Missing Accountability in A Leader - A Biggest Crisis

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, America needed a strong leader more than any other time in their history. They needed a steady hand to guide them out of the ashes. Were was George Bush? he was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the attacks. he kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for your self. Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the day - and he told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker. 

We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero.

That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq - a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.

Photo Source: Google

Kill Ego, Higher You Go

Lists I’ve found are a great way to explore a topic, generate some interest in a subject and provide enough variety that it is not only quick to read, but quick to relate to many aspects.  All this while hopefully adding some value to what is read in new ideas, unheard suggestions or simply by giving reminders of what might be known dead inside you already.  I certainly find that in reading lists from other people.

This was my most difficult list I’ve made after admiring sproutwatches.com and while I was hoping to make a list of 100 ways to be more humble, I really struggled coming up with unique ideas that didn’t have too much overlap and were not just a large list of different words or minor actions to be more humble.  I hope you will find some value in this list, it has certainly given me a lot to think about, a lot to still learn in being humble and an eye opener to realize how far from this I actually am.  While I hope many of these are true in my life I know they are a continuous struggle and I’m sure others can relate or add even more ideas to the list, which I would love to see in your comments!

Use the response “It’s My Pleasure” when someone thanks you for doing something.

Use the response “I’d be honored” when someone asks you to help them or do something with them.

Listen more than you talk

Count to 3 before adding to a conversation to ensure the other person is done

Be willing to follow another person in conversation even if you don’t get to talk about your idea

Always offer to improve someone else’s idea and give them credit

Give credit for other’s ideas that you are carrying through on

Ask others for the opinion of others

Ask others to join conversations and contribute

It’s OK to be wrong and so admit it

Admit when you don’t understand or know something

Appreciate others who learn something quickly and say so

Be quick to apologize when you do something wrong

Study moral principles

Use moral principles to guide you

You are God’s creation, not your own

Recognize your talents as gifts, not your own ability

Know how your skills have only be developed by the help of others

Share your own knowledge to pass on what you have learned

Pass on thanks when you receive it to those who helped you achieve what was thanked

Value other people’s time as much as your own

Never equate time spent with people to a dollar value

Don’t boast about your achievements, let others recognize them instead

Keep your goals to yourself

Help other people with their goals

Realize the potential in others

Know that timing is everything and everyone excels at different times in life

Being the 1st follower is often the best way to lead

Since winning isn’t everything, you don’t have to win

Recognize that you have faults

Remember you are a sinner (in other words, you are no better or worse than anyone else)

Ignore first impressions of people

Give others the benefit of the doubt

Provide positive and encouraging feedback instead of criticism

Make a choice to act more humbly

Practice at least one humble act each day

Be grateful for successes without boasting about them

Know how to accept praise with a simple thank you, don’t elaborate on it or talk more about it

Recognize the individualism of others and yourself, there is no need to conform

Share your core values and live them accordingly regardless of the circumstances

Prioritize things in your life and rate your actions on whether to followed that priority or not

Rate other people as first, be less significant

Forgive those who wrong you and move on without revenge or lashing back

Serve others and not yourself first

Seek wisdom, which is knowledge of what is true coupled with just judgment of action

Recognize and know that you know little and there is always more to learn

Avoid explosive reactions, and subside any aggression

Accept new ideas and change, not being stuck on what you knew before

Teach all that you can for the benefit of others

Learn from and model the life of the most humble teachers in history (Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Buddha, etc)