“When you are a leader, make sure your trumpet gives an unmistakable sound.”
Last week I traveled to World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas. There would be a ton of things to write about the show. There is always so much to see and lots to learn.
Our hotel was about 1km from the Convention Centre, and since Las Vegas weather is typically quite amiable, and the show doesn’t open until 9 Am, a morning walk to get there is not a punishment.
As we were walking to the show I heard the distinct sound of a strange bird. I figured it must be some western desert specimen and looked around to spot it. I saw a bird perched atop a street light pole just ahead of us. I acknowledged the foreign fowl and his singular song in my mind and kept walking. And he kept singing, or so I thought.
Jon who was walking with me started laughing and edged to the side of the walkway. “I think that bird might be the biker behind us,” he says. I also stepped aside and let the biker and his bird sounding horn get by.
But it made me think me think about short passage found in the Bible. It says this. “Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself to battle? So likewise, you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken?”
On our flight to Vegas the evening before I had been reading a book entitled “The Wisdom of the Bullfrog.” It is written by Admiral William McRaven, a retired Navy Seal. In the book he expounds on several aphorisms commonly used in the Navy. (By the way, an aphorism is a short pithy saying standing for a common truth or rule. Maxim would be another word for it.) A few examples from the book are, “Run to the Sound of the Guns” or “A Shepherd should smell like his Sheep.” You get the picture.
But here is the one I thought about when I heard the bird on my walk in Vegas. “When in Command, Command.” When you are a leader, make sure your trumpet gives an unmistakable sound.
Many of you reading this are a leader or authority in some facet or another. You may be the president of the company, a manger of a department or division or branch. Or you may be a site supervisor or crew foreman. In its most granular fashion, leadership is whenever we have authority over, or influence someone.
There are 2 common methods of abusing leadership. One is being bullheaded, the other is being chicken hearted. What is really bad is when you are bull headed chicken heart. (Kidding, sort of.)
But being in Command, doesn’t mean you need to be my way or the highway, micromanaging, overbearing bullhead. But no less damaging is being an absent, vacillating, ambiguous chicken heart.
I have been guilty of both. But in my leadership journey I have probably struggled more with being chicken hearted. Its hard to give clear commands when I don’t feel sure inside. Its hard to be sure when there are so many options, and so much at stake. Its hard to approach people about problems and corrective change. Sometimes my pride gets in the way of expressing praise and appreciation when its due.
But as a leader, all this is non-negotiable. We need to do our job. We need to embrace our leadership in humble confidence.
We need to make sure our harp makes a nice tune, and our horn doesn’t sound like a bird.
Or as per the Navy, When in Command, Command.
