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Embed from Getty Images For the past several years, The Kelly Group Consulting has been focused on what we've done since the early 1990's: Strategic and Master Planning services for parks and recreation agencies. In conjunction with that we have spoken on leadership (cowardly leadership being a favorite topic, as in "Don't Be A..."). We will never abandon that emphasis. The entire team has been in the parks and recreation field for the entirety of their professional careers; it is common sense to share what we know. A New (Additional) Focus In the early 1980's Brad Chambers took an investing class at a local college and was bitten by the investing and finance bug. Ever since, he has researched, read, and learned as much as possible. Hours each day are…

I wasn't sure what to call this.  It's not the "End."  It's not a hiatus.  It may or may not be an intermission. Maybe, in legal terminology, it's a recess.  Therefore... Cowardly Leadership is Now in Recess Embed from Getty Images I've been point blank, face-to-face lied to by elected politicians. When I was asked if I would be interested in a senior position, I said, "Sure, but the City Manager is too insecure to hire someone with my background." "We will never let that happen."   Yeah, right. I was released from a position one week after the Mayor's election.  The political appointee I reported to gave no reason, other than "We are going in another direction."  No evaluation, no disciplinary action, no counseling, no feedback of any kind.  The…

Today's Cowardly Leadership has nothing to do with the traditional topics of cowardly leadership. It's about a dog. Although I'd follow him about anywhere, and he led us around quite a bit. If you like dogs, I think you'll appreciate it. Follow the link below for An Elegy for Crash http://shootingyourage.com/2018/04/03/an-elegy-for-crash/   III-15

About once a month or so I have a reoccurring dream. Not a "I Have A Dream" kind of dream, a literal, real, nighttime dream.  I actually have two reoccurring dreams.  One is where I'm in a large building, usually a hotel (like the Opryland in Nashville), or a massive conference center.  I can't find my way back to my room. But the one that is pertinent to cowardly leadership is the one where everyone in the meeting, or in the room I'm in, knows what is about to happen except me.  I anticipate it, and I can sense it, but I don't know what they all seem to know:  I'm about to lose my job. It's not a nightmare per se, but it's obviously not pleasant. Cowardly Leaders Affect Us For…

Cowardly Leadership Can Help [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Facade Leadership: Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic[/caption] To be accurate, cowardly leadership can't help anyone who has a sincere interest in being a Real Leader.  But for all of you have been reading these over the past 15 months or so, you've been introduced to a number of cowardly leaders.  Some I have worked with personally, and therefore experienced the lessons first-hand.  Some I have known personally, and have seen the insincerity and facade leadership up close. What Not To Do There is tremendous information included within the almost one hundred articles in the archives of Cowardly Leadership-Up Close and Personal.  Most of that information highlights examples of what cowardly leaders do.  By definition and process of elimination, those examples are What Not To Do.  For Real Leaders, at least.…

Servant Leadership Servant Leadership is roughly defined as taking care of your employees first with the expectation that they will follow your lead and take care of the customers and citizens your organization serves.   This isn't a new concept.  I remember reading a best-selling leadership and organization book entitled The Customer Comes Second, which was published soon after 9/11.  Rosenbluth Travel was headquartered in one of the Twin Towers, and Hal Rosenbluth wrote about how they were able to re-build the company by focusing on the employees. Actually, Servant Leadership has been around since the New Testament and teachings of Islam. In layman's terms, it's pretty simple, and, what should be, obvious:  listening to employees, and treating them as equals and with respect. [caption id="attachment_680" align="alignnone" width="188"] A Servant Leader[/caption] Cowardly leadership Cowardly…

Courageous Leaders are Confident "Courage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible."            -Aristotle There are some common themes I have discovered as I've researched and written these Cowardly Leadership blogs.  One theme that reoccurs often is:  Fear vs. Confidence.  The more confident a leader is, the more likely and comfortable he/she is in asking questions, asking for help, realizing there is a lot of knowledge out there he needs to know.  A common management truism taught in Business School 101 is to surround yourself with the best, smartest, most capable people possible.  It's common sense for any good, solid, capable leader operating from a standpoint of confidence.  This is true because: They make you look good They make your job easier, and the more…