Love Learn Lead September 21, 2017

As I have shared many times before, my favorite way to mark the seasons, here in Pennsylvania, is through the fruit harvesting calendar. Over the summer, I talked about our love for picking strawberries and blueberries, but now we are back to apples. Soon—provided our schedules line up—we will meet our closest friends at a local apple orchard and pick close to a bushel. Eating an apple or two as we walk between the rows of trees—branches heavy with Braeburn or Golden Delicious—we will begin our celebration of fall.

But just as summer brought us berries, and fall is giving us apples, there are good things that our current life seasons are also offering us. The question is,

Are we ready to receive them?

For today’s Love, Learn, Lead, we are continuing this month’s “system check” theme in which we are looking at our lives a little more closely and trying to figure out if we have all of the important pieces in place. So, I share a podcast I am loving on how to make decisions. A quote that makes me think. And, for this month’s leadership tip, I share how organization is crucial to being an effective leader.

I hope, wherever you are, you are enjoying all your season has to offer.

Love

On Monday, I shared that at the beginning of every new season, there are two questions we all should ask: What should we pick up? And what should we lay down? Because often, we can’t continue to hold everything from our previous season, and expect to also be able to carry all that our new season offers. However, these decisions are never easy.

That is why, I am loving Emily P. Freeman’s new podcast, The Next Right Thing. In this show, Emily’s goal is to help people make their next right decision. In each episode, she shares a story or a thought, followed by an exercise to help the listener clarify what they need—and need to do—in their current season. Each episode is short (under twenty minutes), and a great opportunity to take a break from the busyness of life, and reflect on what is most important for us in this season.

Who or what is helping you make important decisions right now?

What decision are you finding hard to make?

Learn

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

–Aristotle

What do you repeatedly do?

Lead

Leadership Tip: #11 Get Organized

Very often, leaders are not chosen primarily for their organizational skills. Rarely, do we ask if someone we are voting for can use Excel. And in leadership interviews I have been in—as both an interviewer and interviewee—though some focus was given to administrative tasks, it was usually the candidate’s personality and vision that was scrutinized. “Will people follow them?” followed by, “Will this person lead the organization/department where we want them to?” were usually the main focus.

But once a leader lands the job, their success will live or die on whether they are able to keep all the wheels turning. Though there may be a rocky adjustment period, a leader cannot fly by the seat of their pants indefinitely, and expect to do well. And even though one may be tempted to say they don’t have time to slow down long enough to create or develop organizational systems, the truth is they don’t have time not to.

An effective leader is one who is in it for the long haul. Someone, who knows that a strong, streamlined system is the foundation to growth. If you are in a position of leadership—big or small, volunteered or payed—the key to having a successful year ahead is found in taking the time to organize. For some of us, this is a no brainer. But for others, this may be really hard. Organization may not be one of your gifts. The answer is to ask for help.

Work with or recruit someone to your team who is gifted administratively. Then meet with them to create processes and systems that will enable your operations to run smoothly. This will create clarity for your team, free them up for new opportunities for growth, and in the long run, alleviate stress.