Morning Motivator - Leading By Following

"We have to agree at some level and trust that our leadership knows what its doing."
- Zach Barker, 6/14/09

On July 1, I will be relieved of my DUTIES as President of the Nashville Area Junior Chamber of Commerce (www.najcc.org) and as a person that has enjoyed the good FORTUNE of leading a volunteer organization; I REALIZE that one of the most DIFFICULT actions is learning to follow.

Commonly, LEADERS devise our management groups, sales top producers and board committees. With so many STRONG personalities - this can create a CHALLENGE when there are "too many Chiefs and not enough indians." Too many opinions, directions or "counter points" can lead to distractions, disruption and insubordination. We can easily create too much NOISE and clutter the minds of the people you are leading.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
In order to become a truly EXCEPTIONAL leader, you will need to be able to identify when it is best to follow. By learning to focus on the STRATEGIC planning and not the details of EXECUTION, you can separate yourself from a discussion on "doing vs. leading."

Continue to FOCUS on the idea that it is NOT your job to do everything! A GREAT leader knows how to yield to his colleagues when they have a greater EXPERTISE, a stronger PASSION or even a greater DESIRE to lead a smaller project.

When you find yourself CHALLENGED with a "lead vs. follow" scenario, consider who has:
- More knowledge?
- Better skills?
- Stronger convictions?
- More time?

If you find this is NOT you, be a LEADER... and just FOLLOW them!

Cheers,
Zach

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


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