Morning Motivator – When the Lesson Learned is the One You Preach

"When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self."
-Confucius

Yesterday was one of those AMAZINGLY productive days, where it feels like everything you touch goes the right way. Funny thing happened to me though – I was lifted up for my LEADERSHIP skills and then QUESTIONED about how I showcase them to others later. A simple case of "Do you practice what you preach?"

I APPRECIATE someone that will call me out and keep me ACCOUNTABLE to myself as well as those around me. I internalized what was being said to me and REALIZED – I can and WILL make a better commitment to leading by EXAMPLE. And how does one do that? I found the above quote to be a GREAT guideline for maintaining commitment to your LEADERSHIP goals. The concept of the "weakest link being the gauge of team strength."

My dad always told me that I wanted to play ball with guys that were BETTER than me and NEVER less talented. I would always ask "why dad? I don't want to be the WORST player on the team." And he would ALWAYS respond with, "Zach if you are the worst player on the team, you have nothing to do but IMPROVE and when you ARE the weakest player on the team, you KNOW your team will be AMAZING." Good advice… I still don't want to be the worst. – and don't think that I have to. Now that I am older, I realize that my dad always said that knowing that one day, I would be one of the BETTER (or BEST) player on my "team" and that the leadership lesson of CULTIVATING talent would help make sure I ALWAYS PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH. Thanks dad!

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:

First, to MAINTAIN credibility you BETTER practice what you preach (so noted in my book as well) which means continuing to do the little things that no one else will do and you can do better than anyone else.

Secondly, ALWAYS seek and surround yourself with the best talent available. Think of my dad's story… if you are the weakest team member and you are AMAZING at what you do… how good is your team?!? (scary huh)

Lastly, have a QUARTERLY checkup with yourself – place in your MS Outlook calendar a recurring event to review your GOALS, VALUES and STARTEGIES. By doing this you can easily maintain your high level performance with little effort and greater results.

Never fear being surrounded by greater talent… it's the symbol of your greater leadership!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

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