If you were a tomato, which color would you prefer to be?

Law #3: The Law of Process

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day  

Theodore Roosevelt (TR or Teddy)

Of all the nation’s leaders, TR was said to be the toughest-mentally and physically. Yet, this child from a prominent wealthy family was sickly with a weak heart, asthma, very poor eyesight, and quite frail (puny). His parents didn’t think he would survive. At age 12 his father told him, “You have the mind, but you have not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make the body.” TR began spending time every day building his body and his mind for the rest of his life. He worked out with weights, hiked, ice-skated, boxed, rowed, rode horseback, and hunted.

He was a cowboy in the Wild West and a rough-riding cavalry officer in the Spanish-American War. He led a scientific expedition to Africa and co-led a learning adventure to explore the uncharted River of Doubt in Brazil. Later in life he admitted that as a child he was timid and nervous. But after reading about fearless men and knowing his father, he wanted to be like them. He graduated from Harvard and began to tackle politics. He kept on learning and growing as he rose from New York City police commissioner to president of the United States.

Under TR, the United States rose to the status of a world power, he developed a great navy, saw to it that the Panama Canal was built, negotiated a peace treaty between Russia and Japan (winning the Nobel Peace Prize in the process). He rose from vice president to president after the assassination of McKinley, campaigned and was reelected by the largest majority of any president up to that time. Years after his presidency, while preparing to deliver a speech in Milwaukee, TR was shot by a would-be assassin. With a broken rib and a bullet in his chest, he insisted on delivering his one-hour speech before allowing himself to be taken to the hospital.

At home in New York, TR died in his sleep at age 60 on January 6, 1919. At that time Vice President Marshall is, “Death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been awake, there would have been a fight.” TR spent his life striving to learn and improve himself. This author of more than 25 books practiced the Law of Process.

5 Stages of Leadership Growth

1. I don’t know what I don’t know.You will not grow at this stage. (National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states it this way: “You don’t know what no one ever told you.”)
2. I know that I need to know. President Donald Trump reflected on his first 100 days in office with a wistful look at his life before the White House and said, “I loved my previous life. I had so many things going,” Trump told Reuters in an interview. “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.” He went into office not knowing what his job entails. Here he admits that he needs to know how to govern a nation. Does this sound like a green or a red leader? The learning process can begin when we become aware that we need to learn how to lead. English Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli commented: “To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge.” You can give up and go back to phase 1 or you can decide to step up your game, learn, and improve yourself and your results.
3. I know what I don’t know. Don’t get stuck at any level. Talk to others about leadership, character, integrity and more. Listen to President Trump’s description of the White House at the Easter Egg Roll: “I also want to thank the White House Historical Association… and everybody who works to keep this incredible house, or building, or whatever you want to call it—because there really is no name for it. It’s special. And we keep it in tip-top shape. We call it sometimes ‘tippy-top shape,’ and it’s a great, great place.” Maxwell knew he needed help. So he contacted the top ten leaders in his field and offered to pay each $100 to spend time with them. Insights he learned from the experiences of others could not have been learned any other way.
4. I know and grow and it starts to show. Leaders are lifelong learners. Stay focused on the goal of personal growth. You learn, implement, fail, and get back up, dust yourself off, lick your wounds, and press on until you fail again. Then look back to see how far the Lord has brought you from. Aim to learn something new every day.
5. I simply go because of what I know. Get in the habit of growing and it will become automatic. The only way to improve in any area is to take action! Becoming a great leader is a process. It requires growth with intention. As you learn and grow, others will begin asking you to teach them. Don’t expect growth to occur overnight. Your growth, like that of tomatoes, is a process.

Do you know the origin of the Teddy Bear? In November 1902, TR went on his famous bear-hunting trip upon invitation of Mississippi’s Governor Andrew H. Longino. TR was the only hunter on that bear hunt who did not see a bear. Holt Collier, a slave and leader of TR’s assistants, cornered a black bear and tied it to a tree. When the suggestion was made that TR shoot the bear that he did not find, he refused, calling such an act “unsportsmanlike.” (That means he was willing to return to Washington without bragging rights.)

Newspapers across the nation reported the incident. Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman’s lampooned the article. His cartoon appeared in the Washington Post. Inspired by the cartoon, Morris and Rose Michtom, makers of stuffed animals, created a stuffed toy bear. The couple obtained the president’s permission to call it Teddy’s Bear, in honor of the president who refused to shoot a bear. TR’s childhood nickname was Teedie and he wasn’t fond of the name Teddy. Worldwide popularity of the Michtoms’ bear marked the beginning of the Ideal Toy Company.

The Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge is one of seven refuges in the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex near Darlove, Mississippi and it is the only refuge named after an African American (https://youtu.be/N_Hvxu-v4yU).

Respond to the following statements/questions:

1. I have a concrete, specific growth plan that I engage in weekly. _____________
2. I have found experts and mentors for key areas of my life with whom I engage on a regular basis. _____________
3. To promote my professional growth, I have read at least six books (or taken at least one worthwhile class or listened to twelve or more audio lessons) per year for the last three years. ______
4. I attend webinars, seminars, and leadership conferences. _______
5. What steps are you taking to become a better leader?
6. In the past year, what has contributed most to your growth as a leader?

A green tomato grows daily.  A red tomato is ripe and either begins to rot, or if consumed, ceases to exist. Are you GREEN and growing, or RED and rotting?