Beautiful Binds

On my walk this morning my eyes were caught by a hedge filled with white, trumpet-like flowers.  I thought how lovely and healthy they looked along the roadside path.   I remember the first time I noticed this plant – bindweed (morning glory).  I thought it looked delightful until my neighbour told me of its habit of over-running if allowed to gain foothold.  It wraps around, and chokes other plants, denying and robbing them of sunlight, rising up to 4 metres.  The flower lasts a day, but the roots and branches for years.  In the wild it adds to the colours of nature, but in the cultivated garden it’s dangerous.   

This made me think of those things which we believe sustain and cause the garden of our lives to flourish and be beautiful.  We water, feed and encourage them to grow and be strong.  However, if we look carefully and critically, we would see that they instead kill off our creativity, sensibility, mental capacity, deplete our ability to grow, rob us of strength and choke our potential.   Once it takes hold bindweed is difficult to eradicate and gardeners are advised not to let this plant take root.   The question to ask is ‘What have I permitted to pervade and choke the good in the garden that's my life? And how do I get rid of it?’.

Let’s be ready and not afraid to look at our lives, putting effort into and getting help, where necessary, to rid ourselves of the perennials that have chokehold on us. 

Good, Better, Best

I’ve been considering the word ‘best’.  A couple of days ago I encouraged someone to do their best.  My hope was that they would approach their future positively in regard to effort, commitment and finishing of what has been started.  Today in conversation with another person they advised me to do my best.   This encouraged me because I felt they showed belief in my skills, abilities, focus, and potential to achieve.

Doing your best requires deliberate action and control of your will.  Doing your best means that you expend what is valuable in you to attain/achieve what, in your view, has the same or is of more significance.  Best is regarded as the first place, highest in quality, most desired, better than good.  Other people’s good may be judged better than your best, but resist the temptation to let that deter you and give as much as you can.  Best is what we all have within our selves. 

Help! I need somebody

 

The old Beatles song “Help!” is ranked amongst the list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  Its lyrics and upbeat tune resonated with people of all generations when released in 1965.   Help.  We associate this word with weakness, frailty, lack of organisation, lack of self-control, being at disadvantage and desperate to be rescued.  Let’s flip this idea.

Someone who seeks help is not so hapless after all. They’ve recognised their lack of skills and knowledge, poor decision making and the need to control their self. They’ve assessed the position they’re in and decided that they can’t get out of it on their own. They’ve judged others to be better equipped than they, able to provide what is needed.  They’ve harnessed their hope of getting into a better position – one where they're no longer in need.

Often it’s hard to ask for help because of its negative connotations, and so people carry on struggling. Everyone needs help to varying degrees, in different situations and at various times.  Many people think ‘Help!’ at one point or another even if they don’t say it aloud, eventually managing to work things out for themselves. Others don't necessarily have this ability.

A line in the song states ‘Not just anybody’. Once a person gains the courage to ask for help, they need it from someone who can, will and do. They ask in the hope that the listener can hear/see clues to the help they can give, and make a decision not to withhold.  

Even if you can't help directly, pointing them to who might is a positive start.  Who, when, where and how will you help today?

Poor vs Good vs Great Leaders

As you aspire to become a team leader, manager, director, or business owner having employees, what standard of leadership are you setting yourself up to perform?    Leaders ought to be emotionally stable, display postive behaviours, and have characteristics which followers can trust.  They should inspire belief in the cause and purpose.  This does not mean that they have everything in the package - that's why they need good people around them who can fill the gaps. 

Leaders serve rather than be served.  They do not dominate and subjugate, but enable those with them to become improved as indivudals and participants in teams.  Leaders vision and influence the future, by giving credit for acheivement, and encouraging those they lead to perform at thier best.

Why do people sometimes make bad leaders?  It's because they see the attainment of the leadership position as the end of their journey, rather than the beginning.  Having risen to that platform, they believe primary responsibilities to be making decisions, directing activities and ensuring no one else can rise above them.  Wrong.   Practice at being a leader developer ensures that those who come after are equipped, and have the necessary tools evidenced in ability and character, to achieve even greater things than the leader has their self.

Poor leaders produce problems.  Good leaders produce followers.  Great leaders produce leaders.

Dream Steelers

 

The first half of 2011 is almost over, and many of us may be reflecting on our personal performance since January, and the strategies we will adopt for betterment throughout the rest of the year so we reach our goals.  I saw someone encouraging another recently and thought to myself that they were a ‘Dream StEEler’, and this sparked more thought.

When someone tells you their idea for becoming successful whether in their personal, social or professional there can be a host of reactions, several of which I suggest below (or can think of at present):

• Platitudes such as “Everything will be alright!”
• Encouragement such as “Good on you!” or “You’ll do well.”.   
• Warnings such as “It’ll never work.”, “It’s never worked before/it’s too difficult.” or “Why try?”.
• Reality checks such as “You need more talent.”, “Are you sure you can/will stick with it?” or even    Why you?”.
• Probing questions such as “How do you plan to .....?”. “What will you do if .....?”. 
• Exploration statements such as “Let’s see how we can make this work for you.”.

Some of these reactions are the tools of ‘Dream StEAlers’, whilst others are utilised by the ‘Dream StEElers’.

‘Dream StEAlers’ will take a person’s idea, dream, aspiration, goal and crush it with what they say about it. They don’t believe that someone else can reach the heights, and their alternative route is down.   On the other hand ‘Dream StEElers’ will examine the idea brought to them and be realistic about its merits and attainability, suggest other ways that might work, and encourage the pursuit of the dream.  They are the people who champion others, are able to see greater possibilities, and help the individual do so too. 

Everyone needs a ‘Dream StEEler’.  Can you be it?