The following contains excerpts from the book I Have the Watch (Jon S. Rennie).
At our Find the Best Music School Odessa Texas we believe that music is more than sound, it is relationships. While studying music is worthwhile in its own merit, we endeavor to instill life-habits of character and discipline through our teaching that transcends into every part of the student’s life. Following are thoughts that we hope to inspire in students of our Find the Best Music School Odessa Texas.
In this book, Naval Officer, Jon Rennie shares his thoughts on leadership from a ‘servant-leadership’ approach. His ‘people-first’ ideologies are presented in contrast to the typical authoritarian-style commonly found in the military.
Leadership is all about people. It is not about organizations. It is not about plans. It is not about strategies. It is all about people- motivating people to get the job done. You have to be people-centered. (Colin Powell)
The author sets out a concept of the Leadership Triangle: People at the top, Influence to the left and Goal to the right. “The leader is the conductor with the job of coordinating and balancing these three elements. A leader must define the goal, build up the team, and motivate them properly to reach that goal. If a leader fails to focus on any of these three critical elements, they will fail. If they try to put themselves on the top of the triangle, they will fail as well.”
Why Do You Want to Be a Leader?
The author asserts that many people seeking to be in leadership positions are doing so for the wrong reasons. “They are choosing to become leaders to get recognition, more money, or to help advance their careers…It attracts those who are motivated by the spotlight rather than by the ideas and people they serve.” The key ingredient to being an effective leader is to love people. “Your job is to see past the flaws, love your people, and motivate them to do great things. You can’t be a great leader if you don’t love people.”
At our Find the Best Music School Odessa Texas we start the learning journey with our students by first believing in their potential and expressing our commitment to their growth in an atmosphere of acceptance and genuine care.
Leading Experienced Employees
“The truth is that inexperienced leaders don’t need to have all the answers to be successful but they need to be excellent at working with their teams…I became an effective leader by learning, observing, listening, and engaging with my team. I took a humble approach and treated the skilled sailors with the respect they deserved.”
Bringing Your Plans to Life
“Get people involved in the planning. When people are involved in creating the plans, they have more ownership…Seek feedback and be willing to adjust your plans…for two main reasons: 1) It allows teams to internalize the plan and 2) it allows you to learn things you hadn’t considered…Corral the naysayers…Naysayers can have a negative impact on morale and can hurt the overall team’s performance. It’s better to deal with the problems than to ignore them.”
“A ship is nothing without her crew and a plan is nothing without people to implement it. If you spend a long time developing a plan, spend twice that amount of effort getting people on board.”
We hope to achieve a collaborative environment between teacher, student, and parent in our Find the Best Music School Odessa Texas. We believe in the synergistic power of agreement toward a common goal.
Seeing Employees as an Asset
“Great leaders…see employees as an asset. In accounting terms, assets are company resources which have future economic value. Instead of seeing employees as a problem, these leaders see them as a valuable resource. They know people have the capability to grow sales, satisfy customers, improve processes, innovate products, and do countless other things that add value and grow both the top and bottom lines.”
The Simple Act of Appreciation
“A study by Office Team found that 66% of employees said they would ‘likely leave their job if they didn’t feel appreciated.’ That number jumps to 76% for millennials.”
“Donald Miller, founder and CEO of StoryBrand…has two fundamental rules which have helped him create a culture of love and respect: 1) Hire people who are better, smarter, and faster than you. 2) Never mess with their hearts.”
Putting Employees Ahead of Customers
Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers. (J. Willard Marriot)
Treat employees like they make a difference and they will. (Jim Goodnight)
Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers. (Stephen Covey)
“Richard Branson has been incredibly successful as an entrepreneur and business leader. His priorities are clear: Employees first, customers second, and shareholders third. It seems to work well for him. He explains that happy employees take care of customers and happy customers purchase more goods and services, which keep the shareholders happy.”
At our Find the Best Music School Odessa Texas we always prioritize the growth of the student over any performance opportunity. Successfully giving the student ‘wins under their belt,’ so to speak, they gain confidence in their abilities and can eventually rise to any challenge.
Having Your Employee’s Back
“Unfortunately, many bosses don’t understand the power of supporting their employees. Too many bosses won’t back up their team members when bad things happen. As soon as anything casts a shadow on the leader, they abandon their people…When something goes wrong, they immediately leave employees hanging- or worse, they throw them under the bus. These bosses want all the glory but they don’t want to take any blame for failures. What’s worse is that everyone in the organization knows this and it deeply affect the culture.”
“When employees know they have a boss that won’t back them up if anything bad happens, they stop taking chances. They stop trying new things. They stop pushing the envelope of what’s possible. They’re afraid to fail and that fear grinds the organization to a halt. The organization becomes stagnant and good people start looking for other opportunities.”
The Importance of Respect
“When asked what leaders could do to improve employee engagement, survey respondents all pointed to one word: respect…They want leaders who are considerate, communicate clear expectations, listen to employees’ opinions, and provide regular feedback.
- Recognition
- Empowerment
- Supportive Feedback
- Partnering
- Expectation setting
- Consideration
- Trust
At our Find the Best Music School Odessa Texas we believe respect is foundational to all relationships. It is the cornerstone of community and everything that happens within that community. We believe that the process of studying music is foundational to the wholistic development of a person’s character, and will prove a powerful resource to draw upon in their future in whatever direction they end up taking in life.