http://www.leadership501.com/leading-on-purpose/26/ Examining the Gears of Leadership Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:29:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.leadership501.com/leading-on-purpose/26/comment-page-1/#comment-37981 Dr David L Peavy Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:29:00 +0000 http://staging.leadership501.com/?p=26#comment-37981 After 33 yrs of leadership and success, the article reflects exactly what I have discovered. The parachute analogy is spot on in true team building. Moreover, leading on purpose & constantly sharing the laser focused vision we create as leaders, is paramount to creating long term followers that also learn to lead themselves first and others as well. What I did not see is this: How could any pro football team ever win a single game without consistent practice/huddle/training/ feedback & team score keeping? Leading "positive" inspirational purpose driven team meetings consistently (once per week for us) without fail has been the only path I have discovered. These are NOT bitching, negative, personal attack events, but so positive that the team looks forward to them & we "hold the parachute" on an agenda of topics ranging from personal growth & development, to conflict resolution, to purpose & vision focus. This has lead to keeping long term (5 to 17 yrs) veteran team players in the health care field where the average tenure for staff support is < 1.2 yrs! I also differ with leading on purpose 'not being easy'. In fact, those who lead with very little or no sense of purpose are doomed as people never become emotionally invested in a purpose, vision, & the rare joy that comes with accomplishing these as a team. There are few things as beautiful as a team with almost zero conflict walking that parachute, then fast walking, & ultimately running with it knowing that together we accomplish such a rare event every day! After 33 yrs of leadership and success, the article reflects exactly what I have discovered. The parachute analogy is spot on in true team building. Moreover, leading on purpose & constantly sharing the laser focused vision we create as leaders, is paramount to creating long term followers that also learn to lead themselves first and others as well. What I did not see is this: How could any pro football team ever win a single game without consistent practice/huddle/training/ feedback & team score keeping? Leading “positive” inspirational purpose driven team meetings consistently (once per week for us) without fail has been the only path I have discovered. These are NOT bitching, negative, personal attack events, but so positive that the team looks forward to them & we “hold the parachute” on an agenda of topics ranging from personal growth & development, to conflict resolution, to purpose & vision focus. This has lead to keeping long term (5 to 17 yrs) veteran team players in the health care field where the average tenure for staff support is < 1.2 yrs! I also differ with leading on purpose 'not being easy'. In fact, those who lead with very little or no sense of purpose are doomed as people never become emotionally invested in a purpose, vision, & the rare joy that comes with accomplishing these as a team. There are few things as beautiful as a team with almost zero conflict walking that parachute, then fast walking, & ultimately running with it knowing that together we accomplish such a rare event every day!

]]> http://www.leadership501.com/leading-on-purpose/26/comment-page-1/#comment-35942 Tegan Kern Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:51:29 +0000 http://staging.leadership501.com/?p=26#comment-35942 I thought this was a great article, and I agree with just about all of it. I felt that the article could really have been summed up with the example of the 25 people holding the edges of a large parachute. I remember we used to do that in phys. ed class when I was younger, we would all pull in different directions, or lift when we weren’t supposed to. All this did was make our P.E. teachers very upset, when we were finally able to work together as a team, the parachute was a beautiful thing. Just like a business or in my case a school district. If we are all able to work together and go after one goal, our lives would be a lot easier. I happen to work for a wonderful principal/leader, who has a goal set in her mind, and she preaches to the staff about reaching it. Unfortunately there is only so much that she can do, it is now up to the staff members to help carry it through, and many of them do not want to do this. This is where we as a district start to fall apart. I thought this was a great article, and I agree with just about all of it. I felt that the article could really have been summed up with the example of the 25 people holding the edges of a large parachute. I remember we used to do that in phys. ed class when I was younger, we would all pull in different directions, or lift when we weren’t supposed to. All this did was make our P.E. teachers very upset, when we were finally able to work together as a team, the parachute was a beautiful thing. Just like a business or in my case a school district. If we are all able to work together and go after one goal, our lives would be a lot easier.
I happen to work for a wonderful principal/leader, who has a goal set in her mind, and she preaches to the staff about reaching it. Unfortunately there is only so much that she can do, it is now up to the staff members to help carry it through, and many of them do not want to do this. This is where we as a district start to fall apart.

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