SecondIron's Blog

Sharpening Iron to Live Second

The Tough Loving Leader

Whether you are a manager of many, and entrepreneur leading a few, or father leading a family the basics remain true.  There is a fine line between being overbearing and one that leads by tough love in a faithful manner. In a world that has become soft and would rather focus on work-life balance rather than the bottom-line.  The demanding, sometimes abrasive and rude boss that requires structure and demands perfection is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. However, if you can find the proper balance of Tough and Love you may find yourself leading a team willing to follow you rather than run. “When you build a relationship on trust, then the majority of people are OK with tough love,” says Christine Porath, a professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. – INC TRUST is key to a leader’s success. As long as they lead their team with truth and faith the team will follow in trust. Whether it is a local congregation or a Fortune 500 company without trust, a leader you will never be. The heart of a leader needs to be at the core of their decision-making. Even when the leader demands long hours and may have what could be considered unreasonable expectations. As long as their heart is in the right place and are leading with love, it is OK to hurt a little. The tightrope though is maintaining the demanding nature while also maintaining the nurturing respect that the team they serve has grown to expect. A […]

What Room Does Fear Have

Fear exists within all of us, some in the darkness others in the light. It is not the life that was intended but yet we are paralyzed by the fear of ‘what if’ rather than ‘what is.’ If we possess any of these things there is no room for fear Trust in Others Hope for More Walk in Faith Hold onto Inspiration Embrace Weakness Run with Endurance Stand in Awe Find Perfection Step out of the Darkness into the Light.  Others may talk and have opinions, but they do not matter.  If we live in Fear of others that have no respect for themselves then we are powerless. ‘Limits like fears are often just an illusion.’ – Michael Jordan Some of us it is the Light rather than Darkness that we are afraid of.  This comes in the form of Power, Ego and can be just as paralyzing. If we are in the Dark we must fight our way back into the Light.  Fear  is mentioned hundreds of times in the Good Book I am pretty sure God was probably onto something.  If we focus on  the negativity and live with an anxious mind and spirit we will not be able to experience the peace that is intended for us. We need to erase and leave no room left for Fear, so “Do not be afraid“. Easier said than done for most of us, as men in the world we live in we are faced with many challenges.  We pretend to be the Knight, Warrior […]

Qualities of a Servant Leader

We all hear the term “servant leader” being tossed around in both the business world as well as within our local communities.  What exactly is a servant leader ? How do we become one or better yet, why should we want to be one? Leading by serving is a practice that dates back many years before the new lingo came along.  I am sure you can think of a couple of people in history as well as your own lives that lived to serve others.  By serving others they intentionally or not share their influence in their business, community or family effortlessly and without expectation. Let’ take a look at some of the component that I believe to make-up a servant leader LEAD – Goes without saying that a leader must live and lead by example. Respecting others and working just as hard if not harder than those that you lead. INSPIRATION – It does not matter if they work for you, or you for them or maybe they are your peer; everyone deserves to be treated with the same level of respect and courtesy. Give the people around you honest and true respect and generously love them for the blessing they are and they will naturally follow your lead. TEACHING – Share your knowledge and experiences in a benevolent manner that will be remembered. Everyone knows that the student one day will become the teacher so share and share alike. EMPATHY– As leaders it is easy to dismiss or disregard the feelings and heart […]