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Quote Your Dad

“You can be better or bitter, but better is better than bitter.”

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Podcast Season 3, Episode 46: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life – It’s Ok to Laugh at Yourself

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it serves as a reminder that you need to be able to laugh at yourself.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: It’s Ok to Laugh at Yourself

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it serves as a reminder that you need to be able to laugh at yourself.

I feel like this month has been all about laughter and joy. A couple of episodes ago, the focus was about laughing in the circumstances, then there was a reminder of the importance of celebrating milestones on a journey, and now this illustration is in the same vein of joy. It happened when my older brother and his wife came to visit. They had been missionaries in Brazil for about 30 years, and recently had moved back to the United States to work as representatives of their mission agency. Because they had been living in another country, my grandchildren had never met them in person.

They were excited when the day came for their arrival. When the knock on the door came, I opened it, and they stepped inside. My granddaughter was there, waiting to meet them. When she saw my brother, she put her hands on her cheeks, and started jumping up and down and laughing and exclaimed, “Where is your hair?!” She knew he was my brother, and she expected him to look like me, so it completely surprised her when a bald man came in the door.

What I appreciated was that he laughed along with her, and then bent over so that she could touch the top of his head. She did, and she laughed some more, and even after they left, when she saw his picture, she would say that he forgot his hair, laugh, and call him the funny man. It was important that my brother was able to laugh at himself in this situation, and show that to my grandchildren. He modeled for them what it means to not take yourself too seriously, to not take offense too easily, and to laugh at yourself, even at your own expense. Those were important lessons for my grandchildren to learn.

And those are important lessons for you in your leadership. If you take yourself too seriously, other people will not. If you take offense too easily, you will get easily offended frequently. If you cannot choose to laugh at yourself, you will instead become bitter and angry. It is better for our emotional, mental, and social health to be able to laugh at ourselves, and in the laughter, bring joy to others. This truth is emphasized in Proverbs 17:22, which tells us, “A merry heart does good, like medicine.”

That’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from my granddaughter laughing at the bald head of my brother. You are different than others and you will make mistakes, and people will sometimes laugh at you because of those things. My dad was a pastor, and I can remember as child after the sermon laughing at mistakes he made while speaking when he would mix up words, and hearing him join in the laughter. It is important that you are able to laugh at yourself in those moments as well. Don’t take yourself too seriously, don’t get offended too easily, and choose to express joy.

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Quote Your Dad

“If you are good, you don’t have to tell people, they will tell you.”

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Podcast Season 3, Episode 45: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life – Don’t Forget to Celebrate!

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it serves as a reminder that it is important to celebrate.

Here is the link to the podcast.

/by
,

Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Don’t Forget to Celebrate!

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it serves as a reminder that it is important to celebrate.

It’s graduation season, and I have had the privilege of participating in many graduations over the last 35 years. This past weekend was no exception, when I participated in the graduation ceremony for a class of education students who had completed their bachelors’ degree in Transformational Education. Family and friends were there to mark this milestone achievement, there was a beautiful ceremony in which they participated, they received a diploma as a marker of the accomplishment, and words of affirmation and encouragement were shared with them. It was a wonderful time of celebration.

It was also a reminder to me of the importance of celebrations to mark the milestones and events that we experience. These milestones and events can be the completion or accomplishment of something major, they can be steps on a path or a journey, or they can be reminders of a significant past event. Regardless of which of these it may be, it is important that we take time to celebrate!

When we celebrate, we put a flag or a marker around an event or an accomplishment that draws attention to what was achieved. It highlights something important that has been done and gives us the opportunity to draw attention to that. Then, because we have marked it, it is something that we can point back to to remind ourselves of what we’ve done. Too often, our attention is grabbed by obstacles or difficulties or struggles or failures, so we need to be intentional about celebrating the positive achievements. It builds morale, and can help to maintain motivation throughout the journey of a project or a process.

And that’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from celebrating another graduation. There are moments of accomplishment along the paths of our lives and in the processes and projects that we undertake, and it is important that we celebrate those. Doing this lets us affirm the accomplishments of others, reignites joy, and helps people to keep moving forward. So when good things happen, don’t forget to celebrate.

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Quote Your Dad

“You can be better or bitter, but better is better than bitter.”

/by
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Podcast Season 3, Episode 44: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life – It’s Better to Laugh

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it serves as a reminder that when something unexpected happens, it’s often better just to laugh about it.

Here is the link to the podcast.

/by
,

Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: It’s Better to Laugh

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it serves as a reminder that when something unexpected happens, it’s often better just to laugh about it.

I was on a video call with someone that I was advising, and we were talking through some of her work so that I could help her with some direction and changes that needed to be made. It is key to point out that it was a video call. As I was discussing some of the issues with her, from out of nowhere, a little hand slowly came from behind me, reached around my face, and stuck a monkey sticker on my forehead, and then my granddaughter exclaimed, “You have a monkey!“

I had some options in that moment. I could have gotten angry and reacted from that anger. I could have gotten frustrated or annoyed, and expressed that to this little girl. Or I could have laughed, which is what I did (and so did the person on the video call) because it was innocent and funny. Of course, it did help that it was an adorable little three year-old and so, to some extent, I couldn’t help but laugh. But I think it would also be fairly easy to have a different reaction. The point is, I got to choose what my reaction was.

The same idea is very applicable to other circumstances that you navigate. Whether it is a meeting, an activity, or a project, you will likely experience obstacles and interruptions. They can be minor things that you can quickly move past, or they can cause a disruption that requires an adjustment. Either way, how you respond to it is totally within your control. You can get angry, you can get frustrated, or . . . you can laugh!

My dad would say, “You can be better or you can be bitter, but better is better than bitter.” How you react is up to you, but know that there is a consequence or impact based on your reaction. It may affect others, and it will definitely affect you. If you choose to laugh about it, you are much less likely to get frustrated and to let that frustration derail the progress that you are making. Instead, see the interruption as either a lesson that can be learned or a story that can be told, which turns it into something that brings value.

That’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from my granddaughter placing a monkey sticker on my forehead in the middle of a video meeting. You will experience interruptions, complications, and challenges. You get to decide how you will respond to those. If you can choose to see it as something to laugh about and to learn from, you can be better, not bitter, and that will help you and others to handle it well, grow, and move forward.

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Quote Your Dad

“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.”

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