Before you read this rant, I recommend you read the post below first. It will help. It just will…
BTL leaders speak the truth in LOVE. Once in a blue moon to start and hopefully more and more over time and through adversity. This will be a struggle and will be accomplished in “fits and starts.” This is our aim and a worthy aim it is.
Normal leaders do not speak this language and don’t think that this is a struggle worth mastering. They just don’t. Here’s what they seem to be working hard on mastering, when it comes to language. They are trying to become a master at spinning “some shit outa fear.” These leaders are spinning the message and are leaving it to us to cut through their bullshit and find the meaning. This takes too much time and energy and we simply “disconnect.” Turn on your preferred media and tell me what you receive. Funny, huh.
Slightly above “normal leaders” and their message of “spin in the city,” are leaders that are trying to give us the truth but it’s still wrapped in fear. Truth in fear often comes out kinda angry. We hear the truth but it’s hard to swallow because the anger gives it such a bitter aftertaste going down. These leaders leave us with our blind spots fully illuminated, yet we somehow feel more exposed than energized. We walk away from these moments feeling less.
Less capable. Less understood. Less connected. Less confident and less convicted that are committed best could be expressed here. Less, in this case, is NOT more. Less capable, less understood, less connected, less confident, less convicted, and less committed associates leads to less productive action. Less productive action leads to less productivity. Less productivity leads to less profits. Funny, huh.
Less translates to LOSS.
Spinning “some shit outa fear” is the norm and we don’t need any more masters of this craft. We just don’t.
Truth in fear is a step in the right direction but getting half of the equation right still produces an answer that is flat out wrong. It just is.
Truth in LOVE is the ONE you want. This is the one that sets the sender and the receiver free. Master connectors speak honestly from full hearts, fit minds, and free spirits. They speak clear, concise, and direct. AND, always laced with respect. These connectors communicate the truth in LOVE and the result is a team that becomes more capable, more understood, more connected, more confident, more convicted, more committed, and more productively acting. Productive ACTION is the lynchpin to getting more outa less. Funny, huh.
Do you see it?
Where can you get this truth in LOVE pill?
Keep reading, my friend.
Keep reading…
BUILT TO LEAD 
So true, Chet. So true. John Wooden, the legendary coach of the UCLA Bruins basketball team who died last week, once said:
“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.”
THAT’s another way of saying, “Truth in Love.”
Uncle Petey and I got to lead practice #6 with one of our favorite client’s whole team yesterday, where we introduced StrengthFinders and practiced “adjusting our mirrors” (see Chet’s blog at https://builders4builttolead.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/adjust-your-mirrors/ for more)
Adjusting your Mirrors is a powerful exercise for helping a team and its leaders to begin speaking more TRUTH with less FEAR. This team is improving every practice.
My AND to Chet’s blog is the flip on Truth in Fear. In today’s PC culture where we would avoid doing anything that’s “unloving” we have learned to speak LIES in so-called LOVE. It’s “so-called” LOVE b/c it’s our FEAR that’s causing us to hold back. Everyone has a tendency, and I confess this one is mine. They are lies, because it’s not the whole truth. It’s spun, diluted and even if when we have the courage to have the other person play it back to us, we say “you got it” when they didn’t really get it.
Remember that the best counterfeit is 99% like the real thing. Those who can recognize counterfeits do so because they know what 100% of the real one looks like.
Truth AND love is like a life-giving river. Without the banks (Truth), the water becomes a life-threatening flood. Without the water (Love), even with the banks there is no life.
The key word is. . . “AND.”
Which sums up my worldview, namely, that Truth without Love isn’t Truth, and Love without Truth isn’t Love. Like everyone else, I’m a work-in-progress, trying to build humility & courage in my core so that I can gain clarity in my speech & hearing to be a better builder, friend, husband, father, etc. wherever I am.