I’ve been blogging for over nine years, so I have written a lot of posts about leadership, learning, and a variety of related personal and professional development topics. I’ve recently decided to occasionally go back to some old posts to find inspiration for new posts (and to reflect on my growth as a leader, learner and writer).
What follows is a post that I originally wrote on June 8, 2004 – just a couple months after I started blogging. I will copy it here (with a couple of spelling and formatting changes) – then make a couple of additional comments at the close.
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In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, Franklin Lavin, U.S. Ambassador to Singapore wrote the Manager’s Journal column about some of the things he learned from the late President Reagan while working on his staff.
******** PLEASE NOTE ************
If you are thinking about moving on to the next website, or clicking to another part of my site because of your feelings about the politics of President Reagan, please don’t.
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The lesson I am about to share isn’t about politics or partisanship, or any of those things.
It is about caring.
About being focused on others.
It is a lesson for all leaders.
Lavin shares a story about an appearance the President was making at an Alabama school for handicapped children. The event was going super well, until one of the children with a severe speech impediment asked a question of the President. No one in the audience could understand and the room became tense. The President asked him to repeat the question, and the energy in the room was further dampened. Again, no one understood.
Here is how Lavin tells what happened next, “The teachers froze. What was to have been an upbeat day was turning into a disaster… Reagan to the rescue. ‘I’m sorry’ he said with a smile, ‘but you know I’ve got this hearing aid in my ear. Every once in awhile the darn thing just conks out on me. And it’s just gone dead. Sorry to put you through this again, but I’m going to ask one of my staff people to go over to you so you can tell them directly what your question is. Then he can pass it back to me.'”
This is what caring, gentle people do. This is what leaders do. If they see someone hurting, they try to help. They don’t help to “get through it” or get people back to work. They help, and care, and listen because it is the right thing to do. They show they care through their actions.
If you are like me, as you read this you thought, “How would I have handled that?” and “Would I have been as successful as President Reagan?” They are good questions.
The better question though is, what can I do today to be more focused on others, and therefore help them succeed?
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Maybe your response wouldn’t have been as elegant as President Reagan’s – but that isn’t really the point.
The point really is about observation and focus.
Before the President could do what he did, he would have to observe the situation for what it really was. And to make that clear observation, he would need to be thinking about others, not himself, his schedule, his next meeting, or anything else.
Only then, with a clear perspective, could he, in effect, take the blame himself to aid and focus on the other person.
If you want your actions to be focused on others, you must start with that focus in your heart and mind. You can’t fake it.
So, given that, I will ask the question I posed before, now buried above – What can you do today to be more focused on others and therefore help them succeed?
Asking the question each day will change your experience and results as a leader.
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