Leadership Riches: Discover the Gold Each Day

By Vinnie Venturella

All leaders can grow each day with self-discipline and making lifetime learning a commitment. Each one of these 366 daily devotionals or lessons is mutually exclusive but should also be interdependent. You don’t have to have or do all of these to be a great leader. What this project reminded me was there are innumerable qualities, traits, and characteristics that go into the stew of being a great leader.
Leadership is as much art as it is science and you need to master your leadership game over your lifetime. Because leadership is about working with people, what worked yesterday with one may not work tomorrow with another. Find what works for you, never relinquish the foundational traits and characteristics no matter what, hold yourself accountable more than you hold others accountable, and continue to move forward.
I love the study of leadership, have been doing it for 35 years, and expect to do it my whole life. Leadership fascinates me and the more I study it the more I validate how critical it is to teams, organizations, our nation, and our church.
My life’s purpose is to Positively Influence Lives. This is done primarily through leadership. My measure of success with this project is to expose readers to leadership concepts and lessons so they can build upon their own leadership knowledge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728368375

Vinnie Venturella

This is Vinnie’s seventeenth book. Vinnie and his wife Tammie have two daughters, Meaghan and Sophia. They live in Texas. Vinnie was born in Pittsburgh, PA. His Mom Joyce and Dad Frank were a big influence on him, and he has a twin brother, Frank and younger sister, Jill. He graduated Woodsville High School in NH. He has a Bachelor’s in Accounting from Campbell University, NC; and an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. Vinnie retired as a Chief Master Sergeant from the Air Force after 21+ years as a Combat Controller in Air Force Special Operations. Vinnie works in the Personal Finance industry. He has a passion for reading, writing, and physical fitness.

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© 2020 Vinnie Venturella. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/23/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6838-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6837-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020913701

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

January 1 360-Degree Feedback

January 2 A Product Of Choices

January 3 A Smile May Be Your Most Valuable Social Tool

January 4 Accommodative Conflict Management Style

January 5 Achievement Oriented

January 6 Acknowledge Effort

January 7 Activity Does Not Mean Accomplishment

January 8 Add Calm To Chaos

January 9 Allow For Face Saving

January 10 Always Be On Time

January 11 Always Be Prepared

January 12 Always Do What’s Right

January 13 Always On Display

January 14 An Attitude Of Gratitude

January 15 Anticipate

January 16 Ask Great Questions

January 17 Assertiveness

January 18 Assume Positive Intent

January 19 Assured Leaders Give Power Away

January 20 Attitude Is Contagious

January 21 Attitude, Not Aptitude, Determines Altitude

January 22 Attract Stars

January 23 Attract, Develop, And Grow Leaders

January 24 Authentic Leadership

January 25 Autocratic Leadership

January 26 Availability Is Sometimes My Greatest Ability

January 27 Avoid The Traps Of Groupthink

January 28 Avoidant Conflict Management Style

January 29 Bad News Doesn’t Get Better With Time

January 30 Banish Hypocrisy

January 31 Be A Great Follower

February 1 Be A Great Teammate

February 2 Be A Lifetime Learner

February 3 Be A Person Of Character

February 4 Be A Person Of Your Word

February 5 Be A Seed Sower

February 6 Be A Student Of Leadership

February 7 Be Adept At Working F2f And Wfh

February 8 Be Approachable And Accessible

February 9 Be Cautious If Everyone Agrees On Something

February 10 Be Consistent

February 11 Be Courteous

February 12 Be Decisive

February 13 Be Demanding Yet Caring

February 14 Be Humble

February 15 Be Known For Something Positive Outside Work

February 16 Be Likable Not Liked

February 17 Be Objective

February 18 Be Okay With Failure

February 19 Be Okay With Saying I Don’t Know

February 20 Be On Always

February 21 Be Relatable

February 22 Be Responsive To Change

February 23 Be Teachable

February 24 Be The Best At Counting Batteries

February 25 Be The Thermostat Not The Thermometer

February 26 Be Willing To Go Into The Unknown First

February 27 Be Worthy Of Emulation

February 28 Be Yourself

February 29 Become A Mentor

March 1 Better To Rein In Than Have To Use The Whip

March 2 Bring Light To The Dark

March 3 Build A Productive Staff

March 4 Build Appropriate Business Acumen

March 5 Build Credibility

March 6 Build Strong Alliances

March 7 Build Trust

March 8 Build Your Bench

March 9 Calculated Risk Taking

March 10 Can You Motivate?

March 11 Can’t Get Upset When You Ask My Opinion

March 12 Catch People Doing Things Right

March 13 Champion Creativity

March 14 Character Is Built During Adversity

March 15 Character Is Revealed During Adversity

March 16 Charisma

March 17 Chart The Course

March 18 Choices Have Consequences

March 19 Choose To Compliment Instead Of Criticize

March 20 Coaching Leadership

March 21 Coercive Power

March 22 Collaborative Conflict Management Style

March 23 Common Courtesy

March 24 Communicate Clear Expectations

March 25 Communicate Clearly

March 26 Competitive Conflict Management Style

March 27 Compliment Your Peers

March 28 Conflict Sometimes Brings Opportunity

March 29 Consensus Leadership

March 30 Consultative Leadership

March 31 Continue To Prune

April 1 Continuous Improvement

April 2 Control Your Emotions

April 3 Courage Exists Because Of Fear

April 4 Create Mutually Agreed-On Expectations

April 5 Create Stability

April 6 Criticize The Performance Not The Performer

April 7 Delegate Diligently

April 8 Demand No More Than You Give

April 9 Democratic Leadership

April 10 Demonstrate A Sense Of Humor

April 11 Dependability

April 12 Determine Root Causes

April 13 Develop A Best-In-Class Hiring Process

April 14 Develop A Norm Of Teamwork

April 15 Develop True Relationships

April 16 Development Is A Journey Not A Destination

April 17 Diplomacy And Tact

April 18 Directive Leadership

April 19 Disagreement Does Not Mean Disloyalty

April 20 Display Impenetrable Optimism

April 21 Do More Talk Less

April 22 Do More Than Is Expected Of You

April 23 Do Not Gossip And Don’t Allow It Either

April 24 Don’t Be Driven By Just Numbers

April 25 Don’t Confuse Passion With Competence

April 26 Don’t Let The Urgent Overpower The Important

April 27 Don’t Let Your Boss Be Blindsided

April 28 Don’t Make A Lot Of Rules

April 29 Don’t Pour Water On Someone’s Fire

April 30 Don’t Spend A Dollar On A Ten-Cent Decision

May 1 Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

May 2 Don’t Waste Resources

May 3 Earned Power

May 4 Easier To Turn Down The Heat Than Turn It Up

May 5 Embrace Vulnerability

May 6 Emergent Leaders

May 7 Emotional Intelligence

May 8 Empathy

May 9 Empower Effectively

May 10 Encourage Healthy Challenge

May 11 Endurance

May 12 Enlist Accountability Partners

May 13 Entrepreneurial Leadership

May 14 Evaluate Effectively

May 15 Everyone Is Accountable

May 16 Everyone Is Motivated By Something Specific

May 17 Exhibit Political Savvy

May 18 Expectancy Theory

May 19 Exude Enthusiasm

May 20 Exude Passion In Everything You Do

May 21 Find, Establish, And Use Best Practices

May 22 Flexibility Is Critical

May 23 Forming Coalitions

May 24 Get And Stay Physically Fit

May 25 Get Counsel From Multiple Sources

May 26 Get Ground Truth Yourself

May 27 Get Out Of Your Office And Off Of Your Email

May 28 Get The Best Out Of The Best

May 29 Get The Most Out Of The Least

May 30 Give All Credit Away

May 31 Give Credit Not Blame

June 1 Give People Permission To Take Risks

June 2 Give Unconditionally

June 3 Goal Oriented

June 4 Grow In Wisdom

June 5 Harness Technology

June 6 Have A Servant’s Heart

June 7 Have And Stick To A Meeting Agenda

June 8 Have Ironclad Self-Belief

June 9 Have Quality Mentors

June 10 Help People Self-Discover

June 11 Honor

June 12 Humility

June 13 I Will Never Call In Sick To Work

June 14 If You Can’t Fire Them, Don’t Hire Them

June 15 If You Disagree, It Doesn’t Mean I’m Wrong

June 16 If You Pay Peanuts, Expect To Attract Monkeys

June 17 If You’re The Smartest Person In The Room

June 18 Influence Through Storytelling

June 19 Initiate Contact

June 20 Innovation

June 21 Insight

June 22 Inspect What You Expect

June 23 Inspire Others

June 24 Institute Quiet Time In Your Day

June 25 Integrity First - Integrity Always

June 26 Intuition

June 27 Invest Time, Don’t Spend It

June 28 Iron Sharpens Iron

June 29 It Takes Pressure And Time To Create A Diamond

June 30 It Takes Zero Talent To Hustle

July 1 It’s Not What’s Said, It’s How It’s Said

July 2 Juggle Personal And Professional Demands

July 3 Keep All Options On The Table

July 4 Keep Morale High

July 5 Keep Moving Forward

July 6 Keep Things Simple…If Possible

July 7 Keep Your People Informed

July 8 Know How To Prioritize

July 9 Know What You Don’t Know

July 10 Know What You Know

July 11 Know What’s Non-Negotiable

July 12 Know Your Audience

July 13 Laying Brick Or Building A Magnificent Structure

July 14 Lead By Example

July 15 Lead From The Front

July 16 Lead, Follow, Or Get Out Of The Way

July 17 Leaders Are Paid For Execution Not Ideas

July 18 Leaders Are Planners

July 19 Leaders Are Readers

July 20 Leaders Are Teachers

July 21 Leaders Walk The Talk

July 22 Leaders Want To Lead

July 23 Leadership Is About Service

July 24 Leadership Is Influence

July 25 Leadership Is Not A Popularity Contest

July 26 Leadership Means Self-Sacrifice

July 27 Leadership Power

July 28 Leadership Signifies Responsibility

July 29 Learn And Be Curious

July 30 Learn From Every Failure

July 31 Learn From History

August 1 Learn From Those Who Have Experienced It

August 2 Leave Behind A Great Legacy

August 3 Legitimate Power

August 4 Listen More Effectively

August 5 Listen To Understand Not To Refute

August 6 Live Up To Expectations

August 7 Live Your Vision, Mission And Values

August 8 Look For People To Succeed

August 9 Loyalty Works Both Ways

August 10 Make Preparation A Team Trait

August 11 Make The Future Look More Visible

August 12 Make The Tough Call

August 13 Make Your Attitude Positive

August 14 Master The Art Of Public Speaking

August 15 Maximize Lessons Learned And The Aar

August 16 Maximize Others’ Strengths

August 17 Maximize Shadowing

August 18 Maximize Your Strengths

August 19 Maybe Not A Visionary, But Must Have A Vision

August 20 Mentoring Effectively

August 21 Micromanagement

August 22 Model Ethical And Moral Behavior

August 23 Moral Reasoning

August 24 Multiple Priorities Means No Priorities

August 25 Network Effectively

August 26 Never Show Doubt

August 27 No One Is Indispensable

August 28 No Single Point Of Failure

August 29 Nurture Open Communication

August 30 Open-Door Policy

August 31 Operate With Speed

September 1 Organizations Rise And Fall On Leadership

September 2 Organize For Collaboration

September 3 Organize For Effectiveness

September 4 Participative Leadership

September 5 Pay Attention To Detail

September 6 Perfection Is Impossible…Striving For It Is Not

September 7 Personal Power

September 8 Pick People Who Get On Base

September 9 Plan Through Second And Third Order Effects

September 10 Play Your Role

September 11 Praise People In Front Of Others

September 12 Prepare Ceaselessly

September 13 Prepare For Criticism

September 14 Present Like A Pro

September 15 Proactive Not Reactive

September 16 Procrastination Is A Disease

September 17 Produce Quality Work With No Supervision

September 18 Project Management

September 19 Properly Equip Your People

September 20 Put Yourself In Another’s Shoes

September 21 Received Criticism May Be Accurate

September 22 Reciprocity

September 23 Refuse To Quit

September 24 Reliability

September 25 Remember People’s Names

September 26 Require High Standards

September 27 Resilience

September 28 Results Of Working Hard

September 29 Reward Power

September 30 Reward Top Performance

October 1 Run Effective Meetings

October 2 Say No To Time Wasters

October 3 Say Please And Thank You

October 4 Seek Opportunities In Every Challenge

October 5 Seize Opportunity

October 6 Self-Awareness

October 7 Self-Confidence

October 8 Self-Discipline Should Be Synonymous With You

October 9 Self-Efficacy

October 10 Self-Improvement

October 11 Self-Leadership

October 12 Set Expectations High

October 13 Set The Example

October 14 Set The Right Tone

October 15 Shared Deep Suck

October 16 Sharing Conflict Management Style

October 17 Show Sincere Appreciation

October 18 Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast

October 19 Smart Goals

October 20 Speak Plainly

October 21 Sportsmanship

October 22 Stand Up To The Bully

October 23 Start On Time And End On Time

October 24 Start With A Win

October 25 Sticktoitiveness

October 26 Stretch Goals

October 27 Strive For Sustainability

October 28 Strong Work Ethic

October 29 Subject Matter Expertise

October 30 Succession Planning

October 31 Suck At Beer Drinking But Don’t Suck At Math

November 1 Supportive Leadership

November 2 Supportive Not Coercive

November 3 Surround Yourself With Excellent People

November 4 Take Care Of The Basics

November 5 Take Care Of The Small Stuff

November 6 Take Good Notes

November 7 Take Ownership

November 8 Take Responsibility For A Mistake Asap

November 9 Take The High Road

November 10 Talent Matters…But Is Not Enough

November 11 Teach A Man To Fish

November 12 Technically Proficient

November 13 Tenacity

November 14 Thank You Notes

November 15 The Fire Is What Makes The Crucible Work

November 16 The First Rule Of Meetings: Whether To Have One

November 17 The Golden Rule

November 18 The Harder I Work The Luckier I Get

November 19 The Only Constant Is Change

November 20 The Pygmalion Effect

November 21 The Right Seat On The Bus

November 22 The Total Package

November 23 There Is No Substitute For Trust

November 24 Things Are Never As Bad As They First Appear

November 25 Things Improve When They Are Measured

November 26 Think Big

November 27 To Keep A Secret Don’t Tell Anyone

November 28 Tomorrow Is A Clean Slate

November 29 Tough Love

November 30 Train And Coach

December 1 Training Opportunities Should Be Prevalent

December 2 Transparency

December 3 Treat Everyone Fairly

December 4 Understand And Leverage The Pareto Principle

December 5 Understand Situational Leadership

December 6 Understand The Need For Change

December 7 Understand Your Finances

December 8 Understand Your Stakeholders

December 9 Understand Your Swot

December 10 Verbal Sunshine Is Worth Millions

December 11 Volunteerism

December 12 Warmth

December 13 Who Calls In Sick To Work And Who Doesn’t?

December 14 Why Under Promise So You Can Over Deliver?

December 15 Win Loyalty By Being Loyal First

December 16 Win-Win Negotiation

December 17 Words Matter

December 18 Work Smarter Not Harder

December 19 Worker Engagement On Productivity

December 20 You Are Known By Your Fruit

December 21 You Are Responsible For Your Success

December 22 You Attract Who You Are

December 23 You Either Win Or Learn

December 24 You Fight With The Troops You Have

December 25 You Find What You’re Looking For

December 26 You Get What You Expect

December 27 You Get What You Tolerate

December 28 You Never Get In Trouble For What You Don’t Say

December 29 You Reap What You Sow

December 30 Your Commitment Is Contagious

December 31 Your Values Should Be Above Reproach

DEDICATION

I want to dedicate this book to

a former teammate Aaron May.

He is a great husband, dad, warrior, and leader.

He is one of those rare breeds you can put absolutely

anywhere on this planet and he’ll succeed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Aaron May and I met back in the 1990s when we became teammates. He was a phenomenal operator already at that time and he built his game over the years soon becoming the total package. His leadership is emanated in many of the concepts in this book. I am grateful for our friendship and for knowing that people like him continue to lead from the front wherever he is or wherever he goes.

I want to thank Rex Freriks for his continued encouragement and for his overall insights, advice and help on this project. I am a better man and leader because of people like Rex.

I owe so much to so many for mentoring me along the way and for providing me great examples of leadership to learn from and put into practice myself. The impact you had on me and many others is immeasurable. This project would not have been possible without the foundation many of you have laid for me.

INTRODUCTION

All leaders can grow each day with self-discipline and making lifetime learning a commitment. Each one of these 366 daily devotionals or lessons is mutually exclusive but should also be interdependent. You don’t have to have or do all of these to be a great leader. What this project reminded me was there are innumerable qualities, traits, and characteristics that go into the stew of being a great leader. Some of these, however, are inarguable and without them you should not lead, or you won’t lead effectively. Leadership is as much art as it is science and you need to master your leadership game over your lifetime. Because leadership is about working with people, what worked yesterday with one may not work tomorrow with another. Find what works for you, never relinquish the foundational traits and characteristics no matter what, hold yourself accountable more than you hold others accountable, and continue to move forward.

JANUARY 1

360-DEGREE FEEDBACK

Feedback is designed to make us better. We should all have the mechanism(s) to ensure we generate feedback from multiple sources. One such mechanism is the 360-degree feedback. I’ve used this in the past and it was for a specific time period. The feedback will be generated from peers, subordinates, supervisors, and perhaps others with knowledge of the person. Normally, they are asked the same questions and a person or firm will generate the outcomes and conduct a review with the person being assessed. Normally the actual feedback is kept confidential, and the person is given themes of feedback to be considered. What is most intriguing is if the person is surprised by the feedback, which is sometimes the case. Assuming the process was kept above board, it may mean the person being assessed lacks some self-awareness or has some defensiveness. A key is the person needs to be open minded, be vulnerable and be willing to take the feedback and apply it.

JANUARY 2

A PRODUCT OF CHOICES

We are a collection of the choices we’ve made over time. Did we choose good things or bad ones? Making good choices early in life will be a result of good parenting, good examples, common-sense, mentors, accountability partners, and maybe a little bit of luck. Simple things like eating well, maintaining a physical fitness regimen, living life well, avoiding bad habits, avoiding bad substances, maximizing spare time with positive endeavors, are all examples. The opposites are also true. A key is to make good choices a habit day-by-day – over a lifetime. Think of your life as a checkbook register. Every good choice goes in the credit column, conversely every bad choice goes in the debit column. Sure, we all make bad choices from time to time, the key is to have a net positive balance (so to speak) every day – over a lifetime. We are a product of the choices we make. Are you making more good ones than bad ones?

JANUARY 3

A SMILE MAY BE YOUR MOST

VALUABLE SOCIAL TOOL

When you walk through your work center or down a hallway, where you can see people coming towards you, how many people look you in the eye and smile? Do you look people in the eye and smile? Do you have a disposition to smile at everyone you are faced with? I truly attempt to do this every day of my life. It’s amazing the impact it has. In closer environments, like your team, or a church group, or even your family, do you smile and do others as well? Doesn’t it make you feel good when someone smiles at you or is returning your smile? No words, just a simple gesture. It is disarming, warm, friendly, and lets the other person or people feel something positive about you. Now imagine all those times the opposite happened. Was it you that didn’t smile? Someone else? I’ll bet the perception in either case was not good. Did you think the other person was a grump, having a bad day, or was being their normal self? What did they say about you? Smile!

JANUARY 4

ACCOMMODATIVE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLE

Managing conflict basically deals with satisfying your concerns and those of the other party. There are various ways to accomplish that. The accommodative style attempts to satisfy or appease the other person’s concerns over your own. An example may be giving a refund to an irate customer without taking into consideration the