This quote did not at first resonate with me personally.  The recognition by another leader (one of my colleagues) of my not demonstrating this at first brought me some anger and shame. Then I began to think about it and said to myself how lucky I was to have other leaders looking out for me.
 
This helped me to look for the positive message the leader was sending me instead of me becoming defensive and thinking I was doing something wrong.  In addition it helped me determine what was going on with my leadership behaviors.  I was able to identify that I had lost my passion. It was not present and instead I had replaced my passion with fear.
 
Passion as we all know is critical for a leader and if it’s dormant or replaced with fear then the ability to motivate yourself and others is missing.  After a few days I was able to refocus on my passion and what I love to do rather than feel so much fear that I stopped my normal leadership behaviors and replaced them with negativity.
 
While this process was not easy it was much easier once I recognized what was missing.  I would never have done this evaluation without the feedback from a trusted colleague and leader. 
 
 Here are the steps I identified for practicing the skills:
 
o    Know that you are not alone and that others are there to help you.
o    Listen to others when they are trying to tell you something.
o    Don’t react. Feel your pain.
o    Determine a behavior that will be more effective for you.
 
I want to thank Richard “Hutch” Hutchinson for his willingness to pay attention, read, and then connect to others.
 
Sincerely,
Michael W. Kublin