Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.
For many of us in the United States, Labor Day is the unofficial end of the summer and is filled with cookouts, pool parties, and college football.
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But Labor Day began as a way to recognize our nation’s workers and their accomplishments.
As a youngster, my dad would serve as a firefighter for the races run at Michigan International Speedway.
M.I.S. was less than 10 miles from my house. My brother and I plus one lucky friend would look forward to the four or five races each summer we’d attend.
This was before the era of luxury boxes and suites, so we’d sit behind pit row with the racer and pit crew families. I got to meet a lot of cool people and collect my share of autographs.
The Dos Equis guy might be called “the most interesting man in the world” but to me, Frank Bechler held that title.
This weekend is special for me.
December 10, 1943 was my dad’s birthday.
Even though he is no longer here physically, not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. His impact on me has been what you’d hope a dad’s impact would be.
Do you happen to have a case of the Monday’s?
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Does someone around you have a case of the Mondays?
I hope not.
Many of us know Thomas Edison as the inventor of the lightbulb, but he invented many other things.
In fact, he received more than 1,000 patents during his lifetime. He was quite a prolific inventor.
I must admit that I wasn’t very good at science when I was young and don’t know a lot about technology or electricity. My dad could make anything work but the same couldn’t be said for me.
I’m glad there was someone like Edison to invent all this stuff but I have a hard time relating to his inventing prowess.
However, I can relate to him in one sense…
The great baseball player Jackie Robinson once said that “A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives.”
Leadership ISN’T about titles, position, authority, or status. Leadership is about influence. It’s about one person influencing another. You don’t need a title to be a leader. You don’t need a title to be a person of influence.
Anyone can lead regardless of their role because everyone has the ability to influence. If people respect you and believe in you, then your opportunities to influence increase exponentially.
Consider the case of Harriet Tubman.