Reach Out And Test Your Leadership Skills.

When I first started writing this blog about business subjects I did not truly expect so many readers to come to these pages.  I expected to see maybe a few readers come looking for helpful information once in awhile.  That was kind of where my mind was sitting at the time I started to begin this blog.  In fact, I was not expecting to become a regular writer who found himself posting nearly every single day.  I also knew I was not a good writer.  My grammar is lacking accuracy in many ways.  I am aware of that truth.

I started posting business ideas thinking that eventually this blog could become a useful tool to invite some business owners to develop the courage for allowing readers to contribute successful tips for others to see.  I thought it might be kind of a nice place for business operators to come and discover how others are solving similar problems.  It could be a place where business owners could go do some deeper personal work without feeling like they are getting publicly exposed to the personal environment they call their regional home.  It might become a blog that offered helpful tips about the deeper stuff owners need to work on in order to help them win more often.  I was hoping those owners could find that kind of personal help in a private way.  I felt they could find a blog like this provide some interesting and deeper thoughts about issues they protect but need improved, on a no cost basis, that could provide them a safe platform to begin some work on personal improvements without damaging their egos in front of those they serve.  It could become a safe and low cost place to improve self.  Those were my initial thoughts.

I have become surprised at the kind of reach this medium has produced.  For example, I never expected to have over 100 readers come in nearly each day from Russia, alone.  I never expected over 60 readers come into the blog on a routine basis from Croatia.  I certainly never gave it any thought that every day readers would come into the blog from over 40 countries.  In the beginning I had no idea surface about that potential.  I never expected the volume of readers to increase as it has done month after month.  This month alone, another record month has just crossed the volume line.  I am amazed and surprised.  I see readers come into this blog from countries I know nothing about.  I see many of those readers repeat visit.  I did not expect to reach the breadth of readers that this tool can reach.  It is an amazing thing to witness.  I am looking at the date of the month and the volume of readership occurring and sitting at my desk in amazement.  It is a very humbling thing to see.  I truly did not expect this kind of response.  The level of responsibility that comes with this kind of movement is a little bit scary.  I am confident I will not embarrass anyone, but it does wake me up to a couple of things.

First of all, I need to make sure I produce good content for the readers to review.  I do not have the right to waste their time.  It irritates me when random solicitors do not understand how this basic fundamental works.  If you are an owner of a company that is designed to randomly solicit new customers through technology spam, you and I have some deeper teaching on the subject of producing value we need to perform.  You may be destroying your success efforts long before you get out of the gate to run the race.  We need to talk.  I have come to recognize how critical it is that I write relevant stuff.  I must use the readers time efficiently.  I cannot just randomly jump into their private space and expect to capture their complete attention.  I need to earn it.  Good content and relevant stuff are vital minimums.  It is a huge responsibility.

Second of all, I must learn how to improve my message making skills.  I may not be the best writer but my messages must make the most out of the limited time the reader has to use.  Effective messaging is also a critical minimum.  Readers need to go away from this blog with at least one good nugget they can use.  I cannot leave them empty handed.  That, too, is a huge responsibility.

These are things that I had not completely considered when I first began writing this blog.  They are things that have come to light as the readership has increased.  This blog has come to my attention that it is more about getting good stuff better understood than anything else.  Business owners just want to win more often.  That is all they want to do right now.  They want to improve the use of their personal time and get back more returns than they are witnessing right now.  Business owners want to become better secured than ever before.  All we want is to make sure our returns can provide what we need to live our desired patterns of life.  We want to make sure our dreams can really come true.  We want to work on improving our ways to make sure our island can be reached.  We own and operate the bridge we are building because we believe it is our chance for doing what we need to do to reach that island.  I want the kind of lifestyle I want.  I do what I do because I believe it is the mechanism that will help me to reach that lifestyle I am dreaming to be.  This is where most of the readers are quietly thinking.  They want to win more often.  That is why they are searching for more ways to do better work.  They want to improve their returns.

I recently shared that I placed my name into the hat of an opportunity.  I jumped into the hiring pile with that effort.  A multi-million dollar organization has posted a leadership position as they look for someone to fill a new divisional leadership slot they are introducing.  I decided to flip my name into that hat of applicants.  It looks like a tall order for a challenging job.  The listed description of duties for this new position included a lot of new designs for this new leader to perform.  It appears as though this company has the desire to take its path of leadership into a new direction.  That kind of implication suggests that something is wrong with where they have been going.  They described some areas of deep concern by defining more specifically some language about the need to oversee some inventory improvements and to re-design some personnel adjustments of leadership design.  Obviously, their current model of effort is broken.  They want to make a new change.  How fun!

I recognize these signals.  They are difficult to disguise.  The people who write these descriptions feel as though they are clever enough to make their current problems seem like a good process for a new leader to come join in on the fun they are having.  The implications are so difficult to hide.  Wholesale changes like they are describing in these descriptions are not fun to create and manage.  That is the real truth.  If it were not for the great ability in human beings to constantly circle the art of denial, I might believe this whole list of wonderful words that described how this new position is something they have been long perfecting to manage and successfully produce.  The truth remains, under all of the jazzy words and dressings of the job posting descriptions this company has a division that has not produced what it needs to successfully produce.  That is the bottom line to the posting I read.  Denial is a very fickle business.  Do not get sideswiped by the art of denial.  It will eventually become one of the strongest reasons why your business model does not perform better.  Remember, you are trying to improve the ways you travel to reach the island you have set in your mind.  It is your dream island.  You need to get there but you need to recognize some very critical things about how that is to be achieved.  Move away from denial, as far away as you can possibly stand.

Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.  Denial will interfere with this wonderful art of leadership application.  You need to apply for a job like this in the way they need to hear it described.  Do not come face to face with the decision makers of this type of hiring process trying to join in on the fun they are having.  They have obviously had enough of that kind of effort.  Be honest with them.  It is apparent that they have some unique challenges they are facing.  Make that discovery clear to them.  I like challenges like this.  They fit well next to my set of leadership skills.  I tossed my name into this hat because it appears to be one of those great opportunities to overcome some trying challenges.  My career is littered with that kind of work.  New directions and complicated human developments are never an easy meal.  They come packaged with many hidden features.  Often times those hidden features are not completely and clearly understood by the leaders directing the way.  Discovery has yet to come.

It is one thing to begin building a new business model.  It is altogether a different beast trying to re-design a larger more established business model that is set in performing its functions in many wrong ways.  That kind of management requires a whole different set of leadership skills.  I like that kind of challenge.  It is the prime reason why I threw my name into that hat.

Every business owner has the right to change how they operate the model they own.  One thing is for sure, when an owner decides to change how they function in the business model they lead, all heck will break loose.  Established ways will feel threatened.  Old habits are hard to change.  Routine patterns run more comfortable in deeper ruts than we could ever imagine.  All new ideas are met with resistance.  All the energy that has been applied to the current work duties that remain our habits are channeled creatively to respect how current patterns are presently serviced.  Change is not welcomed with open arms.  Good leaders get this.  They fully comprehend how distracting these truths can become.  I like wearing these kinds of responsibilities.  I like my chances.  Every business owner needs to develop this kind of respectful but strong position of thoughts.  The economy, the complicated rules, the dynamics of human interaction all play such a strong role in controlling where you island will ultimately end up that a good leader needs to produce a strong sense of confidence in what they do.  Make sure this kind of confidence exists without dominating the soul away from its humble roots.  Remain confident, but keep both feet firmly placed on the ground you walk.

Thanks for reading what I come to produce.  I hope it helps someone find a better way to reach the island they originally wanted to see arrive.  I got the first call on the name in the hat.  I was invited to attend that hiring process with an interview later this week.  On to the next step.  That is what good business leaders do.  They stretch themselves to the next challenging mark.  Reach out and test your leadership skills.

Until next time...