Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day (PDF)

Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 1 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 1 9/30/20 11:00 AM 9/30/20 11:00 AM Copyrighted material  Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Amplified® Bible, copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Verses marked tlb are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Verses marked ampc are taken from the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition®. Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Verses marked niv are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Verses marked nasb are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lock- man.org) Verses marked kjv are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Cover by Bryce Williamson Cover photo © Plisman / Gettyimages For bulk, special sales, or ministry purchases, please call 1-800-547-8979. Email: Customerservice@ hhpbooks.com Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day Copyright © 2020 by Bob Phillips Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97408 www.harvesthousepublishers.com ISBN 978-0-7369-8143-9 (pbk) ISBN 978-0-7369-8144-6 (eBook) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Phillips, Bob, author. Title: Leadership success in 10 minutes a day / Bob Phillips. Other titles: Leadership success in ten minutes a day Description: Eugene, Oregon : Harvest House Publishers, 2020. | Summary: “Whether you are a first-time leader or have been in a position of authority for many years, Bob Phillips will help you gain a vision for the kind of leader you want to be and learn to leverage your authority when you lead by example”—Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2020012304 (print) | LCCN 2020012305 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736981439 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780736981446 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Leadership—Religious aspects—Christianity. Classification: LCC BV4597.53.L43 P49 2020 (print) | LCC BV4597.53.L43 (ebook) | DDC 253--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012304 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012305 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 / BP-RD / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 2 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 2 9/30/20 3:21 PM 9/30/20 3:21 PM Copyrighted material  Contents Introduction: Finding Success as a Leader . . . . . . . . . 7 Qualities Every Leader Needs 1. Essential Traits of a Great Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2. Staying on Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3. Managing Your Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4. Moving On: The Practice of Forgiveness . . . . . . . . . . 29 5. Earning Trust: The Practice of Integrity . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6. Courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 7. Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 8. Taking Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 9. Leadership Starts at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 10. The Power of Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 11. Creating Your Ideal Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Dealing with Leadership Challenges 12. Dealing with Bad News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 13. Confronting Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 14. Overcoming Boredom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 15. Sharpening Your Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 16. Moving Beyond Your Fears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 17. Overcoming Worry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 18. The Loneliness of Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 3 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 3 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  19. Mastering Your Emotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 20. How Will You Respond? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 21. The Ugly Side of Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 22. Getting the Monkey off Your Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 23. Getting Motivated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 24. Facing the Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 25. Breaking Out of Your Rut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 26. Dealing with Relational Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 27. Changing Your World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 The Life Cycle of Every Organization 28. Ready to Change, Ready to Adapt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 29. Stage One: A Vision of Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 30. Stage Two: The Struggle for Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . 149 31. Stage Three: Achieving Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 32. Stage Four: Coping with the Challenges . . . . . . . . . . 157 Tools for Every Leader 33.What Is a Leader?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 34. Leadership Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 35. An Attitude Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 36. Gut Check: Evaluating Negative Attitudes . . . . . . . . 171 37.Workplace Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 38. The 80/20 Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 39. Leading Versus Managing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 40. The Power of Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 4 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 4 9/21/20 10:12 AM 9/21/20 10:12 AM Copyrighted material  41. Opening Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 42. Becoming Visionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 43. Changing Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 44. Tried and True Principles for Conflict Management and Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 45. A Matrix for Understanding Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 46. Dealing with Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 47. Can-Do Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 48. Organizational Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 49. Pride and Humility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 50. A Broken Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 51. Accentuating the Positive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 52. God’s Secret for Attitude Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 53.Work as a Ministry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 54. Job or Ministry?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 55. Godly Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 56. Eight Signs You’re Called to Be a Christian Leader. . . 223 57. How the Lord Leads by A.W. Tozer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 5 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 5 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 6 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 6 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  7 Introduction Finding Success as a Leader W hat is leadership all about? The term lead implies a number of concepts. It can mean to guide by holding the hand or to direct and show the way as a guide. To some it means to proceed or to intro- duce by going first. By leading one may induce, cause, or influence actions by other people. Leading often refers to conduct as a chief com- mander or to hold first place in a rank. A leader is a person who directs or commands by words or leads personally by their actions. In boxing, the lead is to strike the first blow. In theater, the lead is the principle or person in the main role. In journalism, a lead is the open- ing line. In music, the lead is the conductor or the lead tone. In law, a lead refers to the case that determines the law. In cards, to lead is to have the right to play first. In aeronautics, the leading edge is the foremost part of the wing or propeller blade. A leading question is worded spe- cifically to suggest the desired answer, which opens the way for further questions. Basically, the concept of lead is to be first or to be in front. The Pointman Leadership Institute gives five definitions of leadership. 1. The ability to clearly understand and articulate the goal. 2. The confidence to be out in front and show the way to the goal. 3. The ability to convince people to follow as an act of their free choice. 4. The desire to help people develop and pursue excellence. 5. The ability to inspire people to achieve their full potential. Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 7 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 7 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  LEADERSHIP SUCCESS IN 10 MINUTES A DAY 8 The goal is number three: the ability to convince people to follow as an act of their own free choice. How is that to be accomplished? The answer is simple. If you do numbers one, two, four, and five, people will follow you as an act of their own free will. When it comes to leadership success, various authors offer sug- gestions. Jack Welch says, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about grow- ing others.” Booker T. Washington commented, “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.” A.W. Tozer conveyed a little different thought when he said, “God may allow His servant to succeed when He has disci- plined him to a point where he does not need to succeed to be happy. The man who is elated by success and cast down by failure is still a car- nal man. At best his fruit will have a worm in it.” Napoleon Hill talks about both success and defeat. “Before suc- cess comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do.” Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day is a collection of thoughts about leadership written for both first-time and seasoned leaders. These thoughts can be read in ten minutes or less and then put into practice. The concepts are designed to alert you, encourage you, and challenge you not to quit as a leader. They are to help you be certain that your leadership ladder is leaning against the right wall. Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; Better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; Better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it; Better to have lost some battles than to have retreated from the war; Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 8 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 8 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  Finding Success as a Leader 9 Better to have failed when serving God than to have succeeded when serving the devil. What a tragedy to climb the ladder of success only to discover that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. Erwin W. Lutzer Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 9 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 9 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 10 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 10 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  QUALITIES EVERY LEADER NEEDS Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 11 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 11 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 12 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 12 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  13 1 Essential Traits of a Great Leader Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire teammates and customers. Robin S. Sharma T he Board of Directors for the Carmello Corporation was facing a very strategic decision. The CEO and founder George Carmello had a heart attack while on the golf course. He was immediately sent to the hospital but passed away after three days. Everyone was in shock. George was only 56 years old, and no one had thought about any suc- cession plan to replace him in case of an accident or death. The Board of Directors now faced the issue of choosing a new CEO. They considered the pros and cons of selecting someone from within the corporation or seeking an outsider to lead the company. They leaned toward someone within who was familiar with the operation, feeling that it would take too much time to get a new leader from the outside up to speed. The chairman of the Board asked the other members what they thought they should look for in choosing a new leader. They began to brainstorm some qualities they considered necessary. One of the members said, “I think the most important quality would be that of character. We need someone who is a person of integ- rity. He or she needs to be honest and straightforward. The Board, the Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 13 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 13 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  LEADERSHIP SUCCESS IN 10 MINUTES A DAY 14 staff, and our customers need to have someone they can trust. This is an absolutely necessary foundation.” Character isn’t something you were born with and can’t change like your fingerprints. It’s something you weren’t born with and must take responsibility for forming. ~ Jim Rohn A second board member added, “I think the next quality we should look for is that of competence. There’s no question that they should be a person of character. But you know it’s possible to be a person of char- acter and a nice guy, but not competent in the area of leadership that’s needed. Our new leader needs to have the skills necessary to lead our company into the future. You wouldn’t take someone who’s only expe- rience was in washing windows and put them in charge of hundreds of employees and a budget in the millions of dollars. We need to have someone who has a track record for leading people and understand- ing our market. They need to be capable and have a capacity to handle important decision-making. And they need to be creative.” Competence goes beyond words. It’s the leader’s ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that you know how— and know that they want to follow you. ~ John Maxwell If you think you can do it, that’s confidence. If you do it, that’s competence. “I agree with what has been suggested so far,” said another board member. “I would like to add that I think our next leader needs to have a calling to the position as CEO for the Carmello Corporation. Char- acter is foundational, competence is essential, but a calling seems to add a caring for what we do…a concern for leading our people…and a commitment to the job and tasks that are needed. We want someone Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 14 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 14 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material  Essential Traits of a Great Leader 15 who is interested in what we do and where we are going. We need a leader who desires to make an impact.” God’s calling requires action. When God calls you, he calls collect… you better be willing to accept the charges of your calling. ~ Steve Maraboli A fourth board member chimed in, “The mention of leadership char- acter, competence, and calling is right on. We need them in our next leader. I think I would like to add the word chemistry. Our new leader needs to have a psychological and relational personality that communicates com- passion, caring, and a charisma with our staff, our customers, and our suppliers. People need to be able to like and relate to our new leader.” Sometimes you meet a person and just click— you’re comfortable with them, like you’ve known them your whole life, and you don’t have to pretend to be anyone or anything. ~Alexandra Andronetto Like great teams in sports and business endeavors, if there’s a chemistry among the participants, and they truly enjoy fellowship together, everybody wants to be there, stay involved, and just have fun together. ~ Ed Greenwood “I couldn’t agree with you all any more about the four qualities needed in our next leader. I would only suggest one more. That’s the trait of conviction. People want to follow someone who has done their homework with critical thinking and has confidence in the direction they’re going. Our employees and our customers need someone who is courageous and willing to make tough decisions. Conviction gives the leader an aura or dis- tinctive quality that is picked up by others. It’s seen in the way they carry themselves. The way they talk. It’s a Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 15 Leadership Success in 10 Minutes a Day.indd 15 8/27/20 8:26 AM 8/27/20 8:26 AM Copyrighted material