Barriers to Legacy Leadership

Today is the six year wedding anniversary of my daughter, Nina and her husband, Stephen, and so I will dedicate today's discussion to them.

From a Message by Garrett Booth in Houston, Texas on 8/16/09:

Four Barriers to Legacy Leadership:
1- Performace/Behavior: we are a performance oriented society and much too often our self-worth is wrapped up in our performance, whether judged by ourselves or others or both. Our acceptance and love/respect for each other should not be based on our performance or behavior. We can accept and love/respect each other even if our performance or behavior is not up to acceptable standards.
2- Motivation: when guilt, fear and intimidation are used to motivate others, it creates distrust, disillusionment and dissatisfaction. Those who use such motivating techniques are insecure with themselves and have self-serving agendas.
3- Playing Favorites: when someone is singled out as a favorite at the expense of others the result is jealousy and envy.
4- Team/Company Melt Down: damaged relationships can cause team/company melt downs that affect generations to come.

Mike's Action Points:
1- I am to love/respect others regardless of whether or not their performance or behavior is up to appropriate standards. As a leader, I need to distinguish between love/respect for the person and dislike for their lack of performance or behavior. I should communicate this when confronting a team member whose performance or behavior is not up to appropriate standards.
2- As a leader my personal motivation greatly affects the motivation of team members. If I show a servant attitude with love/respect for the person, then team members should be likewise motivated.
3- I cannot show favoritism towards one team member over another. Does this mean that I cannot draw closer to one team member than
another? Of course not! But it should be clear to all team members that there is love/respect for everyone. Does it mean that every team member is treated exactly the same. No, it does not! Every team member needs to be treated according to their personal needs and personality.
4- The good news is that regardless of where I am or what has happened to me, I can break the bonds of team/company melt down and create an awesome future for myself, my organization and future generations. I can repair damaged relationships or create new positive ones.