mars

I was reading an article by Grant Reid. Now Grant is the head for Mars Snacks and Mars Incorporated that does all that. And he was talking about his experience at the company and he became the global president of Mars Drinks and all those sorts of things. And he was talking about the things that he'd learnt with getting involved in the company, taking it on and taking it to new levels. He talked about 6 things in this article. Number 1 is don't bury the past, build on it. You literally, as a leader, you can't just put the past behind you, draw a line in the sand and say, look, we're done, we're done, it's all over with, blah, blah, blah. You can't do that. You need to actually learn from your past. You see, your past will either contain you or refine you. It'll either be something that'll hold you back, it'll cage you, or or it'll be something that'll help launch you towards the future and what you've got. The second thing that Grant seemed to be talking about and reflecting on is that it's all about relationships. Reed learnt that people have to be secure and you have to build relationships. I often tell people that your friends fund you. That whatever you're looking for in the future, be it promotion, career, or support for something, is that you have to build, and particularly with your family, you know, don't think that your husband or your wife or your children aren't part of funding your future. In other words, they will prepare and release you for your future, but in order for you to get there and do that, you've got to be able to have that support relationship and that support network. The third thing that Grant in this article was talking about is just don't lead a team, be part of it. Often what happens is as we advance in our careers and we advance in our years, we seem to think that we're above the teams that we're called to lead. And this is a major challenge and a head spin for people, particularly in positions of authority and senior leadership, is you don't ever graduate from being part of a team. Because if you do, then you don't give credibility to the concept of team. The other thing was be a high performer and help everyone else be a high performer. You know, in leadership in any aspect, you have to be able to reach down and pull people up. You know, speak to the greatness in people. Help them achieve things that on their own that they're not normally going to be able to do. Show people how it can be done is the 5th thing that Reid talked about in this article. And we should always be able to model to people, not only with the words we say, but with the actions that we speak. If you are having a problem overcoming a particular situation, then you need to ask yourself why. Why can't you do it? And how can you possibly expect someone else to do it if you can't? Now, what I mean by that is that don't feel that you've got to be an expert at everything. But show people how to learn. Show people how to overcome their comfort zone. Show people how to get out there and make it happen. And the other thing, and I love this in what he said, is you've got to park your ego at the door. If you want to succeed as a business leader, if you want to raise up great teams, you have to be prepared to park your ego at the door. I thought it was a tremendous article by Grant Reid. See ya next time. Thanks, John.