Where Is Your Focus?

If you've ever been or currently are in a leadership position, a good question to ask yourself might be, "Where is my focus?" Are you a servant to the growth of others or a slave to the growth of the organization? A good test of this can be when your team loses a valuable member. Do you find frustration and confusion in that individuals decision, or do you step up and be the cheerleader you always have been for them?

Over the last few weeks that I haven't been writing blogs, I took some time to strongly consider what next year would look like for me. My options were pretty open considering I'm in college, but it really boiled down to two logical decisions; Continue working and finishing out my degree here in Cedar Rapids, or use this semester of school to get back in shape and try my chance at playing college soccer one more time, whether it be here in Cedar Rapids or at another school. While both made sense to me, I see a lot more future regret for myself in not trying to play just one more time. So - that's what I went with. I'm going to shift all of my work hours (and probably some other hours I can make available if possible) into getting into shape, getting back on the ball, and reaching out to coaches to get some walk-on tryout spots in the summer/fall.

Because I won't be working anymore, communicating this to my supervisors was probably the most difficult part. It wasn't easy when I left Home Depot and it wasn't easy this time around at Apache either. If you know me, you know that I can't stand letting people down, and especially people with authority over me/my position. Leaving work makes me feel like I am doing just that because I want to be the person people can count on. So, when I bore the bad news, I was already feeling guilty about it, not because I was regretting my decision, but because I hated feeling like I was letting someone down. However, the response I got was reassuring, uplifting, and encouraging leading into my next (definitely not new) adventure.

I won't go into all of the details of the conversation, however I will say that having one supervisor tell me that they would hate to see me go and supported what I was doing even though they could use my help, and then the other supervisor relating to my story and telling me that if it doesn't work out I always have a spot back on the team made me feel incredibly motivated. These are people who for the last year have seen me work and consistently reminded me of the value I brought to the team. And now, even when I'm leaving, they see the value I could bring somewhere else.

The thing that makes these leaders great is they root for you. Not for your performance, not for your presence, not for your professionalism, work ethic, or your piece in their organizational puzzle. They just root for you. While the other things listed obviously still matter when you're on the team, it's when you're leaving/transferring/moving that you see their support for you in all of these things all along wasn't strictly for the organization's performance, but for your own growth.

Part of being a servant leader is being a servant, which means being a servant not just to influence their performance for the sake of the team, but to influence their performance even when they go to a new team. Servants to the growth of others have an, "I want you to do well" mindset while slaves to the growth of the organization are often stuck in an, "I want you to do well for me" mindset. Where is your focus?