Last week, I wished YOU a week of finding a quiet time to
reflect on all that YOU do right, all that YOU do that makes a difference in
other’s lives, all that YOU do to continue to learn and grow and be the best
that YOU can be whatever your age. I hope you actually DID take time to
celebrate the fact that YOU are the greatest hero in your life!!
The Legacy Builder book by Rod Olson continues to have words of
wisdom for me. I already talked about having balance in one’s life in order to
reach your greatest potential. Another is to Be FAT, an acronym for Faithful
– Available – Teachable.
Whether you are talking about your job/career, your role as a
spouse/significant other, parent, athlete, coach, CEO, or leader in some
capacity these three traits are critical for each of us to apply in our lives
for learning and growing to continue.
Trust is a part of Faithful.
On some level we need to trust that the organization, team, family unit,
company has our best interest at heart. Not just as an employee, a player, a
spouse etc. but as a person. Is that always the case? No, not always, however,
that is the mindset to maintain. I’m not saying to ignore situations that may
not reflect this trust yet there’s something to say about expecting the best
and that’s what you will get.
Being Available
means to make time to be the best you can be for your staff, your team, your
spouse, your family, your community. Part of being Available is to have that balance between time for yourself, time
for work, and time for family. Yes, it’s a juggling act especially when you’re
working full time, you’re married, and especially when you have children. If
you’re truly working to be your best and to make a difference then being Available is a critical component.
Have you ever been with someone who you know is extremely
busy, they have a lot on their plate yet when you’re with them they make you
feel like you’re THE most important person, and they have all the time in the
world for you? It may only be a couple minute conversation yet you leave
feeling valued and respected. That to me is the epitome of being Available. It’s the teacher, the coach,
the parent, the boss who will drop what they’re doing to give their full
attention to the student, the player, the child, the employee who is wanting/needing
to talk.
As Olson states, “In order to reach the first two – Faithful and Available – you need to have a Teachable
spirit or you have no shot. You can’t think you know everything.” John Wooden
the famous UCLA basketball coach says, “What separates the great from the
average are those who don’t think they know it all.”
Haven’t you seen it before? It’s the high school player who moves
on to play on the collegiate level and thinks he/she doesn’t have anything new
to learn. It’s the teacher who’s been teaching for many years and makes no
changes in how they teach or how they make learning more relevant. It’s the
administrator that equates his position as thinking that gives him or her the
credibility for why people need to listen only because of their title. Length
of service and job title , however, do not necessarily mean effective
leadership. It’s the person who expects everyone else to improve yet they don’t
walk their own talk. It’s also the marriage that never grows despite the number
of years together and the different circumstances that more years brings to the
relationship.
Being Teachable
means to learn, grow, change and move on in a new way. Being Teachable also includes making
mistakes. Olson says there are three things you can do when you make a mistake:
(1) Admit it, (2) Fix it, and (3) Don’t repeat it. We all are going to slip. We
all are going to fail. The objective is to get back up and continue the
process. Mistakes are how we learn. The goal is to focus on the process NOT the
results and you will succeed!
I wish you a week of reflection on what these three words
mean in your life:
Faithful
– Available – Teachable.
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