Sunday, September 13, 2015

Are You INVESTING in Others OR Just HELPING Them?


As a Leader, Are You INVESTING in Others or Just HELPING Them?

Recently, I was conducting a peer mentoring training with a great group of young adults. Let’s just call them the Epsilons. We were talking about what Mentors really do and I introduced the concept that mentors INVEST where some leaders just HELP. We started thinking out loud about the differences between the two. Here is where we landed (and many thanks to them for their insights and ideas!):

Leaders that just HELP:
  • Do so as a “One-Off”
  • Solve a Problem
  • Go for Breadth
  • Help others Feel Good
  • Do so when it is Convenient to them
  • Hope they added value

Leaders that INVEST:
  • Do so for Long Run
  • Change a Life
  • Focus on Depth
  • Are Honest with others
  • Are Willing to be Inconvenienced for others
  • Add Value based on a Premeditated basis

You can easily start to see the difference! Now there is nothing wrong with helping others, but it is when we invest in others, we start to change lives. As speaker and writer Dr. Tim Elmore shares, “there is no Live Change without Life Exchange!” In other words, impactful or significant leaders go beneath the surface and expend the extra time, effort, and energy with those they lead. Leadership in this case is no longer transactional, it is intentional. Without a doubt, this is a deeper, harder but much more relevant style of leadership.

Don’t get me wrong. This is something that took me a long time to realize in my own leadership journey and looking back, it is clear to me now those leaders who were investing in me and those who were not. Obviously I am still working on this but what I do know is that when I do, my relationships are fuller and richer. Yours will be too!

So this week, I encourage you to think about those individuals in your sphere of leadership. Who do you need to INVEST in? Who would benefit the most from your efforts to intentionally add value to them? I would love to hear from you how it went!

As always, if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite you to visit my website below and see if any of the training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies
Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

Visit our website at: www.outloudinc.com

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