Work and Fulfillment

My current "business related" book is John Maxwell's The 360 Degree Leader. In it Maxwell shows how 99% of all leadership in most organizations takes place in the middle, not the top, and how people in the middle who want to be considered leaders have to "lead up", "lead across", and "lead down" (interesting how people only view leadership as from the top down). A section I want to share is entitled "How to be fulfilled in the middle of the pack". The short answer is "learn to see the big picture", but rather than just leave it like that Maxwell gives the following hints:

Develop strong relationships with key people. "It's more important to get along with people than to get ahread of them"

Define a win in terms of teamwork. Here Maxwell quotes former basketball coach John Wooden "The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."

Engage in continual communications. This includes communicating UP the chain as well as down.

Gain experience and maturity. "Maturity doesn't come with age. It begins with the acceptance of responsibility."

Put the team above your personal success. Leadership is about helping others to win.

Interestingly enough, this looks pretty much how a good familial relationship should be run. You and your partner/wife/husband/children are a team, a single unit. The strength of that unit rests in the relationships you have one with another. You win as a family, not just as individuals (second person plural pronoun here folks). As part of a family you have responsibilities to the other members in the family. Hmmm... looks like Maxwell provides not just good business advice, but he makes a pretty good "Dr. Laura" as well.