Big Things Done Podcast

In this episode, Andrew talks about 3 easy ways you can become a better leader right now. Many leadership lessons are learned through years of experience, but there are some things you can start doing today that will drastically improve the way you lead. If you're hungry to get to the next level in your career, you won't want to miss this. Check out these valuable leadership gems in this episode!   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

David Beranek and Maurice Damoin are co-founders of a new startup called DBI Ventures, an investment company committed to growing their clients' money. While I personally invest with DBI, I am also interested in learning more about how they are doing their "Big Thing", and this interview captures many of the struggles and necessities required for a business partnership to be successful. David and Maurice are normal people like you and me - hard workers, have traditional "day jobs", are not funded by rich parents or inheritances. Their passion, integrity and skills combined with their desire to make a positive impact on the world makes them truly unique and amazing dudes!   If you want to learn more about investing with DBI Ventures (and I highly recommend that you do!), you can find them at the links below: Website: https://www.dbiventures.com/ Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dbiventures/ Twitter: @DbiVentures Instagram: @dbiventures   Thanks for listening and supporting the podcast!   Andrew Glover music by hooksounds.com

Ever feel like you are on a plateau in your life? Not really making any progress and developing into the person/athlete/spouse/professional/friend you know you could be? I'll bet a big reason for that is that you have let your guard down. You have enemies. They are actively trying to hold you back. If you aren't aware of them, they can destroy you my making you live a mediocre life. This episode talks about identifying your enemies and building an attack mindset that will get you fired up and back on the path.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover *music by hooksounds.com

If you are doing something BIG, it's a guarantee that you will run up resistance. You'll be rejected, set back, told you can't do something, have unexpected things block your path. How are you supposed to keep going when that happens? If you're somebody who doesn't want your rejection or obstacle to get the last word, then check out this episode to learn how you can build resilience into your life.   Thanks for supporting the podcast - please tell a friend if you like the content!   Andrew Glover   music by hooksounds.com

If you are serious about making your big thing a reality, you are going to have to communicate with someone, guaranteed. This episode will teach you the way military officers successfully communicate to make the mission happen. If you've ever felt like you aren't getting your point across or wish you could motivate people through your speaking, this episode is what you need to get to the next level!   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Please share with a friend if you like the content.   Andrew Glover (music by hooksounds.com)

We know that the big things we want to accomplish don’t just happen. Making your dream a reality requires you to think and act strategically. But what does that mean? What does it mean to be a strategic person? In this episode, we break down what a strategic person thinks about and how they make their decisions. In the end, you will walk away with practical exercises to start being strategic immediately.   Thanks for supporting the podcast - please share with a friend if you find value in the content  :)   Andrew Glover   (music by hooksounds.com)

Rachel Richardson is an all-around badass who started her own nutrition company after completing an amazing personal transformation. Rachel is full of energy and has an overwhelming desire to help people make great choices when it comes to food and life. She's also a pretty ripped crossfit athlete. This episode captures Rachel's passion and will serve as inspiration for anyone looking to take the leap into something they have always dreamt of doing. Rachel Richardson: @are.m.are | https://www.earnednotgivennutrition.com/   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Most transformation stories follow the "rags-to-riches" trajectory. People talk about how terrible their life was, and then glamorize how awesome their life is now - almost always skipping the middle part of what makes the transformation happen! In this episode, co-host David Glover shares his story about failing out of Baylor, struggling with his weight, and how he turned it all around. David is an everyday dude who you can relate to, and his story is worth hearing. Listen if you: need inspiration to make a change, are going through some tough stuff, are a leader who wants to make difference in the life of your team members. Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Society glamorizes what "success" looks like and they conveniently ignore the road to get there. This is a problem that makes people not see the value in themselves, not achieve their potential, and become less resilient. My brother David and I decided to set the record straight with this episode, talking about how a lesson from President Theodore Roosevelt can guide us to success. Listen for: motivation during tough times, looking for a way to level up.   Thanks for supporting and sharing the podcast! Andrew Glover

COVID-19 is giving you an opportunity. You can choose to live in fear and frustration, or you can figure out how to become better than before. There are lessons to learn from COVID-19 that set us up to do BIG THINGS. This episode has what I've learned so far.   Thanks for supporting the podcast. I believe in the message and do my best to live these principles every day. Andrew Glover

COVID-19 has disrupted our lives globally and personally. If you're struggling to find a new "normal" routine and adapt to these times, I've got 4 tips to help you stay grounded and live a life of meaning and fulfillment. *Note: this is my first video podcast! You can find the video version on Youtube titled - "Staying Focused During Covid-19"   Thanks for supporting the podcast and the message I believe in. Andrew Glover

When a crisis strikes, will you be ready to lead? It's not easy to make good decisions, manage uncertainty, and communicate effectively during these times. This episode dives into the basics that will help you lead effectively through even the worst of situations.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover   *Music by HookSounds

Episode Summary: Be flexible and aggressively seek feedback for the best chance of success Don’t expect your plan to go swimmingly. Provide yourself and your teammates latitude to fail and adjust. Highlight the things that are going well. Just as in the beginning, always seek feedback from every level to ensure you are on the right course.

Episode Summary: understand and communicate the 2 reasons why you must adapt and change. Human beings don’t like to change. It makes us uncomfortable, it’s challenging, it means we might fail. If you want to successfully adapt to a new way of doing something, your starting point should always be understanding WHY you are changing.  This gives people reason to change and creates buy-in.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Episode Summary: Tame uncertainty by opening communication lines and providing direction. In times of crisis and change, uncertainty abounds. The best way to manage this involves allowing people to voice their frustration and providing a sense of purpose and way forward. People have real feelings and needs, and if they are not addressed, they will never give their best effort in the change. Providing a timeline and direction will provide meaning and direction to keep people moving in the right direction.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Episode Summary: Say where you want to go, not how to get there. In adaptation situations, you don’t fully know what you should be doing. Wise organizations navigate these situations by understanding the key priorities and considering all possible solutions to get there.

Episode Summary: Get input from your subject matter experts for the best plan You’re building a plan for something you’ve never done before. The plan better have input from the people who are experts and people executing the plan for the highest degree of success. Don’t expect perfection, and consider all your options.

The success of your Big Thing is based on your ability to make good decisions. This podcast breaks down how to approach making decisions, modeling the successful strategies employed by war-winning commanders throughout the ages. We talk about the OODA Loop and how it can help you speed up your decision cycle so you can stay ahead of your opponents. I've employed the OODA Loop and this type of thinking - trust me, it works.   Thanks for supporting the podcast!   Andrew Glover

The book "Call Sign Chaos" by James Mattis is one of the best modern leadership and military memoirs of our day. Hon. James Mattis is a retired 4-star General in the Marine Corps and also served as the U.S. Secretary of Defense. He was a commanding officer of units that directly invaded Iraq (both times) and Afghanistan. Mattis provides great perspective on leadership and how to unite thousands of people together to accomplish seemingly impossible objectives. If you are looking to level-up your leadership skills, this is an episode and book you will not want to miss.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Our life journey is shaped by feedback. The reason we have performed a certain way, made specific decisions is all based on feedback we've received throughout life. Pain, joy, passion, criticism, praise, reject - every form of feedback shapes what we decide to do and who we are. In this episode, I share my recent frustrations with poor feedback I've received as a student and how we can overcome these scenarios by asking for feedback the right way. I also talk about how to properly give feedback so the people under us can learn from their mistakes and improve. Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

The idea of balancing your work and personal life sounds cool and makes sense, but is it realistic? Does it simply mean that you spend an equal amount of time at work and at home? I remember not having a clue about this until a wise old commander broke down the secret. I want to share with you what it really takes to live a life that is fulfilling at both work and home.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

If you're like me, you want the chance to pursue every opportunity that interests you in your career. You want to run at your highest capacity and achieve something great. Maybe it's attending a cool conference, maybe it's being a part of a secret development team, maybe it's a promotion with bigger responsibility. Whatever sparks you, there's one thing for sure - you have to prove to your company that you provide value to them. How do I know? Because I observed and analyzed tens of high performing officers and businessmen who stood out above their peers. They were the ones who always got the promotions and great opportunities. And they did it by taking on projects in their company. Learn more about how you can start showing the value you bring by not just doing tasks, but executing projects.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Big things come with moments when you have to deliver a flawless performance. You have to be focused. Dialed in. You don't have room for failure or sub-par execution. Missing these moments means your business fails, your product doesn't take off, your sweat and training have been wasted. When that moment comes, you have to flip your switch. Will you be ready? This episode breaks down what it means to "flip your switch" and how you can practice it. Get ready to be a dominating force.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

I get new leaders asking me what they should focus on to start being a great, influential leader. In this episode, I share my top piece of advice for new leaders that I learned while leading hundreds of Airmen as an Air Force officer. I screwed up enough to figure out what works and what doesn't. If you want to rock your leadership role, this is the place to start. I've got 5 practical takeaways you can put into practice immediately, as well as stories and reasoning to back it all up.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Every now and then we get into ruts. We start living a life that is mediocre. We take the easy way out. Weeks go by before we realize that we haven't been living up to our fullest potential. We can't expect to do Big Things if we are just going with the flow. Life has a weird way of convincing us that it's ok to sit back and let other people control our desires and guide our actions. I'm going to teach you how to recognize, avoid, and conquer those low points by taking full control of your life.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

You may not have a difficult life, but maybe you find yourself living a non-exciting life. Nothing is really speaking to you, you're not pursuing your passion, you're not really going anywhere. You just...are. I've been there myself, and I'm here to tell you that your life doesn't have to be boring. It can be EXCITING and FULL OF MEANING! Let me show you what I've learned and applied to my life to break out of the boredom and get to the next levels.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

People who do Big Things, no matter the industry, have mastered 2 characteristics. They can dream big and execute on those dreams. They aren't consumed only with their daily lives - their focus and motivation is on a future goal They can put in the hard work to complete their task - even when it's frustrating difficult If you want to become a dreamer and a closer, consider joining the Big Things Standup. This accountability and coaching program will take you from average to exceptional by giving you an execution plan and holding you to the actions you need to complete. It's not for everyone - only those who want to crush every day and live life on their own terms.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

I had the privilege of sitting down with Joey and Drew, the founders of Few Will Hunt, for an amazing interview. These 2 guys built an extremely popular and successful clothing brand that is all about restoring the dignity of hard work. If you want to start a business, accomplish a big goal, or just become a better person, this episode is full of truth to help you do it. Check out Few Will Hunt for yourself at fewwillhunt.com or their Instagram page @fewwillhunt   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Don't ever buy the lie that you aren't meant to be elite at something. That's a false statement uttered by people who don't have the courage or discipline to achieve the highest levels of performance. If you want to be the best of the best, you have to create a life of 100% focus on achieving your goal. It will look radical. It will look totally different than the rest of the society. That's why most people are average - because they don't have the ability or drive to make their life 100% focused on something.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

One of the reasons that most people live mediocre lives is because we let ourselves be distracted by things that don't matter. Our distraction-rich world attracts our eyeballs to things that don't make us better. But it doesn't have to be this way! If we approach our lives in a critical manner and are mindful of how we are spending our time, I know for a fact that we can do big things in a distraction-rich world. In this episode, I share the struggles I have had with distractions and the process I use to ensure I am managing my distractions properly.   Thanks for listening and supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

Just because you work for a boss doesn't mean you can't do big things. You aren't condemned to sitting at your desk waiting for your superior to tell you what to do. Ever wanted to make a change? Ever wanted to do something better? Ever had an idea you wanted to run with? I want to show you how you can get your boss to buy into your idea and go forward with it. It's called "managing up" and I've learned how to do this in the military and the civilian world - and I am ready to show you as well. If you are ready to max out your potential and show your boss the great things you can do, this episode will show you how to lead your superior effectively to make it happen.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew

What is the point of a morning routine? It's to set you up to max out the rest of your day - that's it! In this episode, I share the 4 principles that I have built my morning routine around to enable me to take it to my day with confidence and success. Want to have better days? Start with your morning routine - I'll show you how.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

6 months ago, I cast a vision of completing a half ironman race. Just a few days ago, I made that dream a reality and I want to tell you all about it. I spent many months preparing for the race and learned a lot along the way that applies to anyone doing something big. Take a listen to my personal journey and let it inspire you to tackle your own!   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

You've heard the phrase "don't be afraid to fail" but I'm here to tell you the opposite. You SHOULD be afraid to fail. Unless, you know how to fail properly. Our education system and our society doesn't know how to properly fail. When someone messes up, we just point and say "you're a failure" and move on to something else. We don't teach people how to address a failure, be resilient, and come back swinging even harder in the next round. This episode is going to change that. Take a listen and I'll walk you through the essential steps you need to take every time you fail. I'll show you the proven techniques to make even your worst failure an opportunity to make yourself better. Don't go blame someone or something else if you've failed. Just learn how to fail properly. Only then can you be truly "unafraid to fail".   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew

For some reason, our culture has tricked us to think that we need permission to be exceptional. You have a great idea or something awesome you want to pursue, but since no one has told you "yes, you should go do that" we often shrink away and fail to pursue it. In this episode, I tell you about my experience with the lie of "permission" and talk about how giving myself permission to do things has allowed me to accomplish big things in my life.   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew Glover

You want to be a successful leader? Learn to delegate your tasks. Delegation is not getting someone to do your dirty work - it's a tool that enables you to bring the highest level of value to whatever you are doing. In this episode, I break down how to know what tasks you should delegate, which ones you should hold on to, and also how to delegate properly to set your team up for success. If you are a leader struggling with many tasks and don't feel like you are getting anywhere, listen to this episode and see where you can implement the art of delegation in your life today. Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew G.

It seems in this day and age that emotions have taken over our world. TV, news channels, blog posts - everywhere we look we see people making decisions based on emotion. And while that might make for a good prime time drama or news headline, it's not how we should be making decisions, and it is definitely not how we do big things. Emotions make us shortsighted and self centered. If we aren't careful, we can make pretty bad decisions if we allow emotions to influence our actions. If, instead we want to learn how to solve problems effectively (which is the key to doing big things), we must learn how to put our emotions in check and elevate our perspective above the fog of our feelings. Dealing with a personal conflict or a difficult situation at work, school, or home? Want to find a way through it? Check out this episode and start solving your problem and moving forward!   Thanks for supporting the podcast! Andrew

In this episode, I describe the new focus of the Big Things Done podcast. As I’ve talked with audience members and reflected on my own experiences, I have determined there are 3 key aspects to doing big things - building your best personal life, solving problems, and leading people. This episode breaks down each of these areas to describe the "brand values" for the future podcasts and services, and I think they are also very important mindsets to focus on if you are looking to become exceptional. Additionally, in this episode I announce my new email newsletter - Big Things Weekly, and my new coaching service Big Things StandUp. There is a lot happening with Big Things, and I would love for you to join me. Head to my website and you can subscribe to my newsletter or apply for the StandUp! Thanks for supporting the podcast, Andrew Glover

The vast majority of us work as an employee in a company. So how do we do Big Things within that organization? Things like getting into a leadership role where you can fix problems or change the culture. Or maybe it's transferring to a new position to experience a new side of your company or industry. Whatever your Big Thing is within your company, this episode gives you 3 proven tips to help you dominate and execute your maximum potential inside any organization. Whether you are trying to get a promotion, gain new experiences, or rise to higher leadership opportunities, I’ve been there and have learned this critical mentality that will open doors for you to operate at your highest level.   Thanks for supporting the podcast by leaving a 5 star review! Andrew Glover

The way our society defines success is completely wrong. We are told that you are only “successful” if you make a lot of money or have a high social status, or are a leader of a big company. Unfortunately, this warped way of thinking of success doesn’t inspire people to be the best person they can be. In this episode, I talk about my definition of what success really is and why it matters. This way of thinking about success is awesome because it inspires and challenges me at the same time. Give it a listen and I bet you’ll think the same! Thanks for listening and thanks for your support! Andrew G.

Relationships are powerful...and sneaky at the same time. The people you spend time with influence you in big ways. You pick up on their beliefs, priorities and values and they soon can transform your own mindset. In this episode, I share a little of my experience (what NOT to do), as well as some tips for how to identify and foster encouraging, positive, and lasting relationships. I've personally found the times I am most successful are when I am surrounded by people who push me to do better. Make sure you are surrounding yourself with people who build you up and push you to max out your potential! Support the podcast - leave a 5 star review and tell a friend. Thanks! Andrew Glover

Everyday, we are bombarded with opinions and beliefs. Everywhere we look and listen, people are trying to tell us what to believe and how to live. And if we aren’t careful, we can end up believing them without truly understanding what they are saying. I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to live my life based on what someone else wants me to believe. Want to be someone who thinks for themselves and knows how to form their own beliefs? Check out this episode where I talk about how I navigate this world of opinions and come up with my own solid beliefs that help me live my own life with confidence. Support the podcast - tell a friend! Andrew

I imagine you have a strong work ethic. You know how to sacrifice and dedicate yourself to accomplishing something. You have put in the sweat and the hours to accomplish your mission. Hard work is the foundation for any big thing.  But… ...that’s not all there is to being successful. Being a hard worker does not mean you are moving closer to doing big things. In fact, it often can lead to us plateauing and not reaching our maximum potential.  In this episode, I share something you should incorporate into your everyday life to continue moving forward on your Big Thing! It's a lesson I've learned and am currently working to incorporate into my every day routine.

It’s inevitable that you are going to be required to sacrifice and do things that are not enjoyable if you want to do something big - if not, it’s just something average. Recently, I found myself repeating a phrase to myself to keep me motivated to study for my Dental Board Exam - “trust the process”. In this episode, I explain what that phase means, how you can learn to trust your process, and why it’s the only thing that is going to help you accomplish your big thing.   Music by Hooksounds

Are you respected? If you want to do something big with your life, you definitely need to be respected by people around you. I like to call it the “hidden currency” of a person who can do something that is meaningful.  Whether you are asking someone for money (sales or donations), advice, volunteer time, or a favor, a person has to respect you in order for them to want to work with you. If you aren’t respected, you won’t be able to bring people on board to support your mission and help you create meaning and value in our world. This episode talks about the 2 ways you can get respect. Each one is good in itself but ultimately depends on what you are trying to go do.  

At the end of a year, we naturally think about the future. We dream about the new and improved things we want to go do. We envision a better life, a new accomplishment, something we can be proud of.  And while I am 100% in favor of thinking big thoughts and accomplishing amazing things, I think we can easily get lost in pursuing the future without addressing areas in our lives that can enable us to actually accomplish our goals.  The best foundation for your future begins with knowing yourself intimately - your strengths and weaknesses - and letting that knowledge guide your future path. In this episode, I guide you through how to conduct your own Internal Review and why it matters. This is a must if you want to be someone who does something exceptional with your life, and not just talk about it. You can download a PDF of the questions we talk about in the episode on my website - bigthingsdonepodcast.com

This episode is my review of the leadership book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. This is probably one of the most influential leadership and personal development books written in our modern time.  If you want to become a dominant leader who has excellent personal habits, this is a must-read! I cover the technical components of the book and also discuss many of the themes the authors outline to make you and I better leaders and people. We’ve talked about many of these concepts in previous podcast episodes, so it’s a great book that compliments what we believe and challenges us to grow so we can dominate, lead, and win. You can purchase the book through this link

What: We all know the importance of doing things that will set us up for personal success. Eating healthy, good sleep, fostering positive relationships, taking risks - all these are examples of actions we can take to make us better personally. In episode 19, we took that same idea and applied it to leadership, specifically looking at actions and mentalities that leaders should take to set their team up for success.  In this episode, we continue that theme, but focus on personal actions and habits that will make you a successful leader. These actions focus on traits that will allow you to lead more effectively, and keep your mentality strong through the ups and downs of a leadership journey. Why: Leadership is hard, demanding, and confusing. It is not something that just naturally happens, it’s not magic, but rather groomed and perfected over time. If you want to become a more effective leader, there are certain habits and actions you need to incorporate into your daily life to grow and develop. It’s no different than an athlete who must eat healthy, train, and sleep to be successful. The Breakdown: Always be learning. The current Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, is renowned for his dedication to learning, even at one point having a personal library of over 7,000 books! His dedication to learning has made him the leading expert in the art of warfare, and his model of constant learning is shared among many of the top CEOs and leaders in our world today. Learning need not be limited reading; podcasts, online courses, YouTube videos, conferences, and many other sources exist today to grow your understanding, provide alternative perspectives, and help you learn from the mistakes of others. Balance. “Work-life balance” is a hot buzzword these days, and for good reason. Unfortunately, the term is often misunderstood and therefore misapplied. Our lives will never have a perfect split of work and personal time. A leader must know how to prepare for and execute in times where the mission objectives take priority, but then also be able to quickly adapt and not maintain an imbalanced mindset. The same is true in the opposite direction as well. A leader who knows how to balance their personal life and work well is much more suited to creating a winning culture with their team. Physical Fitness. Multitudes of scientific studies confirm the many benefits of routine physical activity in a person’s life. Lowering stress, maintaining healthy weight, controlling hormones, and the list goes on. Leaders must make decisions and think clearly in all seasons of life, but that can only be done when you are physically rested and performing well. Routine physical fitness (not necessarily running a marathon or being a bodybuilder) will help you stay steady in stressful situations, increase your self esteem, and allow you to better process your thoughts. Under-reacting. The movies often portray leaders as people who overreact, throw things, yell and scream when something bad happens. But ask yourself - how does that reaction help you solve a problem? Here’s the answer - it doesn’t, and in fact, causes much more harm because you lose sight of what your objective is (“tunnel vision”) and also don’t promote an environment where your team can come to you with issues (which also means they will not want to take risks and attempt things they might fail at). Instead, leaders should “under-react” to a situation, focusing instead on being almost too calm, not saying anything, and doing much more listening than talking/acting. Ownership. The largest thing that stymies big ideas from becoming reality is people not taking aggressive action to make things happen. When faced with a challenge or something that goes wrong in our lives, most of us ignore it. We distract ourselves with something else. We hope that someone else will solve it, or that the situation will magically change. If you want to grow as a leader, start taking ownership of the challenges in your life by acknowledging problems exist, adopting the mindset that you are responsible for it, and more importantly, you are the only one who can make it better. Not anyone or anything else - it’s you. Tie-Up: Each one of these actions are things you can do personally that will help you become a better leader. While they do not directly correlate to a leadership action, they are foundational habits that will help you move your team to a future position. When you practice these habits (learning, fitness, balance, under-reacting, dreaming), you will build positive characteristics that naturally flow into you being a great leader who is knowledgeable, durable, thinks clearly, dedicated to the success of both the mission and people, and also has a clear understanding of where they want to go. Application:   Find your learning plugins. Find something you want to learn about and attack it.  Perhaps that is a book you want to read, educational podcast, or new training. What are you actively trying to learn right now? Physical activity. Dedicate at least 3 days a week to 30 minute activities. Doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Just something to elevate your heart rate for a prolonged period of time. Find 2 weak areas in your life and develop your “ownership plan” to turn them around. Your ownership plan will consist of the actions that YOU will take to make things better. It usually starts with acknowledging the problem and publicly claiming that you are responsible for the situation not being so great. But right after that is an action statement that says “here is what I am doing to fix it”. Your next days or weeks must be spent doing what you just said you would do.

What: We hear all the time about the importance of setting ourselves up for success.  Things like reading, eating healthy, exercising, networking - all great things we should be doing if we want to accomplish something. But what about from a leadership perspective? In this episode, we will talk about 3 habits that leaders must incorporate into their leadership style to make their team successful. The Breakdown: Know and Communicate Why. Leaders must be able to know why they do what they do and why it matters. If they don’t, there is very little solid ground to stand on when time get tough, and no direction in a world full of distraction. Invest in the Advancement of Your Teammates. Your teammates will be motivated to work for you, and do a better job, if they are able to improve and advance in their careers and personal goals. Be a leader who wants to make the individuals they work with better than when they first came and worked for you. Empower Your Teammates. Leaders often times turn into task masters who just tell employees what to do. The problem with that is now your organization is limited to your ability to hand out tasks and manage everything. Why do that? Why not instead let the people who work for you do their jobs (what they are skilled at), giving you the opportunity to ensure you are moving in the right direction? Application:   Why do you come to work every day? How does the work you do make an impact on someone or something? Be able to answer these deeper questions that appeal to the main reason we exist - to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. What are the areas that your teammates can improve in?  Is it getting a Master’s degree? Certifications? Training? Conferences? How can you give your teammates the opportunities to grow their skills and become more valuable? Whenever a team member presents a question or problem, simply ask them “what would you do?”. This puts the responsibility on them to solve problems, implement a solution, and ultimately take ownership of the issue.

What: Every leader is required to make decisions that move their team from where they are now to a future point. This episode shows you how to approach making any decision. Why: As a leader who’s had to make many decisions, there often is a conflict between making a decision quickly and making a decision that has the best possible outcome. Put differently, you often need to decide if you want to be first, or do you want to be the best?  This applies to decisions made in business, relationships, school, and even in your personal life. 80% of the time, you will not be able to make a decision that is both fast AND the best (which would be the ideal scenario, and every leader should be actively growing to improve this area). As a leader, you need to make a decision that will provide the most benefit to moving your team forward, and leaders must learn to distinguish and prioritize their decision as needing to be first, or needing to be the best. Breakdown: What does it mean to focus on being “first” or being the “best” First - There are many decisions where the primary benefit is just to get something moving. Your solution or course of action does not have to be perfect, in fact, it will likely be altered as you go along. Your primary focus in making a “first” decision is to get an action plan out quickly and get the ball rolling. In these types of situations, there usually is an opportunity that will only be available for a short period of time, or a project that just needs to get started to meet the deadline. Leaders who are decisive thrive here because they don’t need a perfect solution, they just need action. Best - There are situations where your plan must be the best, and so your priority and focus must be primarily on developing the best possible solution.  In these types of situations, you typically only have 1 chance to get it right, so it needs to be perfect, otherwise you will fail. As a leader, your focus is on gathering information and resources to draw up the best plan, no matter how long it might take. Leaders who have to be perfect thrive in this area because they need a perfect plan more than they need fast action. Tie Up: As a decision maker, the ideal scenario is for a leader to develop the best solution in as short amount of time as possible. Often times, however, that is not realistic, especially as we are growing as a leader. Learning to categorize each decision as needing to be “first” or the “best” will help you place the right priority and effort to achieve the best outcome. Application: To become a better decision maker, use what we’ve talked about previously as a lens to view every decision.  Here are some specific questions you can ask:   What is my deadline? Every decision process should start by setting a time in which you must commit to a course of action. How easily can I adjust my future course of action? This question speaks to the degree of quality you need in your decision. Do you only get one chance at this and need to have the best plan? Or can you adjust on the way? What happens if I do nothing? This is a really great question to ask because often times leaders feel like the have to make a decision right now, when that isn’t the case. Understand what you might be losing (if anything) by not acting quickly. What would you gain? Am I really going to be able to get resources to make a better decision? No one can see the future, so we will never exactly know the outcome of a plan or solution, so don’t trick yourself into thinking that you will be able to know everything if you spend more time researching or thinking. Take an honest assessment of your situation and evaluate if there is realistically more information you could obtain to make a better decision.

In this episode, I have the privilege of interviewing Alison Galvan, the owner and founder of EnergyX Fitness Studio in San Antonio, TX. I interviewed Alison because she has an excellent story about how she turned her idea into action. As you listen to the interview, you will immediately pick up on Alison's passion and drive, and the story of the early days starting her gym is a testament to the power of simply "doing" something to achieve your big thing.   You can find and follow Alison and her gym at the links below. Be sure to stop by her studio and take a class, it'll be one of the best workouts you've ever had! Instagram - @energyxfitness, @alisonfaithfitness Facebook - EnergyX Fitness, Alison Galvan Website - energyxfitness.com