The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.
Here is the audio version of the post. Thanks so much for listening. Enjoy.
My religion is love. My life is love. My passion is love. And this does not mean that I do not get worked up, angry or grumpy. I am all of those things at times, but choose to focus on what’s good.
So what gets my blood boiling? Glad you asked. Lame leadership. Here’s the deal. Not everyone is meant to be a leader. And that is OK. We need followers too. Followers are very important, without them, we cannot create awesome in our business.
I continue to see frustrated owners, resentful team members and turnover continues to be a huge challenge in the salon biz. One of the reasons for this is leadership. And before you get all worked up, I am not saying team members cannot be jerks, they can, we all can. But at the end of the day, as a leader, its your job to create an environment for growth, to hire the right people and more importantly, to fire the right people.
If you are unhappy with your culture, the energy in your business or a team member, look in the mirror first, then begin to determine who you want on your bus. If you have a team member who is holding you hostage, you have a choice. If you have a team member who is not up to par technically, you have a choice. So it all comes back to you, the leader, and the choices you make.
How do you lead with love + awesomeness?
1. Love Yourself
One of the biggest challenges I see in leaders is their deep insecurities and ego driven leadership style. Guess what guys, this may have worked for you in the past, but in today’s world, it just wont cut it anymore. Love begins with us. Love is an inside job. If you want to be an effective leader, it starts with you. Do the work.
2. Care
OK, so this one may be obvious, but I am talking about really caring. Not just saying you care, but showing it in your actions. If you are not a people lover, you are not a leader. You know the old saying, actions speak louder than words.
3. A Servant’s Heart
The role of a leader is to create an environment for growth. To get the best out of your team. To provide the tools they need to create awesome. And the best way to do this is to have a servant’s heart. Your job is to be of service to your team.
4. Show Up
This one is big. And by showing up, I don’t just mean physically. Be present, be aware, be available, return calls, texts and emails. Spend quality time with your team. They chose you as their leader. Are you showing up for them?
5. Courage
It takes a ton of courage to take responsibility for the lives and careers of others. It takes courage to be able to take ownership of mistakes. It takes courage to have those super tough discussions with people, you know the ones I am talking about. It takes courage to be honest. But all of these things are part of leading with love + awesomeness.
How do you lead with love + awesomeness? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments or click here to share them with me privately, I’m listening.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
Paulo Coelho
Here is the audio version of this post. Thanks so much for listening. Enjoy.
You know the old saying “waiting for the other shoe to drop’? There are several explanations of the origins of this phrase but for the sake of this post, we will say it’s about waiting for something to happen, usually bad. As a person who battles (and wins more every day) with anxiety and panic disorder, I have lived most of my life waiting for the other shoe to drop, particularly when things are going awesome. So let’s just say I have lots of experience with this way of thinking.
Our minds are wonderful, powerful and crazy things you know. And we have the power to choose our thoughts, we had the power all along as we learned in The Wizard of Oz.
As Henri Matisse so famously said…”Creativity takes courage”, and I would add to that, so does creating awesome, starting a small business, running a small business and being a great leader.
What if…
I fail
It doesn’t work
They don’t like it
People hate me
I have a slow day
Nobody comes
What if…
I succeed
It does work
They love it
People love me
I have a busy day
People come
We can go about life, full of fear, waiting for the other shoe to drop or we can turn our fears into fuel, courage, creativity and create awesome. It’s a choice. Choose wisely.
he-ro (n)
a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for brave deeds and noble qualities.
Today perhaps more than ever, heroes matter. They help us to find our way in a complicated and sometimes confusing personal and professional world.
They offer up context to help us know how we fit in and serve as examples to show us the possibilities of the path we have chosen.
Our list of heroes is thankfully long and varied and likely somewhat different than yours; but if we were to guess just one name we likely share with most, we’d guess it would belong to the guy in the photo below – the first of many we look forward to sharing.
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
Vidal Sassoon
Vidal Sassoon is the hairdressers’ hairdresser’; the artists’ artist; our industry icons’ icon. Sassoon worked his way to success from 1940’s “shampoo boy” to a household name by the late 1960’s.
He went on to define the salon in its most modern incarnation. He brought incredible cred to the art and craft of hairdressing. He helped to create a revolution in how hair was understood and done – by professionals and for the women who depend on and adore them.
He believed – in the power of hairdressers to change the lives of clients in transformative ways and, in doing so, change themselves for the better.
Since “retiring” following the sale of his namesake salons, academies and products in the 1980’s, he has continued to serve as a role model for professionals around the world.
Today, Vidal uses his position in the public eye and considerable wealth to do good as a humanitarian and unofficial goodwill ambassador for the salon industry to the world.
Some 70 years after walking into his first salon, no name is more synonymous worldwide with the art and business of hair than that of Vidal Sassoon.
We heart Vidal.
(photos from Phase 4 Films , Vidal Sassoon The Movie)
