Cmon....time to ADMIT IT!! You too are getting excited for Thursday!! I cannot call myself a fanatic for Star Wars (I lived with one for a LONG TIME), but to say I feel 13 and giddy might be an understatement!! I couldn't let this week go by without learning a little from Star Wars...and especially from one of the greatest TEACHERS of ALL TIME.... YODA!! (Wise he is...mmmmm) I have ALWAYS loved this scene. The end is easy...but it's the words that Yoda offers to Luke prior to the punchline that I think tell the real leadership story for most of us: "Always with you in cannot be done..."
As an educator, this clip always gives me hope...if YODA had troubled students (always the brightest and most talented), then certainly my struggles are validated!! ATTITUDE defines success...not ability. We, as leaders, HAVE to be patient enough to TEACH our proteges they CAN. CANNOT is a vocabulary word erased from the minds and mouths of the successful. "Hear you nothing that I say...." The frustration of communication. We have to TEACH our padawan learners WHAT to LISTEN to. There is so much NOISE that affects the work of our people. The noise gets in the way of what we NEED them to LISTEN to. If we can work to eliminate the DISTRACTIONS from their lives, they will have a chance to hear what we have to say! "You must UNLEARN what you have LEARNED..." New or veteran, young or old. If you are in leadership, you have UNLEARNED much already: bad habits, fear, gossip, anger, jealousy. What we learned in our previous experience, just may not be right for this experience. Realities need to be shifted. There is a better, more effective way. Yoda and his 900 years of wisdom and experience couldn't MAKE Luke learn. Motivation must come from within and although we can't motivate, we can TEACH our team members how to motivate themselves through confidence, practice, and creative problem solving. "Do or Do Not...There is No Try..." The Ultimatum. Try should be an opportunity for success. So often it is an excuse for failure. I TRIED to do something actually means I FAILED to do something. If it CANNOT be DONE, it WILL NOT be done. I Tried. I Can't. I Do Not. I WILL. I CAN. I DO! The choice is yours as you prepare to TEACH an ATTITUDE to LISTEN and LEARN for SUCCESS! |
Thanks for stopping by. These are musings on how I see leadership in the world and how I continue to try and grow through my lens.
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