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Leadership

The Responsibility of an Entrepreneur

Problem-Solvers

I am problem solver. I identify problems, break them down, and create solutions. Sometimes, that means helping a neighbor or connecting two friends. Other times, that problem solving translates to profits.

There are lots of problem solvers out there. They see a need and they come up with a solution. These solutions often manifest in the form of businesses. Consequently, we know many of these problem-solvers by the labels “entrepreneur” and “business owner.”

These people have a few qualities that make them stand out.

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Leading With Energy

Every group is defined by their energy. In a work setting, this is sometimes called your company’s culture. I think it’s more than that. Groups can be a small work meeting or organized teams or simply a family gathering. Each group has its own energy.

Most of the time that energy is defined by the loudest, most outgoing person in the group by default. Other times the energy is defined by the situation. When you’re solving a problem the atmosphere can be exciting and when you’re talking about loss the mood can be dampened. A group’s energy is fickle. It is not pre-determined by any set of magical factors. Group energy can be easily swayed by anyone willing to (consciously or unconsciously) pour themselves into the group. Energy can take its own form or you can mold it to your will – that choice is yours.

Emotions are contagious. And if you’re willing to lead, you can be the one to lift your group’s emotions out of the proverbial gutter.

First, you have to recognize that your group needs your energy. The best time to decide this is before you’re together. Get yourself in the mindset that you, and only you, can bring the energy the group needs. If you depend on someone else you’re not leading. And if you’re not set on doing it beforehand, you probably won’t have the strength or motivation to do it in the heat of the moment.

Bringing emotional energy to a group can be scary. Some people will ridicule you and try to bring you down. They don’t hate you, they just aren’t ready to stray from the pack. If you’re not prepared to stick with your strategy, you’ll abandon it. By resolving to be positive before you’re in a group, you’ll be more likely to carry out your plan.

Next, don’t be brought down by Debbie-Downers or Negative-Neals in your group. You will have them and they will oppose you, but you mustn’t allow them to drag you down. The other members of your group, besides you and Debbie/Neal, will be faced with a choice. They will have to choose to follow you or Debbie/Neal. People want to be happy and excited. Your argument for positive thinking must be as strong or stronger than your opponents or you’ll lose that swing vote.

Finally, lead with energy! Wear a smile, make eye contact, and don’t be afraid to touch people (in appropriate ways, of course) to demonstrate your leadership. When you speak, let your eyes light up and use your hands. When you listen, nod your head and pay close attention. When you have the floor, let people feel your passion and excitement for the topic. People will recognize your energy and they will respond.

Remember, if you don’t bring the energy, it will take its own form. That could be decided by Debbie and Neal or it could be decided by you. The choice – to lead – is yours. 

The Counter-Intuitive Nature of Strategic Planning

The Counter-Intuitive Nature of Strategic Planning

Growth seems to be universally desired but particularly elusive.

We want to be better people or have more profitable businesses, yet, there’s not always evidence that we’re working towards those goals. Sure, we may be busy, but busy and effective aren’t always the same thing. For example, we’re in a busy season of work. We’re getting tons of requests for proposals (RFP’s). We have more work than ever from a larger number of clients than ever with the largest team we’ve ever had. Growth is good, right?

Unfortunately, we haven’t taken the time to really think through how we’re handling this abundance of work. It’s like we’re just getting dodgeballs thrown at us every day for ten hours. We haven’t had the chance to stop and think about the best way to move forward. We don’t know whether we should we dodge, duck, dip, dive, or dodge the onslaught!

Taking the time to plan your next move may seem like a backseat priority when this much is happening. But it’s the people and the organizations who are able to organize this chaos that succeed in the long run.

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It’s Easy to be a Phony, It’s Hard to be On Point

It's Hard to be On PointWhen others look up to you, a pressure begins to weigh on your shoulders.

If you’ve ever had someone put you on a pedestal, you know what kind of pressure I’m talking about. It’s the pressure to always do right by them. More than anything, you don’t want to let them down. It’s a great motivator to be on your A-Game, but it can take over if you’re not careful.

When I taught Furniture University, the sales class at ABF, I had to be on point or my students would call me out. We would have “walk-in” customers that weren’t scheduled show up during a training session asking to buy furniture. If no other sales person was present to take the appointment, I would have to do it in front of 10+ students hawking my every move. If everything I said didn’t match up with everything I’d been teaching them, my credibility would be flushed down the drain.

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How to Create a Culture of Burnouts

We’ve all seen it. Some of us have even experienced it.

It can be known as having your priorities out of whack. In other circles, they’re referred to as workaholics. Spiritually, it’s known as idolatry.

At it’s root, it’s arrogance. Nothing else in this world matters other than your work. For these individuals, nothing comes before their work. I know, I was on this path for a long time.

If you’ve ever spent time with someone like this, it’s obvious they have a hard time focusing on you. They repeatedly check their phone for texts and emails, even if it didn’t make a noise. They make eye contact, but their mind is elsewhere.

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How to Spot an Opportunity

How to Spot an Opportunity

Op·por·tu·ni·ty

äpərˈt(y)o͞onədē/ – noun
1.) a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something
2.) a chance for employment or promotion

Circumstances, as stated above, are what make up opportunity. But everyone knows that.

What most people don’t know is how to identify that perfect storm of circumstances. Knowing when those circumstances are just right is much easier to say than to do. Spotting opportunities is one of those skills that has to be honed. Similar to sales, some people have a gift for it, and others have to work hard just to become adequate.

We don’t really foster this type of environment in our school systems, so most people don’t figure out how to do this until after school.

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13 Rights Effective Leaders Must Forfeit

Leadership Rights

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
– Robert Frost

Leadership is the road less traveled.

Leadership is the hardest path to take. Leadership requires sacrifice, extra work, and a big heart. To some, leadership comes naturally. To others, it’s a some sort of voodoo magic they can’t understand.

In my years leading teams and organizations, I’ve had to give up every one of these. I’ve compiled a list of 13 rights effective leaders must forfeit.

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When Rules Get in the Way of What’s Right #isupportpaulroof

Rules are not a bad thing. The larger an organization grows, the more rules it has to adopt. It’s a simple concept that anyone who has gone through the pains of starting a business will tell you.

But the difficult part happens when you find yourself enforcing your rules just because they are the rules and you forget what they stand for. Most times rules are made with the best of intentions. But there are exceptions and unforeseen circumstances in any business when rules are set in place.

When an organization sticks to those rules, they can be considered unwavering and disciplined. Something that has been all but lost in our culture. But sometimes, when an organization clings to their rules, they make mistakes. By sticking to their rules, they forget the meaning behind them and they are more focused on “reprimanding rule breakers” than seeing peoples’ good intentions for what they are: good intentions.

An Unfortunate Situation

Last week, a professor at CSU was let go because of a set of rules that were set in place to protect the school. They have a code of conduct that they expect their staff and student body to adhere to. They have an image as a Christian University that they must uphold and they believed that Professor Paul Roof broke that code of conduct.

I’m not going to go into the details of the story since it’s been out for a while, but you can read about it here.

Revolution

Even if Paul Roof did know about his image being used, he was out in the community spreading the gospel. He, as a CSU advocate, obviously carried himself with the utmost pride and represented the University VERY well from the outcry on social media streams.

He wasn’t out drinking the beer with his likeness on it. And he wasn’t behaving against the code of conduct set forth by the University, but they saw it as such. They didn’t want to be associated with sinners and beer drinkers in the typical “holier than thou” mentality that too often encompasses the church.

While overlooking the student’s love for Professor Roof and his obvious character (missions work, community fundraising, and overall Christian influence in the community) they found fault in his actions. Following their rules has become more important than what the rules stand for.

The rules were set in place to keep their staff accountable and let them know that they were held to a higher standard than just any college professor. From everything I hear, Professor Roof held himself to those standards and then some.

The school wants to do God’s work and it seems to me that Professor Roof was doing just that. The church/school need more influencers in the community to spread their message. How about a guy whose face is on one of the most popular beverages in the city?

While we’re being Biblical…

CSU wants to uphold it’s reputation as a Christian University, and I totally understand that. It’s actually one of the reasons I love the school, they stand for something. But so many times we, as Christians, are given a bad rap for decisions exactly like this.

Even the people reporting this event, like Esquire, give a tongue-in-cheek account of how they see it and why they’re not surprised. We’ve played into every Christian stereotype by firing this good, Christian man!

An actual applicable scripture would be from Mark 2. Sorry Holy City Brewing, I’m gonna refer to you as sinners even though I love Chucktown Follicle Brown & the Brewery is an awesome spot:

15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Professor Roof is doing exactly what Jesus did, he’s spending his time with the people he feels should hear the gospel. The folks at CSU already know about the Bible and what God has done for them, but Professor Roof is spending his time outside of the church aka CSU.

Anytime someone within an organization steps into new territory like this, they risk being seen as a traitor. CSU took that stance. I don’t agree with it, but that’s how they saw it.

Almost every Tweet, Instagram post, or Facebook status I’ve seen regarding this man says something about his character. How well he conducted himself, how much of an inspiration he was, how selfless he was. Yet, he’s no longer a representative of the institution.

In my opinion CSU has made a mistake, they will stick to their decision and they won’t rehire Roof. The sad part is how the University has been depicted (and rightfully so) after this event.

Full Disclosure

I love CSU. I received my undergrad in 2007 and my MBA in 2011. I played football for 5 years and was fortunate enough to play on the 2005 conference championship team and be elected a captain of the 2008 team. I have donated to the school from the moment I graduated and I try to spread the positive message about the school whenever I can.

That being said, I’m not surprised to hear about Professor Roof. I know how the school works and it’s unfortunate that this has been their decision. I just saddens me to see this opportunity to spread the gospel of CSU wasted. Imagine how cool it would be if the school owned the fact that Holy City Brewing wanted to use a professor’s photo on a flagship product.

How much more open would the young community be to hearing what CSU has to say? How many more people would want to know more about CSU? How would that change the intolerant stigma that surrounds the church/school?

I’ve seen this happen with many businesses. When rules get in the way of what’s right, organizations make choices they think are good in the short term, but prove damaging in the long haul. Be sure that the next time you are enforcing rules that you know why you’re enforcing them. One of the most dangerous things in this world is when people just follow the rules without questioning them.

I hope that everything works out for Professor Roof, and if you’d like to support him, you can go here to donate the charity Women with Wings, whom the Beard & Mustache Society supports.

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Do you think CSU made the right decision? Why or not not?

Have a great rest of the week!

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