We all have a "Reset Button"

Strong Leaders understand the "Reset Button"

When it comes to Leadership, Mike Mackay of Canada Basketball once told me there are three things an individual needs to be able to do in order to lead:

1- Lead Yourself
2- Know when to follow
3- When you are not leading, give energy to those who are

When I reflect on those rules, I can't help to think about how deep they are.  Let me explain.

1- Lead Yourself

Live your life honorably.  Being perfect is not what I am saying here.  What I am saying is when the mistakes come, be resilient about them.  Own the mistake first of all, see how to never repeat them and move on.  Far too many people out there blame others or blame the situation and cannot seem to let it go.  Although in most cases a person's success depends on the endorsement of others, at the end of the day it is all about how you have set yourself up to be successful.  Control what you can and live in the moment.  When things do not go the way you want, understand it, then hit the reset button and move on.

2- Know when to follow

How can an individual know what good leadership is if they have never followed before?  Even in circumstances where the leader is not very good, you can still learn.  Every day is a new day filled with new challenges and choices.  That alone is a reset button.  Pay attention to the people around you.  Pay attention to what they do and try to figure out why they are doing it.

3- When you are not leading, give energy to those who are

Often times, leaders feel like they are on an island.  What I mean by that is, they feel like nobody cares about them or the things they need to get done on a daily basis.  I very often hear people talk negatively about their leader and very seldom hear them speak highly of him or her.  Why is that?  I am not saying brown nose, but I am saying support.  If you don't agree with something that is going on, then have that one on one with the individual.  But every chance you get, support him or her.  By doing this, you help that individual hit their personal reset button.

So as you can see, I don't mention anywhere that to be a good leader, you need to have a people who follow you.  I think if the three rules are well executed on a daily basis, having followers will happen on its own.  Now having said that, I think one more rule needs to be included:

4- Know your stuff! 

If you do live by the first three rules and you do get that group of individuals migrate to you because of it, the experience will be short lived if you do not know the insides and outs of whatever it is your should know.  By instinct, people will not stay long with someone they perceive as a fake.  By showing the people you are leading how much you know about your domain, you reset their button as it restores faith in what you are doing.

My two cents on the topic of life's reset buttons :)