“Copy that Red Leader”

From Star Wars fame, the term Red leader was hallmarked as an x-wing fighter call sign by several characters, not the least of which, was Luke Skywalker. His character spent lots of time preparing his skills as a Jedi leader who was the central character for one of the most successful franchise movies ever produced. While I’m not a fanatic Star Wars follower, I did enjoy them like so many, to the delight of George Lucas. It was always about the advantage the “force” gave as a power gifted to certain leaders, for good or bad.

So, what the heck does Star Wars have to do with leadership in the real world? Glad you asked…. There is a real force that is needed by leaders today…You could spend the rest of your life listening and learning everything available on leadership, most of which is really good, actionable information so have at it! I’m sure you have your favorites just like me, but over thirty-five years, I have made lots of mistakes, bad decisions and hit numerous brick walls. One of my mentors said, “I’m not sure I trust anyone that doesn’t have a limp”. He was talking about the trials and triumphs of his personal and professional life.

So, I thought it may be useful to describe some to the trials that created a mindset or force I learned after each one of those.

I discovered that leadership includes doing, but its more about being than doing. It is the “being a leader” that requires more of a mindset, (todays “force”). Mindsets can be fixed or flexible, they can create a path to move you forward, or build a barrier that may feel safe and if left unchecked, can be the onset of stagnation.

I have learned that preparation is the best skillset for a leaders’ mindset….Here are a few of the traits I’ve learned for a prepared leaders’ mindset: I don’t claim originality just experientially.

An Observing mindset:

Seeing beyond the obvious, learning to make mental notes, learning communication styles and cues…watch for emotional capacity and bandwidth.

A Reasoning mindset:

Moving from the known to the undetermined…. The process of testing new waters or even recognizing that there are waters and weighing the information as a calculated risk.

An Imagining mindset:

Envisioning the future before it arrives means taking the limits of your current understanding off and have lots of what if and self- talk.

A Challenging mindset:

Pushing for higher and deeper thinking is a self- imposed discipline that most likely will include others that have been where you want to go. If you aren’t challenged to know more, your business may be no more.

A Deciding mindset:

Choosing with consequences in mind is the burden of leadership. The most important mindset about deciding is deciding when you are wrong.

A Learning mindset:

Keeping a developmental mindset means always looking for nuggets…. wherever they may be hidden. This means effort, my dad used to say, “eat the chicken and spit out the bones”.

A Reflecting mindset:

Intimacy…. in-to-me-see, or self-awareness keeps the mirror clean. My mom used to say, did you look in the mirror before you went out? It was a self-check to make sure things were in the right place.

If you are like most of us, you read these seven leadership mindsets, and say, “those are good and I have some of them, but not sure how to develop the others. Well, I have a wonderful surprise for you. A secret formula so to speak.

In the next article I will tell you how understanding the Communication IQ Languages and methodology can help you develop these success Mindsets, and so much more.