many leaders or potential leaders are more concerned with their own careers than they are about who they become while they build those careers. I succumbed to that in my past. In fact, pride is probably the biggest battle I fight as I continuously try to become the Leader of Character I am meant to be.

The Leaders You Love to Follow Exercise Humility

When you think about your favorite leaders, they are not selfish. They are not more interested in looking good than they are in DOING good. They are willing to say through their words and actions, “It’s not about me.”

Andersons’ 12 Word (or less) Definition of Humility

Believing and acting like “It’s not about me.”

Whether you have been promoted into leadership already or are aspiring to get into that position someday, the humble leader inspires others to follow. Isn’t the person who believes and acts like “It’s not about me.”, both inside and outside the workplace, someone you trust?

Compare that to the person who is always looking out for themselves first. The person who consistently makes decisions with only themselves in mind is somebody you tend to keep at a distance. Trust dies when the other person’s pride proves they are full of themselves.

If you want to be a leader who exercises Humility, you have to believe and act in a way that truly demonstrates you aren’t full of yourself. Are you willing to say:

“I blew it. It’s my fault.”
“I need some help.”
“I am listening.”
“I have room to grow.”

How to Exercise Humility

Just like the other six Habits of Character we discuss in past and future blogs (Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity), Humility takes practice. You must choose to be humble because pride is the default mechanism for most humans.

Therefore, you must make a conscious choice to exercise Humility until it becomes a habit. Over time, your choice to act with Humility will become like muscle memory. You won’t think about it. You will just believe and act like “It’s not about me.”

But until you get there, you must make daily choices to exercise Humility in the small things so you are ready for the bigger tests that leading in business and in life will throw at you. Humility as with all the Habits of Character, is like a muscle. You have to exercise Humility in order to build Humility.  

You have to DO what you want to BE. If you want to BE a humble Leader of Character that people want to follow, you have to DO what humble Leaders of Character DO.

We call these character reps – #CharacterReps (Credit to @COLCraigFlowers).

The Bottom Line:

So what does Humility look like if you are in your twenties and want to be prepared when it becomes time to lead?  Here are some exercises – #CharacterReps that anyone can do to exercise Humility:

Make the other person the center of the conversation, not yourself.
Deflect praise to other people.
Listen more than you speak.
Open the door for other people whether they are young or old, male or female.
Admit when you are wrong.
Don’t argue when someone points out a flaw. Look for the way you need to grow.
Laugh at yourself when you screw something up.
Don’t worry about who gets the credit.
Ask your waiter/waitress their name and then use it.
Greet the person cleaning the bathrooms in a public building.
Look for ways to help other people look good instead making yourself look good.

A leader who operates from a position of pride or entitlement may have compliant employees.  But a Leader of Character who believes and acts like “It’s not about me.” will have committed followers.

Which leader do you want to be?

Question:

Why do you think Humility is so lacking in today’s culture?

This is the 7th in a series of blogs written directly to the Twenty-Somethings. This is about you and your future. This series is the beginning of a quest.

It is my quest is to help get you ready to lead today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. Here are links to the previous blogs:

Topic 1: Leading in Your Twenties – You’re Not Too Young to Lead

Topic 2: Leading in Your Twenties – Don’t Wait to be Told to Lead

Topic 3: Leading in Your Twenties – Prepare Yourself – School Didn’t Do It

Topic 4: Leading in Your Twenties – You’ve Been Given Bad Advice

Topic 5: Leading in Your Twenties – How to Build Your Character

Topic 6: Leading in Your Twenties – How to Exercise Courage

As you read these blogs, please share them with other people who want ideas on how to lead now and how to develop the Twenty-Something Leaders of our future.

You can purchase the book Becoming a Leader of Character through Amazon here: bit.ly/LOCBook

Or get a personalized signed copy here:  Signed Copy

The post Leading in Your Twenties – How to Exercise Humility appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Leading in Your Twenties – How to Exercise Courage

When have you chickened out? We have all failed to exercise Courage at times of testing. Maybe you didn’t speak up. Maybe you told someone what they wanted to hear instead of what they needed to hear. Maybe you did nothing because you didn’t want to deal with the potential negative consequences. 

There are no fearless people, but there are cowards. Cowards are the ones who refuse to face their fears. Courageous people weren’t bitten by a radio active spider that instilled them with Courage. They just have more practice facing their fears than other people do.

Courage is the Foundation to Your Character

Courage is perhaps the most important Habit of Character a leader must develop. Without Courage, you can’t have Integrity. Why? Because if the only time you do the right thing is when you can’t be hurt by it, that is not Integrity.

C.S. Lewis states in his book, The Screwtape Letters:

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”

Fear prevents good people from stepping forward and doing the right thing. Whether you are in your 20s or in your 50s, fear will kill your potential and will destroy your ability to lead others.

Fear of Failure

Some people are paralized by the fear of failure. When you fail, you learn. Struggle, discomfort, and a desire to overcome, creates a Leader of Character who is unafraid and who knows failure is necessary for success.

Fear of Trusting Others

Some people are scared of getting burned. They have a hard time trusting new people and therefore build walls around themselves. The only person that should have to earn your trust is someone who has already proven untrustworthy. It takes no Courage at all to distrust someone.

Fear of Losing a Job

Some people are scared of getting fired. They do nothing when people say or do something inappropriate, immoral, or even illegal. If your number one career goal is to always stay employed, you  will compromise your values quickly and never become the Leader of Character you were meant to be.

Fear of the Unknown

Some people don’t know what is next and decide to play it safe by doing nothing. An uncertain future outcome, makes them hit the pause button. Meanwhile other people are passing them by. Those other people don’t know what’s next, but they are facing their fears and moving forward anyway.

Exercise Courage

Andersons’ Definition of Courage

Acting despite percieved or actual risk.

Courage is a habit. The more you face your fears, you are more likely to face your fears again in the future. Conversely, the more you let fear make your decisions, the more likely fear will make decisions for you later.

As we age, habits become harder and harder to break. Why? Because we have been making these choices for so long, they are no longer choices. They almost become muscle memory.

A good soccer player or football quarterback doesn’t think about his/her footwork on every play. Practice has made the footwork automatic. But they had to make the choice to practice.

To develop any Habit of Character to include Courage, you have to make the choice to practice Character in the small things so you are ready when the big tests in life present themselves. The small day to day tests of Courage will prepare you so you become the courageous Leader of Character other people want to follow.

The Courage Workout for Leading in Your Twenties

To start developing your Courage, all you need to do is exercise Courage. Start making new choices that force you to face your fears. Some of these are relatively small choices, but they will help you to exercise Courage just like you exercise a muscle.  We call these #CharacterReps. (Credit to: @COLCraigFlowers)

Choose to:

Have that conversation you’ve been avoiding.
Try something you’re unsure you can do.
Initiate a conversation with someone at work who seems intimidating.
Step up and take charge when everyone else hesitates.
Share a new idea with your boss.
Tell your friend when they need an Altoid.
Take responsibility instead of making an excuse when you screw up.

The Bottom Line:

The more you face your fears, the less you will be controlled by fear. Who wants to follow someone who is controlled by their fears? Nobody.

Whether you have the opportunity at work or in your personal lives, you will have to choose fear or to exercise Courage on a regular basis. Whichever you choose, you are taking a step closer to or a step further away from being the Leader of Character you are able to be.

The sooner you start practicing Courage and exercising it like a muscle, the stronger leader you will become. You will be ready when the big tests come in your life and be seen by the people you care about as a courageous Leader of Character.

Question:

What fears seem to be more common in people who are just starting out their careers?

This is the sixth in a series of blogs written directly to the Twenty-Somethings. This is about you and your future. This series is the beginning of a quest.

It is my quest is to help get you ready to lead today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. Here are links to the previous blogs:

Topic 1: Leading in Your Twenties – You’re Not Too Young to Lead

Topic 2: Leading in Your Twenties – Don’t Wait to be Told to Lead

Topic 3: Leading in Your Twenties – Prepare Yourself – School Didn’t Do It

Topic 4: Leading in Your Twenties – You’ve Been Given Bad Advice

Topic 5: Leading in Your Twenties – How to Build Your Character

As you read these blogs, please share them with other people who want ideas on how to lead now and how to develop the Twenty-Something Leaders of our future.

You can purchase the book Becoming a Leader of Character through Amazon here: bit.ly/LOCBook

Or get a personalized signed copy here:  Signed Copy

The post Leading in Your Twenties – How to Exercise Courage appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Leading in Your Twenties – How to Build Your Character

“Leaders must have Integrity.”  “A leader’s Character is vitally important.” “Be a servant leader.”  Many books or training seminars will stress the importance of Character or some aspect of Character. Few people argue with the idea that Character is important in leadership.  The problem is, nobody seems to talk about how to actually build your Character.

Building your Character is not complicated – but it is hard. That’s why so few people actually go beyond reading about Character and actually exercise it.

Exercising Your Muscles

You would never expect to get in shape from reading a fitness magazine. You need to go out and actually exercise. Plus, when you go to the gym, you understand that in order to gain anything, you are going to have to sweat. An exercise regimen that does not make you uncomfortable and even a little sore after the workout, is a waste of time. 

In fact, very few people believe they will get in shape by going to the gym once a week. You know that to truly develop and maintain your muscle strength and stamina, you have to make working out a habit. You must consistently perform repititions of certain exercises over a period of time to make any real gains.

Finally, most people undertand that in order to maintain your physical fitness level, you must continue to exercise. If you stop exercising, your muscles begin to atrophy.  You get weaker, and become more vulnerable to injury.

Build Your Character Like a Muscle

The same principles are true for building your Character. In order to make any progress and build your Character, you have to exercise. Just like your body’s muscles get stronger when you do repetitions of certain exercises, your character muscles get stronger through repetition as well.

My good friend and fellow proclaimer of Character, Colonel Craig Flowers (@COLCraigFlowers) calls these character reps. (#characterreps). We build a muscle up over time. Each time we perform a character rep, we are preparing ourselve for bigger lifts to come.

Too many people think, “This little white lie is no big deal, but when the big test comes I am going to be ready!” But if you have never lifted 50 pounds, what makes you think you will lift 300?

Your Character is the sum total of your habits – your good habits and your bad habits The more often you choose to act with Character, the stronger your Character gets.

Like building a muscle:

You build your Character by going beyond reading a blog or a book.  
You build your Character in the small daily choices you make. 
You build your Character by making choices that make you uncomfortable.
You build your Character by making those choices consistently over time.

The Bottom Line:

You are all building our Character daily whether you realize it or not. The choices you make everyday, affects who you are as a person. Each time you make a choice it makes it easier to make that same choice again. That is how habits are formed.

The question is what type of Character are you building? What direction are your choices taking you?

Do you choose to speak up when a friend is about to drive after having a third drink?
Do you choose to truly listen to another person’s opinions?
Do you choose to cheat on an exam like other people do?
Do you choose to stop and help a struggling coworker?
Do you choose to give 100% effort to the parts of your job you don’t like?
Do you choose to have a good attitude even in difficult circumstances?

If you want to BE a Leader of Character, you have to DO what Leaders of Character DO.

Our next six blogs will specifically discuss how to exercise the Six Habits of Character:  

Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity.

Question:

What hard choices are people in their twenties faced with that challenge their Character? 

This is the fifth in a series of blogs written directly to the Twenty-Somethings. This is about you and your future. This series is the beginning of a quest.

It is my quest is to help get you ready to lead today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. Here are links to the previous blogs:

Topic 1: Leading in Your Twenties – You’re Not Too Young to Lead

Topic 2: Leading in Your Twenties – Don’t Wait to be Told to Lead

Topic 3: Leading in Your Twenties – Prepare Yourself – School Didn’t Do It

Topic 4: Leading in Your Twenties – You’ve Been Given Bad Advice

As you read these blogs, please share them with other people who want ideas on how to lead now and how to develop the Twenty-Something Leaders of our future.

You can purchase the book Becoming a Leader of Character through Amazon here: bit.ly/LOCBook

Or get a personalized signed copy here:  Signed Copy

 

The post Leading in Your Twenties – How to Build Your Character appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Leading in Your Twenties – You’ve Been Given Bad Advice

Twenty somethings, you’ve been given bad advice. “Get a marketable degree and good grades from a big university. Get advanced degrees and have a lot of letters following your name. Get certified in something and publish papers.” When you are in your twenties, people tell you these things. 

That bad advice is well intentioned. But you have to understand, none of that stuff makes you a leader. 

Think about it. We all had professors in college that asked to be called “Doctor Anderson ” because they earned a Phd. There were some professors who had multiple combinations of letters following their names – Dave Anderson, BS, CME, MBA, Phd. But with all those degrees and impressive credentials, we would not have followed some of them out of a burning paper bag! Why?

People dont’ follow you because of what you can do.

They follow you because of WHO YOU ARE.

Why Leaders have Followers

In an online survey we conducted, we asked people who their leadership hero was and what traits did they admire most about that person. We collected 620 responses, and the evidence was overwhelming.

87% of the responses described a character trait as the reason they admired that leader. 
13% of the responses described a competence or a skill.


The top three traits were Humility, Integrity, and honesty.
In fact, the top ten traits people listed all described a Character trait.

The #1 reason people follow leaders is Character.

Why Leaders Fail

We define competency as “knowing what to do and how to do it.”

Ask yourself this, “How often does a leader fail because they did not know what to do or how to do it?” The answer is rarely. When we think of the biggest failures in leadership recently you can see this pattern holds. 

The Louisville basketball program won a lot of games. They knew what to do and how to do it.
Harvey Weinstein won Oscars and made blockbusters. He knew what to do and how to do it.
Roy Moore and Al Franken are successful politicians. They know what to do and how to do it.

But all of them recently experienced dramatic failures that are all over the news. When a leader fails, it is almost always a failure of Character. 

The #1 reason leaders fail is Character.

Why Leaders Succeed

Harvard University’s Fred Kiel published a pivotal book on character called Return on Character. In it he looked at the success rate of a group of CEO’s. Through 360 degree interviews and surveys, he found that the leaders who consistently exercised the highest character, led their companies to five times the financial success as their counterparts.

There were no differences in the education level or experience level of the leaders in the cohort. The difference was in their Character. Good guys/girls can and do finish first!

The #1 reason leaders succeed is Character.

What Determines Your Character

Your Character is not your personality.  You were born with your personality. You develop your Character. Your Character is the sum total of your habits – your good habits and your bad habits.

Aristotle said:  “You become just by doing just acts. You become brave by doing brave acts.”

Who you are is determined by your habits. You form habits one choice at a time. Each time you make a choice, it makes it easier to make that same choice again. That is how habits are formed.

This also means that nobody controls your Character but you!

Your Character is 100% in your control.

The Bottom Line:

Don’t continue to focus solely on understanding what to do and how to do it.  That is bad advice. You must focus on developing and strengthening your Character.

You develop habits through consistently making choices that will exercise different parts of your Character.  The Habits of Character we are going to focus on in future blogs are Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity.

Maybe you have read a book or gone to a lecture or seminar that mentions that these traits are important.  But how many of those have described how you go out and develop those habits? 

That is where we are going.

Thinks about this:

The #1 reason people follow you – Character – is 100% in your control.
The #1 reason leaders fail – Character – is 100% in your control.
The #1 reason leaders succeed – Character – is 100% in your control.

You have to DO what you want to BE!

If you want to be a Leader of Character – the leader that people want to follow, the leader that does the right thing in the face of temptation, and the leader who leads teams to success – then you have to DO what Leaders of Character DO.

Join us in these discussions and share this blog with others – especially those people who are interested in leading in their twenties.

Question:

What sort of character preparation did school your school provide for you?

This is the fourth in a series of blogs written directly to the Twenty-Somethings. This is about you and your future. This series is the beginning of a quest.

It is my quest is to help get you ready to lead today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. I will post a new blog weekly.  Right now I have a series of 10 blogs planned.

As you read these blogs, please share them with other people who want ideas on how to lead now and how to develop the Twenty-Something Leaders of our future.

You can purchase the book Becoming a Leader of Character through Amazon here: bit.ly/LOCBook

Or get a personalized signed copy here:  Signed Copy

 

The post Leading in Your Twenties – You’ve Been Given Bad Advice appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Leading in Your Twenties – Prepare Yourself – School Didn’t Do It

If you are in your twenties, I have news for you. You did not get what you needed in high school and college if you are planning to be a leader. On top of that, most companies will not invest in developing you as a leader until you are already in a leadership position. 

What’s that tell you? It’s up to you to get ready to lead!

This is the third in a series of blogs written directly to the Twenty-Somethings. This is about you and your future. This series is the beginning of a quest.

It is my quest is to help get you ready to lead today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. I will post a new blog weekly.  Right now I have a series of 10 blogs planned.

As you read these blogs, please share them with other people who want ideas on how to lead now and how to develop the Twenty-Something Leaders of our future.

Lack of Preparation in School

How many people had a mandatory class on leadership in high school or college? I see very few hands raised.

If you were a business major you might have had a course called “Organizational Leadership”. Those courses cover a lot of great leadership theories. But theoretical leadership covered in one semester does not make you a leader.

You probably learned more important lessons about frontline leadership trying to get classmates to fulfill their commitments in group projects or getting them to even show up at meetings!

If you believe getting an MBA will prepare you to be a leader, you will be sorely disappointed. MBA’s will teach you a lot about financial and resource management. You will also get a lot out of the marketing and probability and statistics. But, none of that prepares you to lead people. 

Hint:  They are called a Masters in Business Administration not a Masters in Business Leadership.

Lack of Preparation in Business

School laid the foundation. Now the company must train you in the skills and competencies to excel in your chosen industry. That is 100% legitimate and understandable.

Before you get promoted, you must master the job you are currently being paid to do. The problem is once you do that, you have to compete for a promotion to leadership. Are you ready?

Most people are not ready for their first leadership role in business. In fact, most people are promoted to leadership first and trained to lead later. Sometimes that training comes months or years after that person has entered that role and made multiple mistakes.

What Needs to Be Your Focus?

After 20 plus years mentoring and training leaders as a corporate world insider and now as an outside consultant, I believe the biggest issues leaders must conquer are:

Character Issues

The Courage to speak out and act when necessary.
The Humility to accept feedback, listen, and grow.
The Integrity to do the right thing even if it could cost them personally.
The Selflessness to put the needs of others first.
The sense of Duty to do what needs to be done even if it is uncomfortable to do.
The Positivity to maintain a positive attitude in all circumstances.

Think about it. If the phrases above described your current leader, you’d be pretty happy working for that person wouldn’t you?

Now imagine if that’s how the first team you get to lead describes you!

How To Prepare Yourself to Lead

If you are in your twenties and want to lead now or in the future, don’t wait for someone else to step forward and offer to train you or mentor you. If you are serious and you want to be a leader sooner rather than later – prepare yourself.

Invest in Yourself:  If you want to understand how to grow in the leader you want to be, invest your time, your effort, and yes, your cash. Read books or listen to podcasts on leadership. Pay your own way to a leadership seminar that is in your area. Always be looking for ways to grow and learn about developing your character and leading others.

Find a Mentor:  Don’t wait for someone else to assign you a mentor. Look for someone whom you admire. This is a leader who epitomizes what you like in a leader, or who lives by the character statements above. Then ask someone to coach you and help you become a better leader. Meet with them regularly and ask them to challenge you.

Practice, Practice, Practice:  As we discussed in Topic 2 of this series, Don’t Wait to Be Told to Lead, you must go out and lead where you are. Take ownership of projects and lead. Find a new hire to mentor and lead. Volunteer somewhere and lead. The more practice you get leading, the better prepared you will be to lead when you have the title of leader.

The Bottom Line:

Your growth and your preparation for leadership is nobody’s responsibility but your own. You have to realize your growth is up to you!

I am going to do everything I can to provide you with insights through this blog series and other resources I am developing. Our next blog will lay the foundation for the rest of the series. 

Please help me and post any questions or challenges you have as a twenty something who is leading now or wants to lead in the future. I will do my best to incorporate whatever you ask in the future or answer your questions right here.

The opportunities are there for the motivated few who not only want to have the title of leader, but also want to lead well. The question is will you be ready?

Question:

What leadership challenges do people in their twenties face?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Leading in Your Twenties – Prepare Yourself – School Didn’t Do It appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Leading in Your Twenties – Don’t Wait to Be Told to Lead

“How do I get promoted to leadership?” seemed to be the top question people in their twenties asked me during my years leading in the corporate world. My reply was always, “Start leading now!” The fact is, too many talented people in their twenties wait for someone to tell them to lead.

This is the second in a series of blogs written directly to the Twenty-Somethings. This is about you and your future. This series is the beginning of a quest.

It is my quest is to help get you ready to lead today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. I will post a new blog weekly.  Right now I have a series of 10 blogs planned. As you read these blogs, please share them with other people who want ideas on how to lead now and how to develop the Twenty-Something Leaders of our future.

The Interview Question

When I was looking to promote someone into a leadership role, I always wanted to hear about when they led in their past. If someone couldn’t tell me a story about when they had led in past, why should I think they were ready to lead in the future?

Frequently, those who led in their past would begin their answers with “One time my manager asked me to…” These were often good examples of leadership.  But my follow-up question stumped some people.

“Great!  Now, tell me about a time you stepped forward to lead without someone asking you to do it.”

That was the key in my mind. Was this person a willing leader? Did this person have the initiative to step up when it was needed? If not, why?

Leading in Your Twenties – Don’t Wait to Be Told to Lead

The key to preparing for the title of leader is to lead when you don’t have the title. Leaders lead. They do not wait until someone else bestows a title on them.

The opportunities to lead are bountiful in college.  Some are obvious like fraternity or sorority leadership positions.  Others are less obvious.

Tutoring struggling students.
Mentoring local high school or middle school kids.
Volunteering for school, ministry, and non-profit organizations.

Warning! Be careful just signing up for these organizations and putting them on your resume. Someone once put Alzheimer’s Association on their resume.  When I asked what they did, it turned out they ran a 5K once.  They didn’t lead anything or really serve in any way. It also let me know something about their Integrity.

Once you are out of school and in the workplace there are even more opportunities than people have in their college years.

Volunteer to lead a project team.
Mentor new hires without being asked.
Don’t just find problems, deliver solutions.

The Bottom Line:

You will earn more opportunities to lead if you lead at every opportunity. Those who wait to lead, are often always waiting. The time to be a leader is now.

Most people know this deep down inside.  But, something keeps them from stepping forward. If you want to be a leader, you can’t be like most people. You need to be that unique twenty-something that is willing to lead.

When no one has to tell you to lead, you will be amazed how often people are going to ask you to lead, because they already see you as a leader. 

Question:

Why do so many people in their twenties wait to be told to lead? Is it fear or something else?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Leading in Your Twenties – Don’t Wait to Be Told to Lead appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Leading in Your Twenties – You’re Not Too Young To Lead

If you are Twenty-Something years old, the time to begin leading is NOW! Too many of us in the older generations sat back and waited. Many of us thought because of our lack of age or experience, our only job was to follow. That attitude has created a leadership void in businesses and in society today. But you Twenty-Something Leaders can fix that!

This is the first in a series of blogs written directly to the Twenty-Somethings. This is about you and your future. This series is the beginning of a quest.

It is my quest is to help get you ready to lead today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. I will post a new blog weekly.  Right now I have a series of 10 blogs planned. As you read these blogs, please share them with other people who want ideas on how to lead now and how to develop the Twenty-Something Leaders of our future.

The Current Problem for Twenty-Something Leaders

In organizations throughout our society, we have incredibly gifted 20 – 30 year olds who are treading water. Meanwhile the 30 – 70 year olds who are leading those organizations complain about the the younger generations not moving forward.

This is not a generational issue between Millenials and Generation X or the Baby Boomers. This is a issue that repeats itself generation after generation.

I am old enough to remember sitting in corporate meetings as people complained about young Generation X entering the workforce. And, I am sure the Greatest Generation didn’t feel really confident in the leadership ability of the Baby Boomers after watching what happened at Woodstock!

In fact, the current problem is a very old problem that we never seem to adequately address.

We don’t adequately prepare the Twenty-Somethings for leadership.

We do it again and again. We educate people in college for their entry level jobs. Once we hire them, we train them in job specific competencies for that entry level job. Finally, we promote the best performers of the group to a management role and expect these Twenty-Something Leaders to be ready to lead.

Few high schools or colleges make leadership a core part of their curriculum. Even fewer businesses deliberately focus on the developing the leadership abilities of the Twenty-Somethings before they get into leadership. In fact, most leadership development efforts occur AFTER someone is already leading people!

The current problem is the same old problem we have had for years. It has nothing to do with the generational differences implied with the generational titles we give the newer generations. It’s what we have always done with Twenty-Something Leaders.

A Change in Focus

To accomplish something we have never accomplished before, we have to start doing things we have never done before.

The system we have today is the same system that’s been used decade after decade. The problem lies in two places.

Organizations wait to train people for leadership jobs until after they get the promotion into a leadership position.
Individuals believe they must wait to lead and wait for someone else to invest in their growth.

Organizationally, the mindset needs to change. You don’t microwave leaders – you crock pot them. A one time or even one week management course after someone gets promoted is not going to do the job. We all know that intuitively and through experience. But the system in many organizations is just too ingrained to change that.

I have been working to change organizational level leader development for years, and I will continue to fight that fight.  But I am going to change directions for awhile.

The Future Solution for Twenty-Something Leaders

Individually, the Twenty-Something Leaders must take control of their own preparations for leadership. In order to do that, they need resourses.  

You are now reading my first attempt at providing those resources to this age group. This blog series is just the beginning.

The Bottom Line:

If you are like me and not in your twenties, it is our responsibility to prepare the Twenty-Somethings for leadership.

Are we waiting for them to get promoted and then revealing the leadership lessons we have already learned?
Or are we proactively getting them ready for the leadership assignments to come?

If you are 20 – 30 years old, it is your responsibility to prepare yourself for leadership.

Are you waiting for other people to get you ready?  
Or are you taking control of your own growth and asking for mentoring and educating yourself in preparation for the leadership role you aspire to hold?

The Twenty-Somethings are not too young to lead. In fact it is vital that they begin leading now, in order to learn important lessons of leadership in their twenties.  If they do that, they will be at least a decade ahead of the rest of us!

How can a Twenty-Something begin leading today? That is what we will cover in our next blog in this Twenty-Something Leadership Series.

Help me answer the needs of Twenty-Somethings who aspire to be leaders. 

Question:

What issues would you like discussed in this series? 

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Leading in Your Twenties – You’re Not Too Young To Lead appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Twenty Something Leaders – You’re Not Too Young To Lead

If you are Twenty-Something years old, the time to begin leading is NOW! Too many of us in the older generations sat back and waited. Many of us thought because of our lack of age or experience, our only job was to follow. That attitude has created a leadership void in businesses and in society today. But you Twenty-Something Leaders can fix that!

This is the first in a series of blogs written directly to the Twenty-Somethings. This is about you and your future. This series is the beginning of a quest.

It is my quest is to help get you ready to lead today, tomorrow, and for decades to come. I will post a new blog weekly.  Right now I have a series of 10 blogs planned. As you read these blogs, please share them with other people who want ideas on how to lead now and how to develop the Twenty-Something Leaders of our future.

The Current Problem for Twenty-Something Leaders

In organizations throughout our society, we have incredibly gifted 20 – 30 year olds who are treading water. Meanwhile the 30 – 70 year olds who are leading those organizations complain about the the younger generations not moving forward.

This is not a generational issue between Millenials and Generation X or the Baby Boomers. This is a issue that repeats itself generation after generation.

I am old enough to remember sitting in corporate meetings as people complained about young Generation X entering the workforce. And, I am sure the Greatest Generation didn’t feel really confident in the leadership ability of the Baby Boomers after watching what happened at Woodstock!

In fact, the current problem is a very old problem that we never seem to adequately address.

We don’t adequately prepare the Twenty-Somethings for leadership.

We do it again and again. We educate people in college for their entry level jobs. Once we hire them, we train them in job specific competencies for that entry level job. Finally, we promote the best performers of the group to a management role and expect these Twenty-Something Leaders to be ready to lead.

Few high schools or colleges make leadership a core part of their curriculum. Even fewer businesses deliberately focus on the developing the leadership abilities of the Twenty-Somethings before they get into leadership. In fact, most leadership development efforts occur AFTER someone is already leading people!

The current problem is the same old problem we have had for years. It has nothing to do with the generational differences implied with the generational titles we give the newer generations. It’s what we have always done with Twenty-Something Leaders.

A Change in Focus

To accomplish something we have never accomplished before, we have to start doing things we have never done before.

The system we have today is the same system that’s been used decade after decade. The problem lies in two places.

Organizations wait to train people for leadership jobs until after they get the promotion into a leadership position.
Individuals believe they must wait to lead and wait for someone else to invest in their growth.

Organizationally, the mindset needs to change. You don’t microwave leaders – you crock pot them. A one time or even one week management course after someone gets promoted is not going to do the job. We all know that intuitively and through experience. But the system in many organizations is just too ingrained to change that.

I have been working to change organizational level leader development for years, and I will continue to fight that fight.  But I am going to change directions for awhile.

The Future Solution for Twenty-Something Leaders

Individually, the Twenty-Something Leaders must take control of their own preparations for leadership. In order to do that, they need resourses.  

You are now reading my first attempt at providing those resources to this age group. This blog series is just the beginning.

The Bottom Line:

If you are like me and not in your twenties, it is our responsibility to prepare the Twenty-Somethings for leadership.

Are we waiting for them to get promoted and then revealing the leadership lessons we have already learned?
Or are we proactively getting them ready for the leadership assignments to come?

If you are 20 – 30 years old, it is your responsibility to prepare yourself for leadership.

Are you waiting for other people to get you ready?  
Or are you taking control of your own growth and asking for mentoring and educating yourself in preparation for the leadership role you aspire to hold?

The Twenty-Somethings are not too young to lead. In fact it is vital that they begin leading now, in order to learn important lessons of leadership in their twenties.  If they do that, they will be at least a decade ahead of the rest of us!

How can a Twenty-Something begin leading today? That is what we will cover in our next blog in this Twenty-Something Leadership Series.

Help me answer the needs of Twenty-Somethings who aspire to be leaders. 

Question:

What issues would you like discussed in this series? 

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Twenty Something Leaders – You’re Not Too Young To Lead appeared first on Dave Anderson.

When a Mistake is Not a Mistake

Cheating on your wife is more than a mistake. A mistake is when you knock over someone else’s drink – Oops! When a man calls cheating a mistake, he is insinuating he accidentally got naked, fell on top of that naked woman, in a hotel room, after buying her drinks, and turning off his phone – NOPE!

It is a cop out to call a conscious choice like cheating on a spouse, a mistake. Here are are some other recent examples of conscious choices that are more than mistakes:

A college coach calling an escort service multiple times.
A politician who never pays taxes to the IRS over multiple years.
A bank that sets up credit card accounts in the name of unwilling clients.
A law school student that plagarizes a paper.

To categorize any of the above choices as a mistake diminishes the forethought involved by the individual or the institution.

When a Mistake is Not a Mistake

The examples above belong in another category. In each case, there were multiple choices made by the offending parties. There was an understanding that what they were doing was wrong. There was conscious planning. And, there were often conscious cover-ups as well.

Let’s look at the example of the law school student:

The law school student puts off working on her paper again and again. She chooses to do other work or to not work at all on multiple days over multiple weeks. Finally, she searches for a paper from a student who graduated the previous year. She makes minor changes to include replacing the original author’s name with her own and submits the paper.

Plagarizing the paper was not a mistake. She made a choice. In fact she made a series of choices along the way that confirm this was more than a mistake.

When a Mistake is a Mistake

Calling something a mistake implies a lack of planning or conscious choices. Mistakes happen all the time. Mistakes may be careless, but they are not malicious. Mistakes may violate a rule, but not on purpose. Mistakes may hurt someone, but not consciously.  Mistakes may cause damage, but it was accidental.

We all make mistakes.

When “I’m sorry.” is Not Enough

We have all made mistakes, and we have all made those choices that go beyond a mere mistake. The fallout from those choices is often ugly. What can we do?  Say “I’m sorry.”?

If you have ever said “I’m sorry” and seen that the other person is unsatisfied, it is probably because “I’m sorry.” works for mistakes but not for our poor choices.

When we make those conscious choices or series of choices that we know are wrong or could cause damage, try saying “Please, forgive me.”

When we say “Please forgive me.” we humble ourselves. We put the power in the hands of the other person. They have the control. We are submitting ourselves to them.

When we simply say “I’m sorry.” for something that is more than a mistake, we are maintaining control of the situation. The first word is “I”.

It makes it about how I feel about my poor choice and not about how they feel about it. When it is all about me and my feelings, I am being just as selfish as I was when I initially made those bad decisions!

The Bottom Line:

We all make mistakes. AND we all make bad choices that are selfish or self-centered and damaging to others. None of us are perfect.

We need to think through the way we categorize our screw-ups. When we make conscious choices, especially multiple choices, that lead us to breaking rules, confidences, or trust that takes the consequenses and the confession to a whole new level. 

We must realize the difference now and train ourselves and the people we lead at work and at home, about this difference.

If we do, we will still make and see others make mistakes that need an “I’m sorry.”  

But, more importantly we will see fewer conscious choices that require a “Please forgive me.”  Once you say, “Please forgive me.” and put your forgiveness in the hands of another person, you have a better understanding of the damage you have done, and the pain you have caused. 

Unless you are heartless, you will not want to go back there again. And, you will be another step closer to being the kind of person you were designed to be.

Question:

Why is “I’m sorry.” so easy to say but “Please forgive me.” so hard?

The post When a Mistake is Not a Mistake appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Our Slippery Slope Toward Moral Failure

Most leadership failures are failures of character. The leaders in law enforcement, academia, and business who are making headlines for their moral failures should make us all stop and pay attention to our own paths in life. 

When a police department distorts the facts around a police shooting or a university hides academic fraud by a coach or an academic advisor the media and the public cry out for action.  We want to get these bad actors out of positions of influence. I 100% agree with those sentiments.

But how did they get to that point in life where making these decisions seemed okay? I truly believe most of these people did not begin their careers in leadership without a moral compass. Most people truly desire to do something great with the opportunity they get when they become leaders. If that is true, what went wrong?

The Slippery Slope Toward Moral Failure 

After being found guilty of covering up evidence in the accidental shooting of an elderly woman, one Atlanta police officer is quoted as saying “I used to think I was a good person.” In fact this officer probably was a good person. But, it is likely his actions prior to the cover-up led him to this catastrophic moral failure.

Instead of focusing on the moral failures of others, let’s look at our own moral failures. We all have them. If we are honest with ourselves we know this is true. The path towards pushing our Integrity to the side and compromising our morals usually begins much earlier.

Integrity is a habit and so is hypocrisy. Each time we choose Integrity it makes it easier to choose Integrity again. The same is true with hypocrisy. Each time we compromise and choose to tell a white lie or cover for a friend, we are on the path toward moral failure. Our small choices matter.

Was this cop in Atlanta morally corrupt from Day 1 on the job? Or did he compromise his Integrity in small choices over time, until he made the catastrophic choice that ended his career and contributed to the lack of trust many people have towards our men and women in blue? I don’t know.

Were the individual academic advisors at the University of North Carolina always lacking in Integrity? Or did they compromise their values in small ways until they found themselves in the midst of one of the saddest examples of academic fraud in college sports? I don’t know.

However, I do know that we all make ourselves vulnerable to catastrophic moral failure when we give in to internal or external pressures to compromise our Integrity.

Andersons’ Twelve Word Definition of Integrity

Doing what is good, right, and proper, even at personal cost.

The Bottom Line:

Nobody wants to be in the news as an example of moral failure. Most people never believe they would make a choice that would put them in that situation. However, the stories in the media rarely dig into the past choices of the guilty parties.

Where did it start?

Covering for a peer who was late for work?
Giving a few extra points on an exam to keep a player or a coach happy?
Fudging numbers on a report?
Leaving out information that could cause trouble for others?
Or just staying quiet when they saw an infraction by another person?

These are all decisions anyone is capable of making at the moment of testing. The immediate consequences of these smaller decisions may not be great. But, they put us on that slippery slope toward hypocrisy and moral failure.

The decisions of leaders that are in the public eye should do more than cause outrage and finger pointing. The decisions of others should make us all pause and examine our own decisions. 

How far are we from a catastrophic failure in our character? The best way to prevent that from happening in our lives is to never step onto the slippery slope towards moral failure.

Don’t compromise our Integrity! It is one of the few things in life we have 100% control over.

Question:

What challenges to your Integrity will you face this week? Which choice will you make?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Our Slippery Slope Toward Moral Failure appeared first on Dave Anderson.