Leadership

Some two weeks ago, Senator John McCain died. While some saw him as a maverick, someone with a strong independent streak, he was also determined to do what he believed right, even at a high personal cost. He is an American hero – for his five and a half years as a prisoner in a Vietnamese war prison, for his many years of service in Congress, and for the leadership principles he embodied.

… and School Will Soon Be Back in Session

I’m sure that it is as hard for you, as it is for me, to realize that summer vacations are over, Labor Day is upon us, and children of all ages are going back to school. My middle three grandchildren are either at college or will soon to be there, a freshman, a sophomore, and a junior.
 

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.”                   – Brenè Brown

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines vulnerable as capable of being physically or emotionally wounded, open to attack and damage.
 

    …  What is it?
    …  Why is it important?
    …  How do I develop it?

… How are you seen?

“All the world’s a stage …  And, one man [or woman] in his [or her] time plays many parts.”                                                                                     William Shakespeare (1623)
 
If, indeed, all the world’s a stage, as Shakespeare asserts, then each person, including ourselves and especially those we see as leaders, are certainly visible both at expected, and unexpected, times by expected, and unexpected others as they are on their particular stage.
 

… Own them, learn from them, don’t repeat them

mis•take  noun  an action or judgment that is misguided or wrong.
 
“The only man [or woman] who never makes a mistake is the man [or woman] who never does anything.”
                                    – Theodore Roosevelt, 26^th President of the United States
 
 

… How Do I Respond?

Today, most organizations, including a university’s IT organization, structure their work through a set of teams. Other examples include professional sports teams with their structure, their practice day-after-day of plays they may execute in the game, and a surgical team that performs the same procedure, for example, hip replacement, under tightly controlled conditions, perhaps multiple times, day after day.
 

… How do I respond?

Compliments are a good thing, right? Everyone likes to be recognized for a job well done. Especially from someone whose work you admire. They are a special form of positive feedback. However, many of us find accepting a compliment with grace to be a major challenge. Too often, our first instinct is to dismiss the compliment. For example, the recipient:

… Helpful thoughts for the next stages of your life's journey