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Simplifying the Complexities of Your Leadership Journey
Episodes
Monday Nov 22, 2021
Monday Nov 22, 2021
Visit Our Website: https://www.rtclc.com
Episode 50: Leaders Find A Role
“The star of the team is the team.” - John Wooden
If you want to be a good leader, you have to know both your role, and the role of each person on your team.
1. Know Your Role
If you don’t know your role, then it is going to muddy the waters for everybody else on your team.
QUESTION: What is it that you can do that nobody else can do that only you can do?
You are a unique individual and bring specific leadership abilities and qualities to the table.
2. Know Their Roles
I would have to say that one of the most frustrating circumstances for anybody to be in is when they lack clarity.
Once you know your role, it’s time to get people around you with the gifts and skill sets that complete whatever you’re doing.
What if you are not a vision person? What if you are really good at leading in the practical everyday stuff? Get people on your team who have a high vision quotient.
You have to be secure enough in your own leadership abilities to realize that not only are you going to have people on your team who do stuff better than you, but that you need those people.
QUESTION: What kind of people do you need to have around you to make you better? What people do you need on your team to do stuff that you are not able to do?
3. Know the Success Path
You have the ability to simplify whatever situation you are in with your people.
When people know the success path, and what they need to do to be successful, it really opens them up to flourish and get things done.
QUESTIONS: What is it that you need to focus on in your role, and the roles of your people, to increase the success factor at your place of work? What is the missing ingredient?
All of us need guidance. All of us have blind spots.
“It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. ... If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” Jimmy Doogan (Tom Hanks), A League of Their Own
If it were easy, everybody would do it. But, if you want to be the kind of person that creates a success path for your people, you have to focus on the stuff that others will not.
MO’s Final Thoughts:
Leaders are always frustrated, because, leaders are never really satisfied with where things are. We want to go to other places and be better. But, it’s always important for you to know your role, know the roles of everyone on your team, and get that team on the right path. When you begin to do this, people will rally behind you and run towards whatever goals are in front of them.
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Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
Visit Our Website: https://www.rtclc.com
Episode 49: Leaders Foster Emotional Stability
Today what we want to talk about is the way that leaders should approach the emotional stability of both themselves and the people on their teams.
1. Leaders Promote Genuine Emotion.
Sports is a great metaphor for life. If you want to find out the way somebody is to their core, just put them in some kind of competition situation.
We have to learn as leaders that emotion should be a genuine part of who we are. Sometimes using emotion can be tricky and messy.
QUESTION: What are the emotions you display on a daily basis? What is it that you do best to be the best version of yourself? Are you a person who uses emotion to get your point across?
A lot of us are feeling stuff in our lives, and we don’t always want answers from somebody. But what we do want is for someone to listen.
2. Leaders Employ Emotion Properly.
I do not understand when people try to will themselves to win a competition. Meaning, sometimes people don’t put in the preparation to get things done, but they think that if they are emotional enough, and can feel spirited enough, then they can get the job done.
Hard work wins.
You have to teach your team to play with emotion, but not let them be emotional. That’s going to end up getting in the way of them doing what they prepared to do. We don’t want them to overexert themselves, or put an effort in ways that they have not trained to do. They will not be able to sustain it.
QUESTION: Are you promoting standards and expectations that are able to be handled by your staff?
As leaders, the responsibility falls on us.
“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” - John Maxwell
It’s up to us to help people use genuine emotion, and employ that emotion properly.
Never say something that you can’t take back.
QUESTION: In your own life right now, how do you need to reign in your emotions and employ them more properly?
3. Leaders Take Responsibility for Emotion.
Whether you are the person who wears their emotions on their sleeve, or you are on the other side of the spectrum, it is still important to know what those emotions are. This is where journaling comes in handy.
The reason that we Journal, or talk to other people, or think back on the stuff that we do, is to make sure that we can get better.
Sometimes we get upset or frustrated with something, but we bury those feelings. And the reason we do that is because we don’t know how to deal with them or express them. Leaders have no room for failure in this department.
The businesses that put a high premium on helping people take responsibility for their emotions, and walking through the different hardships of life, will continue to grow and thrive.
The men and women in your care deserve your very best. You have to first take responsibility for your own emotions, and when you are modeling it, then you will be able to help others by encouraging them to do the same.
QUESTION: What are the emotions that you have that make you a better leader? What are the emotions that you have that hinder you in leading others?
You have to take responsibility.
When you take responsibility for your emotions, it will open up a ton of new possibilities in your leadership.
MO’s Final Thoughts:
Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. When you are able to know when the good and bad emotions are coming on, it will set you up to deal with those emotions, and use them in a positive way, both for yourself and those who look to you for your leadership.
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Monday Nov 08, 2021
Monday Nov 08, 2021
Visit Our Website: https://www.rtclc.com
Episode 48: It’s the Little Things
1. Break Down the Vision
I think most of us have a lot more conversations with ourselves in our own head than we actually communicate to others on our team.
Everything comes back to communication.
If you want to be an effective leader, you have to work on your communication skills on a daily basis.
If you just let your people come to work and don’t give them a purpose for what they are doing, why would they think to move the vision of the company forward?
“Leaders are dealers and hope.” - Benjamin Disraeli
Breaking down the vision gives people clarity on the here and now.
2. Lay Out the Puzzle
What is the best way to construct the puzzle? You lay out the pieces and then you start from there.
When you lay out the puzzle for your people, it gives them something to look forward to.
There will be a lot of times in your business where the uncertainty meter is high. And when the uncertainty meter is high you have to be able to play up the puzzle, point to the places where you need them to work on, and that allow them to work on the little things.
QUESTION: Do you continually lay out the pieces of the puzzle and point them out to your people and work on stuff with them?
Your people are counting on you, lay out the puzzle, and help them start to construct the important parts of their jobs for the betterment of the company.
3. Empower Your People
Focusing on the little things does not give you license to micromanage your people.
“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” - Michael Jordan
Empower your people and don’t get in their way.
Allow your people to fail. The more they fail, and you have conversations in teaching moments with them, the more they will move forward.
MO’s Final Thoughts
Just remember that the little things always lead to the big things. We always want to get through the menial tasks that we think are not important and do big things in life. But, when we focus on the little things, big things happen. Remember, the shortcut to the process is the process. And the most important part of the process is focusing on the little things. That’s what matters.
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Monday Nov 01, 2021
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Visit Our Website: https://www.rtclc.com
Episode 47: Become a Lifelong Teacher
1. Commit to Yourself
Before you do anything that is worthwhile for anybody else, you have to put in the time to become the best version of yourself.
Everybody is going to have the chance to lead. The question is, are you going to be ready when you are called on to do that?
You need to have good teachers in your own life.
QUESTION: Are you continually learning, and how are you doing that?
A practical way to make this a reality would be to read books.
The secret to success is not really a secret at all. Because every person who has ever had a great deal of success has written a book about it.
If you want to be great at whatever you do, you have to be able to be good at relationships.
If you want to get better, you have to commit to taking criticism.
It’s about opening the book, reading it, and applying it.
QUESTION: What are you studying for the rest of your life?
You need to have people who are asking you the hard questions.
If you want to get better you have to commit to taking criticism.
2. Commit to Your People
Whoever is looking to you for leadership needs to know that you are on their side.
QUESTION: Are you committed to the success of your people?
Does your team know that you are doing everything in your power to make their lives better?
As the leader, people expect you to make good decisions.
Leaders who are committed to their people end up fostering a culture where their followers are committed both to one another, and the leader as well.
REFLECTION: If I were to take a survey of the people who look towards you and your company, will they say that you had their best interest in mind? Would they say that you put them above their own personal goals?
3. Commit to the Process
Start with your own goals and values. Then from those goals and values you figure out the principles that are important to you.
Your personal beliefs have to coincide with the culture of the company, which is why you probably want to be somewhere that you like working.
When you clearly define your goals and objectives, and apply them to the vision and mission statements of the company, there is no room for ambiguity. As a leader you need to make sure that the clarity meter is at least as high as the uncertainty meter, if not higher.
“It's not the will to win that matters-everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters.” Hall Bear Bryant
QUESTIONS: Are you willing to do what it takes to prepare to win? That’s what the process comes into play.
MO’s Final Thoughts
Committing to being a lifelong teacher is no small feat. It means living with purpose every day, and not straying from what is important. And, you have to be able to be committed to your own mission statement and the mission statement of the company and your people all at the same time. That’s how you will make yourself an indispensable part to whatever team that you are on, or ever will be.
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Wednesday Oct 27, 2021
Wednesday Oct 27, 2021
Visit Our Website: https://www.rtclc.com
Episode 46: A Key Ingredient to Success
“It’s never going to be easy, but the pain that you’re gonna go through is what makes it all worth it. The joy and true happiness I have found is actually going throught the struggles, through the pain and through the challenges of achieving my goals. It’s always in the journey for me. That’s where I believe the happiness lies and that’s where the success lies, because that’s where the growth is.” Zara Abdulrehman, Pastry Chef
That key ingredient is LOVE. If you can learn to lead from the premise of loving and caring for the people that look to you for your leadership, it will really change everything you do for the better.
1. Leaders Model Respect
You really have to get out there and show people what it means to model respect.
Learning to add to my values set had a lot to do with me learning how to treat others with respect.
QUESTION: Do you model respect? Do you give respect and at the same time earn the respect of your people?
“You have to give respect to get respect.”
Leaders really never have a reason to be disrespectful.
2. Leaders Show Encouragement
“I think it’s important just to love. Me as a leader, the only thing I try to do is to love. To be there for somebody and show support and not show any dislike or any sign of hate or anything of that nature.” Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
So, with everybody getting constantly pushed down, as leaders, we need to be people of encouragement.
QUESTION: Do you encourage your people?
HOMEWORK: Send somebody a handwritten note.
This will set you apart as the person who adds value to others.
3. Leaders Effect Transformation
Leadership is all about transforming lives. My job is to help my people see and achieve a better version of themselves.
QUESTION: How does that look in your line of work?
You see, the difficult part about leadership is that we cannot think about ourselves and other people at the same time.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar
Your job as a leader is to find the passions of the people on your team, and help them achieve those goals and dreams.
QUESTION: Who is it on your team that you know the least about? This is a person that you should focus on this week. Be intentional about your conversations with them and let them know that you sincerely want to get to know them.
Relationships are the most important thing for a leader, which will bring about transformation of the entire person.
MO’S Final Thoughts
Love is a very key ingredient, and dare I say, the ingredient for leading others. Take this week to assess yourself in each of those elements of loving others. The more you look introspectively regarding this task, the more you will set yourself up to take your leadership to new heights.
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Monday Oct 18, 2021
Monday Oct 18, 2021
Visit Our Website: https://www.rtclc.com
Episode 45: Promoting Good Values (Part 2)
Part 1 Recap:
- What are my values?
- How do my values shape decisions?
Part 2:
3. Where do my values need to be adjusted?
As leaders, we are committed to meeting the goals of all shapes and sizes.
You have to find your role within that team and do what it takes to be effective. That’s where your values come into play.
Are you a person of passion? Are you a person of resolve? Are these values driving your decisions to be able to face adversity and get things done?
a. Identify
If you don't first know what your values are, you really can't go very far from there.
QUESTIONS:
- What are your values?
- What are the things that you allowed to drive your belief system?
- What makes me feel most comfortable, and when am I at my best?
Moving away from your values:
- When do you feel like you are lying to yourself or moving away from success?
- What are the things that make you feel out of whack and that you are being inauthentic?
b. Activate
So, if you want to activate what you are already good at, I would encourage you to take StregnthsFinder 2.0 assessment.
Assessments don't define who you are or put you in a box, but I will tell you this. They will help you find out a little bit more about yourself, and what is important to you.
Ask yourself, “who do I admire?” If you really want to understand what you hold dear and value, looking at people that you want to emulate is always a great place to start.
ACTION ITEM: Write down these steps to think about the qualities and values and people that you admire.
- What is it specifically about each of these people that you admire? One or two attributes.
- What behaviors do you want to mimic and take action to make your own, on your journey?
c. Evaluate
Anything worth doing is worth evaluating. If you don't continue to evaluate the things that you do in life, they will not help you get better. The same goes with your values.
The values themselves never change in their entirety. But, you are at the same time learning to add to those values, so that you stay dedicated to the resolve that a leader needs to have to tackle those problems. Allow obstacles to motivate both you, and your people. This is the energy that becomes infectious and will drive your team.
Focus on your team, lead from your values, and empower others.
Communication is your best friend and worst enemy at the same time.
Empathy for your people in all situations is going to shape the way that business is done.
MO’s Final Thoughts
My final encouragement would be that you build a culture of respect. Build a culture that places a premium on knowing values, and applying values to whatever they do in the company. The benefit of this kind of culture is that when you run into opposing views, the values system will allow the company to bend, but never break. This is what’s going to keep you more and alignment, and again, set your team up for success.
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Monday Oct 11, 2021
Monday Oct 11, 2021
Visit Our Website: https://www.rtclc.com
Episode 44: Promoting Good Values
How do we set ourselves up to build good people, good teams, and that culture? It all starts with your personal values.
1. What Are My Values?
Your values are the things that you believe that guide your life.
People of influence have to have another level of values, a subset that guides the way they make decisions and take action when leading others.
A person can only lead as far as he or she sets their ability to do so.
QUESTION: Have you decided what your values are in life?
If you want to be an effective leader, you have to be transparent in the way that you believe and what you believe in.
2. How Do My Values Shape Decisions?
Leaders are all about making decisions.
Your values shape two kinds of decisions:
A. Your values shape YOUR decisions.
-
- C.S. Lewis - “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking about yourself less.”
- Leaders have to be consistent.
- To have a receptive posture, one has to be humble.
QUESTION: What are the areas of your life where you need to seek advice from others who are more experienced?
B. Your values shape OTHER’s decisions.
-
- You need to be able to connect with others in a way that they know what you’re thinking, so that they can make good decisions, both for themselves, and for the company.
- Emotional Intelligence: Self-awareness and humility factors are key leadership skills.
MO’s Final Thoughts:
The bottom line is, you have values. You know that you have values, and you can probably articulate them. But until you write those down, they will not be as effective as they can be. Take the time to put them on paper, and then share them with some people that you trust pretty well. You will be amazed at how this will begin to shape new conversations that will take your leadership to new places. Lead well.
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Monday Oct 04, 2021
Monday Oct 04, 2021
Visit Our Website: https://www.rtclc.com
Episode 43: Defining the Culture
“Culture is simply a shared way of doing something with a passion.” - Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, CEO, Airbnb
1. Invite Others Into Your Passion
When you decide to define culture you will give yourself an even better potential to realize the total effectiveness that your team could have.
If you want to be a leader you have to help people come alongside you.
QUESTION: Are you helping people be passionate about what they do at your company?
QUESTION: What is the experience that you are offering the new people if they join your team? What would they say about the way that you work together, treat one another, and strive for success together?
2. Include Others Into Your Team.
Brian Kristofek, President and CEO, Upshot, says, “Being a great place to work is the difference between being a good company and a great company.”
If you want to be an exceptional leader you have to get the new person acclimated as soon as you can.
QUESTION: Will the new person be able to ease in and be on a path toward success right away?
Your job is to ask questions and to get others on the team involved with that process so that the new person feels welcomed and valued on day one.
3. Introduce Others Into Your Process.
Your company has a process for the way that they do things, whether they know it or not.
We are defining culture every day. Whether or not you want to be a part of that process, and shaping it into something that you wanted to be, is up to you.
If you choose not to be intentional about the company process, and processes for that matter, you are just going to introduce frustration to your new people right away.
You’re not going to fool your team, and the new people are going to know pretty quickly whether or not you know what you are doing, or believe and what you say you do.
MO’s Final Thoughts
The main thing for us to remember today is that culture is something that is always being shaped and defined. Unfortunately, companies are focused so much on getting things done, that they forget to focus on what really matters, which is shaping the company into what they wanted to be.
"Culture eats strategy for breakfast." - Peter Drucker
Monday Sep 27, 2021
Monday Sep 27, 2021
Episode 42: Leaders Get Out of the Way
“Empowered people aren't concerned about competing with anyone, they are busy empowering others. ”I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of team that I want to build. Peter Shephard
1. Make Others Feel Heard
Good leadership is about not doing everything yourself, but bringing people alongside you. And the way that you do that is to make people heard.
The way that we structure input for our people is really important: how you disseminate information to people, how people get that information to one another, and also to you.
The bottom line is that you give your people a platform to be heard, and more than that, understood. When you take ownership of the process, they will take ownership of their work.
2. Make Respect the Norm
I think this is where a lot of leaders miss it.
- They don’t respect others,
- They refuse to model respect to the people that look to them
These are the people who are obtuse and cannot see their own mistakes.
You never want your people to be in survival mode.
You have to give respect to get respect.
Start giving people the respect that they deserve. Even if sometimes they don’t seem like they do. Give them a chance. Help them to be people who are respectable.
When you model respect to those who report to you just watch, they will begin to show you respect as well.
Practical ways to show respect:
- Make eye contact with people.
- Smile
3. Make Delegation Standard Practice
Every great leader needs to learn how to delegate.
The goal here is to be the kind of leader who can delegate tasks to others without letting stuff spin out of control, and at the same time not allowing mistakes to creep into the process.
Find the people with the specific skill sets to do the things that need to be done.
Once you find people with a specific skill set to do tasks, get out of their way and let them do it. Don’t be a micromanager.
When you delegate, you give both freedom and empowerment to your employees.
When we delegate, employees get the sense that they are being trusted, and will feel encouraged. When we feel encouraged, we naturally want to encourage others.
MO’s Final Thoughts
You have to embrace these three pieces of the puzzle. It doesn’t matter if you are a natural leader or a learned leader. What matters is that you empower other people to do what they do well, and do it for the team.
- What are some of the ways that you can go to the office this week and empower others?
- What are the areas in your own life that you need to work on so that you can delegate properly to others and let them feel empowered, as they should be?
That’s your task for this week. Take these steps, get out of the way, and watch your employees do great things.
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Monday Sep 20, 2021
Monday Sep 20, 2021
Episode 41: Be a Person of Action
“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.” - John F. Kennedy
1. Have Necessary Conversations
Leaders are always about having conversations. If you do not want to talk to people then you are probably in the wrong business.
You want to be intentional in these important and necessary conversations.
Are there conflicts that need to be addressed?
Sometimes conflicts can't be solved with one conversation.
It’s never the wrong thing to apologize.
You want to be a person who is not afraid of conflict, but one who hits it head-on. And the reason for this, is that it builds your conflict management skills.
QUESTION: What is the one conversation that you need to have today?
When you are transparent with your people and help them understand that you are going to have conversations when they need to be had, it will raise the stakes.
2. Communicate the Importance of People
People are everything.
People are not just part of your business, people ARE your business.
“People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.” - Mary Kay Ash
QUESTION: Do you treat people this way or are people just another cog in the machine where you work?
You have to figure out the value of every person in your sphere of influence.
You can get a lot of things wrong and business, but don't get the people part wrong.
3. Align the Team
As a leader you are always crafting and honing your vision.
QUESTION: Do you feel like you are in the right seat where you work?
Whether you are in charge of a ton of people that make culture shifting decisions, or you have just a couple of people who look to you, it's still as important to make sure that you will line them with the vision and mission of your company.
“The secret of success lies not in doing your own work, but in recognizing the right man to do it.” - Dale Carnegie
You have to help your people understand that they have power within the company.
Lending a listening ear will definitely help you understand them more.
The best way to align your team is to be honest.
Help the team be people who help each other.
Closing Thoughts
These are all actions that need to be taken now. Your company and people need a win. The time is always now. If you wait, it affects the effectiveness of your team negatively in the long haul.
Ask yourself:
- What is the one most important conversation that you have to have today?
- Are you really putting people first?
- Are you focused on bringing the team together?
Amazon Book Links:
Good to Great, Jim Collins - https://amzn.to/3zimkK1
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