From our Communicate Today Blog:
Jeremy Dunlap, known to many as Jer Dunlap, is a national speaker, trainer, and now author. Jeremy Dunlap recently answered some questions for Communicate Today concerning youth and leadership. This question and answer entry with Jeremy Dunlap (Jer) is two parts.
CTC: Jeremy Dunlap, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions on youth and leadership
Jeremy Dunlap: Glad to do it.
CTC: At your current age...
Jeremy Dunlap: 36
CTC: At 36 you have held several different positions in leadership. What is the first piece of coaching you would offer to younger leaders?
Jeremy Dunlap: Failure happens. It’s not failure that is the problem, it failure to learn from that failure that is a problem. I believe Coach Wooden was correct; those who are not failing are not trying.
CT: What would you say is the greatest skill of a leader?
Jeremy Dunlap: That’s difficult to say. I will say that foundational in leadership is active listening. As a young leader, people are not always going to care what you have to say. Why would they? Sitting in a room full of people who been "around the block" a few more times than you - keep your mouth shut, listen, and ask a lot of questions. Whether or not you like it - respect is earned not forced. You can accomplish a lot by asking questions.
CT: Young leaders should be quiet?
Jeremy Dunlap: Young leaders need to listen more than they speak. Don’t get me wrong. There are times to speak up. There are times to stand. However there are more moments to be quick to listen, slow to speak.
CT: This is an easy question. How important is learning?
Jeremy Dunlap: That is easy! It is crucial to be a life long learner. Teddy Roosevelt, former President, left this world with a book under his pillow. A young leader needs to be a student of people, current events, and wisdom. And all of those meetings they attend - great opportunities to learn! But you cannot learn if you are not listening. When young leaders sit in these meetings take the time to improve your listening, people intuition, and leadership skills.
CT: Jeremy Dunlap, what is a warning to young leaders.
Jeremy Dunlap: Just because someone says they are a “coach” doesn’t mean they are. The last two years of my life I have learned that coaches are important, detrimental. A coach, in the leadership sense, asks more questions than makes statements. A real coach, guides people, young leaders through situations good and bad. A bad coach fails to ask questions and simply runs off at the mouth.
CT: You are pretty adamant about that.
Jeremy Dunlap: Absolutely. A coach can mean the difference between success and failure. I have learned, as I have coached business executives and professionals, there are many out there “playing coach” but not understanding the fundamentals of coaching. It’s important to also understand that a coach and a boss are two different things, in my book.
Interview with Jeremy Dunlap continues in next entry.
No comments:
Post a Comment