BEING THE BOSS….
The month of October is known for many festivals, national holidays, important events, and important days which include: Halloween, Oktoberfest,Yom Kippur, Breast Cancer Awareness, Domestic Violence Awareness, and National Boss’s Day.
Boss Day or Boss’s Day is generally observed on or around October 16th in the United States and dates back to the 1950s. It is a day for employees to express their gratitude for all of the hard work that their managers do.
A Boss is defined as someone who is in charge of or manages a group or organization, whereas a leader is defined as someone who leads and inspires others to think creatively. However, there are some who oppose National Boss’s Day and think that it is nothing more than a meaningless Hallmark holiday. There are also others who work for bosses whom they feel deserve no recognition at all. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, being a boss is not without its challenges to include choosing to be the boss of your own destination.
CHALLENGES AND REWARDS OF LEADERSHIP
Being a boss, manager or leader is not without its challenges. Some of these challenges include: (1) dealing with bureaucracy; (2) confronting performance issues; (3) terminating employees; and (4) effectively managing your time. However, there are also compelling benefits and rewards of choosing to be in a leadership position which include: (1) a higher salary; (2) career advancement opportunities; (3) personal growth and development; and (4) influencing others to change.
In a poem entitled, “Hallowed Ground”, the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell wrote,“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” Some of the most inspiring leaders of all times live on in the hearts and minds of many such as: Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa). Each of these individuals were transformational leaders whose lives were a reflection and testimony of love and hope that has extended beyond the grave because they all chose to follow their dreams of helping mankind.
BOSS UP AND BECOME THE CEO OF YOUR LIFE
“Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs”….Farrah Gray
Following one’s dreams and becoming the CEO of your life takes time and courage. However, if you stay the course, you can have success in many areas of your life. Some of the ways that we can begin cultivating a BOSS/CEO mentality include: (1) knowing your self worth; (2) not sweating the small stuff; and (3) accepting that you are not perfect.
YOUR SELF WORTH
No individual will ever know your value and worth better than you because no one has lived your life but you. However, your self-worth often gets buried under the judgement, criticism and scrutiny of others, likely because those who are casting harsh judgement have never discovered their worth, and thus the vicious cycle continues.
THE SMALL STUFF
Many people’s lives have been negatively impacted because others have invested their time and energy focusing on the small stuff. I am reminded of a very sad but true story about a woman’s boyfriend who disciplined her child to death, simply because the child soiled his pants. https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2009/10/13/beaten-for-soiling-pants-toddler-dies/.
Children can indeed do things that can make us very frustrated, but we have to remember that we were all children once and did things that also frustrated our elders as well. Frustration is indeed a very common emotion, however, there are ways that we can become more effective at dealing with stressful situations which require doing a lot of internal work.
One of the best ways to help deal with stressful situations is by putting things into proper perspective. As it relates to children, we have to allow grace, love and flexibility to be our guiding light. We also have to consciously remind ourselves that kids are at a very tender age where they are learning and exploring and as such, they see the world much differently from adults. Additionally, if they do things that may disappoint us there could be other mental or emotional issues going on that they are unable to properly articulate to us.
Another way that we can better deal with stressful and frustrating situations is by practicing more mindfulness which simply involves becoming more aware of your thoughts, the words you choose and your actions. This requires doing the hard and sometimes very uncomfortable work of examining and thinking through situations before you respond.
IMPERFECT
Albert Einstein once said,“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new”
Whether you are in a leadership position where you are in charge of others or whether you are trying to manage your life in a different way, you will undoubtedly make mistakes, simply because you are human. However, the strength of leadership is learning how to forgive yourself and also consciously choosing to learn and grow from your mistakes.
