When was the last time you had a deep belly laugh with someone? You know the kind where even if you look at the other person, you just start laughing all over again.
When we lead from a place of joy and not worry, doubt, and fear, we instill confidence in the ones we lead. That's the kind of belly laughing that means confidence in those around you.
How do you find joy in the everyday? Joy in leadership?
What's joy in leadership you might ask? Well, it's knowing that you enjoy (joy within) the life you lead and the team you lead.
When I started leading more than 30 years ago, I tried everything I thought a leader was supposed to be—dressing in the power suits, the name on the door plate, and the indoctrination of what leadership is supposed to be.
Then I started seeing those leaders I admire and realized they dressed how they wanted and didn't have a power office or any of the trappings. And then it clicked. What my teams needed was for me to be me.
To lead in the joy of the job, the team, and the people we serve.
What that led to was my receiving several awards for advocacy on behalf of my staff. Yes, can you believe it? I was spotlighted twice with national awards on behalf of how I led my teams.
All because we found joy. No, I'm not talking about woo-woo leadership and wanting someone to like me. I'm not talking about not performance-managing people when they don't do their jobs. No, that's disingenuous leadership.
No, it is the leadership that says even in performance issues I can help you do a better job in an environment that helps you to grow. And, if it is not an environment you can succeed in, to help you find a place where you can grow.
But when we know that leadership isn't just about work, we can grow ourselves and find joy in leading in any environment where we find ourselves in a leadership position. For example, as a parent, you are in a leadership position. Or, if you lead a social organization or voluntary organization, you are in a position of leadership.
Here are three ways to help you find joy in any leadership role you find yourself in today:
1. Confront your fears - Fear and joy cannot coexist. Most mistakes in leadership occur out of fear. Fear of failing. Fear of making a decision. Fear of being replaced as the leader. As a leader, ask yourself what you are afraid of.
2. Be courageous - Courage is not defeating cowardice. It's defeating conformity. If you are the leader who goes along to get along... honestly you are not a leader, you are a puppet. When you can step out from the crowd for your team and do the right thing, even if no one else is... that's what makes a memorable leader. Everyone else is just a manager!
3. Be calm - Leaders who think that leading means lots of huffing and puffing to blow the house down usually fizzle out and lose the respect of the people and the teams they lead. Pounding on your chest to show folks you are in charge is the fastest way to have your team lose respect for you.
If leadership were easy, a lot more people would be real leaders. The kind of leaders that inspire and instill joy in the people they lead.
Attention Bias
What is attention bias? Attention bias is our tendency to prioritize certain types of stimuli/information over others. At any given moment, an individual's senses can perceive countless stimuli in our immediate surroundings. Threat-related attention bias refers to the tendency to prioritize the processing of threats over benign or neutral stimuli. Is it no wonder we have biases related to race, ethnicity, disability, and more?
Each of us individually generates more information than ever before in human history. We take in almost 90,000 pieces of information daily, yet our brains can only filter in about 10 percent of that information. The rest, well is stored in our subconscious minds and often when we perceive a threat we act upon it.
How do you perceive the world around you and how can you understand your attention bias?
The WEBB Advisory Group Presents
The WEBB Center For Social Impact was developed and designed from more than 50 years of lived experience as a Black Woman in America.
Focusing on domestic policy specifically, our institute provides a global worldview perspective for black and brown women from the diaspora living in America today.
Using research data, lived experiences, and stories of impact, policymakers and leaders can understand the social impacts various policies have on black and brown children and women, today and tomorrow.
In response to various incidents in our country's recent history, history mustn't repeat itself. Therefore, the WEBB Center For Social Impact strives to provide voter information, information on issues for policymakers, information for community activists, and information for anyone who seeks to understand the social impacts of public policy on individuals and communities.
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"Inspired (In Spirit), we live and move and have our being."
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Prayer for the Week
Dear God,
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”
Lord, we pray that we may be an example of Christ's love to the world. Your Word reminds us that you have given us a new command, to love one another. As you have loved us we must love others. That includes those we lead in every area of our lives. May our lives reflect this love of Christ, exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Help us to walk in love towards others always. Amen.
"Inspiring Humans...Changing Communities."
"And So It Goes..." is a weekly blog post. We welcome the voices of all people. Are you interested in writing for us? Let us know.
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