"Blind Spots in Our Lives"

"Blind Spots"

Next week, I will be in Orlando, Florida teaming with one of my mentors, friend and colleague, Lee Ellis.  We will be co-presenting a seminar titled, "Character in Motion: Character is evidenced by Leadership Behavior."

Lee also wrote a book called "Leading Talents, Leading Teams."  Because he and I are teaming on this seminar, I thought it would be fun to blog on a piece of work Lee did by sharing a part of what he wrote in Chapter 3 of his book is titled, ” Objectivity: Seeing Reality”.

Of course, each of us is very objective about our own lives right? Everyone else has a problem with their character or behavior, correct? Lee says, “Objective: Of course we are. NOT!” To be a strong leader of character, what is really vital to our success is that we be objective and have an accurate view of ourselves. Lee reminds us that without objectivity we are missing an extremely important factor in our ability to process decision-making information accurately. Without objectivity, Lee argues, we may lack credibility. And without credibility of course, no leader can gain the trust of their followers or those they influence.

So, how do we determine how we should see ourselves? One of the first steps is to realize that as Lee puts it, “Our self-view distorts the lens through which we view others.” Lee points out that our brains are rarely accurate in developing opinions and decisions of others. The reasons for that are many, but primarily it is because of what Lee calls “filters” that we are limited in our objectiveness. Our experiences for instance, form a type of filter that removes a piece of reality from what we are processing. Once a filter is in place, we are prone to bad judgments that can result in bad decisions.

So, if we are not objective about ourselves,” our self-view also distorts the lens through which we view others.” That distorted view is what Lee calls “blind spots.” Some people are so blind to some of their struggles (weaknesses) that they even deny their existence. Do you know what your strengths and struggles are? Furthermore, are you aware of blind spots in your life? Regardless, whether we acknowledge them or not, we all do have blind spots.

To answer those questions, we have to be brutally honest with ourselves and realize that we need to be objective in seeing reality in our own lives. If we acknowledge that we all have some type of “blind spot” in our lives that distorts and/or filters how we interpret others, that may be the best step toward becoming a more whole person who can be a stronger leader, and whose character can influence others to trust them. Lee also says that a lack of objectivity can cause unrealistic expectations, because when we expect someone to respond or behave in one way and they don’t, that expectation can lead to disappointment, hurt feelings, and anger.

To sum up the chapter, Lee says that, “Awareness is the way, and courage is the entrance fee to gain an objective viewpoint.” Are you willing to learn what your blind spots are?  I encourage you to take an objective look at who you really are so that you can objectively view others around you. By doing that you will have made great progress in your development as a leader and your growth as a person of character.

Until next time, keep "Leading with Character First!"  Heidi Ho - Dane

The Art of Getting Along

This is a quote from John C. Maxwell's Daily Reader:

"Sooner or later, a man, if he is wise, discovers that life is a mixture of good days and bad, victory and defeat, give and take. He learns that it doesn't pay to be a too-sensitive soul, that he should let some things go over his head like water off a duck's back. He learns that he who loses his temper usually loses out, that all men have burnt toast for breakfast now and then, and that he shouldn't take the other fellow's grouch too seriously....He learns that most others are as ambitious as he is, that they have brains as good or better, that hard work, not cleverness, is the secret to success. He learns that no man ever gets to first base alone, and that it is only through cooperative effort that we move on to better things. He realizes (in short) that the "art of getting along" depends about 98 percent on his own behavior toward others." - Anonymous

Leading with Character First

Leading with Character First is not always easy. To live a life of Character is one of the toughest challenges we all face today in our society and culture. However, the rewards far outweigh any downside. I encourage you to study a book or go to a seminar or conference on character and/or leadership in the near future.

Challenge yourself to be a better leader and a better follower, because only then can you really align people, passions and positions for maximum performance. Speaking of seminars, Lee Ellis and I are teaming up to present a seminar in Orlando in the near future. Imagine the student presenting with the Master. I am very humbled to be working with Lee, who was my Vice Commandant in the United States Air Force Squadron Officer School where we spent 3 intensive months training on leadership and followership. I am also excited to introduce Lee to my peer group at Heartland Technologies, a group of 240 IT companies throughout the United States, Canada, and England.

Our seminar will focus on the fact that the character of an individual is evidenced by that person’s leadership behavior. Here is the title and description:

“Character in Motion.”

The main theme is that “Character is Evidenced through Leadership Behavior.” Ask yourself, “What is the cost to business and the bottom line if we don’t grow as a leader and lead that growth with character? If we don’t grow as a leader, we will not be consistent in who we want to be, and regardless of our technical skills, people will see the real character of who we are through our behavior. We are all operating in our natural behavior so much so, that our values get ignored. The presentation will be focused on how we can reconnect to those values and demonstrate character growth through behavior development.

Aligning People, Passions, and Positions for Maximum Performance

In Lee Ellis’ book called “Leading Talents, Leading Teams," Lee explores Specific Talents as strengths and struggles. It is interesting that Lee uses the word “struggles” for weaknesses. I think that alone speaks volumes about the fact that a weakness is not dynamic and presupposes we are not doing anything or can’t do anything about it. The word struggles has a meaning that reflects a dynamic change and wrestling match if you will, that is going on in a constant way. That is what life is about don’t you think? It is a constant growing experience. We are all in different struggles in this life. Noone is perfect and we are all still growing.

Lee’s Chapter 2 title is called: “STRUGGLES: The Dark Side of Talents.”
Besides our strengths the dark side of talents deals with the struggles we all have with our weaknesses. So, Lee points out that each of our talents is a two-sided coin. Lee even makes it clear that for each strength we have there is likely a corresponding struggle as well. Examples he uses are:

Strengths/Struggles
-Meticulous, thorough/May be too picky
-Prepare carefully/May lack spontaneity
-Persistent/Tend to be inflexible

Lee then goes on to use a real life example and historical character in Winston Churchill. He quotes a biography of Winston Churchill’s when he became the First Lord of the Admiralty. You see Winston Churchill had a great many leadership qualities that prepared him for his inevitable rise to be one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known. However, what we don’t hear all the time is that Churchill’s struggles were just his strengths in exaggerated form as Lee points out: Dash became rashness. Assuredness became cocksureness, etc.

So, we learn that we all have strengths and struggles, but to grow as a leader and a good follower, it takes constant study and work to improve on both accounts. How are you doing in growing your leadership skills? More importantly, do you recognize your struggles and work to overcome and/or improve them? Are you focused on growing yourself to be a better person of character?

I hope this blog moment helps you to step back and really evaluate who you are, who is following you, who are your co-workers, where you are going, and who might be following you. Many struggles are associated with character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. So, remember to always work on “Leading with Character First.”

A Corrupt Government is Impossible!

I have heard it said many times recently on the TV, radio, and elsewhere..."our government is corrupt. "

Well, I do not happen to believe that type of thinking. To say the government is corrupt creates an aire of anxiety and depression, even helplessness which results in a realization that we can't do anything about the government as a whole. It is just too big an elephant to even eat one bite at a time.

However, I think the problem can be broken down to a much simpler form than that, and one where we can really make a difference in our government and in our personal lives. Our government is made up of people and each of those people may be good or corrupt in their morals and character as the case may be. However, the government itself is not. The government is nothing aside from the people that serve in it and that it serves.

So, next time you hear someone say that the government is corrupt, please remind them that the government is made up of people, and people can change for the good. Today, more people are waking up to the fact that it is not the government that is corrupt, but corrupt people that operate within the government. More people are also reawakening to the fact that an individual's character is the most important attribute we each possess, and therefore we each need to work on developing and maintaining better character all the time. That way we really can help develop better character for ourselves, our families, and our government. With each person living better character we can stay on the moral and ethical track to deliver a better quality of life for everyone in the United States.

In the US Air Force we used to have a common saying that went like this: "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." That can only happen when a person's character is drunk with what is perceived as power. That is one reason our Founding Fathers created three branches of government. They wanted to make sure that checks and balances were in place to ensure that no person or persons could operate with corruption within our government.

Today, we face a very difficult time in the United States. I believe there is a way to bring us back to our "roots" if you will...and that is through Character Education. Please visit www.charactercounts.org for more information. Here you will find a network of people and organizations that are dedicated to the education and maintenance of "character education" throughout our country. Leaders must lead with Character First! Heidi Ho-

"Leading Talents, Leading Teams"

"Leading Talents, Leading Teams" - Aligning People, Passions, and Positions for Maximum Performance by Lee Ellis

I want to focus on a book by Lee Ellis (a friend, colleague, and mentor) called "Leading Talents, Leading Teams." Specifically, I want to focus on Section 1 titled, "Individual Differences." This section introduces talents, and explains their importance and why we have so much difficulty in being objective about ourselves and others...whether on the job or outside the workplace. Lee has taught me that we really can learn how to better understand our selves and others to optimize our performances on the job or in our personal lives.

According to Lee, talents focus teams on maximum performance, and are the keys to organizational and personal success. However, too many times we mismatch the talents of a person on our team and that causes problems for everyone. Over the years, I have had experiences where the person I thought had the talent for a particular job failed at that job miserably. I wish I had known then what I know now about talents and matching personalities/behaviors with those talents. I would have saved myself and the team member a lot of time and misery by refocusing not only the talent, but ensuring that the person I was putting into that job had the right personality and behavior for the job as well. That is what Lee means when he says "Aligning People, Passions, and Positions for Maximum Performance."
Think about it, if you have ever had to hire someone...wasn't that experience like a guessing game? You do the interviews and check the references, but you never really know if that person will be a match for your position or team based on the behavior after you hire them. So, "Leading Talents, Leading Teams" is all about understanding the 16 personality types that all of us can be tested for. By understanding that personality type and the talents of each of us and those we work with, we can really say that we are aligned for maximum performance.

So, wouldn't it be nice to find out what kind of personality you are? By using Lee's book you can do just that, plus you also receive a Right Path 4 assessment for free. After that, the next time you are looking at hiring someone, you will have an opportunity to test them as well and find out if you are both a match for each other and/or your team. What a wonderful tool!

You can purchase Lee's book at any bookstore or online book seller, but you can also go to our LMDC website (http://lmdc.dcsnetlink.com/) and click on the "Featured Books" link (on the right-hand side of the web page) that is highlighted with an image of the" Leading Talents, Leading Teams" book.

Keep growing and leading yourself and your teams with Character First! Heidi Ho-

How Many Things Are We Missing?

Perception....something to think about...How many things are we missing as we go about our daily life and business?

The following is a short version of an actual article written on a social networking experiment conducted by The Washington Post and Joshua Bell. The entire article written by the Washington Post can be found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?