Imagine you had the ability to extract your team, crew or organization from the entire company or organization with all the vehicles, tools, team members and resources intact.

Imagine this entity was set up as its own profit center.

Imagine you had the opportunity to purchase and own this entity in its present state with you as the leader.

Would you make this investment? Would you keep the same team members? 

Circle One: Yes    No

The Leader Owner Mindset answers Yes. The boss employee mindset answers No.

Our goal at Leader Owner Mindset Coaching is to provide the skills and knowledge to increase the number of Yes answers to this question. Companies and organizations answer Yes to this question and invest in these entities on every pay day. Why shouldn’t the manager or supervisor?

Is this a fair question?

To access the Leader Owner Mindset Podcast of this post click Here.

Greg Gilbert

www.LeaderOwnerMindset.com

This week I was fortunate enough to share “Becoming A Leader Owner Mindset Manager” with a great group of managers and supervisors in Pennsylvania. 

On the way home we decided to take a slight detour by the “Right Coast.” My absolute favorite part of the “Right Coast” is the sunrise. There is something so beautiful and exciting about the appearance of that ball of fire emerging from the ocean. 

This morning I envisioned the sun as a baton in a relay race. Someone on the other side of this world is going to sleep. They have had a very productive leg of this relay race we call life. Before they turn in for the day, they hand the baton (the sun) to us.

This made me ask myself this question: am I proud of what I’ve done with my daily leg of the race? As I pass the sun back to the other side of the world, am I at full speed or does it just roll out of my hand as I doze off watching reality TV?

If you are a manager or supervisor, you have a huge responsibility to take full advantage of your time with the baton by improving and developing others. 

Man! I’m excited about getting that sun back for another day. How about you? 

Greg L. Gilbert

www.LeaderOwnerMindset.com

Or Amateur Manager Or Supervisor?

This blog was inspired by a request for a speaker. They wanted topics that were geared towards the “Professional Manager” or “Professional Supervisor”. I was so thankful to read this. I’ve always known the importance of these positions but never really thought of them as professionals. MY ERROR! This has been added to our manager seminar, “Becoming A Leader Owner Mindset Manager.”

Are you a manager or supervisor? Do you consider yourself an amateur or professional? Hopefully you consider yourself a professional. The livelihoods of many people will depend on you throughout your career.

Think about this: If you are a Professional Manager or Supervisor, you will be ONE of the most important, influential and developmental people in the lives of many. If you are an amateur manager or supervisor, they may remember you but it may be for the wrong reasons. We can no longer tolerate managers or supervisors that distribute tasks, stomp out fires and have their shoes resoled quarterly. We MUST improve and develop teams. 

In my 30 year career, I remember many of my peers and the people I worked with but I remember all 21 of the leaders I worked with. I remember Buck Rogers at Buck’s Fina in Hope Arkansas when I was 16, Mr. Rivera when I retired 30 years later from my HR position and the 19 leaders in between. THAT is the influence they had on me. I am very grateful for great leaders and mentors in my life and career. What will be your legacy? 

Will you be remembered? If you can eliminate boss employee thinking and create a Leader Owner Mindset, you will be remembered for the right reasons. Once you accept a manager or supervisor position, you have accepted responsibility for profitability, sustainability and livelihoods. Take pride in your career, you are a professional.

You can also listen to our podcast on the professional manager or supervisor on The Leader Owner Mindset Podcast.

Greg Gilbert

www.LeaderOwnerMindset.com

When I was 24 years old, I missed a question in a seminar that makes me feel so foolish today. The question was; “When does our education end?”

All I could think about was formal education and I thought it was a trick question. I wanted to cover all bases so I wrote down that it depended on whether you were pursuing a high school education, associates degree, bachelors degree, masters or PHD. I thought I had all bases covered. 

Imagine my embarrassment when the instructor answered the question with one word, “Never”. The question was not about formal education, it was about learning new things. Today, this is so clear to me. I can not imagine my life without books, podcasts, seminars and having mentors in my life.

You see, I had the correct answer to a different question. If the instructor had asked the question this way; “When does the education of MOST PEOPLE stop”, my answer would’ve been correct.

What do you do in your life to insure that your education NEVER stops?

Greg Gilbert 

You can always tell the boss. They are micro-managing their team. As a result, they are never able to look ahead, plan for the future.

The best things you can do for you team is equip them to do the job, empower them, hold them accountable and TRUST them. 

My “high on trust, low on rules” organization will always beat your “high on rules, low on trust” organization.

This is ONE OF THE MANY DIFFERENCES in a Leader/Owner Mindset and boss/employee thinking!

Greg Gilbert

www.GregLGilbert.com

Note: this blog is not about religion, it’s about integrity. 

The Pope has just resigned. He has stepped down from his position. He stated that as a result of aging, his health had deteriorated to the point he couldn’t perform his duties at a satisfactory level. One article stated he doesn’t feel he has the physical capability of carrying on his stewardship in the manner required for the church and its parishioners. 

Wow! What a lesson in leadership. I guess this is very rare since it hasn’t occurred in nearly 600 years. How often does this occur in other positions of leadership such as a manager (at any level), supervisor or foreman?  

I want to applaud his decision and his leadership by making a few points:

Standards – He set his standards very high. Since he felt he was unable to meet his own standards, he stepped down. He didn’t have to be asked to step down or just occupy his position until death.

Humility – Since this has not occurred in nearly 600 years, I assume that all of his predecessors died while holding their position. Did each one of them perform their position to the highest standards until their death? Evidently, this Pope decided to step down and let someone he had more confidence in step in and take over. It takes a huge amount of humility to step down when you feel you are not performing at a high level. Confidence and humility can reside in the same person. Pride is a very dangerous partner.

Stewardship – Every person that is placed in a position of leadership is also granted the responsibility of stewardship. They may be stewards of an organization’s money, time, customers and team members. They have a responsibility to treat these as they would their own.

The Pope didn’t feel he was physically capable of carrying on his stewardship. How many managers, supervisors and foremen are physically capable of being a good steward of an organization’s resources but don’t have the knowledge to effectively utilize the tools and authority given to them. That is a failure of their leadership.

How many managers, supervisors and foremen have the knowledge to effectively utilize the tools and authority given to them but don’t have the GUTS to use them? That is also a failure of their leadership because of a lack of accountability.   

None of us may have the responsibility or authority of The Pope but if you are a manager, supervisor or foreman, you have the same authority and responsibility on a smaller scale. You are a steward. The livelihood of good people depends on you using the tools you have available to develop others and improve your organization.

It’s as simple as your leader asking to see your documentation of developing others for the past year. If we don’t have it, we aren’t improving our team.

How many of us were told this when we were brought on board or promoted; “Welcome to the organization. We want you to help us keep things just as they are.”? I have asked this to hundreds of people in seminars and have yet to keep a straight face.

The thing I admire about The Pope is that he was unwilling to just stay in the position and draw full Pope Pay* while not performing at a high level. How many managers, supervisors and foremen are allowed to occupy their position without performing at an acceptable level? It all boils down to accountability and replacing boss/employee thinking with the Leader/Owner Mindset.

*Pope Pay- I am not familiar with the compensation of The Pope nor am I willing to research it for this blog. I used the term as an illustration only.

Are you aware of leaders bosses that should Step Up or Step Down? Why do you believe they are not held accountable? 

Greg L. Gilbert

www.GregLGilbert.com

www.Twitter.com/GregLGilbert

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