MM#36--Leadership week #3--The Law of Connection

Hello I'm David and welcome back to another MOJO minute--leadership style

That's right.  This week we talking all about leadership.

Recap the first two days.

On day 1 we learned Leaderships definition is either effective or ineffective.   

No more, no less.

On day 2, we understood, that leadership is about creating our own foundation of values, ethics, and virtues.   In a sense, we have to chisel ourselves into good character.   

So as great leaders we have to be effective, and we have to develop good character, 

Ok, we got it.

Now lets us learn from the great John Maxwells and from his great book 21 irrefutable laws of leadership.

As always lets begin with a quote,

“For leaders to be effective, they need to connect with people. Why? Because you first have to touch people’s hearts before you ask them for a hand. That is the Law of Connection. All great leaders and communicators recognize this truth and act on it almost instinctively. You can’t move people to action unless you first move them with emotion.”

“There are incidents in the lives and careers of leaders that become defining moments for their leadership. In the perception of followers, the general public, and historians, those moments often represent who those leaders are and what they stand for. Here’s an example of what I mean. I believe the presidency of George W. Bush can be summed up by two defining moments that he experienced during his time in office.”

(Talk about talking about politics and about how the whole country is super polarized)

So lets handle this like adults and have an adult conversation about leadership.

Maxwells reference points in these two stories are excellent learning moments for all of us. 

Back to the book,

“The first moment occurred early in his first term, and it defined that entire term in office. On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by terrorists who crashed planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. People in the United States were angry. They were fearful. They were uncertain about the future. And they were in mourning for the thousands of people who lost their lives to the terrorists. 

Just four days after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, Bush went to Ground Zero. He spent time there with the firefighters, police officers, and rescue workers. He shook hands. He listened. He took in the devastation. He thanked the people working there and told them, “The nation sends its love and compassion to everybody who’s here.” Reports said that the spirits of the tired searchers lifted when the president arrived and started shaking hands. 

Cameras captured Bush standing in the wreckage with his arm around firefighter Bob Beckwith. When some members of the crowd shouted that they couldn’t hear him, Bush called back, “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”1 The people cheered. They felt validated. They felt understood. Bush had connected with them in a way no one had seen him do prior to that moment.”

President Bush made that connection!  It was an excellent example of leadership and connecting with the heart and with emotion.  

Onto the second story and example

Back to the boo

“The second incident came during Bush’s second four years in office, and it defined that second term. It occurred on August 31, 2005, just two days after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. After the levees in New Orleans broke and water flooded into the city, instead of visiting the city as he did in New York after 9/11, Bush flew over New Orleans in Air Force One, peering through one of the jet’s small windows to see the damage. To the people of the Gulf Coast, it was a picture of indifference. 

As the tragedy unfolded, no one in authority at any level of government connected with the people of New Orleans: not the president, not the governor, not the mayor. By the time Mayor Ray Nagin ordered the city’s evacuation, it was too late for many poor residents to leave. He sent people to the Superdome, advising them to eat before they went because the local government had made no provisions for them. Meanwhile, he held press conferences and complained that he wasn’t getting any help. And the people most affected by the problems felt abandoned, forgotten, and betrayed. 

After the worst of the tragedy was over, no matter what President Bush said or how much help he provided, he was unable to regain the people’s confidence and trust. It’s true that when democratic Mayor Nagin was reelected less than a year after the disaster, he thanked Bush for “delivering for the citizens of New Orleans.” And Donna Brazile, another Democrat, has since described Bush as “very much engaged” in the rebuilding process and praised him for prompting Congress to dedicate money to rebuilding the levees.2 But by then Bush could not undo the image of indifference he had created. He had failed to connect with the people. He had broken the Law of Connection.”

So there we have two great examples of the Law of connection and how as leaders have to connect with people 

individually one at a time.

Maxwell in this particular chapter gives us some great pointers and details on how to connect.   He lists 8 of them.   Check out the book for all eight but i will touch on two of them.

1. Connect with yourself

2. Communicate with openness and sincerity.  

Finally in todays MOJO minute, and because we are always putting Theory to Action, Maxwell provides for us some great questions to help us apply this Law of Connection to our lives

(And this is where Maxwell is just brilliant and the reason why is one of the most sought leaders and speakers across almost all industries)

Real quick those questions are and relate to what does it really mean to “connect with yourself”

--Effectively this is a self awareness exercise--

How would I describe my personality? 

What is my greatest character strength? 

What is my greatest character weakness? 

What is my single greatest asset? 

What is my single greatest deficit? 

How well do I relate to others (1 to 10)? 

How well do I communicate with others (1 to 10)? 

How likable am I (1 to 10)?

Now ask three people who know you well to answer the same questions about you. Compare answers. If their answers are significantly different from yours, then you have a blind spot you need to rectify. Engage a mentor, growth and accountability partner, or counselor to help you become more self-aware and to help you value your strengths and deal positively with your weaknesses.

So again in todays MOJO minutes let us have the courage to ask these questions of ourselves and learn to overcome any blind spots we might have about ourselves to become even better leaders --and followers--to those we work with, those we are friends with and our own families that we live with.   

For all three of these groups most especially our families 

who are depending on us to be the leaders we are called to be.

Lets do the hard work required to become those leaders who we are called to be.

I know i have some hard work to do.

How about you?

Lets go to work today, and lead well.

And be sure to come back tomorrow for another MOJO leadership minute

Lets go MOJO!