8 Life Lessons From Martin Luther King, Jr.

It will have been 95 years ago this month that Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in Atlanta. One of the greatest Americans to have ever lived, King devoted his life to the struggle for civil rights, a struggle that continues to this very day.

In both word and action, he had a profound and immeasurable impact both at home and abroad. Today, as we honor his life and his memory, we note a few ways in which the rest of us can follow the example of this great man with these eight important life lessons.

1. Dare to dream.

It doesn’t matter who you are or how big your dreams are, your dreams are valid. Teaching youth to dream big and work hard is such a powerful lesson. No matter how big or small, let’s continue to teach youth to believe in themselves in order to make those dreams come true.

2. Love others.

Martin Luther King Jr. believed in the power of love. He taught us to love others and not hate because love always wins in the end. He believed that hating people is stooping low and that no one should ever fall prey to hate. Because when you return hate for hate, no one wins.

3. Don’t judge others by their appearance.

Everyone may look different in appearance, but the character of individuals is what matters most. Just because someone looks different from you on the outside doesn’t mean we should treat them differently.

4. Push on and persevere.

MLK believed in his mission. If you are going through challenging moments, don’t quit. Today’s youth must learn that goals can be difficult to reach, but do not give up at the initial indication of hardship. The most promising goals are often the most formidable to strive for.

5. Serve others.

This is one of the greatest lessons from MLK. Martin Luther King Jr. exemplified a life of service. He believed serving others is the epitome of greatness. Youth who learn how to share, be kind, and be selfless can make their lives (and the lives of others) more pleasing.

6. Forgive

Forgiving others can be difficult, but we should never allow hatred to develop in our hearts. Preventing hatred starts by learning to forgive quickly. Learn to talk to children about forgiveness and how it releases pain for themselves more than it does the other person.

7. Stand up for what is right.

His stance on justice was obvious, which meant speaking up in a silent room. If youth see someone being bullied, encourage them to stand up for those who are being bullied and do what is right, even if it goes against the grain.

8. All things are possible.

For Martin Luther King, Jr., “impossible” was not an acceptable word. He dreamed of a future of equality and equity. Whatever your child’s dreams are, they are possible. Work hard, never give up, be kind to others, and follow our purpose. They shall succeed!

Thank you, Martin Luther King Jr, for inspiring, teaching, and guiding this nation. Thank you for the opportunities you’ve given millions and millions of people and the hope you’ve instilled for a brighter future.

Lean Quote: Goals Give Your Life Meaning

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score."   —  Bill Copeland 

Goal setting should not be taken lightly because your journey to success depends on it. Goal setting is a process whereby you decide what you want to achieve and set up a plan to do it.  The very first step of goal setting is to, first, determine what you want at the end of the journey. That is your ultimate destination.  Some people say that goal setting is just a matter of sitting down and deciding what to do.  If you fully intend to achieve your goals, you should perceive goal setting as an extremely powerful process of personal planning.

You should start with one goal and stay focused on this goal at least for 30 days. If after 30 days you feel you're doing well and getting closer to the desired outcome you can start with the second goal. 

The simple rule is: Don't set a lot of goals at the same time. You won't achieve any. The key to goal setting is staying focused. And it is impossible to focus at many goals at the same time.  Start with the most important one.

If there is any doubt in your mind that you can achieve something, you don't give it your all. In fact, you may very well just set it aside. In order to fully achieve anything, you must believe it is possible at a cellular level.

If you believe that you can be successful, that you'll enjoy being successful, then you will be successful.

8 Tried and True Ways to Reach Your Goals

There’s a lot of articles about the importance of goal-setting, however, most of us don’t take the time to lay out clear and measurable goals to work toward. Goal setting will help you stay motivated, determine what’s important to you, eliminate distractions, and build your self-confidence.

When we get busy with work and everyday life, we often put our big dreams and goals on the back burner. Many times that free time doesn’t often come, so it’s important to find the time to work towards and achieve your dreams. These eight tips can help you to work towards achieving what you really want, as they have helped highly successful people for many years.

These practical tips on goal setting can help make it easier to set and reach goals:

1. Specific, realistic goals work best. When it comes to making a change, the people who succeed are those who set realistic, specific goals. And that makes it easier to stick with.
2. It takes time for a change to become an established habit. It will probably take a couple of months before any changes — like getting up half an hour early to exercise — become a routine part of your life. That's because your brain needs time to get used to the idea that this new thing you're doing is part of your regular routine.
3. Repeating a goal makes it stick. Say your goal out loud each morning to remind yourself of what you want and what you're working for. (Writing it down works too.) Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you're training your brain to make it happen.
4. Involve others. It is always good to involve others in the process of setting and achieving goals. Take advice when necessary. And don’t be rigid. There are people out there who are better at this. Their suggestions are always valuable.
5. Make an action plan. So you have set goals, written them down and now you are all set to start working towards achieving them. First step – make an action plan. There could be more than one method to achieve a goal. Which one suits you? Decide on it.
6. Track progress. Extremely important. If you don’t track progress, you don’t get an idea if you are going the right way and if you would ever achieve it in the time frame you had set in your mind. So track your progress everyday. There are various methods and tools to track progress and I’ll discuss them in detail in my next article.
7. Roadblocks don't mean failure. Slip-ups are actually part of the learning process as you retrain your brain into a new way of thinking. It may take a few tries to reach a goal. But that's OK — it's normal to mess up or give up a few times when trying to make a change. So remember that everyone slips up and don't beat yourself up about it. Just remind yourself to get back on track.
8. Persist. Don’t give up. As I mentioned, there could be many paths leading to the same destination. Try out different methods. Learn and improve. Be patient. Be persistent.

Enjoy the journey. Sometimes we are so deeply entrenched in setting and achieving our goals that it can be easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated. We encourage you to take a step back, take a deep breath, and relax. Studies show that enjoying what you do makes you more likely to succeed. When you focus on the process and not the outcome all of the time, you can enjoy the present moment and improve at the same time.

Life continually offers up opportunities that allow for the striving of new goals and bringing talents forth in new ways.

Lean Tips Edition #293 (#3421 - #3435)

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #3421 – During the Holidays Show Employee Appreciation With Team Lunches

Team lunches are a great way to boost employee morale year-round, and the holidays are no exception. Many companies increase the frequency of company-sponsored lunches during this time. This could be a recurring meal perk for your team to order individual meals during the work week. Or, you might host a team lunch for your staff to come together and bond over delicious meals. Whatever you choose, meals are a great way to show employees you appreciate their hard work.

Lean Tip #3422 – During the Holidays Show Employee Appreciation With Teambuilding Activities

Team-building activities are another way to foster engagement amongst employees. The team lunch previously mentioned is one great example of a team-building activity you can host during the holidays. Your activities should allow team members to connect with each other, and especially those they might not work with regularly. Additional ideas include movie nights, games, and shared music playlists.

Lean Tip #3423 – During the Holidays Show Employee Appreciation With Volunteer Day  

During the holiday season, it’s more important than ever to give back to the community. If your team wants to get together in person, you can host a volunteer day at a local organization like a soup kitchen or senior center. If you’d like to facilitate this virtually, you can consider a digital activity like writing holiday cards for veterans or the homeless. Volunteering together is a wonderful way to foster connections amongst your team.

Lean Tip #3424 – During the Holidays Show Employee Appreciation With the Gift of Knowledge.

As the year comes to a close, individuals often turn their attention to goals for the upcoming year. One of the most unique employee appreciation ideas is to give your employees the opportunity for personal development. Employees are hungry to learn, and you can support them in doing so by bringing in a professional speaker, attending a class together, or hosting a workshop.

Prior to doing this, poll your teams to learn about what they want to explore and if there's anybody in particular they'd like to learn from. That way you can host something that everybody is excited about. This will help your employees feel like you respect their future and will give them skills they can apply to your organization.

Lean Tip #3425 – During the Holidays Show Employee Appreciation With Recognition

We are primal creatures, and the human brain craves praise. Let recognition be the fuel that powers your organization. Put together a year-end “Wall of Fame” where individual achievements are on display for all to see. Take it a step further, and implement a peer-to-peer element by having each employee submit coworker acknowledgements. This is a simple-but-effective way to build individual confidence and fellowship among team members and departments.

Lean Tip #3426 – Put Time Into Planning

Don't wait until the last minute to choose your goal. Picking wisely and putting in extensive planning are essential parts of achieving any goal. Experts suggest that you brainstorm how you will tackle a major behavior change, including the steps you will take, why you want to do it, and ways you can keep yourself on track.

You can start by writing down your goal, making a list of things you might do to achieve that goal, and noting any obstacles that might stand in your way. By knowing exactly what you want to accomplish and the difficulties you might face, you'll be better prepared to stick to your resolution and overcome anything that might sidetrack you.

Lean Tip #3427 – Start With Small Steps

Taking on too much too quickly is a common reason why so many New Year's resolutions fail. Starting an unsustainably restrictive diet, overdoing it at the gym, or radically altering your normal behavior are surefire ways to derail your plans. Instead, focus on taking tiny steps that will ultimately help you reach your larger goal.

While it may seem like a slow start, these small incremental changes make it easier to stick to your new healthy habits and increase the likelihood of long-term success.

Lean Tip #3428 – Remember That Change Is a Process

Those unhealthy or undesired habits that you are trying to change probably took years to develop, so how can you expect to change them in just a matter of days, weeks, or months? Be patient with yourself. Understand that working toward your resolution is a process. Even if you make a misstep or two, you can restart and continue on your journey towards your goal.

It may take longer than you would like to achieve your goals but remember that this is not a race to the finish. Once you have made the commitment to changing a behavior, it may be something that you continue to work on for the rest of your life.

Lean Tip #3429 – Learn and Adapt 

Encountering a setback is one of the most common reasons why people give up on their New Year's resolutions. If you suddenly relapse into a bad habit, don't view it as a failure. The path toward your goal is not always a straight one, and there will often be challenges along the way. Instead, view relapses as learning opportunities.

If you are keeping a resolution journal, write down important information about when the relapse occurred, what might have triggered it, and what you might do differently next time. By understanding the challenges you face, you will be better prepared to deal with them in the future.

Lean Tip #3430 – Check In With Yourself Regularly

Reassessing your goal throughout the weeks and months it takes to get there is essential. Once you start making changes, you may find your original goal was a little unrealistic. Instead of sticking with it once you find it’s probably not possible, feel free to tweak the goal as you see fit. Look at your lifestyle and revise your goals to make sure they really fit in. Then share with others that you’re sharing accountability with, or write it down.

Lean Tip #3431 – Reflect and Celebrate

Take time to mentally review the past year. What do you wish you had done differently that you can change next year? Maybe you spend way more time on your phone than you’d like, or didn’t spend as much time as you’d like on the things you value most. It’s human nature to want to focus on setbacks, disappointments, and challenges, so after I’ve grieved any losses, and clarified where I’d like to improve, I make sure to write down what I’m really proud of. Even during the most challenging years, we can all find bright spots if we look for them.

Celebrate your own personal triumphs. What are you proud of? What did you accomplish in spite of the many challenges of the past year? Jot down all of your large and small victories and celebrate your accomplishments of all sizes.

Lean Tip #3432 – Commit to a System of Organization

The start of a new year is the perfect time to get organized. A good system of organization helps you gain greater control of your time and complete the tasks needed to achieve your goals. Consider a resolution that involves organizing each area of your professional life to save time, reduce clutter, and effectively delegate tasks.

Organize files by priority and keep the most important documents within arm’s reach. At the end of each work day, spend about 10 to 15 minutes organizing your workspace and planning for your next day of work.

Lean Tip #3433 – Say Yes to New Things

While the thought of trying something new can often conjure up complex emotions for different people, choosing to say yes to new things can be beneficial. Saying yes means you are making the most out of every opportunity. This often results in you expanding your comfort zone, overcoming your insecurities, and managing your fear.

It means being more open to whatever thing in your life evokes excitement, thrill, fear, or other feelings that you don’t normally encounter on a typical day at work. While you don’t need to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way, make it a concrete goal to be more receptive to new things.

Lean Tip #3434 – Document Your Successes

Most people rarely tally up their accomplishments at work but this practice can be more beneficial than you think. Just like an inspirational book, documenting your successes can provide you with encouragement to continue working towards your goals. In addition, sharing your successes can be advantageous when seeking support for a new project or initiative or when trying to impress attendees at networking events.

Lean Tip #3435 – Strategize How to Get New Skills

Developing new skills can help you work more effectively and achieve your goals faster than you thought possible. There are many things you can do to develop your skills, such as taking an online course or seeking out a mentor who can help you overcome some of the challenges you face. Study everything there is to know about the topic and accept new challenges that could help your skill level grow.

Lean Quote: Grit is a Predictor of Success

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"We have to be willing to fail, to be wrong, to start over again with lessons learned."   —  Angela Lee Duckworth 

In this TED Talk, “Grit: The power of passion and perseverance,” Angela Lee Duckworth explains that a significant predictor of success is “grit” or “passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.”

Before she was a psychology professor, Angela Duckworth taught math in middle school and high school. She spent a lot of time thinking about something that might seem obvious: The students who tried hardest did the best, and the students who didn't try very hard didn't do very well. Duckworth wanted to know: What is the role of effort in a person's success?

Now Duckworth is an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and her research focuses on a personality trait she calls "grit." She defines grit as "sticking with things over the very long term until you master them." Duckworth's research suggests that when it comes to high achievement, grit may be as essential as intelligence. That's a significant finding because for a long time, intelligence was considered the key to success.

It's not clear what makes some people grittier than others, but Angela Duckworth believes grit is something people can probably learn.

She says every human quality that has been studied has proven to be affected at least in part by a person's environment -- even intelligence. In addition, people change over time.

She believes grit can wax and wane in response to experiences. In addition, people might be gritty about some things and not others.

Angela Lee Duckworth cites an idea developed at Stanford University by Carol Dweck, PhD on growth mindset as the best idea she has heard about building grit.

“Growth mindset,” she says, “is the belief that the ability to learn isn’t fixed. It can change with your effort.” She shares Dr. Dweck’s work that when young people “learn about the brain and how it grows in response to challenge, they are more likely to persevere when they fail because they don’t believe failure is a permanent condition.”

Successful leaders are likely familiar with grit, perhaps without naming that characteristic. Good leaders demonstrate perseverance through many challenging circumstances. As leaders of various industries, when we adopt a growth mindset and put our passions toward pursuing our goals, we can develop grit.

10 Ideas or Resolutions to Be A Better Leader in the New Year

It’s that time of year again when many are making personal resolutions for change. But as I said yesterday I recommend forgetting the whole concept of resolutions and concentrating on setting goals instead. For most managers the beginning of New Year means establishing a new set of objectives. This is a good time to reflect on your progress over the past year and plan how you want improve in the coming year.

Here are ten ideas to get you started. Sticking to even one of these resolutions in the new year will make you a better leader, but you might be surprised at how valuable they'll be outside the workplace.

1. Embrace Accountability

Accountability is an oft-misunderstood concept. The most common misconception is that accountability is a negative factor that people must be held to. However, in its truest form, accountability is a healthy force that should be embraced.

Make this the year of embracing accountability and better leadership by giving your team the autonomy they need to approach problems in a way that they feel they can take genuine ownership over them. Watch them transition into happily accepting accountability for their responsibilities, and leave the managerial pressure back in the past. Reframe accountability in your workplace to be a powerful and positive force.

2. Build Trust

Trust is absolutely vital to the success of any relationship, and it's a two-way street. You need to know you can trust your employees to do their best every day, and they need to trust the decisions you make are in the best interest of the team.

In order to give employees the autonomy they require to truly embrace accountability, you have to trust them. Before your team can truly dedicate themselves and be fully engaged, they need to trust you.

3. Be a Better Communicator

A good leader needs to express themselves clearly. Without establishing healthy communication with your team, you will never be able to achieve your most ambitious goals. Think of it this way; you can’t possibly express yourself and listen at the same time. You need to be a good listener to become a facilitator and vice versa.

Be completely present when you are engaging in conversation with others. Don’t let technology or other people distract you — make eye contact, put down any phones or other objects, and give that person your full attention. Give them time to speak, and take the time to reflect on what has been said and thoughtfully provide a response.

4. Break Down Barriers

All kinds of barriers exist in the workplace. Physical barriers like walls and distance combine with less physical, but still very real barriers like time, hierarchy, technology, communication, and culture. This can be the year of the sledgehammer—breaking down barriers wherever they stand, and becoming a better leader because of it.

 

5. Develop Employees

Most people want to learn and grow their skills at work. Encourage experimentation and taking reasonable risk to develop employee skills. Get to know them personally. Ask what motivates them. Ask what career objectives they have and are aiming to achieve. You can make their career. In order to get the most from your employees, you need to invest time and resources in their development. Annual performance reviews simply aren’t enough. Make a point to sit down with each employee on a monthly basis (or more frequently, if possible) and provide them with specific feedback and areas of improvement.

6. Be a More Strategic Leader

If you’re like many other managers and executives, you struggle to balance short- and long-term priorities, and need to be able to move strategies past the goal-setting stage and into the transformational stage.

Whether or not you feel strongly about New Year’s Resolutions, a brand new year is an excellent time to evaluate your current leadership style and identify opportunities to enhance your skills.

7. Get Comfortable With Your Discomfort

If you really want to lead and create impact, you're going to have to get comfortable with your discomfort — comfortable with confronting the things you may not want to address head on, comfortable saying "no" to things that don't line up, and comfortable with saying "yes" to things that do but that stretch you. Your comfort with discomfort is proportional to how far you can lead.

8. Spend Less Time In Meetings

Meetings are often the enemy of your real work. The reason you work evenings and weekends is because you didn’t get your work done during the day, in great likelihood because you were in meetings.

Time is precious and let’s face it, literally no one wants to spend any more time than is necessary in a video call anymore. Team meetings are necessary to keep work on track, give quick feedback and guidance, answer questions, and overall ensure your team is working systematically toward its deadlines – but they need to be both efficient and have meaning for your team members.

9. Try Something New

Speaking of growth and improvement, this is the perfect time to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. But not just something new, something you're a bit afraid to do.

Find that one thing you've been avoiding and tackle it—don't give up until you walk away victorious. It can, but doesn't have to be work-related—the confidence you gain will translate either way. Whatever it is, go do it, then find the next challenge.

10. Celebrate and Reward Improvements

New Year's resolutions are all about celebrating and facilitating growth, whether that's personal, professional, or otherwise. It's important to take time to reward and recognize even small, but positive steps forward. After all, those small steps are what add up to impact.

Naturally, your resolution may focus on areas that lack progress, but don’t forget to savor the progress made, and find some small way to celebrate.

It is our role as leaders to reinforce cultural transformation in the workers perception of their work roles, to create structures for empowered workers to be accountable and successful, to communicate, support, reward and model this culture of engaged workers, helping to identify and resolve defects and eliminate waste.

Whether or not you feel strongly about New Year’s Resolutions, a brand new year is an excellent time to evaluate your current leadership style and identify opportunities to enhance your skills.

Advice for All on New Year’s Day

Make this New Year a great year by living your life well every day.  I have put together a list of good advice that I have come across over the years to consider as you go forth into another New Year.

Good advice:

1. Live in the moment. By all means have long term goals but then avert your attention and focus back to today. Be fully present in your life and don’t check out of life and live for a future that hasn’t arrived yet.
2. Give up comparing your life to others. We are all here to accomplish different things at different times. Success is not liner and success isn’t necessarily financial stability or a full social calendar either. The more you are true to yourself, the less you will worry about what others are doing. You might rejoice in their successes but you won’t use it as a competition or a reinforcer to remind yourself that you are failing.
3. Stop overthinking. When you are in your mind you are in ‘enemy territory’. I like that saying as I have found personally, and in my professional work, that people can be very hard on themselves and tend to default to negative, self critical thinking. Use your thinking time to find solutions and make action plans. The moment you find you are ruminating over the same topic without much progress it is time to distract yourself and do something else.
4. Maintain balance in your life. It is hard in modern times to find time to pamper ourselves and when we do we tend to invariably feel overwhelmed with guilt. Part of honoring and loving ourselves is accepting that we deserve love and care and that we owe it to ourselves to spoil ourselves – take a holiday, go for a massage…everything should have it’s place and a clear even balance between work and play must be followed if you want to function optimally in life. Get used to rejecting guilt – a wasted emotion that you can choose to reject.
5. Reach out to loved ones. Take some steps to inspire more connection with your loved ones in the new year. Set aside time to send a few quick texts or make calls to your family or friends you haven’t spoken to in a while. Update them on how you’re doing and ask for the same in return, and if a goal is to improve your relationships in 2024, be sure to do this often throughout the year to keep those connections strong.
6. Open your mind to the new possibilities that lie in the unknown. Be willing to try new things. Make a conscious effort to get out of your comfort zone; this can include pursuing new career/job opportunities or learning/skill activities that you may have never considered before. It can also include unexplored relationships or—for that matter—even new types of food and entertainment. With the right perspective, you can consider stepping outside of your box of your known world as a great opportunity and welcome it with open arms.
7. Forgive. As long as you live in a human skin, forgiveness is the one practice that you’ll need to master because nothing will keep you stuck in the past more effectively than resentment and non-forgiveness. Think of it this way: What (or who) you don’t forgive, you drag into the new year with you. To forgive is to erase the negative energy that keeps you from entering the new year with a clean slate; this includes forgiving yourself as well.
8. Finish tasks.No one wants to start off the new year with a long list of errands to run and tasks to complete. If there is anything on your list that you didn’t get to finish, now is the time to cross them off. Start the year with a clean slate, and a fresh to-do list will help you feel ready to start the year.
9. Set realistic goals & write them down. Goal setting is a vital component of creating anything new. However, it’s important not to set yourself up for failure by declaring goals that are so lofty—so far out of your box—that you know, in your heart, can never be reached. The practice is to come to the edge of your comfort zone and lean over just enough to make yourself uncomfortable, taking small, achievable steps that allow you to see still the possibility of arriving at the finish line. 
10. Have more fun and laugh a lot. Be adventurous, be daring and learn to try new things regularly. How else will you learn about your strengths and weaknesses? Get out of your comfort zone and meet others, try things you feel scared of. This is the best way to conquer fear and gain confidence and you will be able to look back on your life with fewer regrets and “what ifs”. Life doesn’t have to be that serious…