Then best

Elite Leadership Issue 1 • November 2013

Inspirational lessons from Miyamoto Musashi

Inspiring people to become better leaders

see inside for details

Common leadership myths

Top tips for new managers

CONTENTS Page 4 Inspirational

lessons from Miyamoto Musashi

Page 8 Top Tips: New

Managers Page 10 Common

leadership myths

Page 13 Leadership

is... Page 14 Leadership

book of the month

2 •Elite Leadership www.EliteLD.co.nz

Editor In Chief Mark Wager, Mark@eliteld.co.nz

Images courtesy of: Master isolated images

Jscreationz

nokhoog_buchachon

At freedigitalphotos.net

All material appearing in Elite leadership is copyright and cannot be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher.

FROM THE EDITOR Hello and welcome to the first edition of Elite Leadership. The aim of this mini-magazine is to promote and inspire quality leadership.

Leadership is an underrated and often misunderstood quality. It is difficult to define but we know it when we see it and more importantly we recognise when leadership is not present. In this first edition we look at an unlikely leadership hero Miyamoto Musashi, the greatest samurai of all time victorious in over sixty duels. We look into the past to examine his teachings to find lessons in today's world.

Leadership lessons can be learnt from anywhere even ancient samurais and to think otherwise is a myth. In this edition we look at some other common myths as well as some practical tips for Managers who are about to start their leadership journey.

For my own personal leadership journey this mini-magazine is the next step. If you find the content interesting then feel free to contact me on email or via Twitter to continue the conversation.

Elite Leadership www.EliteLD.co.nz• 3

Mark_wager

November 2013

Mark Wager

Inspirational lessons from Miyamoto Musashi “You must understand that

there is more than one

path to the top of the

mountain”

Miyamoto Musashi, born in 1584 in Harima province Japan, is widely regarding as one of the greatest warriors in history. Miyamoto was a Ronin, a masterless samurai who travelled across Japan to find the greatest warriors in their discipline in order to fight them in a duel. Legends have it that Miyamoto Musashi fought and won his first duel at the age of thirteen and would go on to fight over sixty duels, undefeated in his lifetime. During his later years Miyamoto Musashi would go on to write a book entitled “The Book of Five Rings” in which he takes a philosophical approach to fighting. While this may not seem like the most likely source of inspiration never forget that each of us at some time are fighting something whether it be a person, an obstacle or even ourselves we are always facing something that we have to overcome. So take a few minutes to read some quotes from the greatest fighter of all time. 4 • Your Magazine • website.com

“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world” “You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain” "Do nothing that is of no use” “Get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of Man.” “Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.” “If you wish to control others you must first control yourself” “The ultimate aim of martial arts is not having to use them”

“It is difficult to understand the universe if you only study one planet” “You can only fight the way you practice” “Do not regret what you have done” “If you do not control the enemy, the enemy will control you” “Do not sleep under a roof. Carry no money or food. Go alone to places frightening to the common brand of men. Become a criminal of purpose. Be put in jail, and extricate yourself by your own wisdom.”

“Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.” “Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast….Of course, slowness is bad. Really skilful people never get out of time, and are always deliberate, and never appear busy.” “All man are the same except for their belief in their own selves, regardless of what others may think of them” “Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help”

Elite Leadership www.EliteLD.co.nz • 5

“Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men."

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6 • Elite Leadership www.EliteLD.co.nz

“There is no one way to

salvation, whatever the manner

in which a man may proceed. All

forms and variations are

governed by the eternal

intelligence of the Universe that

enables a man to approach

perfection. It may be in the arts of

music and painting or it may be in

commerce, law, or medicine. It

may be in the study of war or the

study of peace. Each is as

important as any other. Spiritual

enlightenment through religious

meditation such as Zen or in any

other way is as viable and

functional as any "Way."... A

person should study as they see

fit.

Miyamoto Musashi left us many lessons but the main lesson that I've learnt from Musashi's legacy is that despite how much the world has dramatically changed over the past 400 years the fundamentals of what makes success hasn't. At the core of anyone who is truly successful is self mastery. Musashi showed us that the path toward success starts within and it's only when we've achieved mastery over ourselves that we can begin contemplating mastery of something else. “There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.” - Miyamoto Musashi

Elite Leadership • www.EliteLD.co.nz • 7

“The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.” “You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.” “The only reason a warrior is alive is to fight, and the only reason a warrior fights is to win” “To become the enemy, see yourself as the enemy of the enemy” “Know your enemy, know his sword.” “To know ten thousand things, know one well” “It is difficult to realize the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things.” “No man is invincible, and therefore no man can fully understand that which would make him invincible” “The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy's useful actions but allow his useless actions” “When you decide to attack, keep calm and dash in quickly, forestalling the enemy...attack with a feeling of constantly crushing the enemy, from first to last.”

“Never stray from the Way.” “When in a fight to the death, one wants to employ all one's weapons to the utmost. I must say that to die with one's sword still sheathed is most regrettable.” “Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast.” “It is said the warrior's is the twofold Way of pen and sword, and he should have a taste for both Ways. Even if a man has no natural ability he can be a warrior by sticking assiduously to both divisions of the Way.” “In the construction of houses, choice of woods is made. Straight un-knotted timber of good appearance is used for the revealed pillars, straight timber with small defects is used for the inner pillars. Timbers of the finest appearance, even if a little weak, is used for the thresholds, lintels, doors, and sliding doors, and so on. Good strong timber, though it be gnarled and knotted, can always be used discreetly in construction.” “When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void.”

Top Tips: New Managers Every month we will look at some practical tips to help managers in every situation

8 • Elite Leadership • www.EliteLD.co.nz

You've been working hard, you are a business expert and everyone knows how good you are at your job and now that special day has come that the boss invites you into his/her office and gives you the promotion you have been working for. Great news - right? You are now a boss, you now have people reporting to you and your whole working life is now about to change forever. Here are a few tips to avoid those common first time manager mistakes.

1. You are now bottom of a new ladder Leadership requires a completely different skill-set to the one you required as a subject matter expert. Never think that promotion is the end of your learning journey it's actually just the beginning.   2. Remember it's never about you The old mentality of believing that a team works to support the boss is outdated, the leader exists to ensure that his or her team has everything they need, direction, a shared vision, skills and resources.

3. Accept that you will make mistakes. Nobody has ever started a new job and never made any mistakes and you won't be the first. The big difference is that this time your mistakes are likely to affect your team. Don't beat yourself up just apologise, learn from your mistakes and become a better leader. 4. Hide your frustrations The days of moaning about the company or even worse moaning about colleagues are gone. You now represent the company so everything you say will be seen as a company statement regardless of its intent.

Don't beat yourself up, just apologise. Learn from your mistakes and become a better leader

Elite Leadership www.EliteLD.co.nz • 9

5. Talk to your boss With a new job it's likely you will have a new boss. Talk to him or her and find out their expectations of you, how they want to be updated and what their priorities are for the company.   6. Talk to your team Every one of your new team will have a slightly different idea of what your role should be and what you should be doing. Talk to your team and find out what they expect from you and explain what you want from them.   7. Lead by example Whatever is contained in the company's code of conduct or the performance plans people will always learn what behaviour is acceptable by your actions. You have to demonstrate the behaviour you want from your team, if you don't you will never be seen as a leader.

8. Understand the organisational culture Every company has its own culture. It's vital to understand what it is. Each company has HR policies of different severity. Get to grips with the feel of the company so that you don't accidentally come across as too tough or too soft. 9. Be prepared to be unpopular There will always be times that the needs of the company will conflict with the needs of some individuals. Always explain your reasons, people may not agree but they will respect you. Remember you can lead a team if people don't like you but you can't lead if they don't respect you.   10. Don't change who you are The most common mistake that new managers make is that they try to become someone else or the kind of person they think a manager should be. One of the reasons you got this job is because you are you. By all means aim to be a better person but don't deviate too far from who you really are.

Common leadership myths

"The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born." Warren G. Bennis

10 •Elite Leadership • www.EliteLD.co.nz

There are many of us who believe we have a lot to offer this world and one of the ways to do this is to become a leader. Someone who in the words of John Quincy Adams performs actions that inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more. There are many of us who aspire to be leaders while others have the mantle of leadership thrust upon them but is leadership what we think it is?

There are a lot of misconceptions out there and we need to be aware of those misconceptions so that we can truly understand what leadership really is. In this article I will be exploring some of the most common myths about leadership.

Leadership is a series of behaviours and skills and like all behaviours and skills they can be learned

Myth: Leadership is glamorous To be honest being a leader can give you a bit of a buzz but there are times when difficult decisions have to be made and it is in these times that a leader has to prioritise the greater need of the team ahead over any personal interests and that can be difficult. Leadership is about doing what needs to be done and a lot of the time that doesn’t require you being behind a desk or in front of your team. Sometimes the greatest examples of leadership is standing side-by-side in the trenches with the team or even behind them doing the jobs that others won’t do.

Myth: Leaders are born not made. This is an old myth and still today all too commonly mentioned. The suggestion of leaders being born instead of being made is not only outdated but disproved by scientific studies many times over. Leadership is a series of behaviours and skills and like all behaviours and skills they can be learnt. Nature may give you a head start but it’s what you do that makes you a leader.

• Elite leadership . www.EliteLD.co.nz • 11

12 •Elite Leadership • www.EliteLD.co.nz

Myth: You have to be loud in order to become a leader. One of the first things I make perfectly clear when I develop leaders is that every person has the potential to become an equally effective but unique leader. There are a lot of leaders who are introverted in nature. I’m one of those people. We all have our preferences. Leadership is about being aware of those preferences and being prepared that there will be times when you will need to act outside of those preferences without straying too far from the person you are. Myth: Leadership is the same as management. While often considered the same leadership and management are very different. Management is the responsibility and control over people and resources in order to achieve an objective while leadership is the influence over people in order to achieve an objective. Myth: Leaders know all the answers. If you know all the answers you are not a leader you are a genius and you shouldn’t be reading this article. Leaders are people and people have limitations. It is unrealistic to know all the answers and it’s not healthy for a team to be so reliant on one person. An elite leader influences the team so that questions/problems can be answered by using the collective knowledge and experience of the team. A true leader never stops learning. Myth: Leaders have to distance themselves from the team. While some people prefer closer relationships with their colleagues than others it is not an essential requirement in the role of a leader. Leaders can be approachable and likeable. A true leader knows that they are not more important than anyone else in the team. Sure a leader may have different skill sets and the rarity of those skill sets may mean they are paid more but it doesn’t mean they are more important than anyone else in the team. Myth: Leadership is a position. Management is a position but leadership is not. Leadership is a mission. Remember leadership is about influence and influence within an organisation can come from many sources and not all of those sources are at the top of the management structure. Effective teams have leadership at all levels. Leadership in many ways is about the search for truth. Finding the truth within yourself, finding the truth within your team and finding the truth behind the challenges you face. It is misconceptions like the ones above that cloud the truth and make the path of leadership a more difficult journey. It is time to cast these myths aside and learn the truth about leadership.

Become the leader that your team needs you to be

* Leadership Mentoring

* Team Building

* MBTI Workshops

success@eliteld.co.nz

13 •Elite Leadership • www.EliteLD.co.nz

"Leadership is surrounding yourself with people who are prepared to challenge you."

Leadership is...."Leadership is about being the person that other people strive to be, it's about being better than good. It's about being the best."

"Leadership is the spark that turns disgruntlement into a revolution." "Leadership is knowing that at

the end of pain is success."

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14 •Elite Leadership • www.EliteLD.co.nz

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