The other day I received an email from the Adjutant General (TAG). Normally when the TAG sends emails, they come right before a holiday to let us know he is appreciative of us and our work and to take off an hour early. This email was a little different. There wasn’t a holiday involved and he didn’t give us an hour off of work. He was forwarding “The Endeavor”, a newsletter from an Air National Guard unit, the 219th Command and Control Group (CACG).
Lately I have been reading books and articles on leadership, something that I feel that I struggle with. This newsletter was along the same lines as what I have been reading, especially the first article, Leadership Lessons from Tony Dungy, from the 219th CACG commander, COL David Evans. COL Evans had been recovering from knee surgery and had picked up Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy.
In this article, COL Evans relays Coach Dungy’s vision for coaching and a template for organizational success. I must agree that these seven key points have my motivation level a bit higher than last week. I hope that you can take some of these and use them as motivation too!
1. Be a pro – If you are getting paid to do a job, you are a professional. Anything less than your best is unacceptable.
2. Act like a champion – Coach Dungy quotes Chuck Knoll on his definition of a champion: “Champions are champions are not because they do anything extraordinary, but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else.”
3. Respond to adversity; don’t react – Three things you control in every situation:
a. Attitude
b. Approach
c. Response
Control the situation, don’t let it control you.
4. Be on time – Being late means it doesn’t matter to you or you cannot be relied upon.
5. Execute – Do what you’re supposed to do when you’re supposed to do it. Not almost, all the way. Not most of the time, all of the time.
6. Take ownership – Cal Stoll defined success with the following: “Success is uncommon and not to be enjoyed by the common man. I’m looking for uncommon people because we want to be successful, not average.” Let’s not take the normal approach, it’s not MY job.
7. Whatever it takes – No excuses, no explanations. Ever heard a champion give an excuse or explanation?
Stan