Apr

2019

How do We Change Our Habits as Leaders?

I roll out of bed each morning, say thank you for a new day and slide my feet across the carpet as I head to the bathroom. Next I turn on the water to let it warm up in preparation for my morning shave. Later I sit at the kitchen table reading, journaling and eating my oatmeal.

This routine has been in place in some way or another for over twenty years. What is the point? Am I obsessive compulsive . . . maybe a little, but it creates a habit that provides the reward of improving my focus for the entire day.

I recently read the book The Power of Habit* In this book he describes how we form and change our habits. The beginning of the book contains a cycle we follow to develop habits which you can see below.

https://lancegoyke.com/book-review-the-power-of-habit-by-charles-duhigg

I do not have the time to go in depth on this discussion, but want to explore one aspect and how it impacts the way we lead ourselves and others.

CUE

As leaders something moves us forward toward the goal we are pursuing. That something may be financial reward, seeing lives transformed, a goal for the team, or any number of other triggers. Maybe we are not on target to hit our revenue goals or personally we are sick of being overweight. These frustrations create a cue that ties to an emotion and moves us into action.

REWARD

This is the goal we are pursuing such as a decrease in weight for improved health. Maybe the reward is a bonus check when we hit a revenue goal or another incentive. If you lead in the non-profit sector maybe the reward is some form of transformation or meeting a need. Something keeps us in motion once we have received the cue.

ROUTINE

This is where change occurs. Does your organization have a routine of taking coffee breaks frequently to get a mental break, but in the process productivity decreases? Duhigg suggests this is the area where we change our habits. People need breaks, but how can that break be modified into a different habit that maintains productivity? What if the break were an exercise break or a team brainstorming session or a walk to clear your mind?

Maybe the routine is personal. When I get bored, I have to be consciously aware if I am eating out of boredom or hunger. Instead of eating I have to create a new routine such as engaging with my family or a friend. If I have to choose between eating junk food and reading a book obviously one is a routine that will benefit me in the long term more than another.

One aspect of changing a habit is to introduce a new routine that will provide the reward you want. So what routine do you need to change? What is the first step? What habits do you have as a leader that may be derailing you and your team? Change is possible and starts with awareness. Allow me to come alongside you to help you think into your leadership results. Lead well.

*As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Mar

2019

Leadership Lessons from a Former MLB Player

Only a year or two ago the man I was sitting across from in the office of his sports performance business had been in the dugouts of teams such as the Padres, Diamondbacks, Angels, and Astros. There was nothing but humility and a genuine authenticity that I sensed in him.

Over a year ago he and his business partner, who had been his trainer when he played, opened ProX in Westfield, IN. This facility exists to help athletes of all sports develop athletic performance, strength, and skill. I was not there to learn about their sports performance or even Mr. Thatcher’s career in baseball. We were there to talk about leadership.

After learning a little about his professional career in baseball and his business we discussed his three keys to leadership. As he talked, Joe drew from his experience in sports and the example of those who led him. At the core of his leadership are three principles that helped him realize his central theme.

Respect of Teammates

Three principles guided Joe as he sought to gain the respect of his teammates and guide him as he seeks to maintain the respect of those he leads.

Consistency

As an athlete he attempted to always be consistent both in performance and attitude. Having spent years around athletes personally, I understood how moody inconsistent players can be a drain and difficult to respect. While leading his organization, Joe strives to be consistent in his performance as an example to those he leads and bring stability to the organization.

Hard Work

In athletics as well as any other pursuit in life those who work hard gain the respect of their peers and colleagues. Joe served as a reliever in his baseball career and his consistent hard work earned the respect of the All-Star players that surrounded him. As the leader of his organization as those around him know he is working hard for the entire organization they respect him and often strive to work at a similar level.

Put the Team First

Baseball is a team sport and the pitcher must trust those behind him every time he throws the ball. When the pitcher takes the mound he can be concerned about his stats or the team’s result. This idea ties into Jim Collins concept of a level 5 leader in his book Good to Great. Collins describes a level 5 leader as an individual with great drive and humility. Both are required of a team player who gets results. A pitcher or a CEO that gets results has the drive to get the work done, but the humility to realize the team or organizational goals are the highest priority.

We explored a little more in detail what putting team above self looks like in an organization and he mentioned three practical areas:

Employees – consider their needs
Laid back environment – they need to get results, but are creating a people first atmosphere
Family First – trust your employees to get their work done until given evidence otherwise and allow them space for family

Before concluding our time Joe shared a common leadership principle he learned from Buddy Black (Padres manager) and AJ Hinch (Astros manager):

Hire the best people you can and let them do what they do best . . . stay out of the way . . . provide what they need and let them run with it.

Joe values embracing the journey which helped him during his baseball career and will continue to help him as a business leader. What about you? Are you putting your people first as you try to align them with your organizational or team vision? Is your example one worth following? Do your principles or your emotions drive you? Take a minute and reflect on your leadership at work and home and write down one step you can take to grow your leadership and therefore your results. Need help thinking into your leadership results then contact me for a no cost to you one on one coaching session. Keep leading well.

Mar

2019

Leadership Lessons Learned

I had the opportunity to learn from some great people last week at the International Maxwell Certification event. I learned from John Maxwell, Carly Fiorina, Dr. Cialdini and more. I wanted to share some of the principles I learned from my experience so you too could learn and grow.

Refresh Yourself

Carly Fiorina shared a key to effectively leading is finding people who lift you up. Life is full of critics and encouragers. Those we spend more time around will influence our energy level. Negative people drain us while others bring life to us. Who is in your life that will lift you up when you are down and help you recharge your batteries? What habits help you to recharge?

Vision

While sitting in on a session led by Mark Cole, CEO of the Maxwell Enterprise, he discussed gaining clarity on your personal vision. One of the many statements he made that impacted me was “people need to determine who they want to be before they determine what they want to do.” We are human beings not human doings with that in mind we need to get clarity on who we are in order to live and lead at our full potential. Having clarity on our strengths, passions, and purpose will enable us to say yes to the best and no to the rest. There was so much more in this area, but I’ll have to share that another time.

Leaders vs. Managers

During the session with John Maxwell and Carly Fiorina they discussed how managers produce results within existing restraints and conditions while leaders change restraints and conditions and challenge the status quo. Both are necessary and after reflecting on this idea I realized often I function as a manager because it feels safe instead of appropriately pushing boundaries and leading. Leadership requires courage and I know this is an area for my growth.

A Leader’s Focus

“Leaders don’t focus on position or title, but make things happen.” How often do people think if they get the title or corner office then they are a leader. This simply is not true. We develop our leadership ability as we move toward a goal and bring others along in our pursuit of this common vision. Leaders think and act to get results. Thoughtful action should be the leader’s focus.

The Gap

“The widest gap between successful and unsuccessful people is how they think.”

John C. Maxwell

We go to the dentist and he or she encourages us to regularly floss our teeth to keep the junk out. John presented the idea of “mental floss.” Do we regularly clear the garbage from our brain because how we see something often is how we see everything? This ability to guard our thoughts and focus our thinking on the right things impacts our ability to achieve success.

These are just a handful of the lessons learned from my time at the International Maxwell Certification. I didn’t have the time to include Dr. Cialdini’s seven steps of influence or steps of pre-fluence. I hope these stirred your thinking as you read them. Which of these do you need to apply? How can you live and lead to your fullest potential today? Write down one application from these ideas and implement it within the next 48 hours. If you need help thinking into your results contact me for a coaching session at no cost to you. In the meantime, lead well.

Mar

2019

Is There Complacency in Your Leadership?

I was sitting at my desk preparing for the final session of a leadership mastermind with a group of people. We were in the final chapter of John Maxwell’s book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth and reading the section on why people become complacent.

I am not going to go into all the details of the chapter in this post, but something did jump out in his explanation of why people become complacent he said:

“They lose their innovative spirit. They begin to think about being efficient instead of breaking ground.”

I read that and it hit me like a 2 x 4.

Before I made the jump into leadership development full-time, I was getting to a place in my former role that I was constantly hearing from others “be more efficient” and I was fairly efficient at what I did. This thought is not necessarily the mindset of a leader, but of a manager.

What do you mean? Doesn’t a leader want to be efficient?

Absolutely!

Let me make this simple.

Manage or Lead

When we manage, we are looking for effective and efficient processes and systems to do what we need to do with the least amount of effort.

When we lead we are inspiring and pointing toward a bigger picture. We are often providing the “why” and trying to tap into everyone’s personal desires to align them with where we are trying to get the group to go.

Let me illustrate. If I have a room of 100 individuals that I need on task such as in a gym class I must utilize both skills, but I could only manage if I want. I can set the rules of the game or activity such as a fitness routine and set a timer. Each person moves when the timer rings and everyone knows exactly what to do . . . kind of like controlled chaos.

In this situation the individuals may or may not be internally motivated.

Now if I also lead them I will set the intention for the day. I will try to paint a picture of why this workout will help them reach their personal goals. I am simply casting vision at this point. To truly inspire them I must slow down and connect with them. Now I am leading.

Leading Better

So how can we prevent complacency and lead others?

Get out of our comfort zone. Leadership requires energy and effort because we must connect. Leadership requires thinking creatively and for extended periods of time. Neither of these are easy or comfortable.

Get around different people. If we surround ourselves with people who think differently, then we will be stretched and challenged to grow. If you are a black and white thinker, get some creative people around you and vice-versa.

Try something new. Think of the first time you learned to do an activity. You weren’t thinking about how to perform the skill efficiently. You were focused on some level of success, so you didn’t look and feel foolish. You weren’t bored, maybe frustrated, not bored. You were growing and learning and excited and eventually as you persisted became effective and possibly even excelled at the skill. As a leader continue to try new things and grow.

Do you feel stuck? Which one of these three principles could help you to raise your leadership level and break new ground? If you need help thinking into your results contact me and I will gladly come alongside you in the process. In the meantime, lead well at work and home.

Feb

2019

Learning from a Leader in Manufacturing

I was in Starbucks sipping my water and learning from the leader of Rego-Fix, USA a sixty plus year old company which continues to grow and expand into various international markets. Our purpose was for me to get to know him better and also during our time I had the opportunity to learn some of his guiding leadership principles.

Mr. Weber is a learner and that is why he is a great leader. We briefly met at a leadership development event and during our time at Starbucks he suggested three books to add to my ever-expanding list of books to read. From our time I can tell he is a man of great discipline, drive, and humility. If you are familiar with the book Good to Great by Jim Collins my guess is he would qualify as a level five leader.

During his tenure leading this organization his three guiding leadership principles are what have also become the guiding principles for the organization. Before covering those let me highlight how he defined the company’s culture. As I have heard people say culture eats vision and you will see how his cultural values align with his personal/company values.

Mr. Weber desires the company culture to contain the following four elements:

A meaningful job for his employees
Respect from peers
Members of the company would clearly know what is expected of them
He and his team would be resourced to do the job

When I look at these four elements I can see how they directly align with one of Mr. Weber’s core values:

Integrity

Of course hopefully every leader would say this, but Mr. Weber said “integrity is paramount.” He models this value by living only asking someone to do something he is willing to do himself. This creates an environment where he earns his people’s respect and models an expectation that is implemented throughout the organization.

Excellence

When he said excellence, I had to get clarification because one can easily confuse excellence and perfection. Mr. Weber described this as a function of disciplined habits. In order for his organization to provide an excellent product and results he must have clear expectations. He has built this into his culture in part by providing his people with the resources they need.

Growth

This value is obviously important to him personally since I first met him at a leadership development workshop and within our brief time, he recommended three books. When we discussed this topic more in-depth he suggested that growth requires discipline and planning. Growth is not accidental, but intentional and purposeful.

When these three core values are lived out daily by him personally he sets the example and helps create a culture that enables a sixty plus year old company to continue to develop and thrive in an ever changing world.

What about you? How are you doing in these areas? Do you have a plan for intentional growth? Do you need someone to come alongside you in that growth process so you can lead at your full potential? If so, contact me for a free thirty-minute coaching experience. In the meantime, lead well.

Feb

2019

Leadership Lessons from Lincoln

“The organization is the family; the leader is the head of the family.” Donald T. Phillips

If you are reading this you are part of a family. That family could be your personal family that you are the mother of father of or it could be the one you were raised in. Maybe you lead an organization or team and that is your other family. How do you communicate within that “family”?

Years ago I read an excellent book on leadership by Donald T. Phillips. This book, Lincoln on Leadership, has many great lessons; but I want to highlight some principles Phillips mentions related to how a leader communicates.

Lincoln allowed his leaders to make decisions on their own. This is effective leadership, but only when the leaders embrace that responsibility. Phillips observes that Lincoln found his previous generals acted as if President Lincoln were the general until he empowered Grant. Grant took charge and made decisions on his own. This ability to make decisions independently of President Lincoln was a sign of a true leader.

Effective communication is essential to empower others well. Phillips highlights three guiding principles President Lincoln used in communicating persuasively as a leader.

EMPOWERMENT

Empowering leaders enable those who understand the situation best with the ability to make decisions. Lincoln trusted his leaders’ abilities to think into the situation and make the best possible decisions. This tactic created problems for Lincoln for a period of time as his generals multiple times failed to lead well until he hired Grant. Providing autonomy and authority risks failure from the young leader, but can also help the leader grow. (If you want to read more about empowering go here or here for previous posts I have written highlighting examples and lessons learned from other leaders)

OPENNESS

Phillips demonstrates Lincoln’s openness in communication by highlighting a letter written to Major General Hooker after he became general. In the letter the President is honest about both the strengths and weaknesses of Hooker’s situation which created increased respect from Hooker according to Phillips. As leaders we must be honest, sincere, and respectful in how we address another’s abilities in order to gain their respect.

COACHING

I would define coaching as the ability of a leader to help another think into their results through a questioning process. The way Lincoln demonstrated coaching with his war generals was through utilizing suggestions and recommendations. Phillips provides multiple examples of this ability to persuade through suggestion. Whether at work or home this skill is critical to helping us be more effective leaders.

Lincoln demonstrated his effective communication through utilizing these skills mentioned to help others see the value of what they are being asked to do and own the idea.

Leadership is never easy, but in wartime the ability to maintain effective communication is critical. What is the “war” or “battle” you are in? At home it could be raising a teenager or helping siblings fight more effectively. At work are there major decisions you are facing that need to be discussed with openness and candor in order to make the best decision possible? How could you improve your ability to gain commitment from those you lead? Set one action step today and move forward. Lead well.