I am a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. I am proud of my position and I work hard at being an effective leader of soldiers, and I love what I do. However, there are times, leadership sucks. (You know you all have felt that one at one time or another.) That is why I am recommending Joseph Lalonde’s article What To Do When Leading Sucks. It gives good practical advice and what to do to get through those difficult times.

Or maybe it is time to re-evaluate. Look at the list found in the article from Forbes magazine called Why You’re Not a Leader. Writer Michael Myatt makes a list of reasons you are not a leader. Or maybe it is a sign that you need to re-assess how you can work at being a better leader.

It may just be that you are not listening. To Hear the Truth, You Have to Listen.Brian Layer, from N2Growth, gives us four things to consider. In order to be a good leader, you need to be a good listening.

We all have times when being a Leader not so much fun. But you can listen around and use that time as a learning experience. Make an honest assessment of the situation. Maybe all you need is some time off. Or maybe you need to change directions. I hope these articles help you. Talk to you on Friday.

You can learn about leadership just about anywhere you are as long as you have a teachable spirit.

For example, do you remember your worst job? What did you learn from that experience? CM Logan addresses that subject in his post How Selling Vacuums Made Me A Better Leader. He describes what value lessons he learned from his experience. When you have failure in these jobs, what did it teach you? I personally have learned, humility, perseverance, and focus from my failures. And I have also that it is very important for leaders to continue to set the example during their failures. After all our troops and tribes are watching us and how we react. 

A lot of learning from life means that you must have the right mindset. In Dan Black’s article, Are You a Teachable Leader, he talks about things that would prevent you from having that teachable mindset. And then he gives ways to open yourself to learn from the world around you.

Finally, I have learned so much by the wonderful people I have been surrounded by. I know in order for this to continue, I need to cultivate these friendships. Juan Cruz, Jr. talks about this in his article, 5 Keys to Building Relationships.

Here are just a few articles I read this week that reminded me that with the right mind frame, you can find life leadership lessons by your past experiences, the life around you, and the people you hold close. Hope you read these articles. And go out with a new perspective and learn from the world around you.

And speaking about learning, on Friday, be sure to be here to read guest blogger, Dan Ericson talking about his experience when he started an educational journey when he signed up for college at the age of 30, and got his Master’s Degree eight years later. He talks about that experience in his post, Too Old for School?

Dan is the author of two books, A Train Called Forgiveness and At the Crossing of Justice and Mercy. The books are part of a Cult Trilogy and based partially on his own experiences. Dan teaches college-level communication courses in the Northwest and writes poetry and music. Learn more about Dan on his blog at http://www.danerickson.net

Have a great week. Hope to see you Friday.