Leaders Interfere by Klemmer

Leaders are bold enough to interfere in other people's lives

Do you remember studying the physicist Sir Isaac Newton in school? His first Law of Motion stated, "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an outside force."

Objects (and you and I are "objects") tend to keep on doing what they're doing. In fact, it's the natural tendency of objects and people to resist changes in their state of motion. This tendency to resist changes in their state of motion is described as "inertia."

What has been the direction of your business? If your business continues on its current path for a year will you be happy? What has been the direction of your family life? Will you be satisfied if it maintains its current course for another year?

Leaders are the force in other people's lives that alter the direction that life is taking. A positive leader interferes in other people's lives and causes them to do what they otherwise would not do toward what is important to them.

That's service. If leaders interfere for their own purpose, then it's manipulation. You have to know what the other person wants in order to interfere and be of service. Are you bold enough to interfere?

Whose life can you impact this week by finding out what they want and then be bold enough to cause them to do what they would not have done on their own? Commit to doing that.

TAKEAWAY! Servant leadership requires caring enough to interfere, but doing so by giving what is wanted and needed not what we want to give.

Action Step #1

Ask several business partners or members of your team what they want to achieve this week. Now commit yourself to actions that will "interfere" in their lives to support them to accomplish their goal.

Yes, it's uncomfortable. You have to be more committed to what they want for themselves than what they think of you in the moment. You cannot lead people whose approval you need. This might be as simple as sitting with them until they make a certain call, forcing them to do a presentation when they don't feel they are ready for yet, or requiring an accountability call from the person each day after they have completed a challenging task. There are many ways you can interfere to cause powerful, productive action.

Action Step #2

Find a seminar that will alter your path before you need to. This could be one of our trainings at Klemmer or another you're attracted to, but pick some training that will challenge and change your thinking. Rarely if ever does that happen without the influence of an outside force. Perhaps it's taking a trip to a third world country or to a really depressed neighborhood near you and being of service. (Note: Journal about any changes you notice in your life and work.)

"None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody . . . bent down and helped us."–Thurgood Marshall