The Everyday Leader

Leaders inspire others to live their best lives by living the best version of themselves.  Those that look to leaders for how they should feel every other time of the year are depending on us now during the holidays.  When we find a way to manage our stress and anxiety during this busy tine we help others manage theirs.

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. 

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all who have served.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 mis-represented.  Many confuse leaders doing the actual work with being a servant leader.  Listen here and learn what servant leadership is and 5 characteristics of servant leaders.

If you want employees, team members, kids, partners that feel appreciated recognize the effort. “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory”. Mahatma Gandhi

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? Friends, 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. 

As a leader, what is weighing you down and keeping your from being your absolute best?  There is an amazing path to success through simplicity.We talk a lot on this podcast about what great leaders have.  Let's talk today about what great leaders don't have.  Great leaders don't have these 3 thingsCluttered schedulesCluttered goalsCluttered relationships

Nearly 40% of Americans start their holiday shopping before Halloween. Shocking right? No wonder the displays are out so early. The holiday season traditionally does not bring out the best in shoppers. Friends, this year 2020, will be no exception to this.  We are all on edge.  COVID, social unrest, the election  I speak from experience. My retail history includes way too many Black Friday's to count. While customers may not be exhibiting their kindest, most holly jolly behavior we must remember to rise above and always act like a pro. 6 Tips For Working Retail During the Holidays Listen here

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.  The great thing is, that as a leader you have the opportunity to surround yourself with the right people.  When you get the right people in the right roles doing the right things that's when you become unstoppable.

Leaders must create the proper environment for employees to feel their work is fulfilling.  One of my favorite authors, Patrick Lencioni, explains how in The Three Signs of a Miserable Job. Here are the 3 signs:1. Anonymity2. Irrelevance3. ImmeasurabilityLet's add our own #4 Recognition.

There are 4 buckets of numbers you must know from hire to retire.  Listen here to make sure you know yours.

As a leader, you're responsible for getting work done through others.  What sets the best leaders apart is belief in people.  I've said before leadership is the transfer of beliefs.  You don't need your team to know what you know or be able to do what you do.  You need your team to believe what you believe. 

For successful people, enthusiasm is a key driver of passion and achievement. It comes from within. If you are enthusiastic about a goal, your excitement will drive you to do your best in order to achieve it. It will keep you motivated to go on and on with it and see it through to success.  As a leader, how can you expect your team to be excited about anything if you are not? Your enthusiasm towards reaching the goal will inspire your team to be enthusiastic about the goal.  Leadership is a transfer of beliefs witnessed through the leader's actions. 

Today I am going to talk about the one single thing that probably launched me further in my career than any other thing and that is the discipline of self-improvement.  You see, if you want things to be better- you want to be a better leader, you want better results, you want a better career, you want better movement up the up the ladder to bigger and better roles, you want to be the better candidate for the job, you want better relationships.  The only way to get better things is to be better yourself.There is never a point where our need to grow stops. No matter what level of success we reach we can never stop learning and feeding our minds with new thoughts and ideas. 

With the current pandemic and unemployment as high as it is it I know many of you are looking for the next move.  Your next career.  Many days you may be thinking why is my inbox empty? Why didn't the recruiter call me or select me?Here are 5 tips on how to land your dream job.  With a bonus #6.

Many times, in business and life things aren't going to go exactly as planned.  In my experience, I've seen too many quit on a goal or a project because some of the initial milestones did not go as planned.  This major mistake of giving up instead of retooling is what is getting in their way of unleashing their true potential.  It's why so many leaders plateau instead of rising to new levels of success.  Anything worth doing is worth the struggle.  Average is easy.  It doesn't take much effort to be an average leader.  Greatness? Greatness doesn't come easy.  If it did, we would all be great.  Greatness comes by pushing through adversity, rising through challenges, being true to your purpose and overcoming any and all obstacles that come your way.

You can do the same things and have an ordinary life, or you can stretch yourself to try new things and have an extraordinary life.  How do you know what you are capable of if you do not try?  

There will be times when we must lead our teams through large overwhelming change or projects and just the thought of not knowing where to start will paralyze them with fear.  You may or soon may be facing these types of situations now with COVID and stay at home forcing you to do business differently.Leadership is taking the BHAG and presenting it in an attainable way to the team.  Making the impossible possible.  This is not sugar coating it or making it less the big hairy beast that it is.  Your team needs to know the magnitude of the project.  They need to know that it is important, and it will certainly be difficult, but not impossible. 

My own experience this week reminded me of the importance of human connection.  Not the hyper-connectivity we receive from technology.  True face to face interaction with another human being.  Leaders cannot expect connection; connection is created.  Think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  Belonging and connection must be felt if we want to be self-actualized and reach our full potential.  Not just encouraging your employees but expecting them to connect on a personal level will strengthen your team and contribute to your long term success.  When each team member feels a sense of belonging their contributions will increase because they will understand that they work they do every day has an impact.

Effective listening is a skill and it must be learned and practiced.  Put this crucial skill in your leadership toolbox and you are more likely to inspire excellence and dedication from those you lead than if you only focus on results.  Effective listening is more than just hearing the words someone is saying.  It takes energy and immense focus.  What words they are saying is just the first part.  What is their tone?  What is their body language saying?Building positive relations is an important part of leadership, and listening is key to building good relationships. Effectively listening to others lets them know that you are interested in their needs, as well as what they're trying to say. Remember, they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.  When people feel that you care about them, it will make them more likely to follow your leadership.

Memorial Day is about taking a time out and remembering.  As a leader when people take a time out how do you want them to remember you?  What type of memorial impression are you leaving on them?  Are you creating the leadership legacy that you expect?A leadership legacy statement is like a mission or vision statement, but instead of goals of where you want to be it is more behavioral based.  It is how you will make your decisions during the journey towards your goals. Those principles that you want detected in your actions and will help guide you in decisions you make.  

Always stay humble and kind“Mastery begins with humility.” Robin SharmaHumility is not generally listed in the top characteristics of leaders.  In fact, it is frequently overlooked because some confuse humility with weakness. So yes, there are some weak ass leaders out there, but it's not humility that makes them weak – it is other deficiencies.  Humility is greatly described in this CS Lewis quote "humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less."

Mindfulness is considered by some to be a superpower.  When you're in tune with the present moment and how you're feeling, you're better equipped to handle really everything better, but especially stress.

Why optimism is important for leaders?  Almost every successful leader begins with two beliefs.  The future can be better than the present and I can make it so.

I'm sharing this story because there are so many choices right now – You can choose the couchORYou can choose to dive into sharpening the saw or learning new skillsORCan you see the tyranny of “or” here.  If I choose one path I choose to deny myself of the other path.  Or is oppressive.  It's why so much self improvement, so many diets, and so many new ideas fail.   Poor sad little “or”.  You don't have to sacrifice one for the other or choose just one path.  As Jim Collins would say in his book Built to Last “Embrace the Genius of AND” 

Gratitude is the antidote for fear, anxiety, depression.  Gratitude is what turns what we have into enough. Having goals, drive and ambition can be a very positive aspect of life, it's when striving for what we want and focusing on what we don't have becomes so consuming that we are unable to enjoy the present moment, that this becomes a problem. If we consistently focus on thoughts of negativity and lack, our minds look for more evidence and it starts a cycle. When you change the way you look at things things change.  Change this way of looking at the world and see it through a different lens. The lens of gratitude; the act of giving thanks and acknowledging that which we already have.

Today I'm going to share with you the most powerful habit to stop doing.  If you stop doing this right now.  Today! You will dramatically start to get different results in your life.  I love this one because it's totally doable for everyone, you can start it immediately, and it requires no money just effort.  I also love it because it is a two-fer.  We are going to stop doing something today and replace it with something else so we will get two habits of the most successful leaders at onceAre you readyThis habit if you stop doing now – and I know that you are doing it.  I see it on your social media posts and its become worse since the current pandemic that we are experiencing. 

We are working on replacing our limiting beliefs with positive beliefs and so we must start working on our actions.  Why?  Because againOur mindset fuels our actions and our actions fuel our results.  If we want different results than what we have had then we need different actions. You've heard that saying – the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.  New results require new actions.What actions? 

Welcome to the very first episode of The Everyday Leader.  Lessons you can use to build and grow your influence every day.This podcast is for everyone.  Leaders are not defined by a title.  We are all leaders in some aspect of our lives.  John Maxwell says "leadership is influence."In this episode we discuss the mindset of a leader and 3 steps to level up your mindset.1) Find out what the most successful do2) Change your self talk3) Walk the walk