The Ten Moosages of Leadership

“Leadership lessons learned from my cows.”

The Ten Moosages of Leadership

The wind was blowing like the bellows of a Paul Bunion hearth as I stood in the corral watching my steers in an agitated state.  One never knows how large their steers really are until standing toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye with them.  Which in this case, reminded me of what a thrashing one thousand pounds can do to put fear in a person’s heart.  I thought I had my largest steer tucked away in a stall surrounded by steel pipe.  I thought he was secure.  But, it was not the case.

He put his head down, gave a snort and charged the latched gate.  I heard a loud bang, watched the steel bars flex like the arms of a body builder, and gawked as the gate flew open!  I’ve never seen anything like it!  It made me feel weak and small.

I was powerless.   It was obvious to me that the tank-like beef was going to do what he wanted and I couldn’t force him to change his mind in any way.  I also didn’t want to be crushed like a twig under his massive legs so I quickly got out of his way!  He was teaching me another important lesson about leadership.

I’ve read lots of books about leadership.  I’ve watched lots of talks about leadership.  But, this steer and my other cows have taught me everything important and true about leadership!  You might say I learned leadership in the field.

Cows are skittish and they aren’t naturally trusting creatures.  They like to hang with their own kind, but they’ll develop relationships with others if they want to.  I’ve seen them become close friends with horses when other cows aren’t available.  They don’t like to be alone.  But, it takes time for them to develop trust with non-bovine.

Over the years I’ve noticed that I can’t force a cow to be my friend and trust me.  I need to develop a routine around them and demonstrate trust-generating behavior over and over again.  That’s how you get them to reveal their inner curiosity.

A cow’s curiosity creates small openings for a human to begin to gain a deeper trust over time.  But progress has to occur in small increments or the relationship will be reversed quickly.  Strong trust is critical if you want to get this large, unpredictable being to go where you want him to go.

Since my cows live in a large pasture I can’t herd them to a specific spot.  They’ll just run around and go crazy.  They could also hurt me if they feel threatened.  But, I can get them to follow me almost anywhere I want them to go after I’ve spent sufficient time earning their trust by applying proper leadership principles.  Believe me, it’s a lot easier and more successful than trying force.  I know.  I’ve tried it both ways.

My Dad used to say, “Cows only understand one language; 2 X 4!”

That was his way.  I was with my father when he tried to force a full-grown bull to do something.  The bull took issue with his approach and bent the frame of a three quarter ton pick-up truck just to prove his independence.  The bull was undamaged!

My cows have shown me that if I give them what they need and do it in a gentle way the results are amazing.  Doing so allows them to grow while becoming happy-go-lucky, friendly and pliable.  They even watch out for me in difficult situations.

My dog thinks it’s funny to run into the field and nip at cow heals.  She enjoys it.  I don’t.  It scares me to think of being run over by a bucking half ton.  But, I’ve noticed that my cows recognize my dissatisfaction at the renegade canine’s behavior.  They put their heads down and charge at the dog to keep her away from cow and me alike!  When that happens the dog doesn’t think it to be funny any more.  Cows step up to protect those they have a trusting relationship with.  They recognize true leadership.

To become a true leader one must follow the way of the cow.  Here are a cow’s Ten Moosages of Leadership:

1-    Have a healthy respect for the power and attributes of those you want to lead.

2-    Never underestimate the strength of those around you.

3-    Spend time with those you would lead.

4-    Be steady in your behavior so people will know what to expect from you.

5-    Take time to understand the personality of those you would lead so you can discover openings that will enable you to deepen your relationship.

6-    Recognize that progress is measured in small increments.

7-    Do good things for your followers, out in front of them, so they’ll want to come along with you.

8-    Force is not leadership.  It damages everyone involved.

9-    Demonstrate your caring and your care will be reciprocated.

10-A gentle demeanor will allow everyone you associate with to band with you when facing severe opposition.  

Today’s world is filled with many kinds of storms.  People are looking for true leaders so their lives can be filled with confidence, peace, joy and success.  You and I can make a marked difference in the lives of others by cultivating and living by the Ten Moosages of Leadership.  Become a true leader.

When Cupboards are Bare

"A small bag of food on the porch."

When Cupboards are Bare

Some days have more impact than others.  This was one of those days for me; it started with a meeting.  It was with one of my long time clients.  Her business has been struggling over the course of the past eight years so she is in the process of liquidating some of their real estate holdings.  She was closing on the first piece of property to sell on this very day.

I greeted my friend and asked how she was doing. She smiled and told me that her health issues were getting worse.  Just one day had passed since her doctor had given her more bad news.  I felt sad when she gave me the details and I promised to stop by her home later in the day to make things easier for her.

By the time I got to her home it was evening and I was tired.  But that soon changed when I rang the bell and was greeted by a wet, black nose as the door opened just a crack.  I knew that nose.  It belonged to her Labrador.  In a flash he was out of the door greeting me with a wiggling body and a wagging tail.  It was the greeting I expected, but there was the unexpected coming my way.

We sat down so I could review the final documents before we would talk about life in general.  That’s when I found out that my friend was in the process of a deeper change than I knew.  Her mental and physical turmoil was leading her on a spiritual path of renewal and while challenges remained her constant companion she had also found other, comforting companions.

She told me how her pain had allowed her to seek and develop a spiritual life that she had never embraced in the past.  And, how this had provided her with a new community of helpful, caring people that were giving her vital support during her time of need.  She described how she had worked and learned over the past year so she could be officially joined to her newfound community.  Her eyes radiated hope, peace and promise.

When I stepped out of her front door I could feel her hope in my heart and I immediately saw it as well.  I hadn’t noticed it upon my arrival, but there it was; a filled Scouting for Food bag awaiting its pick up Scouts.

My friend who has struggled financially, physically and mentally for so long was no longer struggling in spirit.  She was giving to others when her own cupboards were closing in on being bare.  That’s when I knew she was well!  She has found the best of herself during her worst times.

Following the Beam to Your Dreams

“She kept getting letters from other universities, like Georgia, and she just ignored them!” -Deena Lofgren

Following the Beam to Your Dreams

I sat on the floor, in an arena packed with more than fifteen thousand fans as they were going wild with excitement. At the peak of the elation I took a moment to sit and take it all in so I could treasure it up.  I knew this would be one of just a few truly special moments to savor in my lifetime.

You might think I was appreciating the moment because of something I had done.  But it had nothing to do with me.  I was just there for the journey.

As I looked at the slight blonde woman performing in front of me, I could see other images in my mind.  You see I had watched this athlete from the beginning.  She trained and competed with one of my own daughters as a little girl.  So, I know of some of the challenges she faced along her path and I’ve watched her up close for about sixteen years.  This meet was the climax of all her training and dreaming.  It was a night to remember.

I had the opportunity to talk with Mary Beth Lofgren’s mother, Deena, after the meet about her daughter’s journey and she said, “She kept getting letters from other universities, like Georgia, and she just ignored them.  She wanted to come and compete for the University of Utah and Greg & Megan Marsden.  I worried that she might be disappointed since she had such high anticipations, but she said her experience at Utah exceeded her expectations!”  

It was wonderful to see the warmth and glow in Deena’s eyes as she spoke.  It was the prefect reflection from the sparkle and exuberance I had seen shining from Mary Beth’s face a few minutes earlier as she dismounted the Balance Beam at the end of her great routine.  So I reflected a little myself and here’s what I’ve learned from Mary Beth Lofgren over the past few years:

Define your dreams in exact detail.  Mary Beth knew exactly where she wanted to compete.  All of her energy was directed at doing what it took to get there.

Work your heart out.  Most people have only seen Mary Beth compete in public.  I’ve seen her train long hours in the gym.  I’ve seen her there when she was tired, sick, lonely, and injured.  She worked hard through all of it and never gave up.

Some times you need to take a step back.  There were times when Mary Beth was injured and couldn’t train or compete.  I know of at least one injury that made it so she had to take a significant amount of time out to heal.  When that happens to some people they’re finished.  Mary Beth used the time to gather her strength so she could come back healed and give it her all.

Your biggest dreams will take time to achieve.  A person doesn’t become a world-class athlete over night.  Mary Beth worked many years to reach her goals.  She took things one-step at a time.  She would master one skill and them move to acquire another.  If you want to reach your dream don’t be fooled into thinking you can skip a step or two to get there.  Become a master of all the skills a master must have.

Ignore things that distract you from your path.  Mary Beth knew she wanted to compete for the University of Utah and be coached by the Marsdens.  When other universities tried to recruit them she didn’t waste her time looking at their offers.  Her focus was exact.

Create a system to help you keep your focus when you really need it.  Competing on the beam in gymnastics takes precision and extreme focus.  I’ve noticed that athletes who lose their focus and surrender to their fear get hurt badly on the beam.  Gymnasts have a saying.  “When you bail you fail!”  Mary Beth recites “Utah Man” to block everything out when she’s on the beam.  It works for her even with thousands of fans screaming all around her.

Just like Mary Beth, you and I have lots of distractions in our lives so it’s easy to lose sight of our dreams.  I’ve known some people who have even lost the ability to dream at all.  It’s a sad thing when that happens.  But, it doesn’t have to happen to you and me.

We will succeed if we think of reaching our dreams as a walk down a gymnastics beam.  The path to reaching the end is narrow and requires concentration.  It takes effort, time, courage and focus to get to our dreams.  There will be times when we will need to take a little breather from difficult moments.  But, in the end our hard work and focus will allow us to finish in a flurry as we vault to a standing finish.

Seeing Your Life as Extraordinary

“He bought 3 sweet potatoes from the grocery store and he harvested 139 pounds of potatoes as a result.” – Kilee Johnson

Seeing Your Life as Extraordinary

I got a call from someone I’ve done business with in the past on Saturday.

“Hi Lynn.  What’s up with you?” He asked.

“Nothing really.” I replied.  I’m just doing what I do every day; ordinary things.”

There it was again.  I was saying that I was only doing ordinary things, as if doing the ordinary would never be very exciting or make a difference at all. “Why do I do that?” I said to myself as I began to think of another conversation I recently had with Kilee Johnson.

Kilee is really in to gardening.  When we talked last she was telling me how an acquaintance of hers had purchased 3 sweet potatoes from his local grocery store last year.  Rather than eat them he decided to prepare them to plant and put them in his garden.  By the end of the harvest cycle those 3 sweet potatoes had grown 139 pounds for him to eat; an impressive return, that I thought of as being extraordinary!  But for him, the result was viewed as ordinary, something that he does on a regular basis, nothing special.  So, Extraordinary and ordinary are different for every person. 

Many years ago I was on a plane from New York to London.  I was talking with a man seated next to me and he asked why I was traveling.  I responded with, “I’m just going to Saudi Arabia to finish up a transaction.  It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

“You mean it’s nothing out of the ordinary for you!”  He said.  “That isn’t anywhere near normal for most people.”

So, when one talks about what’s ordinary, it’s always from a personal perspective.  It is not necessarily the way someone else views it. Extraordinary is in the eye of the beholder! 

Remember that when a friend calls and asks what you’ve been up to.  What you’re doing right now may seem normal, perhaps even as drudgery.  But, it has the potential to yield something amazing in the not too different future.  The most successful people I know focus on doing small, mundane things on a daily basis.  It’s what sets them a part.  It’s what makes their results extraordinary.

See your life as extraordinary.  Others who don’t do what you do everyday see your unique talents as something special.

Living a Contented Life

“People who make decisions out of fear or perceived need, more likely than not, make poor decisions.” – Phil Grimm

Living a Contented Life

I’ve always thought of contentment as a sort of destination; a time and place where I would some how, some way be completely satisfied with life.  That is until this week, when for the first time I began to think that perhaps contentment could be used as a tool as well.

Thinking of contentment as a tool is something, that just one week ago, I would have never imagined.  You see, I’ve always viewed being satisfied as an enemy to growth and productivity in all areas of life.  I thought, “why would I work to become better or more wealthy if I was completely happy and relaxed?”

But, as I was working with some colleagues on a proposal this week I began to see that to achieve real growth, a company or person must be able to have time and creative space that can only come as a direct result of being content with their current situation.  In other words, in order to concentrate on purposeful growth a person must be comfortable with their current life or situation.

I think the best example I can come up with is the seemingly simple task of saving money for the future.  I go into many homes that are fill, past capacity, with stuff.  When in such homes I can only assume that even with all the stuff there, the owners are still not contented or they’d stop adding to their hoard; they keep spending money.  They mistakenly come to a conclusion, “I just can’t save!”  If they felt as if they had enough, they would stop spending and have money to set aside because they didn’t spend it on “needful” things.

I spent time talking with my friend Phil about this concept just a couple of days ago.  “People who make decisions out of fear or perceived need, more likely than not, make poor decisions.  Some people tell me that I’m too conservative and miss opportunities because I take the time to do a full evaluation before I move forward.  But, I know I won’t get the best result possible if do it any other way.”

People, like Phil, who live in contentment, use it as a tool to allow them to plan for their best future possible.  It allows them to pick their future and create it rather than frantically chase it.  So, Phil has taught me a new way to look at true satisfaction.  It isn’t just a destination.  It’s a tool that will let you create the life you’ve always dreamed about.  Contentment can lead to more contentment.  Use it as a tool and change your life today.