On to a New Role

After three years as the President of my synagogue, I have transitioned into a new role – Past President.  Yes, I have already heard all of the alternate titles – Has-been, Used-to-be, Wayne who?  It has been a great three years, had the opportunity to work with some good, dedicated people and, as a team, made some much needed changes.  Being in a leadership role, I used many of the tools that I learned over the past decade, discovered many new things about leading an organization and gained a better understanding of where I fit in that picture.

In late 2009, I was introduced to the world of personal development.  I do not mean learning to feel good about myself and live in a dream world where actions automatically manifest themselves.  This  was more about taking a journey to learn, through reading and following people successful in their fields, to develop my own abilities.  It is way too easy to finish our formal education process, head out into the world and get caught up in the whirlwind that surrounds us.  Recognizing that “I am too busy,” or “I do not have the time,” are just excuses for not doing the things we need to help us improve ourselves, the direction we head in and take control of our destiny.  What I have come to understand about success, management and leadership all fell into line from others said and wrote about.

As I now have the chance to reflect upon this part of my life, there are clearly some points of advice I can happily provide to others heading into a similar position:

• Success is not a given and does not always come on the first try.  Success will come, but can be made up of small failures or missteps which provide opportunities to learn from.  It may take a few tries to reach success but when you do, people will not necessarily remember the fails.
• Have patience, not every action has to be done immediately.  Yes, urgency is important and it helps in prioritizing, but one should not sacrifice a success because one acted too fast instead of doing it right.
• Listen to the people around you, as you do not need (nor want) everyone to agree with what you say.  None of us knows everything (even though some people act like they do).  Differing thoughts can lead to new ideas or realignment of objectives.  Keep an open mind.
• Be persistent and do not stop just because others throw up an objection or place a road block in front of you.  Remember, not everyone will see things the same as you; be sure to communicate clearly, paint an inclusive vision and keep you eye on the target.
• Facilitate change, as the acceptance of change has to be a majority mindset, not just one person.
• Most importantly, be prepared!  I knew someone that said, when I get to position X, I will look around, see what needs to be done, then make some decisions / plans.  The rule of first impression goes for leadership, as you only have one chance to put your first best step forward.

As I go through the next few weeks, I will delve more into these points and why these stood out for me.