Hi! Welcome back. We’re making our way through Deepak Chopra’s acronym for a leader we’ve look at the letters L, E, and A so far and today we’ll talk about what the letter D stands for which Chopra describes as Doing. Below are Deepak Chopra’s thoughts on doing as a function of leadership. These excerpts are taken from his book the Soul of Leadership.
D = Doing.
Doing is a skill. It is based on five steps that make the difference between success and failure. Whenever you are in a position to lead:
1. Be action-oriented. The atmosphere around you must be dynamic. Everyone in the group should feel energized by the call to action.
2. Act as a role model. Be willing to do the same things you ask others to do. That way you will recruit others to act. A leader doesn’t have to perform the jobs he assigns; if you can, however, that’s a great advantage. A leader serves as a role model in giving of himself completely.
3. Commit yourself to good, honest feedback. Show that you want to hear the truth, and when you give feedback to others, be candid but positive. Emphasize their contributions first and foremost.
4. Be persistent. There will always be setbacks and obstacles. The course of any significant project never ran smoothly. When others are secretly worrying about failure, your unflagging persistence is a strong asset.
5. Take time to celebrate. Every time there’s a significant achievement, create an atmosphere of celebration around it. Work and nothing but work will eventually deplete people’s enthusiasm. By celebrating milestones along the way to final success, you give everyone a taste of that success in advance.
Doing, do you recall what the Chinese philosopher Confucius said about starting a journey? As I recall he said that “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. In my own life when I was a younger man I aspire to get a college education, but my parents had never gone to college and although I lived in a “college town” I had no idea what it would take to get my degree. I had enrolled in college immediately right out of high school but after doing well the first semester I began to lose interest and yearn for the open road.
I travel out West for a couple of years first with a good friend Mike Buza to California and then the next year by myself to Arizona. After returning from Arizona I attended and graduated from Western Wisconsin Technical Institute, now called Western Wisconsin Technical College in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I then transferred to a private college outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin but dropped out again and went back home to work as an accounting clerk. After working several years I was denied promotion and I knew that the only way I was going to reach my dreams was to return and complete my bachelors degree.
I remember a Vice President of the saving and loan I was working for told me the last day I was employed that I should in his words “eat the elephant one bite at a time”, it other words do something every day to reach my goals.
Can you remember a goal that you strived for and accomplished but thought at the time that it was a mountain too high to climb? How did you get to the summit of your goal? What did you do each and every day to make that dream a reality? Why not drop my a comment and share it with me? I look forward to our time together until next time all my best! Jer.
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