What kinds of a leader are you?

Tough times can be your opportunity to make your leadership. One of the most challenging tasks leaders face is being a change agent and leading people through tough times. But it can be one of the most rewarding. Good leaders never delegate problem-solving to someone else. They are active in facing challenges, breaking through obstacles, putting out fires, correcting mistakes, and directing people. Tough times don’t break good leaders. They make them!

As human beings, we seem to believe that life is supposed to be easy. This is particularly a problem in America today. We expect a smooth and easy road to success. We expect our lives to be hassle-free. We expect the government to solve our problems. We expect to get the prize without having to pay the price. That is not reality! Life is hard!

Nothing worth having in life comes without effort. No one escapes life’s problems, failures, and challenges.

Good leaders understand that adversity and challenges are actually opportunities to rise up in leadership.

Leaders can do that only when they have the right mind-set.

Some leaders treat adversity as a stepping-stone, others as a tombstone. Which are you?

Good leaders see and seize opportunities. They are continually on the lookout for ways to help their organizations and advance their teams.

Great leaders are out front. Great leaders don’t merely send others out in times of trouble. They lead the charge. To me, the best leaders are those who are hands-on. They are not afraid to get their hands dirty if they have to. They will work right alongside you. Whereas leaders who sit on their lazy ass and bark orders are the worse managers. They have to have people skills.

I have worked under bad management and I have worked under good management. At one of my job, I had a good manager, who worked right along with us workers. His name was Eric Ronson from the Fargo Country Club. Because he was a good manager, it was easy to respect him, making it hard to leave for a better paying job.

The manager at the Fargo Dome also is not afraid to get his hands dirty as well. I have seen him out there working with the workers getting ready for a concert or an event.

Then I have managers who would sit on his ass in his office barking orders at the staff. Sometimes, they even have a list as long as my arm.

As a leader, you need to come alongside them to help them figure it out. No team can win and keep winning unless everyone works together. It’s the responsibility of leaders to promote teamwork. I have seen that at Concordia, when the managers would come downstairs during lunch hour to help out during the rush.

Leaders cannot delegate the solving of problems to someone else. They have to be active in facing challenges.

People pursue leadership for many reasons. Some want power. Others seek riches. Many are driven by an ideology or a desire to change the world.

Leaders who do not put people first will ultimately disqualify themselves as leaders, because their people will lose trust and respect for them.

If the leader is undisciplined, does sloppy work, wastes time, or treats people poorly, the people will follow suit. The employees will have a bad attitude because of poor management. Yet, some managers cannot see that they are the reasons for the bad attitude.

Insecure leaders have a hard time investing in other people because they fear that someone will take their place. Leaders who are honest with themselves know that they don’t have all the answers.

Insecure leaders rely on controlling the people.

Effective leaders make things happen and get results.

A strong leader earns respect; whereas a weak leader become the butt of all jokes. Trump may have a big ego and came across as a bully; but other countries feared him; which kept us out of wars when he was President. Whereas, with Joe Biden, the other countries are laughing at him and the United States. They sees him as being weak, old and feeble-minded. Other countries don’t respect him, because they don’t fear him. They sees Joe Biden as a bad joke for America; and someone who people can walk all over. It’s like elderly abuse when it comes to Biden. Then when he says, “You’re all going to pay,” or “I’ll take you out back,” no one can take him seriously.

What is the best way to lead a large group of people through a tough change? Appoint other leaders to share the load. No leaders on your team? Then grow them. Investing in leaders offers a greater return than leading followers all by yourself. The better leaders an organization has, the greater its potential.

As a leader, you may be tempted to build relationships only with the people you like or with whom you are highly compatible, and ignore the others. Good leaders deal successfully with these differences and leverage them for the benefits of the team and organization.

Nothing lifts a person like being respected and valued by others. In other words, to get respect as a leader, you have to respect those working under you. You can do that by working alongside your employees rather than sit in your office on your lazy ass, barking orders.

Once again, what kind of a leader are you? Are you hands on or do you sit on your lazy ass in your office barking order?