Starting...Anything or Nothing?

"Where to start?"

"Is there anything to start?"

"Why start anything?"

"What a way to start my day!"

My thoughts were all around starting!  I could tell because every sentence of "self-talk" had that word in it!

That is not like me to not know where to start! 

THIS IS "STARTING" TO GET TO ME!

And just as I started to lose my sanity...there he was...standing at my door!

"What's on your docket today?" he asked...

"I have no idea," I replied...

"Why don't we start with..."

"DON'T USE THAT WORD...IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY!"

He laughed and so did I!

It was if he could read my mind and knew that using the word "start" would START a great conversation!

"Why are there so many "inns" and "hotels" and "bed and breakfasts" and "motels" in this world?"

"Because people need a place to stay." I replied...

"That's half of the sentence!" he criticized

AGAIN...It was if he could read my mind!  I was in no mood to play linguistic games!  But I played along anyway!

"OK...and rest while they are on their travels...Are you happy?" I responded...

"That's better...most people make the mistake of thinking that they have solved the riddle in one fell swoop...missing the point that most every answer to every problem requires a predicate and a qualifier..."

"But...that is not what..."

"AND...you know what I meant..." he broke in...

"Leaders miss a critical aspect in their development...that often works to their demise!"

TELL ME!  TELL ME!

"We must discover it together for it to be of any value..."

"I hate that!" I laughed...but I knew that he was right!

"Do you put people on your team that have skills that you do not have?"

"Any good leader does that," I replied, "A good leader needs to gather people who are better than themselves!"

"That is interesting...and a traditional thought...there are few on your teams that are better than you...we'll talk more about that later..."

"Do you bring people on your team who do not have your strengths?"

"I do that too!"

"That is more astute than you think!" he smiled, "We'll talk about that more too..."

"What tasks do you do more often during your work day...the ones that you are good at or the ones that you are not?"

"I have to admit that I am tasked with the things that I am good at...it seems to make sense to me..."

"You are right...but, let's dig into this in relation to your leadership call a little deeper..."

"What is the responsibility of a leader?"

"This question has been asked and answered so many times...I repeat it in my sleep!  It is to provide meaningful directions to my team and the world at large..."

"Can you provide meaningful direction to those people that you have on your team who know more than you?  Can a blind person lead a sighted person better through a visual maze?"

"I think that you have answered that for me!  NO!"

"Then for those people you are not really a leader are you!"

"Your skills are best served for those who you have more knowledge and experience than..."

"I think I have to say I agree!"

"I can still lead those who are more skilled...it just takes more effort" I retorted in defense...

"You are absolutely right...but let's talk about leadership efficiency"

"It is much easier and requires less time to guide those who work for you in areas of your talent...because you have the knowledge and experience to guide them quickly and efficiently."

"What you can do in leadership minutes with them takes leadership hours for the others...right?"

"I have to agree with you there!"

"So not only do you need to gather people more talented than you...to accomplish the tasks that you can't accomplish...you need to gather people around you who possess the desire but lack the experience to assign tasks that you are great at doing!"

"This takes away a majority of your workload!  Giving you time to work on your inefficiencies...gain experience and become adept at those things that you are not good at!"

"Good leaders gather people that are more skilled than themselves..."

"GREAT leaders gather both...in fact a majority knows less but has as much passion...and then assigns his tasks to them..."

"...So that they have the time to continually grow as a leader (in skill, knowledge and experience) and become better at who they are!...AND LEAD more people correctly" 

"Most leaders spend most of their time doing things they are good at...and as a result specialize and lose everything they set out to achieve..."

"When in fact they should be doing just the opposite!"

"Leaders should be working in areas where they lack the skill, knowledge and experience..."

"Great leaders possess the passion to put aside their talents and grow!"

"AND they need to possess the passion to be in that arena of their life...and trust those they can lead to take care of the things they could have done extraordinately...by themselves..."

"You have flipped my perspective on leadership totally on end!"

"Lead those I can and follow those who can teach me a thing or two or three or four!  AND then constantly work to expand the group of individuals that I can lead...by number and type!"  "How cool is that?"

"That is one of my career secrets!  Use it wisely my friend!"

"So perhaps you are a place in your journey that is not unlike checking into an Inn!  Maybe you need a rest!"

"Not in the least!"

"I should look at today and figure out what I can assign and lead...and then go and learn some cool stuff so that I can someday be recognized as the leader of those I once followed and learned from!"

"I will NEVER be so arrogant to think that I can lead people who are better than me...they are my leaders and my teachers!"

"Leadership is not something to be had in title only...it includes skill, knowledge and experience..."

"I need to start learning!"

"Doesn't that answer your questions?"