Can I Vent A Bit?

I understand that not all leaders have type-A personalities and that rah-rah speeches don’t always come natural. Really…I get it.  But can someone please explain to me why leaders are so reluctant to reach out to the troops, cast vision and rally them toward greatness?  Whether you’re in middle management or occupy a seat on the executive team, it is part of your job to open your mouth and motivate your teams.  I honestly don’t care if you are multiple levels above the people executing or if you are in a relatively flat organization.  Your people need to SEE and HEAR you.  They need to know what matters to you.  What keeps you up late at night?  What do you talk with your spouse about as it relates to your team?  What do you dream about? They need to know YOU – not some pathetic, cellophane likeness.




I am sick and tired of leaders sitting up in their corporate offices and not truly engaging with the people who give them a job. This is part of the reason that the show Undercover Boss has been so popular. Leaders are figuring out the truth that Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan communicated years ago in their book Execution. The only true way to lead, motivate, and execute at the highest level is to be engaged in such a way that you understand reality across the business and can use your knowledge, people skills, and leadership to drive it in the right direction. In the book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell calls this “The Law of Connection”. He says that you’ve got to touch a heart before you can ask for a hand. Craig Groeschel talks about the same thing in ministry and calls it “The Pastor’s Mystique”.  God forbid you actually connect with people in a real way!  Connection will never happen if you continue to choose to disengage from those who matter most.



I challenge each one of you to reach out to one person, a team, a department, a division, or even your whole organization today and do something which will create ripples in the pool.  Cast vision, motivate, encourage, share your heart and truly CONNECT…and then do it again next week and the week after that and so on. Now walk out of your office and make it so!