A lot of recent blogs, podcasts and other leadership literature talks about clarity. Clarity of your purpose, clarity of your vision, clarity of ...

Clarity to me is like looking through a pair of binoculars. To get clarity you have to adjust the binoculars one small adjustment at a time. Once your object is in focus, you have clarity. The problem with clarity is that it doesn't stay focused - just like a pair of binoculars. Every time you pick up your pair of binoculars you have to re-adjust it to get it to focus.

It is our role as leaders to adjust everything around us on a daily basis to ensure that we have clarity, and once we have clarity, the people and the organisations we lead will also have clarity.

My son and his friend were playing a new Xbox game today. They both have had the game for a week or so and today was the first time they played together.

What amazed me is how quickly they taught each other the tips and skills of the game. Their individual knowledge of the game wasn't enough to move them from one level to the next. Once they shared their knowledge of the game they started flying (literally) through the game.

It's time we embrace this kind kind of knowledge sharing at work. Being so willingly collaborative could help us achieve our individual and collective objectives so much easier.

Why don't we naturally do this? Our kids do - without fail. I don't know the answer, but I can suggest a few reasons:

1. We don't have shared objectives - we are pulling in different directions.
2. We are scared that we will become obsolete once somebody else knows what you know.
3. Unlike sports teams, work teams struggle to work together towards the same goal.

Please let me know if you can think of any more reasons.

What can we do today/tomorrow to start collaborating like kids?

This afternoon my son dumped a large plastic box full of Hero Factory Lego pieces on the lounge floor. The pieces represents around 30 different sets  - all mixed up.

For the untrained eye this pile of Lego pieces resembles a mess - ultimate chaos. For my son it resembles endless opportunities to build new things - things he never build before.

There are three ways to tackle this pile of Lego:

1. Grab the original instructions and build the original characters (this takes ages - believe me, we tried it before),
2. Spend time planning your own instructions and them build your own characters (assuming your patience last that long),
3. Get stuck in! Build, change, pull apart, re-build until you have a character that resembles the vision in your head.

As leaders we should help create and mold the vision. Leave it to your capable teams to get stuck in and deliver on the vision. Give them the space to build and re-build - let them have fun. The end product might surprise you.

I always liked mowing the lawn. As a kid it was one of my "favourite" chores. I know it's sad, but it beats gardening and washing the dishes. I still like doing it today.

I like the smell of the newly cut grass. I like the sense of achievements when I am done and the lawn looks clean and tidy. What I like the most is the time it gives me to reflect - to be with my own thoughts.

The act of mowing the lawn is a mindless task, just don't cut the electric cord or chopping up the kids toys. My mind therefore wonders - solving problems, coming up new ideas, resting and switching off.

My sense of achievement now more than doubles after I mowed the lawn. Not only did I accomplish something physical and tangible, but I also had time to reflect on anything and everything.
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Use all the quiet spaces in your life to reflect. I sometimes drive in total silence - no radio, no music, no podcast - just driving. We aware of the quiet spaces in your day  and use these for daily reflection.

 Jesters were allowed to openly point out the king's shortcomings without punishment. Do you have a jester or two in your organisation? Should we consider having more people around us that will tell us the truth - as they see it. No hidden agendas, no assumptions, no secrets. Just the truth.

How do we make sure that the truth is always spoken? Lets start with trust. Trust is build through relationships. Relationships relies on people talking to each other. The truth will therefore be spoken if we continue talking. Talk to your direct reports, your teams and your colleagues. Don't have agendas, just talk.

Talking involves listening. Talking comes naturally. Listening doesn't. I have been working on my listening skills for years and I am nowhere near as good as I want to be. Be intentional about listening and the truth will set you free.

Will you "appoint" a jester today?

I just watched a bit of Avengers: Age of Ultron with my son. After I tucked him in, I washed the dishes whilst reflecting on super heroes. I realised that super heroes are super leaders. Super heroes (good or bad) knows exactly what their strengths and weaknesses are and they focus all their energy on their strengths.

The Avengers take super heroes and their super leadership skills to the next level. What if you create, manage and lead a team of super leaders - people that not only know their own strengths, but also knows each others strengths. Then you have a team like the Avengers - a team that work together and achieve their goals/objectives by playing each others strengths.  

What makes the Avengers even stronger is the leader that molds and encourages the team. That man is Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson). He knows each team member's strengths and weakness, but as the leader he focuses his energy on their strengths.

As a leader in training, I never realised that there would be a benefit in practicing my presentation skills. We had MBA lectures today which focused on presentation skills. I wish I leaned some of this stuff 10 to 15 years ago. If you a leader in training, like me, take this tip from me: go and develop your presentation skills and practice it every day.

This skill, with all your other leadership skills, will make influencing so much easier and natural. You will have the confidence to present anything to anybody, boosting your influence on a daily basis. This skill alone won't help you fulfill your purpose, but it's another tool in your ever growing toolbox that will come in handy on a regular basis. 

Find opportunities to present, create opportunities to present and volunteer to present when nobody else wants to. Practice, practice, practice. 

On a regular basis my son replies to something I say with: "It doesn't matter". This drives me up the wall, as I have to repeatedly remind him that everything matters.

On reflection, I am as guilty of saying the same, just not out load. How many times do we ignore somebody speaking in a meeting, cut into somebody's conversation or keep typing when somebody speaks to you. I am guilty. How do I know? Self awareness. Can you buy self awareness online? Nope. Learn it on a two day course? Nope. Work hard at it everyday for the rest of your life? Now we are getting somewhere.

Giving people (your team, colleagues, family, children) your time does matter. Maybe not to you, but it matters to them - a lot. As a leader in training (like me), remember that everything matters.

 Today I decided to give blogging about leadership a proper go. To show my commitment to my and your leadership development, I will blog at least five times a week. I'm not saying that I will will try, I am saying that I will do.  Why? Listen to @MichaelHyatt recent podcast to find out why doing trumps trying.

My blogs will will be short (viewable on an smartphone screen without scrolling down) and based on things I read, see, experience, hear, etc. The main thing is to share how I experience leadership everyday. How I to apply the theory in my work and family life. I'll share with you what works, what needs tweaking and what I banned to the recycle bin. 

I hope that you will help us all by commenting on my posts, so we can all learn together. I don't think we can learn everything there is to know about leadership in one lifetime. All we can do every day is apply what we learn and share that knowledge with everybody around us.