Notes from Steve

Be (a) Leader.

Lorna Keeling, when she was working at the fitness center, asked my dad when I started showing signs of being a leader.  He said the minute I came out of my Mom, I was bossing people around. They both laughed at that … she took great pleasure in telling me that story.  (I don’t necessarily feel this was meant to be a compliment.)

Leadership was to me, less trying to get people to do what needs to be done to be successful and more about frustration that they are boring or “less than creative” in their approach to a problem.  Some people say that bland is fine - extra spice only ruins a recipe; I say hogwash - extra spice is what makes life exciting.  Basically, my leadership has been created from an attention span that’s virtually nonexistent.   

A guy I used to listen to on the radio talked about growing up in a church where everyone just sat quietly until the spirit moved them to talk.  He said they used to sit there forever waiting for someone to speak up.  For most of my life, there is literally no way I could do this.  

The older I get though, the more I am able to appreciate silence.  I now get the whole thing about the spirit moving you to action.  Being quiet and allowing grace for the “processors” in the room to gather the pluck to add to the dialog guarantees that the spice is not all mine.  And most of the time - their contributions make the end product so much better.

True leadership, I’ve learned is allowing others to add to the conversation and be heard.