Impy’s LeaderShop: Positivity

Welcome to Impy’s LeaderShop. No, that’s not a typo. Each week, I plan on submitting a post which focuses on different “buzzwords” related to leading — both in KSI and in life.

It’s a Leadership Workshop of sorts, and that’s how it gets its name. Tune back each week to see another lesson of leading. I hope my past experience as a leader within KSI can help each and every member of KSI reach their full potential.

—

Leadership Term of the Week: Positivity

Definition: (noun) the state or quality of being positive.

Welcome to the first lesson of my LeaderShop. Today we’re going to focus on positivity. It seems like a simple enough term for leaders to grasp and execute.

You go out and you put a smile on your face. You focus on the good and build people up.

However, it’s not as easy as it may seem. Often times, leaders in KSI are faced with adversity and challenges that can quite often allow for doubt to creep into their minds.

Whether you’re a Division Leader or a new Lieutenant, this is bound to happen. What separates the good from the bad and the great from the good is the ability to be positive.

The bad leaders often times complain openly to members who look to the leader for guidance and reassurance. This could be a Lieutenant complaining behind a General’s back that the squad is falling apart. It could be a Co-Founder voicing his or her displeasure over the assimilation to his or her new position.

These seemingly harmless statements can stay with members for a long time. It can kill their motivation and attitude and put a dark cloud over their KSI career.

What does the average leader do? Simply put… Nothing. The average leader doesn’t voice their emotions at all. The average leader doesn’t voice out to the members around him or her.

The average leader just goes about business.

But the truly great leaders always have a smile on their faces. Did your squad just take a hit? It’s not a disaster, but instead a chance for new leaders to step up.

Is another leader inactive or bad at their job? It’s a chance for you to show how good you are and maybe you can work with them to get their head back in the game.

Every situation is a chance for growth and improvement. The great leaders choose to build people up instead of bringing people down.

Did a Sergeant mess up by bringing in a bad Recruit? Did a Lieutenant or Captain mishandle a situation? The great leaders choose to use these situations as learning experiences. Those who mess up aren’t failures or burdens. They’re humans, and they learn from their mistakes with the proper guidance.

Another very important aspect of leading from a positivity standpoint is the ability to vocalize the pride you have in people’s accomplishments.

When I was a Division Leader, I implemented the idea of “Shoutout Thursdays.” On S/O Thursdays, people would send out mass messages to their friends lists to advertise and brag on the accomplishments of those other members around them.

For a Sergeant to get called out for working hard and being a team player to 100 people, it makes them feel good. Furthermore, it lets them know you’re paying attention to their hard work while simultaneously allowing those other 99 people to take notice and remember this person’s name.

I can remember getting promoted to different positions and hearing from various higher-ups that they remembered hearing my name before and that they were so proud and happy to see me making good on all those compliments.

Nothing gave me as much satisfaction as knowing other people appreciated me. But without positive leaders and positive reinforcement, all that hard work and dedication would have seemed to be for naught.

I would have felt as if I was pissing into the wind and my position in KSI was meaningless; that I didn’t belong. But those positive leaders above me paved my way towards success and I like to think that the positive attitude I brought with me to everything I did in KSI was infectious and paved the way for KSI’s next great crop of leaders.

So when you’re sitting their wondering what you can do to be a better leader, the first stop is voicing and perpetuating a positive attitude.

And so concludes the first LeaderShop session. Each week there will be more teaching points and buzzwords that each and every leader should know if they want to make a greater impact on this community. Without great leaders, any entity would fall apart.

So let me know what you think. Allow these LeaderShops to dictate talking points within squads and divisions on how to become better leaders and create a better KSI experience for all.

So, what are your thoughts?