Category: Walking Leader

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Self-Leadership – Finding The Time

Being a leader involves a different type of commitment and dedication. The difference comes from being a a committed and dedicated leader 24/7/365. That’s non-negotiable.

Being a leader is your other full time job. It is going to take up that much time. That is one reason most people feel they are ready to do what it takes to be a leader until it is time to step up and be the leader.

image of clock face

It is nothing against who they are as individuals, nor is it a strike against their knowledge, skills, wisdom and character. Far from it. Those that recognize that at this moment they are not ready to lead are great leaders in the making.

Once underway, there are people that know they cannot hack the toll leadership takes on the individual. Yet, there are those that decide to fake it and never make it are not even worthy of qualifying as a bad manager. The individuals that would rather continue faking it soon become “micro-managers” thus fail to give respect to those they are supposed to be leading. They will soon find themselves without true and genuine followers. Then what good are they?

What does finding the time have to do with knowing when to play your hand or when to fold’em?
Everything. If the individual is not prepared to find the time to work on her skillset or his soft-skills will amount nothing more than a hill of beans.

But there are only 24 hours in a day and eight of them are already spent sleeping!

True, but what about the other 16 hours? Eight of those sixteen are for working and working with the people you leading. That leaves eight hours for personal matters. Matters such as spending time with the family, hobbies, and personal development. All that and dinner, too?

You have to. You have no choice.

One thing to remember you and I and all us one thing in common. We all have the same 24 hours. Believe it or not every Doctor, Lawyer, Computer Engineer, Graphic Designer, Photographer, Janitor, Teacher, Bus Driver, and Student, all have those same 24 hours.

What does all that mean?

It means that while we are all unique individuals were are all, also the same. We have that same amount of time. Yet, there are plenty of people finding the time within those 24 hours to work on the commitment, dedication needed to become a better leader.

As you can see, it will be difficult but you have to find the time to be better. You have to use that time to grow both personally and professionally. In upcoming blog posts I will take a deeper dive into how to properly use your new found time.

As always if you have any comments, questions, remarks or concerns please email me at [email protected]

Thank you,
David Guerra

P.S. I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra • visit my website: www.daveguerra.com

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Change: Fight It or Invite It or Live Beside It

Welcome to 2021. COVID 19, New Year, New President, New Vice President, New vaccines, New You?

Again, welcome to 2021. It’s a new year and with that we hope new opportunities. New opportunities for success and growth and whatever else this new year will bring.

Yet, none of that is assured. What is assured and very well so guaranteed this change. If 2020 taught us anything it is that change can happen at the drop of a dime and more change will follow right. So why would 2021 be any different?

It will not be different. It will also be different. That’s what change does. So, expect 2021 to be full of change. Anyone and I do mean anyone who believes doing nothing different in 2021 is in for rude awakening. 2021 is already proven to be the year of change.

Sure, we’re still dealing with the fallout from last year. Yet, their sales so much more that’s coming because of that fallout. How we approach that change and how we deal with change will make all the difference. This is nothing new. I have been, for the longest time, making it battle cry to get people prepared for change. To realize that change is going to happen whether they like it or not.

Yet, year after year, month after month, and day after day it continues to fall on deaf ears and here, we find ourselves again. So, what is one more time? While there are some people that I would like to beat it into their thick skull but I cannot as that is called assault and the judicial system highly frowns upon that. So, here I go again.

As the title states when it comes to change you can either fight it or invite it or live beside it. There is nothing you can do about. Change is going to happen. So, of the three things I mentioned that you can do what you decide is up to you but ignoring it is not an option. Ignoring change is inviting the dark side to creep in. The dark side is no place for leaders, current or future leaders.

Fight it: by this I mean, you will have to fight it to the point that you get your results, your expected/anticipated results. By fighting change you will take control and have the power to direct its outcome in your favor. Fighting change means the results that occur all your results. You get to direct the outcome of the change. Failing to fight it means it’s happening and you are going to have to accept the end results.

Invite it: Inviting change means you are accepted the fact that change is coming and it’s going to happen. It does not mean you’re going to roll over and take it what it does mean; you are preparing for the generally accepted outcome. It also means that you recognize the need for change and the resistance usually associated with change will not come from you. You are ready to “roll with the punches” no matter how hard they hit.

Live Beside It: a living beside change does not mean that you’re rolling over and playing possum and allowing change to have its way with you. Living beside change means that you have accepted the fact that you are powerless to control, manipulate in any shape or form, change. Living beside change means you are prepared for the inevitable, no matter what that change is.

Now, the ball is in your court. You need to decide how you’re going to except and deal with change in 2021. I cannot do it for you, you have to do it for yourself.

There is a lot of work to do! Get to work!

-Dave

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Leaders and The New Winds of Change

weather vane in the wind
Photo by Jordan Ladikos on Unsplash

CHANGE is the word of the day. For many out there believe if they hold their breath long enough this latest “wind of change” will blow over. Well, not this time. Folks, especially those that feel their OLD WAYS (a.k.a. the old we’ve always done it this way and the old if it ain’t broke don’t fix it) are threaten to cease existing.

Guess what? You and those like you have had your heads so far up your four points of contact that when you pop it out I will happily be the one to tell you: IT IS ALL BROKEN and there is no going back.

The “winds of change” are blowing all over the planet and no pandemic, no closed-mindedness. nor preconceived ideas & outdated ideologies will stand in its way.

As a leader you must have that open mind and believe that the coming change is the natural progression of our existence as human beings. For a few short weeks not so long ago, we stood together in defense of microscopic virus that has the potential to wipe every human off the face of the Earth.

Think “War of the Worlds” kind of scenario in this case we, Earthlings, are the invading Martians. It was the simple microbe that almost wipes the invaders out. But, we do not have the luxury of jumping into a rocket ship and going home. We are home. Now in the midst of all this we stand apart.

Now, as we start to see signs of beating back the pandemic some imbecile with complete disregard for human life, dignity, and humanity goes off and kills someone. Someone that imbecile sworn an oath to protect and serve. That someone was George Floyd. We all know that when George Floyd woke up that morning quite possibly the last thing on his mind was that “today, will be the day that he would change the world“. Yet, he is gone and the world is changing.

As LEADERS, you have a duty to ALL those you to lead to lead by example. Be the first to embrace the coming change. Do not embrace change because it is the right thing to (because it is) and not because it is the cool thing to do (because it is) but because as times change a real leader must accept change. Even if sometimes that change is not to their liking and the cold hard fact is: CHANGE DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN WHAT ANYONE THINKS!

So, if you want to continue being a LEADER, then get up, get out there and LEAD THE CHANGE FROM THE FRONT!

Yes, it is that simple!

Thank you for your time,

David Guerra, MBA