Blog - Page 47 of 60 - Wheeler Coaching Systems

Aug

2018

Leadership Seasons

I was listening to one of my mentors, Mark Cole who is the CEO of all of John Maxwell’s companies through The John Maxwell Team and he was describing something I had not thought of before: seasons.

Many of us strive for balance in our lives, but it seems to allude us. Maybe the answer is because we cannot ever accomplish that. When I heard Mark suggest that idea I was both discouraged and freed. I have a wife and three children. As the dad I do not feel the same tension as my wife who some days must feel like someone is pulling at every limb on her body between three boys saying “mom” and the fourth saying “honey” and all of us following it with a need based question. As a man I feel the tension of providing, being a good husband, being a good father, leading well in every area and more. I want balance, but after listening to Mark I think I need to re-frame my thinking.

When we had three children under the age of five my wife and I were in a physically exhausting season trying to meet our needs and the needs of our children. We are rapidly entering a season of mental exhaustion as our children approach and enter the teenage years. If you have or have had a teenager you know this tension quite well. As leaders at work and home we have seasons that can be compared to the four seasons many of us may experience.

Winter – This is the time in leadership where we are trying to get clarity of what we are trying to accomplish. This time may be very slow from a business building standpoint because we don’t know where to start. We may feel mildly depressed and frustrated because we don’t know where to go. This is the time of planning and preparing because Spring is on the way.
Spring – This is a very busy time. Think of the farmer, during this time they continually plant seeds. They are not seeing any results, but they have the plan from the winter and now are hard at work helping others understand and spread the seeds of the plan often with long hours of hard work. As leaders this is a time of growing relationships, gaining momentum, and sharing the vision like a farmer spreading seed. This time is exciting, yet exhausting, but Summer is coming.
Summer – I live in Indiana and occasionally up toward Chicago. In the summertime during July and August all I see around me are cornstalks. As a leader the work in summer changes because now is the time to do the reaping work from the seeds that have birthed fruit. This is when you are delivering your services, managing the staff, spending time developing people and implementing the plans necessary to fulfill the vision you have for work and home.
Fall – In the Midwest this is a beautiful time as the leaves change color and it paints the landscape. As a leader this is the time where you see the vision come to fruition. You are seeing the material and immaterial benefits of all the thinking and work you did during the other seasons.

BUT

Winter is coming so embrace it, accept it and continue to lead well in each season.

What season are you in? Are you striving for perfect balance which happens only momentarily or do you need to see the season you are in, embrace it and determine how to lead well at work and home in this season? When you decide the season you are in, what adjustments do you need to make so that you can lead well both at work and home? Lead well friend.

Aug

2018

Golf and Leadership

At the end of my conference last week I participated in a golf and learn experience. I hop in the golf cart awaiting the start of the first golf scramble I have ever participated in. My cart partner introduces himself and shares about his experience as a golfer.

He plays three times a week.

Me, I am lucky to play three times a year. On one hand I was glad because at least we would have a good ball to play every time and a better chance to win. . . . my competitive side. On the other hand, my fragile ego was worried about looking like a fool because I play poorly.

We played nine holes and during those nine holes I learned a few principles that transfer to leading both myself and others.

Teamwork. One of the individuals in our group had never swung a club before our time together. We spent time on the driving range beforehand teaching her the basics. On one hole as we approached the green her shot was the best. Sometimes people on a team we wouldn’t expect will bring us the best results . . . be sure we don’t limit others.
Appreciate and don’t compare. As a naturally competitive individual I tend to compare another person’s positive results to mine that aren’t as good and get frustrated. What if instead I appreciate their strengths and successes and use that as encouragement to continue to grow and push forward toward my goal. Comparing our results and basing our value as a person on results will only lead us down a path of decreased performance in the long run. Learn from others and get results based on your skills.
Relax and don’t rush. As I said I am not a very good golfer, but I know this much: if I relax I perform much better. Just like I have a job to do, so does the club and when I would step up, take a deep breath and just swing I did much better than when I was tense and trying to hit the junk out of the ball.

As leaders when we have a relaxed but focused mindset we perform at a much higher level than when we are constantly tense and forcing our agenda. This relaxed state enables us to listen and think into the answers more effectively.

During my time at this golf and learn I was challenged to reflect on what I had learned over the previous few days of the conference. A quote from James Allen really stuck out to me:

“You don’t get what you want, you get who you are.”

Are we the kind of leaders who will attract others? This quote and the above thoughts challenged me to think what kind of leader am I becoming? Do I focus on the external too much when I really need to pay attention to who I am more than anything else?

What about you? How can you appreciate and empower the strengths of those you lead? How can you relax for greater effectiveness? What can you do to stop the comparison game? How can you learn from other’s success and continue to grow? Lead well at work and home.

Aug

2018

What I Learned From A Leader in Healthcare

I was sitting across a woman with years of leadership in an industry where she had to quietly battle in the beginning to obtain her leadership position. She would not say it that way, but as I listened to Kathy Krusie I saw her quiet, authentic, humble, determined battle to continually become the best leader possible.

Kathy presently is the president of the North Region of Community Health Network which is a regional health system based out of Indianapolis. This is her most recent stop of many leadership roles within healthcare. From the very beginning Mrs. Krusie wanted to affect change in the business of healthcare and has fulfilled leadership roles in hospitals of multiple sizes in Iowa, Texas, and Indiana. She has served as COO, CEO and various other leadership roles.

At the start of our conversation she revealed the path she took was not the traditional route for females desiring to enter administration. This was a male-dominated industry at the time, but she found some keys to enable her to enter leadership positions.

Growth and Development are critical. Because she desired to affect great change, she saw a great need to continue to grow and develop to reach her full potential. This drive to grow and develop was motivated by a selfless passion to support the organization versus a drive to pursue her next promotion.
Take Initiative. Mrs. Krusie did not wait for opportunities passively. She would look for opportunities and then ask for the responsibility. If she saw a need, even outside her comfort zone, she would approach her superiors and suggest taking the lead. At one hospital she served in a role outside of her normal skills because she saw the need, and that area improved dramatically under her leadership. She didn’t wait to be asked, but saw the challenge and asked to be given the responsibility. That is leadership.
Mentorship. During our conversation Kathy said there were men who were willing to teach and mentor her. What caused this? Not that this should be surprising. I believe one of the reasons was her willingness to understand her bosses and their desires and she sought to support it. If she had constantly been trying to pursue her agenda my guess is these men (or any boss) would have been less likely to help her.

These were the keys to her advancing in an environment that in the beginning she was a minority in, but there were three keys to her leadership even now that she highlighted. The first you may have already picked up.

Service. As we could see through her principles for growing and advancing she always sought to serve. Throughout our time I could sense a woman who models the attributes of what Jim Collins calls a “Level 5” leader. She has an intense desire for excellence and I could also sense her passion, but also a humility that she realizes leading well means serving others.
Respect. This idea came out of the concept that her role is to empower the thousands of care givers she leads. Kathy demonstrates respect to the front-line workers by encouraging and allowing them to solve their own problems because they understand the problem from their vantage point better than she does. She also models this by being willing to do what she asks of them. For example, she moved out of the parking garage just like the rest of the staff were expected so patients can use it. Doing this in the frigid winter months just like her employees is a small example of both respect and humility.
Authentic. This is the one word which Kathy would say describes her leadership philosophy. What does this mean for her as a leader? Authenticity is a match between personal and organizational values in a manner that leverages personal strengths to match the organization. Kathy summarizes authenticity this way: “stay true to yourself and your values and do not compromise to climb the ladder.”

Sometimes as leaders the climb seems overwhelming as I am sure it did for Kathy in the beginning, but she provides us with principles for overcoming obstacles and then leading well consistently. What about you? Which of these principles do you need to grow in based on where you are in your leadership journey? Are you leading with authenticity and leveraging your strengths to serve those you lead or who lead you? If not, what is one thing you can change today to lead better tomorrow? Keep climbing, leading well and let me know how I can help you in your journey.

Jul

2018

Youth Sports and Questions about Leadership

Ever since my kids started being involved in sports activities I have helped coach them. Selfishly I do it because I don’t want to sit and watch . . . I’m a doer so I’d rather help. Now with my youngest it has felt like herding cats since he is in the early elementary stage, but with my older two boys I have come to enjoy it a little more.

I remember as a child as I continued in my sport it got to be more serious and not quite as fun. That is the normal progression and each individual has to determine at some point in their “career” if they love the sport enough to continue when the next season comes. I appreciate that increased intensity and competiveness especially since I tend to be naturally competitive.

My children are not at that level yet and as I coached my middle child’s basketball team I had a rewarding experience. First, I am horrible at basketball. I am so bad that I missed a layup at 7^th grade tryouts as a kid. I didn’t just miss it, but launched it up over the top of the backboard. Needless to say I was in over my head coaching 4^th – 6^th grade basketball players.

I realize I don’t have to be a basketball genius to coach this age of kids, but need to be able to teach them some of the fundamentals. Our first game we looked like a herd of kindergartners running around and not knowing what to do. I soon realized I had to tap into my resources and learn how to coach better. I attempted to improve my coaching each week and slowly saw the team improve as well.

By the end of the season a thought became the central theme of our team. This was not about performance and making shots or blocking shots or rebounding. Three ideas became our theme: focus (quite hard at times for squirrely young boys) teamwork and best effort. Our team was full of individuals of varying abilities and when I began to emphasize above all else these three ideas the boys started to play better than they had all season to the level they beat one team they had not all season and came within a basket of beating another.

What does this have to do with leading?

At home, what are we emphasizing? Do our children feel like our love for them is based on how they perform in sports, school, activities, etc.? I am sure that is not how any of us feel about our love for our children, but do we unintentionally send that message?

I think about how many times I discipline my children (which is necessary) for bad behavior. Do they think I only love them when they are well behaved? What would happen if I intentionally highlighted when my children act with great character and make great choices? When they are involved in activities what would happen if I first address whether they are acting with great sportsmanship and effort and as an afterthought discuss performance?

At work, do those we lead get positive feedback only for great performance? Do they know we care about them beyond just performance? Do we slow down enough to know what else is happening in their lives? As they know we care maybe their performance will improve.

Leading is a challenge. At home, I know I need to be more aware of what I say to my children about their activities to emphasize who they are over how they perform. I want my children to have the right character when they enter the real world as well as achieve to their fullest potential. Am I being the example to model that? In every area I lead, am I valuing character alongside performance? What about you? What do you emphasize in your leadership at work or home? Share it below.

Jul

2018

What a Rollercoaster Taught Me About Change

Have you ever paused from being an adult to enjoy being a kid with your own children or grandchildren? A while ago I went to a popular Midwest amusement park with my family. Sometimes when the pressures of life are hitting it is fun to embrace being a child with your own children. Unfortunately, as we get older the fearlessness that existed when we were teenagers and in our early twenties can fade. What my body allowed me to do in my early twenties it now yells back at me “you fool” with a bout of pain or other unique bodily symptoms to remind me I am not indestructible.

So what does this have to do with change other than me not enjoying the fact I am getting older and my body is slowly changing while my mind does not embrace it? As I was at this park it had two elements, a park with roller coasters, and other rides, but it also had a water park. I thoroughly enjoy roller coasters and I chose to brave a 60+ MPH roller coaster with a gigantic drop. As we crested the top of the hill I looked down from the front seat and wondered what I was thinking. The car roared down one hill, up another, around corners and continues for a thrilling adventure I had no choice but to embrace because I could not get off (apart from a heart attack or other extreme medical emergency).

Sometimes this is what change feels like for us. Life happens and we have no choice, but to embrace it and figure out how we will respond.

We are in our job, click, lock we just sat in the seat of the roller coaster and there is no turning back because we need to support ourselves or we have invested too much into the business to look back.

Click, click, click . . . we start to climb up the hill of the track slowly as we build our business or fulfill our role in the department we hear rumblings of changes that need to occur because results are not where they need to be.

Vroom, whoosh we suddenly are thrown full throttle into the speed of change as business slows tremendously or the boss says: “it is time to change or we change you.”

This is one of the most difficult parts of the process. How will we respond? Will we push back and fight against the change thrust upon us by arguing how everything is fine if we stay the same? Will we deny the facts that business is slowing and not seek out help to change? Will we scream in anger and try to increase our control of what we can in hopes of avoiding the inevitable?

There is another option: embrace the change, swallow hard and see this as an opportunity to grow. It may not be easy, but in the end we will take one step closer to becoming more of the person we were made to be as we learn and grow.

Change can be a thrill, a terror or a combination like on a roller coaster. In the beginning it usually is terrifying especially when we do not initiate it. If we embrace it, trust, and keep a positive growth mindset ultimately we come to the end and like my son we may even say “it was awesome!”

Jul

2018

Three Tips to Improve Emotional Leadership

I was facilitating a group with some leaders and during the course of our time together we discussed the Law of Momentum from John Maxwell’s book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. One of the roadblocks to momentum we discussed was the reality that our emotions can derail the progress we are achieving.

In the 1990’s researcher Daniel Goleman introduced us to the concept of emotional intelligence. In his book Working with Emotional Intelligence he describes his research findings after testing and in-depth interviews with hundreds of workers. He states:

“emotional competencies were found to be twice as important in contributing to excellence as pure intellect and expertise.”

Wow! We need to pay attention to this. This may have originally come out twenty plus years ago, but the importance is even more critical today in our social media oriented world. Entire books have been written on this topic by Goleman and others, but let me highlight two areas that arose in our group: calmness and anger.

Confession here: I am not a patient individual so in leadership roles I have a lot of room to grow in remaining calm and keeping my frustration tempered. I don’t know about you, but I find it takes more energy to remain calm than to give full vent to my emotions. We all know remaining calm is more fruitful in the long run.

So what can we do to improve?

Be Aware

Similar to individuals dealing with addiction the first step is recognizing this area is a challenge. Over time I have become more tuned in to my emotions, or what Goleman calls self-awareness, that I can sense when I am beginning to get frustrated. Some of those signs are as simple as an elevated heart rate or sensing my anger rising.

Be Prepared

When we go on a trip for work or personally we have a plan “B” if everything goes awry such as phone numbers of people to call and alternate forms of travel and hopefully some cushion so we can still make the event on time. Do we have a plan on how to respond emotionally in a way that calms us instead of reacting and then having to spend time cleaning up the mess we created? Maybe this is as simple as sitting down and putting our feet up when talking to the individual instead of standing with our arms crossed. Try sitting and see what this does for you and how it impacts the other person’s response. Maybe you need to go somewhere and do some pushups just to let off steam, go for a five-minute walk, take ten deep breaths, or call for a break in the meeting so the tension in the room can ease and you can process.

Act

This is not earth shattering, but once we have a plan do we implement it when the time comes. This takes intentionality because we want to react, but to manage our emotions and remain calm when we want to explode takes intentional action.

If you have ever worked with teenagers you know they are excellent at pushing the anger button. I have found as I am aware of my anger rising and want to pull the authority card that will not build our relationship in the long run, I work instead I try to take the individual aside and either stand with my hands behind my back as I talk or sit down while I discuss the issue with the individual. This forces me to be calm and therefore can create a more emotionally stable and respectful environment for both of us. At the end of the day as we improve our emotional leadership we will grow the respect we have for ourselves and others will grow in their respect for us.

What area of this do you need to grow in? Is this the first time you even have thought you may have an issue you need to deal with? Do you need others to help you in your awareness like a coach? Do you have a plan so you can respond instead of react? Do you simply need to follow your plan? We won’t improve overnight. Like everything, this is a process so take the first step today and celebrate the small victories along the way to leading better at work and home.