The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast

When mistakes are made how do you overcome them? Last week I had missed two meetings because I wasn't included in a calendar invite. I'm a big fan of calendars since they keep me focused on what needs to be done. Since I'm new to this environment I thought about how to inform them to send me a calendar invite when notifying me of a meeting time.  I was a little upset that people may think it was my fault for being late to the meeting. Then I thought to myself, what if it was my fault? By taking responsibility for my part in the goof allowed me to consider their perspective. I immediately purchased two Starbucks gift cards and sent them to the individuals I was supposed to meet with. I called them the Starbucks Goof Card. My goof was there reward. 

It was a valuable lesson that I wanted to share this beautiful Monday morning.  Next time things happen that aren't your fault, as yourself, what if it was my fault? 

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast

Leaders can be lonely from time to time because they are out front while their followers are behind them. Followers are in a group of more than one so they aren't as lonely as a leader. If you are a leader do you feel lonely? To avoid the lonely feeling, become a follower of a greater leader. Yep. It's that simple. Find someone who is a greater leader and join the followers who are already following and you'll no longer be alone. You'll also gain some valuable insight into leadership while you are following. 

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast 

I love how John C. Maxwell defines a leader. He writes a leader is someone with followers. So how do you inspire people to follow you? This is a question that many have asked. The first step for a new leader to inspire followers is to be who they say they are. Credibility is the first step for anyone looking to grow their followers. We live in a world of social media influencers who suggest do what they say and not what they do. That's fine if you want shallow followers. If you want deep followers in your family, work, or team you may coach, you'll need to be legit. You'll need to establish credibility right at the onset of your relationship. 

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast 

As we learned yesterday, success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Or perhaps I could write it like this: success is the ACCOMPLISHMENT of an aim or purpose.  As John C. Maxwell writes in his book, Good Leaders ask Great Questions, success is bookended by a start and a finish.  Most of us start something with the intention of finishing. There is no need to overthink the finish of an aim or purpose. It's simple; JUST finish.

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast 

Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. The more you know your aim or purpose the more you can evaluate what you may need to give up to achieve the aim or purpose. That is success. Is this podcast a success? I think so, however, someone looking to put their ads on my podcast may think otherwise. They might find my 15 average listeners as a failing podcast. 

I define success with this podcast by doing it Monday through Friday until we get to 1,000 episodes. 

How do you define success i what you are involved in? 

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast 

Often times I'll hear an incredible story by people I meet. When I hear these incredible stories, I encourage them to share their story because of how much it could provide hope for others. Some of those same people will say, "oh no, I can't share that. I'm not ready."  I understand completely. They are not ready to heal. 

Healing comes from sharing your story. The Catholic church has known this for years with their confessional time. The more you talk about our hurt, trauma, or "sin," the more you are removed from it which allows healing to begin and continue. Are you ready to heal? 

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast

In the book, The Truth About Leadership by James Kouzes & Barry Posner, they share ten truths about leadership: 

1. You Make A Difference

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast

In the book, Lead With Heart by Tom Gartland, he wrote, when you know your values, you know your value.  Do you know your core values?  Core values help guide decisions made in your family, work, church, team, etc. If you don't have a strong understanding of your core values, you may struggle to make the decision that allows you to sleep peacefully at night. 

If you do an online search of how to find your core values, you'll find plenty of articles that will reveal methods to better understand what makes you, you. And that is the greatest value of them all. 

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast 

Buckminister Fuller has been credited as saying, "All children are born geniuses: 9,999 out of 10,000 are swiftly, inadvertently, de-geniusized by grown ups." Now that you aren't a child, don't be someone who is swiftly, inadvertently, de-geniusizing the genius out of the kids you come in contact with. 

The Daily Wake Up Micro-Podcast

The definition of transparency is: having thoughts, feelings, or motives that are easily perceived.

Indeed.com describes being a transparent leader or transparent worker as someone who shares their thoughts and opinions honestly and respectfully. Transparency is an approach to communicating and forming relationships that emphasize being direct with people in your workplace.

Although I agree with a lot of these descriptions, I also believe it's ok to leave things out of the workplace. Things like Religion, Politics, and Stock Tips. An effective "transparent leader"in my opinion, is one that shares their thoughts and opinions honestly as it relates to the vision they've put forth for their organization, department, team or group. When a leader is transparent, it allows others to either follow them or not.  There is no question of where that leader is going because they are so transparent.