by LT | Aug 9, 2023 | Attitude, Goals, Leadership, Self Development
Greetings friends! As we embark on this journey through the back half of the year, let’s take a moment to reflect on the profound impact that words can have on our lives. As Yehuda Berg beautifully stated, “Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble.” This sentiment echoes throughout history, as Abraham Joshua Herschel adds, “Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts as a sound, ends in a deed.”
Let’s delve into the incredible influence that a single word can wield in shaping our thoughts, decisions, and actions. Just as a rudder steers a ship through uncharted waters, our chosen word can act as our guiding star, providing us with direction and purpose.
The Magic of One Word
Incorporating a single word into our lives is a practice that extends beyond personal resolutions. Many organizations have adopted this approach as part of their annual business planning. Words such as “growth,” “act now,” and “drive” become more than just mere terms – they become rallying points, unifying teams around a shared vision.
Through aligning language, these organizations discover that the challenge of fostering cohesion and clarity is greatly diminished. With a single word to spearhead initiatives, track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and shape strategies, a renewed sense of focus takes root. Furthermore, the added perk of creating memorable swag helps spread the message even further!
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by LT | Nov 30, 2021 | Fitness, Leadership, Podcast, Self Development
“Success today requires the agility and drive to constantly rethink, reinvigorate, react and reinvent”. Bill Gates
“If you want to be fast and agile, keep things simple. Speed isn’t the result of simplicity, but simplicity enables speed”. Jim Highsmith
Did you catch the clue in today’s quotes about our subject matter? Yes, it’s agility and leading with speed. I was talking about leadership with one of my new colleagues and mentioned the characteristics hungry, humble, and smart. Gino Wickman in his book Traction would say Get it, Want it, and Capacity where capacity includes the emotional capacity or emotional intelligence to do the job well. I may be stretching that capacity includes humility, but I think you must be capable of bigger things without letting them get to your head. My colleague was quick to add agile and he couldn’t be more right. It’s not enough to be smart enough to get the job done or driven enough to see the project to completion and having the capacity to get it done is important, but all three of these things aren’t good enough if you can’t learn, adapt, and change quickly. Success loves speed. Today’s leader needs agility.
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by LT | Jun 1, 2021 | Attitude, Business, Leadership, Self Development
“As we express our gratitude we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them”. John F. Kennedy
“Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them”. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Happy Memorial Day and a big thank you to all of our past and present service men and women out there.
To Serve
When I think of a holiday like today I think of the key element which is service. To serve, which makes me think of how service relates to leadership. We have all heard the term servant leader or servant leadership. When you hear those words what kinds of images come to mind or what actions do you think are represented by a servant leader? What I have witnessed is that the term is very misrepresented. Many confuse a leader doing someone else’s work for them with being a servant leader. We would all love a boss that does our job for us right? They may win a popularity contest, “most liked leader”, but someone else doing your job for you is not going to build your skillset, challenge you to do more, or inspire you.
What Most Think Servant Leadership Is
Many leaders roll their sleeves up and get in the trenches. Sometimes it is necessary for the needs of the business, or to provide the example for others to follow. (more…)
by LT | Dec 29, 2020 | Attitude, Book Review, Business, Goals, Leadership, Podcast, Self Development
As 2020 comes to a close are you like many asking ourselves who do we want to be in the new year? Reflection is a powerful self improvement tool many of the greatest leaders use. Reflection involves the leadership questions you ask yourself before establishing priorities and goals for the new year.
“Learning without reflecting is a waste. Reflecting without learning is dangerous”. Confucius
“Follow effective actions with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective actions.” Peter Drucker
Fun fact on the author of our last quote – Peter Drucker, in addition to being one of the most influential thinkers in management of all time he had over 20 honorary degrees from colleges and universities all around the world. 20! So here’s a man whose work was so influential that these institutions of higher learning wanted his name associated with them. That’s technically all an honorary degree is. A way for a school to connect someone’s credentials, their accomplishments, their brand to the school.
That’s influence. Creating an image so great that a university will give you FOR FREE something that has value in the US of let’s say 10’s of thousands of dollars. So I ask you who wants your name associated with them? What are you doing to build your brand? How are you manifesting your influence so that others want to be connected to you? Maybe not colleges giving you degrees FOR FREE, but how about someone being proud to say “hey, I’m on so and so’s team. This is the team you want to be on.”
I have an acquaintance who’s a speaker and author who would say it this way “do people salivate when they hear your name.” Extreme right? Creating that culture where being on your team evokes more action and better results because people on your team want to be able to continue to connect themselves with your brand and to do that they know they need to perform.
Whew! That’s influence! That’s leadership!
Reflection
Leaders let’s take just a couple of minutes here and discuss reflection and the leadership questions you ask yourself.
First, what is it? Reflection is about questioning, in a positive way, what you do, what you say and why you do or say it and then deciding if there is perhaps a better way. Why it’s important? Self-reflection is essential for personal growth. Taking the time to create self-awareness will allow you to challenge your thoughts and to uncover breakthroughs. Without it, we have the potential to be reactive to people and situations. Reactive is not a position of power or influence. It’s a defense.
Here’s another reason why. We all know that growth requires change. Change requires two things. A starting point, where you are currently. And, a destination, what you are going to change. Without creating self-awareness through reflection, it is going to be very difficult to assess the gap between the two and the proper actions needed to close the gap.
Here are 3 times when reflection can come into play.
by LT | Sep 14, 2020 | Attitude, Book Review, Business, Leadership, Podcast, Self Development
Has your leadership status plateaued? Here’s one way to fuel your leadership status to unstoppable.
“You can’t build any kind of organization if you’re not going to surround yourself with people who have experience and skill base beyond your own.” Howard Schultz
“When you’re the best, you only want to surround yourself with the best.” Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Leaders need to remember that we are in the service of humans business. As Albert Einstein said, “Only a life lived in the service of others is worth living.”
The talent you surround yourself is what gets you promoted, not your own talent.
Reflecting on my own past and observing many amazing leaders I will tell you this. I never received a promotion based solely on my contributions. Perhaps, getting into that entry level leadership position will be based on your performance, but after that you will be recognized on the performance of the people you surround yourself with.
You’ve heard the term control the controllables. People is a controllable that many leaders do not see as one because they don’t take true ownership of their team. (more…)
by LT | Aug 26, 2020 | Book Review, Business, Leadership, Podcast, Self Development
Three (with a bonus fourth) Way Leaders Make Work Fulfilling
“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” – Simon Sinek
“On what high-performing companies should be striving to create: A great place for great people to do great work.” – Marilyn Carlson, former CEO of Carlson Companies
How To Be 21% More Profitable
As leaders we know that we need to create engaged employees. Kevin Kruse wrote an article in Forbes defining employee engagement like this: “Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.” He goes on to say “When employees care—when they are engaged—they use discretionary effort.” Discretionary effort? What does that mean? It means they do things because they want to do them. They choose to go above and beyond.
“The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers.” – Sybil F. Stershic, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care
“Highly engaged employees make the customer experience. Disengaged employees break it.” – Timothy R. Clark, The 5 Ways That Highly Engaged Employees are Different
That is why high engagement is a common thread in the world’s most successful organizations and Gallup puts a 21% more profitable number to it. That’s money you can take to the bank.
3 Ways Leaders Make Work Fulfilling
As I mentioned, this doesn’t come naturally, leaders must create the proper environment for this to happen. One of my favorite authors, Patrick Lencioni, explains how in The Three Signs of a Miserable Job. Most leaders who are readers have read Patrick Lencioni’s books. Most notably The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. If you haven’t read it yet, read it now. I’ve used The Three Signs of a Miserable Job as a developmental tool for leaders for years. Not as popular as some of his other books, but I think this one is a gem and if you are a leader wanting to create a more engaged workforce this is a must read.
Here are the 3 signs:
- Anonymity
- Irrelevance
- Immeasurability
Anonymity
Let’s start at the top. Anonymity. People who see themselves as invisible, generic, or anonymous cannot love their job, no matter what they are doing. Leaders need to find unique qualities of each employee and keep in mind that work is not their lives. Work can be an important fulfilling part of their lives, especially if their leader shows genuine interest in them. Most importantly, employees who feel valued will value your customers and clients. It’s a magical trickle-down effect. Happy employees produce happy clients.
“The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers.” – Sybil F. Stershic, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most
Irrelevance
The second sign of a miserable job is irrelevance. Employees must feel their work is important to someone in the organization. From the book, “Human beings need to be needed, and they need to be reminded of this pretty much every day. They need to know that they are helping others, not merely serving themselves.”
“Connect the dots between individual roles and the goals of the organization. When people see that connection, they get a lot of energy out of work. They feel the importance, dignity, and meaning in their job.” – Ken Blanchard and Scott Blanchard, Do People Really Know What You Expect from Them?, Fast Company
The most famous story we have all heard before that illustrates an employee understanding their relevance is the story of the janitor who, when asked by JFK what he did stated, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.” That’s seeing the big picture. That is relevance.
Immeasurability
And finally, immeasurability. We’ve all heard if it can’t be measured it can’t be improved. Every employee needs a number. They don’t need a scorecard with a dozen metrics, but at least one number. “Numbers create accountability. When you set a number, everyone knows what the expectation is.” Gino Wickman, Traction. The communication is so much clearer when there is a common number to speak to. Some positions are easier than others to assign a number to, but you can find a measurable for practically everything. How many new clients will you sign on this quarter? 10. How many seconds before a client is greeted in your office? 10. How many rings before the phone is answered? Better not be 10. How about 2.
Recognition isn’t one of the 3 signs, if it were then there’d be four, but let’s not leave out recognition. This will ensure that you, as a leader, make work fulfilling.
“Dispirited, unmotivated, unappreciated workers cannot compete in a highly competitive world.” – Frances Hesselbein, Hesselbein on Leadership
Put these 4 lessons in your leadership toolbox and make it a great week.
