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"Creating Your Leadership Discipline"

AuthorHouse

THE SHORTCUT

The first thing you have to know about this book is that I like to tell stories. Most of them are 'probably' true, although on occasion the vivid imagination of my childhood may alter some of the facts. But I assure you this will be of no detriment to what you may learn from reading this book. When telling stories, it is sometimes important to be repetitious in what is being said, so you may read the same point two, three, or even four times in different parts of the book. This lets me drive home an important point about how to discover your talents and to create discipline to promote what you do best. I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it and I hope my stories help you to know and understand yourself and what you can get out of this book.

The first and probably the most important story is appropriately called "The Shortcut". It takes place when I was about five years old and is about how I got to school as a kid. I am the youngest of five children; my next older sibling is Bill who plays a key part in this story as he also did in many stories throughout my life.

We lived about a mile from the Monatiquot School and the route to the school, although on back roads, was up and over a pretty high hill. My mother would pack me up in the morning in my hand-me-down clothes and give me my lunch in a paper bag and send me off with my personal escort and guardian Bill. We would usually meet up with the notorious Smith boys, Peter was Bills age and Paul was a year older than me. As has been the case throughout my life, I was the youngest and always last in whatever we did. Bill and I would leave the house and the trek would begin. Bill would always be about fifty feet ahead of me and would constantly yell "hurry up, or we'll be late". That mattered to him because he was in the sixth grade, very popular, and wanted to make his mark at the beginning of each day with his friends to assure himself of his stature in the school. I on the other hand was in kindergarten, had a nickname of 'Butchie' and was only interested in blending in and being Billy's brother. We would usually meet up with the Smith boys and the trek would continue. Bill and Peter would lead the parade with Paul somewhere in the middle and Butchie picking up the rear. It would all go pretty well except for the constant bullying I had to put up with from Paul, who was a large (fat) kid who always had to be poking or prodding someone smaller than him. Occasionally the command would come from the top, Bill or Peter, "leave him alone". If it came from Bill it would usually include "or I'll kick your ass". This would stop any problem with Paul, as any one knew that if Bill said he would 'kick your ass', he would.

About ten minutes into the trek we would be entering the Thayer Academy woods which would be the first 'shortcut' in the journey and that was pretty nice. We would walk on paths cut through the woods covered with years of pine needles that had dropped off the 'gigantic' (about 30 feet high) pine trees to the athletic fields of Thayer Academy. Thayer Academy, by the way, is a really good private school started by General Sylvanus Thayer as a prep school for West Point. It also had a middle school called Thayer Lands for younger children. When we crossed the athletic fields we would cross a street and enter through the gate into the stone-walled, forbidden property of Thayer Lands, hurriedly make our way through the playground to the 'Berlin Wall' that we would have to climb over as there was no exit gate. Once again the order would come from the top "hurry up Butch or we'll get caught" as no one was allowed to go through Thayer Lands and climb the stone wall to escape and take the 'shortcut' to Monatiquot. Monatiquot, by the way, is an old Indian name probably from the Wampanoag Tribe that inhabited the area before the arrival of settlers from Europe. We would be told by the teachers at Monatiquot every so often "not to go through Thayer Lands, you must go around and down Academy Street". No 'shortcuts'. And now the crux of the story; 'the wall'.

Bill, Peter, and Paul were like monkeys, up one side, stand on the top, and then down the other side onto the grass sidewalk. I, on the other hand, would stand and look at the wall and wish it wasn't there as I hated to climb that tremendously high wall, roll myself over the top (no standing for me) and slide down the other side hoping to find a protruding stone to catch my foot before dropping to the grass. Every day was the same; I never got used to climbing the wall, but I liked the ''shortcut' because that was how we got to school and it saved a lot of time. I never got hurt, but was always a bit scared that I would because of the height of the wall. I don't think I ever walked all the way up the hill and down Academy Street to get to school, it just didn't make any sense and took a lot more time.

When you can accomplish your goal without hurting anyone, (especially yourself) except those who want to make it harder for no good reason, take the 'shortcut even if it may be a little scary. That is what this chapter and book is all about.

You can read all the books I have read to find out what your talents are and how to create a discipline to use them advantageously or you can read this chapter and book to save a lot of time by taking the 'shortcut'. It will take a lot of time to learn what your talents are and how to use them productively and having a good start on what to look for in the reading material will help and hopefully make it fun. Oh, and by the way, the 'Berlin Wall' at Thayer Lands was about five feet high. Unfortunately for me, I was about thirty inches high at five years old, and yes, my good friends still call me 'Butch'. Climbing that wall every day also helped me create a discipline and build my confidence.

You may also be interested to know that the Monatiquot School and the Monatiquot River are located in the town of Braintree, which was incorporated in 1640 as one of the first towns in America. Both John Adams and John Hancock were born in Braintree. The history of the area, as part of the cradle of liberty, was a part of my upbringing, always being told of the importance of individual freedoms and to respect that same freedom in others. You will see that this attitude and unconditional respect for all will carry throughout the book.

Now let's get on with Chapter 1 and 'Your Shortcut'.

Adding Value to a Changing World

The world is changing in many ways and at a staggering rate that affects business, political, and social decisions. The truth will change rapidly with information provided by the latest social media gimmick and our new leaders will be forced to direct people, and themselves, through the maze of information created by what is popular at any specific moment in time. The United States will no longer be the automatic leader in many instances, and working to maintain our leadership will become more and more challenging. There are also changes in leadership in which the leader of tomorrow doesn't look like the leader of yesterday. One key change here is that the new leadership is more focused on 'teams' and not just individual leaders. This change is one of the reasons to focus on a 'Leadership Discipline' for life as well as one for the particular position you may have in business. Look around at how things happen in todays society, be it social or work related, there is a need for leadership at every level of life. There will be a lot more on this later, but it is important to begin by knowing how important individual leadership is in our democracy, and how important it is to have people who want to lead, take responsibility, and add value to their position in life.

The idea for this book was never to help create the next Winston Churchill, Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, or Mary Barra. And for those sports enthusiasts, the discussions on talents are not intended to compare the readers talents to those of Tiger Woods or Serena Williams.

Certainly, all those mentioned have attained a place among the great leaders of our society, but the real leaders of the world are those who get up every day and lead themselves and others in an effort to make it a better place to live and prosper. This book is intended to help those who have a passion for successfully leading themselves and other people in their everyday work and life. Leadership requirements are going to change just as the world is changing and we will continue to create our heroes of business in flashy CEOs and our sports legends in the best tennis player and golfer, but any real change in the value of everyday life will come from the leaders who continue to get up and, without all the hype, lead people in their daily struggle of life, at work and at home. These leaders will have to know their talents and the talents of those they lead to successfully make a positive difference. They will have to master the art of being 'conscious' of themselves and others, being aware of their "inner and outer worlds" and be able to accept the perceptions of those they may not even like. Always remember that "we are social beings, hardwired from our evolutionary past to equate relationships with survival. We want to work with other people in solving problems, tell them stories and hear stories from them, create new ideas with them because if we didn't do those things on the savannah 100,000 years ago, we died." All people need to have a purpose and to add value to life.

We in the US still have some great advantages to help our people become leaders and add value to life. Our education system is still the best in the world. Opportunity remains strong in business, medicine, social services and other industries due to the experiences gained in our 250 years as a free society. "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" remain the basis of our society. Being brought up with these beliefs gives us the ability to achieve and use our imagination in developing better solutions to the problems we meet every day regardless of how the world may change. Maybe Carl Reiner said it best in his statement "You get the best out of people when they are happy and not afraid", and that's what we in America have the privilege to be.

Another reason for my writing this book is to try to give the reader an understanding of what is necessary to create a leadership discipline for the business world and for life in general, considering the world we live in today. It is also to share my twenty-five years of leadership experience and work in developing my own leadership discipline, that serves me well both in business and life. Although more challenged today, the US still has a leading position and many benefits that our new leaders need to take advantage of, especially in education and experience. It certainly is true that the US is experiencing 'the rising of the rest', but it is also true America is far from any 'decline' in our ability to lead. The rules are certainly changing, and the talents of the people in the US will continue to be the fundamental ingredients of our new leaders. "The evidence is clear that the most effective groups are those who possess human abilities, empathy above all, social sensitivity, storytelling, collaborating, solving problems together and building relationships," all of which are part of our upbringing in our free society.

The first idea for writing this book occurred to me after completing two one year long mentoring programs I developed for twelve managers ready to make the 'leap' to leadership, remembering that 'good managers do things right, and good leaders do the right thing.' Working as the mentor with these twelve talented young engineering managers made me realize how many truly talented young people we have who may never get the chance to lead others because they have not created a discipline for themselves to promote their talents and demonstrate their values. Of the twelve mentees, ten went on to leadership positions and hopefully the mentoring helped them to demonstrate their value as leaders.

"Creating a Leadership Discipline" was originally written and given by me as a six part presentation to fifty or so managers in a management seminar developed to encourage managers to passionately engage in the mission of the Florida Turnpike. The management seminar also included other lecturers whose topics concentrated on improving one's self and learning to manage and lead others effectively in the operation of the Turnpike. Working with this group of professional educators and front line managers encouraged me even more to find a way to help people learn how to use their talents in leading others. In the years that have passed since the mentoring programs and the lectures to the Turnpike managers, it has become even clearer to me that people who want to succeed have to have a well thought out life discipline that is heavily focused on those talents and social skills necessary to work and interact with others effectively.

Having been an executive in some large engineering firms I was very lucky in my career to be able to develop my leadership skills and create a work discipline for the particular units that I managed. Being a mentor to some younger managers helped me to understand how the leadership role is changing considering all that is happening in the world, and how that is affecting the US business advantage. The management seminar for the Florida Turnpike drove home the point to me that to be a good leader, you really have to be involved passionately and consciously in what you are doing, especially if you are going to lead others.

There is no doubting that the US may lead in fewer instances and that the competition is going to get tougher for the next generation of leaders. We still have the advantage of great education and our "talent meritocracy" which gives us "creativity, curiosity, a sense of adventure, and ambition". We have always been the most productive working people in the world because we think harder and work smarter. In addition to all our education, experience, and hard work, we also have the benefit of being brought up in a 'free society' that provides us with that "creativity, curiosity, a sense of adventure and ambition" that is so helpful in the development of emotional EQ talents and interpersonal skills that are the heart and soul of understanding and leading others. Other countries may be able to match our educational and experience talents, but few, if any, can match the respect we develop for people in general through our upbringing in our free society. There is a good quote from "Executive EQ" that says it better than me. "No the heart isn't just a pump, as cardiologists describe it. It is more. Scientists can measure its energy from five feet away. It radiates. It activates our deepest values, transforming them from something we think about to something we live. It knows things our mind does not, cannot. The heart is the place of courage and spirit, integrity and commitment. It is a source of energy and deep feelings that calls us to learn, cooperate, lead, and serve."

When I first started studying leadership and talents, I did not have the knowledge or respect of the emotional aspects in understanding and leading people. As I have progressed in my knowledge of the subject, it has become clear to me how important emotional talents are in leading people and how being brought up in the US has provided me with such an advantage in this area. Most of our talents or strengths contain some form of emotional intelligence. If you learn nothing else in this book, make sure you know how important it is to "acknowledge and value feelings"; yours and those of others. That in itself is truly the differentiator for those from a free society in leading others in life.

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Excerpted from "Creating Your Leadership Discipline" by Joe Cleggett. Copyright © 2016 Joe Cleggett. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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