Foundations of Leadership: Belief

It’s been a while since i’ve posted anything (insert 1,000,000 excuses here). However, today I want to share of of my core values for good leadership. This core value is belief in those who serve you. If you cannot delegate authority and develop your team you will never be a good leader. There are many ways to sidestep believing in your team. Like not giving adequate support, neglecting their contributions, and perhaps not giving them responsibility and thus robbing them of the opportunity to grow.  You might be saying to yourself “what does it matter? They probably don’t care anyway”. Well it matters for two reasons, the first of which being that if you don’t share this philosophy you should not be in a leadership role. I know I don’t want a CEO, director, or manager who can’t implement this philosophy. The second of my two reasons on why it matters is that even if they don’t care about their job your belief in them can and will change their mind.

I’ve always believed anyone who serves in roles under mine should be developed and mentored into being leaders themselves.  Although only two of my three current jobs include leadership duties, I still try to apply this philosophy even in my support role. Behind everything I wrote here, I honestly hope everyone who has ever served under me grows to become equal to, or even more capable than I am in a future leadership role. That way my philosophy will spread like a plague for a better tomorrow.  I believe we rise by lifting others.

Virulent Obligations

Home!

I remember one winter evening years ago I was home on the Navajo reservation in the small town of Fort Defiance, Arizona where my grandparents live. It was a cold snowy, muddy, miserable day for my bored 17 year old self. I remember my grandma’s little car got stuck in the mud and my grandfather was somewhere with the truck so we couldn’t pull it out of the mud. Luckily my uncle was near by and we were able to rock, push, and slide it out eventually with his help. I remember him and I were covered in mud from basically the waist down from slipping all over, I definitely remember it was the wrong day to wear my favorite pair of Jordans. In addition, above all else, I’ll never forget what he turned and said to me as I stood there out of breath, cold, and filthy. He said: “Trent, you’re probably going to be the smartest and most capable person in our family someday. . .But always remember you’re never above getting your hands dirty”.

It’s on horrible days such as today that I remember things like that. It reminds me to push forward with the same exhaustive effort that I used to push my grandma’s car out of the mud on that bitter and cold winter evening years ago. You might not even be recognized for doing so, you might just be left muddy, cold, exhausted, and unappreciated; but you got it done, did your best. . . and sometimes, that’s all that really counts. Just my thought for today, needed to write something after all!

“The greatest challenge of a leader lies within the weakness of that leader.”

This artwork is awesome.

Been pretty busy this last week and did not have time to write or post anything. So, just give me a day here until I get back into my usual routine. The other day I found a flash-drive with some of my freshmen year college work. Really was such a treasure because I wrote a lot of awesome things. Below, I will share one of my short essays I wrote about leadership.

February 2^nd, 2009

I believe the role of a leader is to bring everything together, or perhaps to be a metaphorical mountain guiding a river to a greater purpose. No two leaders are ever the same, their traits, abilities, beliefs, stature, posture, general temperament, disposition, experience, all differs greatly.

For example comparing Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. they seem to contrast each other a great deal. Both of which fought for rights; King grew up with money, education, in a good family. Whereas Malcolm grew up poor, self-educated, his dad murdered by a mob, his house burned to the ground. Martin Luther King Jr. then led a benevolent campaign to acquire his goal, advising passive action even when he faced ridicule due to the fact they faced violent mobs. Malcolm X, a leader with much more conviction, angered by his past, he took a more malevolent position to acquire his objective, encouraging violence where violence was due. Many were fearful to contend with what Malcolm X represented. These two activists were entirely different leadership representations with goals to obtain similar outcomes. Can you see how the challenges and styles of two different leaders, with relatively the same goal may differ?

As a leader I have a calm composure, diplomatic, my strengths lie in my awesome analytical and assessment ability, my objectivity, I can usually see patterns where most see nothing. I generally have difficulty in more chaotic environments with limited information. I have had to learn to adapt by developing a way to establish a foundation for all the necessities of organization, and focus more on the goal rather than its intricacies.

In short, I have a saying: “The challenge chooses its challenger”. It is seldom the same for any two leaders. However, it is the nature of any leader to accept these challenges, it is our purpose, our intent, and I think I speak for most leaders when I say submitting to these challenges, is simply not an option. A leader rises to the full extent of their potential to accept any challenge they confront, and in doing so should inspire others to do the same. A leader inspires by default, anything less and they are mere hollow bosses, subordinate to their own inability. I encourage all leaders rise to their potential, so they may liberate others into doing the same. I am a leader, aspiring to be more today, than I was yesterday, and encouraging others to do the same.

MBTI and Personality

Lately I have gotten a few questions on the whole Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in regards to personality typing. While I don’t really have an opinion on whether it is a viable tool for categorizing people; It has helped me when I worked in the field of recruiting to give insight into career matches for people. The way I see it if it seems to describe you pretty well, it will probably narrow down your aspirations to a manageable list. It’s actually one of many ways the psychology field has tried to categorize the chaos of the human mind into something more systemic. Another example would be the Type A and Type B theory, on that I score as type A, even though I am not nearly as rigid as most people who classify as the same.

I was first given the MBTI test in a college psychology class I took a few years ago, and I was the only one in that class to score as an INTJ. Basically MBTI categorizes 4 different dichotomies that referred to as functions into 16 distinct personality types. I won’t go too far into detail about each function because Google is a far better resource than my little blog post could ever be. The first function is the extroverted/introverted function, that one is seemingly self explanatory; it’s usually noted that extraverts often prefer more “frequent” interaction, while introverts prefer more “substantial” interaction. The second function is the sensing/intuitive function which deals with the processing of information. The sensing function has a tendency to prefer information that is present, tangible, and concrete; while the intuitive function prefers abstract or theoretical information. The third function is the feeling/thinking function, this is primarily referred to as the judging dichotomy. A person more prone to the thinking function utilize rationality, logic, or a given set of rules in a given perspective to make decisions from a more detached standpoint. While a person who scores higher in the feeling function will look at something from the inside, empathize, and in general feelings are much more involved in their decisions. The last dichotomy is known as the lifestyle function of judging/perceiving. Judging types prefer structure and order, while perceiving types are more adaptive and flexible.

Each function has an effect on how the other functions are applied so it creates quite an array of diverse personality bases. My type, INTJ, expanded would be introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging. Over all I think this theory is the best in psychology when it comes to categorizing the chaos of human personality. It can be applied to many things; seeking a new career, analyzing people, character development when writing a story and so on.

Oddly enough I share my type with many good villains, and misunderstood heroes in books and movies. My favorite INTJ villain is Khan from the Star Trek: Into Darkness and my favorite INTJ hero is most definitely Professor Snape from the Harry Potter books. INTJs are known for brilliance and sheer confidence, so I am glad I would be typed as one.

Take the test, which type are you?

Perspective Thought #1

As a person I am not the easiest to get to know. I avoid talking about myself in most cases because I don’t want to seem like i’m bragging. We’ve all heard the saying “talk is cheap“, and it really is when you boil it all down. Strangely, I am much more comfortable with sharing my failures than any of my success. I think it’s an important leadership skill to be able to own your failures, although it is a fine line to walk the path between modesty and insecurity. I believe finding balance while on a tightrope over a pit of despair and insecurity requires exceedingly more confidence in oneself, than say compared someone who spends their days highlighting everly fleeting moment of success.

Just a short perspective thought for today. Although sometimes I question this philosophy in some areas, it seems to always lead me to good places with loyal people.

Ambivalent actions

Today I was asked to coach basketball after school beginning in January. While I would love to be the one to coach the sport that I have considered my one true love since elementary school, and also instill the passion of the sport to a new generation. I have to ask myself if I really have the time to do so. I work multiple jobs, assisting at the school, driver/advisor for a new company, directing the operations of a company I own stake in, and now potentially basketball coaching.

Everybody in the world has the same amount of time in a day, whether you’re the president of the United States or the leading expert in temporal physics. Truth is, I am a workaholic, I have slim to zero social life, no children, and no girlfriend if that is also a factor. All of which is fine, but when you seize as many opportunities as I do you’re often presented with even more opportunities. All of which leave you with one disconcerting question, that question is “what if. . .?”. It’s a question I always ask myself about everything, big or small because I am highly sensitive to where my choices lead me. What if I had quit my new job for a better one? What if I were to show that person I care about them and support them? (I’m not very touchy/feely usually).

I suppose the best thing you can do is accept that not every plan implements flawlessly. I never gave it any serious thought, but I now realize some things you really can not anticipate. You just have to move forward to the best of your ability and be willing to take on what ever follows head first, come hell or high water. If something is important enough you will always be willing to find the time and face the consequences that follow.

Dismissive dilemmas

There are many types of leaders out there in the world. Different minds, styles, abilities, and attitudes that fuse with varying situations in infinitely diverse manners. Over my lifetime I have become a very skilled analyst of these factors since I consider myself a lifelong student and consider everything, and everyone a teacher.

Today I had my first official meeting with the Principal of the school I work at regarding the school emergency procedures. I had already reviewed them in detail my first week at the school by myself out of caution, and I was shocked that the support staff of the school were not briefed on the subject at all. Although the principal is a very nice lady, there were quite a few tendencies that are common among a rigid leader. The meeting was not laid out in a very informative manner and loosely touched on most of the key subject matter. In addition staff concerns and my own suggestions were dismissed quite quickly.

I could go on for days about my observations, but in the interest of keeping this post shorter than a thousand page novel, I think it’s best to just focus on how to deal with the situation. It’s very important to realize when a leader dismisses your idea that it’s case closed and end of the line in their mind. However once you begin negotiation you’re in a position to be dismissed easily yet again. While nothing can fix a scatterbrained leader through means of an outside influence, a dismissive leader can often be influenced with diplomacy. This channel of influence, when used properly, is a extension of what is called referent power, by the 1959 study of 5 different categories of power done by social psychologists John R. P. French and Bertram Raven. For example, decreasing the immediate factors behind dismissive behaviors, such as the hassle of understanding a new idea-by perhaps submitting it in written form, then leaders may be more receptive; or you can make it sound like it was their idea in the first place (hahaha I suppose?). It sounds like a manipulation tactic, and if I were to boil it down to its quintessential elements it really is. However this is about being a leader of solutions yourself despite the limitations of your superiors.

That’s my thought for today just laid out there. Rather simplistic, but effective in fueling a change. Don’t let the weaknesses of those above you become your own. Also, I would love to hear any experiences, thoughts, or questions in the comments!

Moving forward

I have spent a majority of my life in competition, I’m as dedicated as people come, so often I come out on the winning end, but bitter losses have also been in the cards for me. In addition, because I am so dedicated, every loss feels like the end of the world to me. One of the most important lessons I can share is that I think it’s important to realize that you can do your best at something, and still lose; however we always have to move forward.

“We must all carry the weight of our decisions”, the meaning of those words that I have spoken for years, I understand quite well. I believe that this is important because losses, bad decisions, and mistakes are often left forgotten. Rectification often begins with realization, and resolution is the fruit of dedication. Only someone who truly understands these words can enact revolutionary change.

Despite all my setbacks I never lost my idealism. Many people graduate college, or high school, only to have their ideals crushed by harsh realities, experiences, and those who have also had their own ideals crushed. The most important thing to do when faced with an impossible situation, failure, or frustration is to keep moving forward. An old saying says “where there’s a will, there’s a way”, It’s not a saying that I live by, but a saying that I live to prove correct. It is important to think about it from that perspective because it gears your mind to seek solutions in a world of illegitimate truths.

In short, I think it’s important to maintain aspiration, and fuel the aspirations of others. Next time you meet somebody idealistic, maybe you should encourage them. Even if their expectations are unlikely, your support is a step in the right direction. It is all part of moving forward, from failures and pragmatism alike.

Commander Shepard

A few years back I was playing a video game on PS3 called Mass Effect (yeah I’m not that old Hahaha). The main character is a man (or a woman) named Commander Shepard, this larger than life character discovers a threat to the entire galaxy in the year 2183 from an army of entities called the Reapers. Although it may sound silly, I learned a lot about good leadership from the character in this game.

During the first game of the series Commander Shepard faces a lot of political ridicule because of the “evidence” he presents to the leaders of various alien races about the validity of the Reaper threat. However, Shepard always continues to push forward through every challenge he faces with an unmatched belief in his cause and crew. During the game you make choices and even select the dialog that the Commander says; which all has a drastic effect on the consequences that follow throughout all 3 games. It really makes you think about that in real life, for example what if you met what could be your “true love” (Hahaha cheesy example time) and you said the most idiotic dumb half-brained thing vs. the perfect thing, it would be life changing right? Yet we make these kind of choices everyday, a stroke of the pen that writes our life story that can never be taken back.

The second Mass Effect game is my favorite of all in the trilogy. In the beginning of the game Commander Shepard dies when his ship the SSV Normandy SR1 is attacked by a Reaper ship. A criminal organization with human superiority in its agenda recovers his body and undertakes a massive and near impossible project to reanimate him and succeeds. After the experiences Commander Shepard had in the fist game with he realized this criminal organization and the Illusive Man (another awesome character) would be the only chance to prepare for the imminent Reaper threat. So against all odds he recruits a crew of skilled assassins, scientists, and engineers for the purposes of a suicide mission, to attack the Reaper homeworld. During this objective he has to earn the trust of his crew by doing personal missions pertaining to the well-being of the crew members he recruits. The two valuable lessons that can be pulled from this game is getting the job done at any cost, and the importance of serving those you lead.

In conclusion I just thought it was a good game, and its a good story, that held some valuable leadership examples . The ending of the third game is not surprising at all ether. I won’t reveal it here as you might want to try it if you have not, but if you want to take a guess; just think, what would any selfless leader do to save the entire galaxy?

Silence is never golden

Recently I began a new job assisting children with special needs, a job that is so far out of my natural elements that I oddly found myself losing a grip of confidence in my ability. I was worrying so much about not doing something properly, punishing myself internally for every misstep and shortcoming, that it almost affected my core foundation as an individual. It was on my mind so much I began to lose my voice, embrace silence, and become a total tribute to failure.

It reminded me of something my uncle used to say “Don’t be a sheep and follow the herd”. We appease ignorance and injustice with silence at the cost of all our amity. An old saying says “silence is golden” but in truth silence is the residue of fear, the sound of smoldering ashes, fallen empires, and submission to the thief of all our potential. This is a true dilemma for a person who prides themselves on leadership, for there is no time to pick your battles when the battles have already picked you. True integrity is developed, true leaders instill it in others, and the media for change always begins with a single voice. We often spend so much of our lives telling people what they want to hear and ignoring the things they need to hear.

I’m writing this post to remind myself of things that I consider my foundation as a leader. To remember to ask that homeless man what his name is, and how his day was, support everybody as if they have the potential to change the world, and never reward any injustice with silence. If I ever lose my way, I will remind myself to look here, and always uphold these principles and do my best to share them with others every day, starting with you my dear readers. From now on I will act as though I have a microphone implanted in my lips, and stand on all my inhibition. Nobody needs a soapbox, because all you have ever needed is your voice.