In these times, the market place is a buzz of would-be-leaders (or junior leaders) trying to get "one up" on the competition. How can you set yourself apart from the rift-raft that is merely dressed up in a suit and tie or heels and lipstick? How can you emerge as the next bonafide leader in your company?

Here are some tips on how to move up from junior management to that next open promotion slot that everyone on your peer level will be jockeying for:

1) Become an encourager of your subordinates. Don't be the ego maniac that loves to call failures into your cubicle so you can give them the "what-for" every time they make a mistake. Instead, set yourself apart by encouraging your people beyond their mistakes.

2) Reward! When someone hits a goal or succeeds in some way, find out what kind of reward system speaks the greatest to their personality type, and reward accordingly. (ie: if it's someone who is motivated by fun, give them an extra 30 minutes lunch break so they can have some "free time.")

3) Lead by example! Nobody likes a lazy boss who gets off on driving the slave labor. If you want your team to be full of champion minded professionals, then STEP UP your own game. They will notice!

4) Don't get hung up on your own personal weaknesses. Leaders who do also get hung up on the weaknesses of others...sometimes without realizing that they have done so. Be good at what you are good at, and excel in those areas. Surround yourself with others who are good at the things you are not, and then encourage and reward them (Steps 1 and 2).

5) Love the game! If you want a team filled with excitement and committment, then YOU must exemplify that YOU love the game. Enthusiasm is contagious!

6) Make sacrifices for the team. Remember that YOU are the point person, and yet your team is only as strong as the weakest link. Ask yourself this question: "What are 3 sacrifices I can make as a leader that would help my team to have the greatest collective success?"

7) If you see something negative, say something postive. Most ego-centric leaders do exactly the opposite. If your personal growth is up to par, this shouldn't be difficult to achieve. If you find yourself having a hard time saying positive things in the midst of negativiy, then maybe you need a personal growth check??

8) You score on offense! So have a game plan that will allow your team to score together. Consider "team goals" in addition to "individual goals" for your people.

9) Defense is also important. A good defense consists of advanced planning. You need good time management, good people management, and good money management. All of this requires good planning. If you fail to plan, then plan to fail. But if you plan well, you will find that your team is almost always playing offense. And that's where you score points for the win!

10) Maintain an environment that is safe for your people to fail. When they do (and they will), enourage - reward - and lead! Then repeat! Remember...you also have weaknesses. Everyone needs to know that it's ok to fail; just fail forward.

Vince Lombardi said, "Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing." Become a winning leader, and the whole team will succeed. And guess what? It won't go unnoticed.

What's Goin' On?

What's happening in our country?

We seem to more more interested in sports, political rifts, our addictions...than we are in becoming better people. Good people have fallen prey to The Great Nothingness (a la The Never Ending Story), or the "numbed outedness" as I like to call it.

Americans grow more dis-illusioned, and more cynical in the process of dis-illusionment. A 40ish year old man was heard recently in a sports bar, saying, "To hell with it all. I'm ready to pack my stuff and my family and move to Australia or something. This country is going nowhere!"

For a country to go "nowhere," doesn't it imply (at least to some extent) that the people who comprise said country, or clan, or family, or what-have-you - doesn't it imply that the people who are parts of the whole are perhaps on a road to nowhere themselves? For the sum of any people group to be headed "nowhere," implicitly felt is the reality that at least some large portion of the populous has lost site of the initial direction.

John Donne, in his 17th meditation, said this: "No man is an island entire unto himself. Every man is a piece of the continent; a part of the main. Any man's death diminishes us; for we are involved in mankind."

This brief philosophical rant to say this: each of us is a part of something bigger than ourselves. And as Americans, it is our place as indiviual Americans to do our part to ensure a better America. When do we stop expecting government, employers, churches, spouses, parents, friends or anyone else to do for us what we ourselves could do if we would but simply take initiative.

Are you broke? Increase you cash flow.
Don't know how? Figure it out.
Are you over-weight? Fix your eating habits.
Are you consistently unhealthy? Eat right and exercise.
Are you under educated? Find a way to strengthen your mind...traditional or non-traditional.
Do you continue to fail? Keep failing until you succeed, but for God's sake...Don't just quit!

It is our job to make a better America by becoming better Americans. We can cure the health care issue by being more healthy. We can cure financial crisis by becoming more finacially responsible. We can create more jobs by starting new businesses that employee more people. WE THE PEOPLE can do this! YOU can be a part of it.

Start each and every day be asking yourself this memorable question to posed to all of us as Americans by our late President John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you...but what you can do for your country."

Be excellent! Our country is depending on you.