danielcash

One of the hardest parts of leadership can be disappointment. It doesn’t matter where you are leading; if you dare to lead, you will experience disappointment. You might be disappointed in the outcome of an event, project or initiative. You might be disappointed in those you lead and those with whom you collaborate. The disappointment might center on a colleague who didn’t follow through, or a volunteer who proved less committed than first thought. It might settle around how your group did or did not engage. You may even be disappointed with yourself. Disappointment is inherent to leading. It’s not a matter of if, or even so much when it will hit; what’s important is how you deal with it.

So, what do you do when you are disappointed as a leader in any of the above mentioned possibilities? What do you do with disappointment?

As I reflect on that question I want suggest just a few steps that have emerged over time, in my own practice of leading. These are steps I try to follow when disappointment makes an appearance:

Step One: Examine the source of your disappointment Continue reading →

I remember reading in John Kotter’s book Leading Change years ago about the importance of what he calls “short-term wins”. These are the small victories along the way when you are trying to leverage change that, when accomplished, give persons reason for hope. Whether the change is related to a personal goal such as changing your diet and exercise routine to lose weight, or tackling a “debt snowball” to get your financial house in order – we all need short-term wins. They are the measures of progress. They provide immediate, in the midst of it, feedback that our efforts are worth it. They keep us moving forward.

Translate this same thinking to the often more challenging work of leading a group through change and the same principle still applies Continue reading →

In his book, Hearing God, Dallas Willard offers the comparison of sheepdogs and shepherds to differentiate between two approaches to leadership. Since we live with a herding dog, Boomer – our Welsh Pembroke Corgi – and my position of pastor shares some roots in verbiage with the term “shepherd”, this comparison caught my attention.

Willard’s critique is that what passes for leadership is too often merely getting others to do as they are told. Enter the sheepdog, or in my case the herding dog. The instinct of these dogs is to herd, move or corral the object of their efforts with no desire for that object being herded having input into the decision. I’ve watched our corgis over the years try and herd our family, and herd groups of larger dogs and animals. Boomer wants everyone to be together. Continue reading →