Minute Motivators for Leaders - Harvest House“Reputation is made in a moment. Character is ......

Minute Motivators for Leaders_Tiitlepg_copyright_index.indd 1 9/8/15 2:17 PM

Copyrighted material

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Published in association with Meadow’s Edge Group.

MINUTE MOTIVATORS FOR LEADERS Copyright © 2002, 2104 by Stan Toler Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-6821-8 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-7369-6822-5 (eBook)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, dig-ital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 / BP-CD / 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Minute Motivators for Leaders_Tiitlepg_copyright_index.indd 2 9/8/15 2:08 PM


Introduction

Leaders don’t have all the answers, thoughothers may think they do.

Leadership isn’t about showing people howenergetic, enthusiastic, or entrepreneurial youare. It’s about gaining enough knowledgeand wisdom to move people and plans fromobscurity to excellence. Leaders are always onthe learning curve. They know they haven’tarrived until they’ve shown someone else bytheir own example how to be the best theycan be.

Minute Motivators for Leaders is a friend for thejourney. It offers proven and progressiveprinciples for finding your way through theuncertainty of the times.

Stan Toler

14-BH-0724 MM for Leaders insides.QXP_MM Leaders 05-28-2014 15:29


Leaders rub shoulderswith great leaders.

4

M i n u t e M o t i v a t o r s f o r L e a d e r s

“Anyone who influences

others is a leader.”

—Chuck Swindoll



A S S O C I A T I O N

I f we are known by the company we keep,then the company we keep ought to

inspire and invigorate us to greatness.Leadership is not just learned by scanningwords, sentences, or paragraphs in a textbook.It is grasped by the mind and spirit of those whosearch for it in the lives of others. Aspiringleaders recognize the importance of keepingcompany with those who have chosen to excel.They listen to them, watch them. They seekthem out. Their words and actions fall on theirspirits like drops of moisture on a thirstysponge.

Aspiring leaders acknowledge that theachievement of others offers a key to unlockingtheir own excellence. They associate with greatmen and women not as an act of worship butrather to learn the cause of their success. Everyleader should be a mentor. But moreimportant, every leader should have a mentor.

Call it success by association—the peoplewho strive for personal excellence will find away to rub shoulders with the great peoplearound them.

5

S t a n T o l e r


f we are known by the company we keep,


Leaders do the right things.

6


“Reputation is made in

a moment. Character is

built in a lifetime.”

—James Leggett



C H A R A C T E R

L ots of people can get the job done.Industry, science, education—each

profession has its stellar achievers. Personalcompetence is not a rare quality these days.Newspapers and professional journalschronicle the personal best of these dedicatedmen and women. But personal character isbecoming rather elusive. Like the biblical Esau,some professionals have traded the inheritanceof their reputations for the pottage of dollarsand cents. They’ve become day traders,bartering the wealth of the eternal for thepittance of the temporary.

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right,”the ancient leadership adage demands. Butleaders of character are more concerned withdoing the right thing than they are in doingthings right. Right methods without rightmotives are shallow at best and evil at theirworst. In the end, the great leader is not theperson who can simply get the job done. It isthe person who knows how to link motives withmethods.

Leadership that makes a difference includesa personal willingness to do the right thing. Itmakes tough choices—moral choices, spiritualchoices, ethical choices, right choices.

7

S t a n T o l e r



Leaders make everyonefeel valuable.

8


“A great man shows his

greatness by the way he

treats little men.”

—Thomas Carlyle



A F F I R M A T I O N

L eaders understand that every memberof their team has an innate need to be

valued, recognized, included. Each teammember is a star in the leader’s eyes.Consequently, everyone on the team is treatedwith the respect afforded a volunteer, no matterwhat their pay scale is. Leaders are the first torecognize the achievement of others. They arelavish with handshakes and smiles, diligentwith dialogue and encouragement, noteworthyin their note writing. They understand that a“spoonful of sugar” makes even the mundaneand tasteless tasks of their subordinates moretolerable.

Leaders also understand the importance of aname. They realize that personal attentionbegins with a personal salutation. To them,coworkers are not anonymous entities, valuedonly for their contribution. They are valuedfriends. True leadership seeks to affirm theindividual worth of colleagues and associates. Itlets them know that they truly belong—thatthey are more than nine-to-five residents insome netherworld of carpeted cubicles.

Effective leaders have come to realize that apat on the back has enough force to propel anassociate toward excellence.

9

S t a n T o l e r



Leaders know what todo next.

10


“Leadership is calculated

risk-taking.”

—Ted Ward



F O R E S I G H T

A chess master never thinks only of thenext move. He is thinking three, four,

or five moves ahead. Leaders do the samething. Their vision is cast well into the future.And that future is as familiar to them as it canbe to the finite mind. They have dreameddreams of that place. They have planted andbuilt their hopes there. They have alreadyenvisioned a completion in that future.

Leaders aren’t that enthused about shorttrips. They are on a long journey of excellence.And they know that journey is made ofindividual steps, each firmly planted inuncharted territory.

In one sense, they never arrive. When onephase of a project is completed, they instantlymove to the next. When a goal is achieved,they roll out the new one. No problem is everthe end of the road. No achievement is ever thetop of the hill. There is always that next step—the step already dreamed in their heart; the stepplanned for, prayed for, and provided for,because of the far-reaching vision.

11

S t a n T o l e r



Leaders grow leaders.

12


“You’ve got to have great

athletes to win, I don’t care

who the coach is. You can’t

win without good athletes,

but you can lose with them.

This is where coaching

makes the difference.”

—Lou Holtz



M E N T O R I N G

Y ou can always spot an A-level leader.How? He or she will have A-level

subordinates. Those who follow them will havesome of their skills, some of their determi-nation, and some of their vision. Trueleadership is contagious. People catch it, and itgerminates in their spirits.

You can spot B-level leaders just as easily.They’ll probably have C-level subordinates. B-level leaders are intimidated by the potential ofothers. They are micromanagers, keepers of thekeys who prevent the unlocking of someone’spotential. Their own insecurity covers over theblossoming of visionaries like a heavy woolenblanket.

A-level leaders are not threatened by greatpotential. In fact, they look for it, seek it, recruitit, and develop it. It thrills them. It drives themon to even greater accomplishments. Theyhave discovered the secret of excellence. Theyhave realized the great possibility—that theycan multiply their work by developing andtraining their associates to reach their fullcapability.

A great leader will not be a leader offollowers. He or she will be a leader of leaders.

13

S t a n T o l e r


it, and develop it. It thrills them. It drives them on to even greater accomplishments. They’ve discovered the secret of excellence. They have realized the great possibility—that they can multiply their work by developing and training their associates to reach their full capability.

A great leader will not be a leader of followers. He or she will be a leader of leaders.


Leaders network withother leaders.

14


“I not only use all the brains

that I have, but all that

I can borrow.”

—Woodrow Wilson



N E T W O R K I N G

L eaders know the facts of life: First, mostof the productivity comes from a cadre

of effective people; second, most of the decisionsin an organization are made by a handful ofrespected leaders; third, the pipeline toachievement is learning to recognize thosecircles of influence and seeking to penetratethem.

The process is important. Aspiring leadersmake it a point to identify the leaders in anorganization. Who is making a mark on thecorporation? Whose ideas generate the interestof others? Whom do the associates gravitatetoward? Once that circle of influence isidentified, the aspiring leader seeks to form aspiritual network.

They work with the circle members, investingtime and effort in helping them reach theirgoals. They share information with them,insights that eventually will be reciprocated.And most important, they learn from them.They copy their best, and they sort out theirworst through filters of character and spiritualcommitments.

Networking—great leaders have learned thetruth in the old maxim, “It’s not only what youknow, but who you know that counts.”

15

S t a n T o l e r



Minute Motivators for Leaders - Harvest House“Reputation is made in a moment. Character is ......

Documents

Transcript of Minute Motivators for Leaders - Harvest House“Reputation is made in a moment. Character is ......