Nancy Reece

Leading from a reservoir of calm

Integrity First!

The Trophy or The Towel: 5 Keys to Servant Leadership

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5 Keys to Servant Leadership

Are you reaching for the trophy or the towel? A checklist for Christian business or ministry leaders that examines 5 keys to servant leadership.

I used to reach for trophies.  I set goals that included promotions, awards, recognitions, and things designed to advance my career.  Today I have a much deeper desire to pour into others through mentoring, coaching and discipling.    I call it reaching for the towel, and it’s an important question for the Christian business or ministry leader.  Jesus didn’t reach for trophies. He reached for a towel to wash his disciples’ feet. He modeled servant leadership.

[Read more…] about The Trophy or The Towel: 5 Keys to Servant Leadership

Accomplish More by Doing Less – Part 2

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When I wrote about my struggle to accomplish more by doing less last month, I struck a cord for a lot of you. One reader shared this: “I travel almost weekly. To catch flights I’m up many mornings around 4 am. Last night I arrived home at 10:30 pm. The easiest thing to give up is my “quiet time” for prayer, reading or meditation or exercise…all of which I need to stay healthy and productive.”

It is a hard struggle to shut down the years of a performance driven life and to willfully choose to live your life in a way that has greater benefits – for both yourself and for those you lead. So, if you’d like to accomplish more by doing less – here are the 4 choices I made that enabled me to live with margin in my life. [Read more…] about Accomplish More by Doing Less – Part 2

Four Questions for Leading Yourself

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How much time do you spend leading yourself?

I ask my coaching clients and MBA students that question early in our relationship. Looking at the compass here, do this exercise: If you took 100% of your time on an average week at work, what percentage would be spent:

  • Leading your boss/supervisor?
  • Leading your peers?
  • Leading your direct reports?
  • Leading yourself?

Your total numbers should add up to 100. [Read more…] about Four Questions for Leading Yourself

Top 10 Ways to Lead Yourself

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It was 6:30 am when he came in the building wearing a green baseball hat. Had he been at any other YMCA in Chicago, it wouldn’t have been an issue, but this YMCA was in the heart of Cabrini Green, a housing project rife with gangs. Depending on how a hat was worn, and its color, it could constitute a gang sign, so we had a “no hats” policy in the facility. At 6:35 am, one of my staff members came to tell me a man was refusing to take off his cap. I went out to meet him, knowing that once he understood the reason behind our policy, he’d be happy to comply. [Read more…] about Top 10 Ways to Lead Yourself

Unethical “Ladder Climbing” in the Workplace

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This is a guest blog from a colleague I met at National SPeaker Association UNconference.  Bonnie’s discussion is about a person who takes the ideas of others and promotes them as her own.  In my next blog, we’ll be discussing people who lead out of mutual fear vs. mutual trust.  Nancy

Fear, concern and even intimidation are very real feelings that develop in many work groups.  It’s not uncommon to see a group in which “ladder climbing”, striving, and metaphorically speaking, scratching, is done in order to put one’s needs and desires ahead of others’. I saw this recently in a group where I was consulting.  The operations manager was determined to be seen and heard above all others, to the point of bypassing her co-workers and staff members to achieve her goals. She was known to take others’ ideas and present them to leadership as her own.  What drives this type of unethical behavior?  [Read more…] about Unethical “Ladder Climbing” in the Workplace