George Guzzardo shares leadership truths in this article below. Orrin Woodward and George Guzzardo have been business partners for over 20 years now and business is good with LIFE Leadership. Indeed, Orrin and George both love reading books and leading people; thus, they make a great team.
Anyone looking at our world today sees a glaring lack of leadership. Life Leadership has developed an array of information designed to fill the leadership void seen in these times. Leadership qualities once developed will make a difference in our businesses, schools, communities, country, and the world. No one is excluded from leadership. Anyone can develop these qualities and the rewards are far beyond words. The internal satisfaction from growing leadership qualities is difficult to describe but the external effects are endless in the way leaders influence their world.
CHARACTER: I love leadership because it forces a person to come to grips with their own character development. A leader takes responsibility for their own status quo and challenges themselves to change and grow. A leader develops the character to confront when they see a need. Our communities can simply use more leaders. Leaders throughout history have always demonstrated the passion to right what they see is wrong. A leader becomes tired of those who make excuses or blame someone else. The lack of character we see almost every day in politics or business does not have to be the norm.
RESPONSIBILTY: Responsibility is key to leadership. Who is responsible? . Almost 50 % of the marriages fail for a lack of taking responsibility for one’s own performance.
According to enrichment journal on the divorce rate in America:
- The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%
- The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%
- The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%
Take finance for example. When you give a child an allowance, they are responsible for what they are given. When a business has a profit / loss sheet the owners are responsible for it. When the government is given a budget, they are responsible for it. What if the criteria for a bigger allowance, profit / loss, or budget was the stipulation that those who are responsible must learn to manage what was given first before they received more? In other words performance must be measured and in order to achieve a competent performance, a leader must have the character to accept responsibility. No passing the buck if you are a leader.
PERFORMANCE: I love leadership because a leader performs. You would not trust or follow a leader if this were not the case. A leader also resists the temptation of complacency. Far too many times a leader achieves success in an area only to level out and become average because they become amazed with their credentials. Think again if you fear the weight of leadership as being too heavy to achieve a high level of personal performance. Any time you stretch your performance beyond your perceived limits, you leave the comfort zone. Performance is how a leader grows. Leaders are constantly finding ways to grow. This forces a leader to leave their comfort zone, which is a previous accepted norm of activity. When a leader develops the character to accept responsibility they move into performance mode.
SCOREBOARD: Best selling author Orrin Woodward describes the scoreboard in his best seller Resolved 13 Resolutions. Leaders love the scoreboard. A leader looks at the scoreboard as a reality check. If the scoreboard measures the results of performance then a leader faces the facts. When a leader recognizes a relationship is going bad they learn conflict resolution. You can plan to have a better relationship and measure it. When finances are going bad the scoreboard gives a base line to move forward from. A leader is always measuring performance against the scoreboard. A leader learns and grows from what engineer’s call “failure mode analysis,” A leader will adjust their performance and make things right. When a leader makes a mistake they use it as a teachable moment. Confronting the brutal reality builds trust with the leaders constituents. A leader of character takes on the responsibility to perform and then uses the scoreboard to sharpen other qualities.
LEARNING: When we make the commitment to become responsible for our own actions it puts us in learning mode. In their best selling book Launching a Leadership Revolution, the authors state, “Level 1 leadership is being a student.” A student makes a habit of being in learning mode. A leader is always looking to solve a problem. They know that learning provides solutions. When one begins the process of discovery, they learn to think independently. They begin to see the world in a different light.
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
A long-awaited federal study finds that an estimated 32 million adults in the USA — about one in seven — are saddled with such low literacy skills that it would be tough for them to read anything more challenging than a children's picture book or to understand a medication's side effects listed on a pill bottle
We see a soaring illiteracy rate in our society, which correlates to a lack of leadership, ability to think independently, and take responsibility for problem solving. Literacy has always been an enemy to socialism and a proponent of freedom. It gives the individual the means to seek knowledge independently. The first step to taking responsibility is being able to think independently and we can’t think independently if we don’t learn. If we don’t think independently someone else will do the thinking for us. There is a direct correlation to needing big government to take care of us, and our ability to think independently. Out of 117 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, one in four went to college, they were educated by parents, church schools, tutors, academies, apprenticeship, and themselves.
Next time you think that leadership isn’t for you remember what Harry Truman said, “The buck stops here.” Don’t underestimate the importance of developing these leadership qualities. The leader knows the end result is making a difference in their lives, the community, and the country, and ultimately the influence we need in the world today. Isn’t it time to develop these qualities of leadership so we can make the difference we so sorely need? God Bless, George Guzzardo
