Leadership

Mar

2021

Leadership Thinking

Lately I have been listening to an outstanding program leadership expert John Maxwell created on How Successful People Think. I have read the book once, but the first time I read something I only mildly retain it. While I listen to John teach and his CEO Mark Cole challenge me with application ideas, it has been even more valuable than reading the book.

As I’ve been working through this, a few areas came to mind that are important for leaders to focus their thinking. These are not the only areas. John mentions eleven areas, but here are three you may want to consider reflecting on in your leadership either at work or home.

Hopeful Thinking

“Hope is about goals, willpower, and pathways. A person with high hope has goals, the motivation to pursue them, and the determination to overcome obstacles and find pathways to achieve them.”

Casey Gwinn Hope Rising

Reading this quote recently shifted my thinking on hope. This is something deeper and more action oriented than just thinking positively. As leaders we must see the positive in every situation, but what those we lead really need is hope.

These three ideas: goals, motivation, and drive are present in what Jim Collins called a Level Five leader in his book Good to Great. I think of the inspiring football coach whose team is down by a touchdown with a minute left and he calls his team to the sideline. He is positive, has a path to pursue, and the determination to overcome the obstacles in front of him. He inspires his team with the plan and the hope it will be accomplished.

As leaders at both work and home we must have hope and be dealers in hope to those we lead.

Purposeful Thinking

To inspire hope we must have it personally. How do we get hope? Purposeful thinking.

John calls this “big-picture thinking” in How Successful People Think. I will refrain from diving into the many great principles he shares. What I will suggest is that as purposeful leaders we need to know why it matters.

Many people have two questions constantly on their mind.

The selfish question: “what’s in it for me?”

The purpose question: “why?”

As leaders who want to give hope, we must answer both of these questions. We have been asking these two questions since we were young. One more directly than the other. Answering “why” helps people understand the reason behind what they are doing. The second question can be the more difficult question to answer.

I worked with athletes for years and could tell them why they needed to lift weights and how it would benefit them, but the second question was more difficult. I needed to understand what was important to them and help them see how the “why” tuned into the “wiifm” question. If they could see how getting stronger and faster would help them get more playing time along with helping the team, then they have hope in suffering through the workouts. Maybe they even eventually enjoyed the experience.

Strategic Thinking

John provides a great process of how to think strategically in the How Successful People Think program so I will not cover that here. Allow me a moment to suggest why this is so important.

In his classic book Think and Grow Rich Napolean Hill shares multiple secrets on becoming “rich.” One is having an organized plan. Depending on the stage of your leadership, your organization, or size of your team this plan may vary in complexity. A strategic plan does not have to be fifty pages thick. Quite honestly that may be too confusing to implement and remove hope from your team.

You have the purpose which reinforces hope so how do you move forward? That is the one question strategic thinking answers. As the leader you are strategically thinking when answering the question “how can we . . .?”

Remember the football coach? If he gives the team hope but forgets to tell them the next play, then everything is pointless. Strategy is informed by your goals and purpose and at first may be the next step such as make fifty sales calls over the next number of days.

The strategy will grow in complexity but remember not to get attached to the plan. As we all have learned in the past twelve months, the plan WILL have to be adjusted so take the next best step to keep hope alive and move toward the purpose.

Which of these areas of thinking do you need to work on? Comment below and let me know. If you want to take a deep dive into the same program I have been working through go here and you can invest in it yourself. If you want a thinking partner to help expand your leadership thinking, contact me for a thirty-minute thinking partner session at no cost to you. Lead Well.

Feb

2021

A Female Business Owner Leading in a Male Dominated Industry

I was sitting in the lobby discussing leadership with Lauren Taylor the CEO of a third generation family owned business in the Indianapolis area. We began by discussing the top leadership principles that guide her. (insert link to blog) While learning her leadership principles I recognized I was with a strong woman in leadership.

The industry she serves could be considered a male dominated industry. After learning that during our conversation I asked her what principles she has learned as a woman in leadership in a male dominated industry.

See Opportunity not Oppression

As a young millennial female small business leader she could see herself as a victim when asked to serve certain roles or she could see opportunity. Opportunities have arisen for Lauren to serve in board roles and instead of sitting quietly in the corner she looks for opportunities to speak up. She is not trying to push an agenda but be a voice for those she represents in the opportunity she has.

Find Your Gifts and Use Them

Regardless of gender we all have unique gifts and abilities. I continually remind youth of this principle when I provide my youth leadership training. Lauren highlighted the natural gifts many women have like improved observation skills (they know to move the milk in the fridge to find the thing hiding in the back unlike us men), in tune with the “vibe” of a room, and often can multi-task well. Use these natural abilities to serve your team and lead them in a way others may not be as capable.

Know Your “Shtick”

Just as everyone has their own unique gifts and abilities, they also have their own unique story. In any organization the high performers have a “why”. Maybe it was the experience with the product or service. Maybe the value they see in the product or service. Whatever your reason for why you do what you do, let it come through which will make you shine and perform to your fullest potential. During our conversation Lauren said:

“Don’t worry about how you will be received, just be you.”

She models this by using her kind, but direct approach in a way that adds value to others. She encourages other people, especially women, to be themselves and lead from that authentic self.

Ride the Wave

As you are being your true self and not worrying about what others think you may make waves. Lauren sees two potential results as you make waves: ride it to the top or crash down. This is a woman who seventeen years ago took over a business that was in bankruptcy and in a few years turned it around. She knows the wave and the risk of failure. Sometimes to make waves she suggests, you have to rock the boat otherwise you won’t move.

Leadership is about change and change creates “waves.” I would suggest we be intentional, other-centered, and strategic in our waves. As we wound down this conversation, I asked her what she would like to say to female leaders. She stated there are different types of hard, but the journey is always hard and enjoy it. More profoundly she said this:

“The path to something greater lies in the valley of surrender and sacrifice . . . it never gets easier.”

The path of achievement as leadership expert John Maxwell states is “an uphill climb.” This climb requires even more persistence and perseverance for some than others. Of these areas mentioned, which of them do you need to grow the most in? Did you find this valuable? Please share it with others you think would benefit and if you want to get these directly to your inbox sign up for a free ebook today. Lead well.

Feb

2021

Tom Brady QB G.L.O.A.T.

I realize I am behind on writing this and that the excitement or frustration has somewhat subsided, but I needed time to think on this idea. I have lived in Colts territory for over two decades so to even write the title feels like betrayal. You may be looking at it and saying “you spelled it wrong.”

Actually, I didn’t. Greatest Leader of All Time. Notice I am not saying greatest ever, but specifically as a quarterback. I’m not discussing whether or not this is true, but challenging us to consider three leadership lessons we can glean from this experienced professional quarterback.

Mindset

If you know anything about football you recognize any good quarterback is a leader, but not all last long. Why? Their mental approach. I found an article discussing Brady’s early years at the University of Michigan (I think I just threw up in my mouth since I’m an Ohio State fan 😊).

I digress. In his early years he was seventh on the depth chart. That means there were six people in front of him before he would get a chance to start. This also meant is he got only 2 out of 50 reps in practice.¹

This could be crushing for many quarterbacks, but he allowed the question “how can I prove myself” lead to an investment in himself. He spent time with a psychologist to help his mindset. That time led him to shift his focus from the number of reps to making every rep the best you can.

Stop focusing on the number of reps and start focusing on making every rep the best you can.

What would happen if as leaders we shifted our focus from creating more opportunities and worrying about the “next thing?” Instead, focus on giving the best we can to what is in front of us. That could shift us from an anxious mindset focused on what we can’t control to a confident mindset focused on what is within our control.

Talented Teammates

Wise leaders understand what leadership expert John Maxwell states in his book The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork as the law of significance:

“One is too small a number to achieve greatness.”

In an interview leading up to Super Bowl LV, after answering a few questions, Brady requested other teammates be brought up for interviews. He understood he may get the attention and be viewed as the team leader, but the reality was he had many talented teammates around him who would make success possible.

If he did not have talented receivers, running backs, defensive players, offensive lineman, and an experienced coaching staff to lead the team they would be limited in what they could accomplish. Some leaders say it is lonely at the top. Maybe because some of the ultimate decisions fall on the leader, but great leaders surround themselves with a talented and capable team so they can together carry the burden and fulfill the vision.

Credibility

Up until this most recent Super Bowl victory I was reluctant to consider the G.O.A.T. idea for Tom Brady because I thought it may just have been the coach and players in New England. The true test of a leader is putting him or her in a new environment to see if they get similar results. Brady did that.

Coming in though I think it may have been considerably easier than when he came to New England because of this last idea. Credibility.

Back in June Bruce Arians highlighted this credibility in an article by observing when Brady talks, his teammates listen.³ He didn’t say exactly why, but surely five Super Bowl rings has something to do with it. Possibly Brady’s credibility created greater commitment from his team and was a key to their success this past season. As Kouzes and Posner state in their book The Truth About Leadership:

“Only credible leaders earn commitment, and only commitment builds and regenerates great organizations”

As leaders we must be credible. We may not walk in the door with Tom Brady credibility, but the best way to build it is by matching our actions with our words. That will build credibility, trust, and ultimately influence.

What about you? How are you doing in these areas as a leader? Do you need to strengthen the team around you? Maybe you have credibility gaps that need to be filled or possibly you need to invest in getting someone to help you with mindset as Brady did in college. Need help with your team or your self-leadership? Let’s talk to discover ways I may be able to come alongside you. In the meantime, lead well.

Feb

2021

Love in Leadership?

Since this past weekend was Valentines and some of you men reading this may be in the dog house because you forgot or didn’t do enough or . . . . I thought I’d reflect on how love could be relevant in our leadership.

Stick with me a minute and if you really want to go deep into this author Gary Chapman wrote about The Five Languages of Appreciation. I’m not going into that here. As I thought of this idea three words came to mind on how we demonstrate love and appreciation at work.

Patience

I thought I’d start with the most challenging one, at least for me. This impatience is visible in how I hate repeating myself. Leaders must repeat themselves though. I once heard a leader say “vision leaks.” By the nature of being the leader, we often are the most excited about where we are going. We constantly think about this vision and then we get in front of our team and they seem to forget!

This is vision leaking. If the team is performing well that demonstrates they care, but they are caught up in their tasks. This can try our patience because everyone gets off course and needs redirection. We may even question whether we are leading adults or immature children from time to time. Be patient and trust they are still on board with the vision. Who did you and I thrive under the most? A demanding and overbearing leader or a patient one?

Not Easily Angered

Tensions rise as conflict occurs in the meeting. You start to feel the heat creep up your neck and are ready to blow, but instead you say “let’s take a five minute break.” Conflict should occur in meetings in a healthy way, but at times that conflict can get out of control and turn into posturing and politicking. What do we do?

First, identify if our anger is because we must BE right. As the leader if we have to always be right instead of seeking what is right or best for all . . . anger is not far behind. Put the team in front of our ego. Second, have a clear plan. What is the purpose of this meeting and what are the objectives? Clarity will help create healthy expectations and reduce the possibility of unhealthy anger arising.

Tough

Ok, the first two were calming now I’m saying “tough”? Sometimes love must be tough. I’ve had patient leaders, but they were also willing to be firm and honest. Tough love is the ability to speak the truth with candor and care. In their book Crucial Conversations Patterson, Grenny, et. al. put it well:

“To succeed in crucial conversations, we must really care about the interest of others – not just our own.”

When we are demonstrating tough love we have the crucial conversation about something the other person needs to hear. We may not want to discuss it, but for their benefit and the sake of the team discuss it with honesty and care.

When you look at these three areas which do you need to grow in? Over the next three weeks focus on one area and adjust how you communicate and lead with a focus on that area. Let me know how it goes. If you want someone to come alongside you to help you or your team grow in your leadership contact me and let’s discover how I may serve you. Lead Well.

Feb

2021

Which Way Do You Most Often Provide Guidance?

I have been preparing for an upcoming webinar on communicating with care and candor so I picked up Kim Scott’s book Radical Candor.* In this book she provides language for us to process how we are communicating when we lead.

For me candor and challenging others comes easily, but then I tip too far to that side and forget about caring for those I’m talking with. In my Friday video I mentioned the idea of kindness and the value of kindness in our leadership. As leaders we must demonstrate this kindness and care, but balance it with honest and at times difficult communication.

I have found models helpful for evaluating my performance. When I was first learning how to perform the squat exercise, I went down to what I thought was low enough. I was uncomfortable so it must be the standard, but later realized I was going only halfway to where I needed to be! The example of someone else helped me understand the standard.

Scott shares with us a framework for providing guidance to those we lead and interact with. These are her four terms with a brief explanation to help understanding.

Obnoxious Aggression

As I learned about this, I realized I fall in this category more often than I want to admit. This is the person who has no filter and tells EXACTLY what they think about something. We know they are being honest, but they fail to balance their honesty with compassion. At times this person may compliment, but include a belittling tone or sarcastic jab in the statement.

Manipulative Insincerity

When we provide guidance in this way, we are being political or guarded for a personal gain. Jim has turned in a project and the quality was not good enough but instead of telling him you say the quality is acceptable. Why? This keeps him happy and thinking he is doing well, but really you need to replace him. The insincere compliment buys you more time, but fails to be either caring or candid.

Ruinous Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings with others. This is a good trait and a quality of great leaders, but leaders put themselves in difficult situations that can potentially lose the respect of others if it prevents them from making difficult decisions. When Jim was not performing well his leader did not criticize him because he did not want to create tension. This unintentionally set a lower standard and negatively impacted the entire team.

Radical Candor

This is when we have the right balance of care and challenge. Imagine you are talking to a neighbor who lets their two-year-old play near the street constantly. You say “Sue I know you love your son” which demonstrates care. Shortly after you kindly, but directly, remind Sue if she lets her son continue to play that close to the street, she may lose him. Care and challenge combined create this radical candor.

As you look at these four ways of guiding people that Scott provides, which do you tend to fall into? In what ways can you grow in either care or candor with those you lead? Need help thinking into your leadership? Contact me for a thirty minute no cost to you thinking partner session. Lead Well.

*This is an affiliate code.

Feb

2021

Learning from a Banking Leader

We were sitting virtually across from one another in our ZOOM conference. I was talking with a humble man who grew up as an only child on a farm and makes personal decisions based on his values and not based on money. Not only that, but his title does not determine who he is, but is an explanation of what he does. This was evident in the fact that when he started at FORUM Credit Union he took the lowest paying of multiple offers because of the culture fit.

That decision seemed to pay off as now many years later he serves as the CEO of FORUM. I would suggest he arrived in that position partly because of demonstrating early on the ability to solve problems.

Early in his tenure at FORUM he saw a need to speed up the processing of loans to stay competitive in the marketplace. After realizing that, he gathered a team to help him create a software that eventually led to a new entity within the organization and helped in sustaining them during an economic downturn. During our conversation I learned three of his key leadership principles.

Transparency

In banking, as well as in many industries, it can be easy for the front lines to feel disconnected from top level leadership. Doug has a system in place to help close that gap. An internal blog for the organization to summarize the key points from the executive team meetings. This enables the organization to understand what and why decisions are being made and can open communication in real time.

I asked Doug how he determines his level of transparency. Many leaders want to be transparent, but need wisdom on what and when to share so they prevent creating unneeded challenges from too much transparency too soon. With this system Doug slows himself down by drafting some of his posts and sharing them with his executive team before posting. This prevents him from sharing information before his team can share with those they lead.

Manage Differently

Maybe you are familiar with Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership model. I won’t go into detail on that model here. It provides a framework for leaders to adjust their leadership approach based on the situation and the individual. Effective leaders have the same standards for all team members, but how we lead them to the goals varies by person and situation.

Doug adapts by striving to know each person and what they need. Outside of regular formal and informal communication the Credit Union has created an expectation of quarterly reviews. This is not to give more work to staff, but to increase feedback. Pre-set questions in the quarterly reviews for both the employee and supervisor provide a vehicle for creating beneficial feedback conversations.

Invest in People

An additional benefit of the regular blog is the ability for those who want to learn and grow within the organization to experience “Just-in-time learning.” If an up-and-coming leader comments on the blog with a question Doug can reply or connect individually with the person and create a real-time learning opportunity. This is one example of investing in people along with promotion opportunities, customized training, and opportunities to grow in knowledge.

Why invest in your people? When his people are satisfied this sentiment flows to the Credit Union members experience and loyalty to the company. Think of Southwest Airlines, they have happy, engaged employees which makes our flight experience the same. This is no different in any other industry.

As we wrapped up our time I asked for Doug’s biggest leadership lesson and he said:

“Choose words wisely. Be prudent in when you talk. Listen more, talk less, and ask questions.”

Ultimately, he recommends leaders to simply be themselves. As leaders at work, home, or in our communities we all lead at our highest level if we stay true and authentic to who we are and not try to lead like someone else. How does that occur, by constantly learning about ourselves, others, and what we lead.

Which of these principles do you need to learn and grow in? Do you want to think into how to invest in your people? Contact me and let’s discover any way I can help you grow the leaders around you. Lead Well.

Hopeful Thinking

“Hope is about goals, willpower, and pathways. A person with high hope has goals, the motivation to pursue them, and the determination to overcome obstacles and find pathways to achieve them.”

Casey Gwinn Hope Rising

Purposeful Thinking

Strategic Thinking

See Opportunity not Oppression

Find Your Gifts and Use Them

Know Your “Shtick”

Ride the Wave

Mindset

Talented Teammates

Credibility

Patience

Not Easily Angered

Tough

Obnoxious Aggression

Manipulative Insincerity

Ruinous Empathy

Radical Candor

Transparency

Manage Differently

Invest in People