Leadership 101

Leadership – the position or fact of being the leader/the person or people in charge of an organization (Cambridge Dictionary).

Everyday, everywhere I go, the question of leadership comes up. I know at A&J I am constantly challenged to develop as a leader, to point the direction, to cast a vision, to develop people… it never ends! This is all GOOD! I want to be the best leader I can.

Let me see if you can identify with some of my leadership challenges. The process starts with leading me! I have found that I am the toughest one to lead and the last to listen to what I have to say. The: I deserve… I’m the boss… I’ll get someone else to syndrome sets in and breaks me down. Thus, the first and greatest leadership challenge is the leader himself!

There is a constant new stream of information available on how to lead, how to grow, how to… and the internet isn’t helping. There is so much information that it is virtually impossible to keep up and even less possible to implement all the “great” new ideas. I’m resolved to the fact that there aren’t really that many new ideas, just new ways to say old things. So, here’s what I think leadership means:

-Loving God

-Loving People

-Honesty

-Integrity – Doing what you said you would do – even when it’s no fun

-Challenging others to grow

-Vision casting

-Filling the vision bucket back up consistently

-Letting people fail

-Coaching

-Taking care of yourself

I said it! The challenge is doing it. It’s not easy being a leader. I have a long way to go to become a great leader, it’s a good thing I’m so young!

by Kent Rawhouser, President, A&J Property Restoration

Kent founded A&J Property Restoration over 30 years ago and operates on the cutting edge of the restoration industry. He is an expert in mold remediation, water restoration, fire restoration and sewage cleanup and is also President of the Indoor Air Quality Association. Click the link for more information on Kent’s expertise and background.