“So many times it happens too fast, you trade your passion for glory”
by Survivor, from The Eye of the Tiger

That may sound corny, a guy named Rocky using a quote from a Rocky movie soundtrack. I believe that is what happens in most cases. People enter a career for certain reasons. Those reasons are different for every individual. Sometimes people go to college and study for a career; others enter their fields of work through different routes. Most people have some idea of what they would like to be or accomplish. Suddenly, life gets in the way. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Maybe unexpected responsibilities arise, such as; marriage, a mortgage, children or others. Often, it is the lure of a promotion within the company, or an unbelievable offer from another company. I once had a person tell me, “People will not sell their dreams for a million dollars, but they will for a dollar more on the hour”

When looking at leadership I think that is the biggest challenge leader’s face. They have to recognize what they are passionate about and learn to follow that passion. That passion can be like that of Donald Trump, a passion for business excellence. It can be a passion like Mother Theresa, a passion for helping the underprivileged. It can be somewhere in between, but it has to be their passion. When you find people doing something other than what they are passionate about, that is where you find terms like burnout. How many times have we seen the office hotshot take a meteoric rise in the business, only to rise to a level of incompetence, become overwhelmed, and fail? We have also seen the other side. A person rises to top of their profession, only to regret that they have not fulfilled their dreams. These people are left devastated and asking themselves what went wrong? 

What went wrong is that they traded their passion for glory. 

In the end they feel as though something is missing and they need to make up for it. Leaders also have the responsibility of knowing what the passions of those around them are. Successful leaders guide people towards their skills and passions. If you link someone contrary to their skills and/or their passions it most likely will not endure. It is like struggling upstream. The individual soon tires out. Many times the leader will try to pull them along, only to tire themselves.

My Background

I have been through a lot in my career. I would like to say that everything has been good. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. I have done many good things in my career. I have helped a lot of people. I have helped people turn their lives around by helping them to get off of drugs. I have helped families to find unity that had escaped them. I have helped people recognize problems they previously denied and created havoc in their lives. I have helped sex offenders apologize to their victims. I have helped victims move on with their lives. I have learned many valuable skills in working with people. I have been involved in some very educational and helpful training to get me to the point of being able to accomplish these things. However, I have also been on the other side of things. I have worked in bad programs. I worked in a program that was closed for bad practices. I have been a very poor manager due to having a lack of experience. I have compromised my sense of mission for status. I have over indulged myself in work at the expense of my family. I have made about every mistake a person can make. For all I know, I may have invented a few new ones. As a result I have learned a great deal.  Here are a few things I have learned.

FAILURE is inevitable. People spend a great deal of time and energy trying to avoid the inevitable. Everyone fails. The difference is that the truly great ones not only learn from failure they embrace it. In reality it is only a word, but it carries with it a great deal of pain, frustration and anxiety. The fear of failure has paralyzed so many dreams and so much potential through the years that it has become one of the most dreaded forces on earth. Only those that learn to harness failure and make it work for them can truly achieve great things. I have learned "Failure is not negative. It is a teacher. It molds, refines, and polishes you so that one day your light will shine for all to see. It isn't the failure you experience that will determine your destiny, but your next step and then the next that will tell the story of your life." Tim connor

SELFISHNESS is the root of all failure. I have never met a selfish person that is truly successful. Sure enough, I have met selfish people that have money and material possessions. I have not met a selfish person that has contentment and allot of friends. I have met many very talented people that could not reach their potential due to selfishness. I have seen very promising businesses fail due to greed. I have seen families broken and seen children suffer due to the effects of selfishness. I have seen people with a great deal of intelligence squander their talents and dreams for selfish interest and instant pleasures. I have seen parents reject their children for instant gratification. I have seen athletes ruin careers for the pursuit selfish gains. I have seen children turn against their parents for the lure of selfish pleasures. I have come to believe that there is no good in selfish desires. However, I have learned that we all have them and we all fall victim to these desires many times.

ANGER is an emotion that destroys more people, relationships and businesses than all the illness in the world. People seem to be so angry all the time. It seems as if people walk around with a chip on their shoulders all the time.  This is probably a by-product of selfishness. Someone once told me that the emotions of fear, shame, and anger are the driving forces of human behavior. The more I think and study on that, the more I believe it. I think the ones that learn how to make these emotions work for them are the ones that are successful. Unfortunately, most of us struggle through life falling victim to these emotions and never truly learn how to make them work for us.

BELONGING, ACHIEVEMENT AND RECOGNITION are vital to people. When I look at successful people and organizations I find they have an uncanny ability to make people feel as though they are special. Every successful aspect of society does this on some level. It may sound strange to say that gangs are successful. However, in my work with juvenile delinquents, I find that this is the biggest draw that gangs have. They can make what the rest of society deems as misfits and failures feel a very strong sense of belonging, achievement and recognition. They do it so well that the rest of society cannot stop the enterprise of gangs. Indeed they have affected our society in many ways. Successful ball teams and businesses do the same. They have a great talent for making people feel as though they belong and have achieved. They are recognized for being someone special.

My career goals used to be governed by selfish interest and fear of failure. Both seem to go hand in hand. Where you find one, you find the other. My selfish interest caused me to make many mistakes. In the process I no doubt hurt others. I cannot push rewind and undo the things I have done in the past. The only thing I can do is learn from the past and move forward. That pretty much sums up my career goals. I don't want to get rich, attain status and climb the ladder of success only to find it is once again "leaning against the wrong wall." I want to make a difference and I want to be a part of an organization that is the best at making a difference. I want to do this while being the best family man around.

My views on leadership are best summed up by my favorite quote. It is titled Excellence.

EXCELLENCE

 Excellence is never an accident. It is achieved in an organization or institution only as a result of an unrelenting and vigorous insistence on the highest standards of performance. It requires an unswerving expectancy of quality from the staff and volunteers.

 Excellence is contagious. It infects and affects everyone in the organization. It charts the direction of a program. It establishes the criteria for planning. It provides zest and vitality to the organization. Once achieved, excellence has a talent for permeating every aspect of the life of the organization.

 Excellence demands commitment and a tenacious dedication from the leadership of the organization. Once it is accepted and expected, it must be nourished and continually reviewed and renewed. It is a never ending process of learning and growing. It requires a spirit of motivation and boundless energy. It is always the result of a creatively conceived and precisely planned effort.

 Excellence inspires; it electrifies. It potentializes every phase of the organization's life. It unleashes an impact which influences every program, every activity, every committee, and every staff person. To instill it in an organization is difficult, to sustain it, even more so. It demands imagination and vigor. But most of all, it requires from the leadership a constant state of self discovery and discipline.

 Excellence is an organizations life line. It is the most compelling answer to apathy and inertia. It energizes a stimulating and pulsating force. Once it becomes the expected standard of performance, it develops a fiercely driving and motivating philosophy of operation. Excellence is a state of mind put into action. It is a roadmap to success. When a climate of excellence exist, all things - staff work, volunteer leadership, finances, and program - come easier.

 Excellence in a program is important - because it is everything!

 

 Author unknown

I have learned these lessons first hand. I have been the guy that traded his passion for glory. I have experienced the fast rise to the top only to tumble back down. I have placed people in positions that did not match their skills or their passions. I have seen them tire out and I have tired out trying to help them. I have bounced around different positions and organizations trying to find my “Niche”. What I found is that I am not a business man. I don’t do things well from a business standpoint. I found that my success lies in the area of helping others. I am more of the Mother Theresa than the Donald Trump. However, I have learned that there is a business side of the caring as well. You better believe Mother Theresa was a shrewd business woman. That is how she became so successful; she blended the business with her mission. Donald trump is a shrewd business man; he no doubt has his caring qualities as well. As leaders we have to know what our skills, potentials, and passions are. We have to know the same for those around us. I have done some good things in my career. The following is a list of some of my accomplishments:

• I started 8 programs for underprivileged kids. These programs ranged from providing counseling services in schools and community based settings to very structured residential programs.
• I have written counseling programs for community prevention programs.
• I provide consultation for programs that work with disadvantaged youth.
• I am developing counseling programs in rural communities that do not have adequate services to meet the needs of troubled youth in their communities.
• I am working to develop a mentoring program for the Elementary schools in my home area.
• I serve as President of my alma maters Letterman’s club.
• I have a Masters degree in counseling.
• I have professional certifications in The Treatment of High Risk Youth, Family Engagement Strategies, Juvenile Sexual Offender Counseling, and Group Counseling.
• I conduct much training throughout my state on working with youth.
• I conduct drug and alcohol classes for prevention and intervention of drug and alcohol abuse. 
• I serve on committees that work to implement new treatment protocols for drug and alcohol abuse.
• Most importantly, I have learned to fail and learn from it. 

My hopes are that you will join me in this journey of learning how to be a leader. To do so we have to “Rattle the Cage”. Sometimes we have to rattle our own cage. Other times we have to rattle the cage of others. I invite you to be a student with me as we “Rattle the Cage”

You can email me at roger.noe@rattle-the-cage.com