Rising Tide Leadership Podcast

Principles of Leading Up (Ep. 34)

Episode 34: Principles of Leading Up

“Sometimes those above you just don’t yet see what must be done, and your calling is to spark their attention and move them along a course of change before it is too late.” Michael Useem

 

1. Leaders Look at Themselves First

Your attitude matters more than anything else when you are talking about leadership. 

Thoughts and actions matter. And, your thoughts are going to influence your actions, even if you don't think that they will, or you think you are good enough to mask what you “really feel.” 

Do you look introspectively at yourself? 

If you think that you are doing everything right, and that there is just a bunch of mess around you, and that everybody else does everything wrong, then you probably want to check your attitude.

Look inward first, fix yourself, and fix your attitude.

 

2. Leaders Lighten the Load of Others

When your boss wins, the organization wins.

Do you know your bosses goals? 

If you understand your boss’s goals, you will be able to deliver the support that they need to accomplish the bigger picture.

Have potential solutions ready for your boss.

Never bring your boss a problem without bringing him or her at least two or three potential solutions. 

Do you want to be an asset to your boss? They should be able to count on you to get things done, help them get their job done, and always be a person that brings solutions to the table. 

 

3. Leaders Lean Towards the Mundane Tasks

If you can learn to embrace the stuff that nobody else wants to do, you are going to make yourself indispensable as an asset to the company. 

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: They Call Me Coach,  John Wooden 

John Wooden exemplified a culture of servant leadership. He did what others were obviously not wanting to do.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization, John Maxwell

No matter where you are on the totem pole, you have to be ready to tackle whatever is thrown at you. 

If your boss asks you to do something that is within your purview and your expertise, it is your job to figure out the problem, solve them, and get the job done. 

You have to be willing to lead, and become a better leader. 

“Managers work with processes, leaders work with people.” - John Maxwell

Every decision that you make is going to affect somebody else. 

If you want to become a rockstar wherever you work, become the person who solves conflict between people.

It's always about people. 

 

MO’s Final Thoughts

People are not going to want to go along with your ideas, solutions, or whatever, if they don't have chemistry with you. 

Do your due diligence to get things done and put yourself in a position to have an intelligent conversation to give your boss information that he or she needs, so that they can make a decision, and let you continue to get your job done. 

Remember, as John Wooden always says, “failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Be the person that your leader can look to and be confident that you will be the one person who makes their life easier. 

 

Amazon Book Links:

Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win,  Michael Useem - https://amzn.to/3BYcIGL

They Call Me Coach, John Wooden - https://amzn.to/3rJkhfD

The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization, John Maxwell - https://amzn.to/3BVNo4a

 

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Leaders Engage Conflict (Ep. 33)

Episode 33: Leaders Engage Conflict

 

1. Meet conflict head on

If you have ever been in any type of relationship, of any kind, whether business or personal, you have run into conflict. The question is, how do you keep those relationships intact and continue to get better through each of those conflicts?  

Clarify the expectations of relationships.

Conflict always arises out of a lack of expectations being met.  

As a leader, it’s important to both clarify expectations and understand the expectations that your people have for you. 

Always give the other person the benefit of the doubt. 

Leaders never jump to negative conclusions. They don’t look for the worst in people, but instead they look for the best. 

When meeting conflict head on, do it quickly, with good intentions, and if at all possible, apologize right away for whatever you did wrong within that situation to cause the conflict.  

 

2. Meet conflict honestly

If you really want to fix any kind of conflict in your life, you have to be able to do it honestly.  

If you get close to gossiping about somebody else, you are already on the wrong track.  This is the worst possible thing you can do in a situation that has conflict. 

Leaders don’t gossip, and they don’t criticize.

Negativity brings on frustration, and sends the situation into a downward spiral.  Honesty helps to keep your reputation as pure as possible, and will definitely show others that you are making progress by choosing to both be honest, but steer everything towards positivity.

 

3. Meet conflict face to face

Give people the courtesy of meeting with them face-to-face. This goes for big conflicts and little conflicts, alike.

We need to hear people, we need to see them.  We need to get as much of the experience as possible.  Yes, it is uncomfortable for you, but if you really want to hit the conflict head on, do it face-to-face.  

Bad communication is always better than wrong communication. 

You can always go back and have another conversation.  

Whenever something is positive, there are several means of communication. Whenever you are dealing with something negative with any of your team members, do it in person, and at the very least over tele-conference or the phone. 

Never try to resolve conflict using formats that are non-interactive.  

 

MO’s Final Thoughts

Leaders are paid to deal with the hard stuff.  You are the one person who cannot shirk that responsibility.  You want to engage conflict, and do it early.  So, when conflict comes, do not avoid it.  Always face the problem head-on, and do it right away.  Be clear, and concise, and talk about expectations that were missed, and move quickly to alternatives to make the situation better.

Leaders do not allow stuff to fester and get worse.  Keep the problem contained, and don’t let it infect the culture of your team or your company.  Keep the reputations of your people in the company in mind, and always make everybody better for having talked with you. The biggest problems always give way to the biggest opportunity to grow, both for the people who are in conflict with one another, and for the team as a whole.  You can do it!

 

Amazon Book Links:

 

The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck - https://amzn.to/3x5xHUu

 

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It's All About People (Ep. 32)

Episode 32: It's All About People

 

1. Leaders Find the Right People

The first thing that you have to do before training people is to have the right people on the team.  

Leaders think about the people factor before all else.

Once you have the people on your team, then you can start to form a direction, strategy, vision, etc.  

BOOK: Good To Great, Jim Collins - figure out who is on the team, and then formulate the vision from there.  

Getting the right people on the team is important, and removing people who do not fit can be just as important.  

BOOK: Leaders Eat Last, Patrick Lencioni -  “For organizations seriously committed to making teamwork a cultural reality, I'm convinced that 'the right people' are the ones who have three virtues in common - humility, hunger, and people smarts.”

QUESTION: What kind of people do you have around you at this moment?  Are you concerned about getting the right people on the team? 

 

2. Leaders Stay Focused on the Right People

“Problems can become opportunities when the right people come together.” - Robert South

Leaders are in a relentless pursuit, not to fulfill the vision, but to get the right people and they continue to add to that team during the process of any project.

Building into people on a continual basis is the most important thing that you can do. 

“The team is the star of the team.” - John Wooden

 

3. Leaders Keep Adding the Right People

BOOK: Beauty Queen: Inside the Reign of Avon's Andrea Jung - Deborrah Himsel 

Andrea Jung says, “Talent is the number one priority for a CEO. You think it's about vision and strategy, but you have to get the right people first.”  

It doesn’t matter if you have all of the vision of the world.  If you don’t have the right people around you then you really can’t do very much with a great vision.

QUESTION: Are you following good men and women? 

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." - Michael Jordan 

 

MO’s Final Thoughts

Whether it is John Wooden and the Bruins of the 60s and 70s, Wells Fargo of the 1980s, the Bulls of the 1990s, or a whole slew of winning football coaches over the course of several decades, it is always the people that matter.  We never know when the next great talent is going to present himself or herself.  

“Leaders do two things:  They build people, and they build teams.” 

 Start with the people, build the teams, change the world. 

 

Amazon Book Links:

Good to Great, Jim Collins - https://amzn.to/36Jin5l

Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek - https://amzn.to/36Nes7Q 

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell - https://amzn.to/2O4tr6Q 

Beauty Queen: Inside the Reign of Avon's Andrea Jung, Deborrah Himsel - https://amzn.to/3yCKUVK 

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Leaders Change the Climate (Ep. 31)

Episode 31: Leaders Change the Climate

 

“If given a choice between taking over for a good or bad outfit, I will choose the bad outfit every time. They will have nowhere to go but up.” Hal Moore

 

1. Leaders Don’t Wait for Permission

In the context of changing the climate of an organization, or team, the leader never waits for permission to do so.  

Leaders have to have a kind of self-confidence. They are looking for ways to push the team to higher limits, and risk breaking something in the process. 

When you look for somebody who is permission driven, you are going to find a person that ends up saying “NO” to some of the greatest ideas that could potentially change the direction of the team.

“It is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.” In the context of leadership, this is actually a good trait to have.

If everybody already knew where they were going and how to get there, there would be no need for you. 

 

2. Leaders Don’t Put Themselves First

BOOK: Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek 

“Officers Eat Last” is a phrase used by the U.S. Marines that effectively means servant leadership. 

"The buck stops here" - a phrase that was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, refers to the notion that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions.

“Leaders eat last” and “the buck stops here” are two parts of the same principle, which is the responsibility of the leader. 

QUESTION: Are you making sure the people you lead have the things they need (time, resources, etc.) to get the job done?

Being a leader means serving more than others, and out-serving your people no matter what.

BOOK: Dare to Serve, Cheryl Bachelder 

 

3. Leaders Don’t Take Others for Granted

You have to get very familiar with, and live out the phrase “got your back.”  You always have to be looking out for your people.  

If you find yourself in a position where you are wondering why nobody has your back, the answer is, because you never truly had theirs.

If you want to climb in leadership, the higher you climb, the more you have to focus on others. 

Just because you are in the position, does not mean that you are a leader.  Positional leadership is the lowest form of leadership. 

BOOK: The 5 Levels of Leadership, John Maxwell

When you are brought on by a company, or put in place by an organization, there is an informal process that each leader undergoes.  Within the first several weeks, your people are going to judge you and decide whether or not you are worthy to be trusted, and worthy to be followed.  

You have to prove yourself by the way that you look, act, and make decisions.  You have to have all three.  

It’s not enough to keep the ship going, you have to make it better, faster, and more impactful. 

 

MO’s Final Thoughts

• Your least busy day on the job will be your first day.  
• You have to notice things that others do not, and you have to stay longer and later than anybody else on your team.  
• To get results, you have to put in the time.  
• Take initiative, and support your team and change the climate.  

Trust is never further away than the time you are willing to put into it.  Take the time to build relationships, and put in the hard work. 

 

Amazon Book Links:

Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek - https://amzn.to/36Nes7Q 

Dare to Serve, Cheryl Bacheldor - https://amzn.to/3oRfmpR 

The 5 Levels of Leadership, John Maxwell - https://amzn.to/2YMuoTs 

 

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Leaders Model Respect (Ep. 30)

Episode 30: Leaders Model Respect

 

1. Leaders Listen to Others

We as leaders must remember that everyone on the team has talents that are unique.

If you were to write down a list of all of your people and their unique talents, meaning the talents that they have that others do not, what would those be?

QUESTION: Do you tap into that talent?

A good leader uses the talents of those around her, and more than that, seeks the counsel of people that have the talents that they do not. 

Go to those on your team who have unique talents and ask them for their council. This in practice, is an act of respect. 

If you are not a good listener then you have no chance of being a good leader.  

You need to be better at listening, asking questions, and listening for the message behind the message that your employees are conveying.  

Asking questions to everybody on the team, at all levels, encourages employees who would otherwise keep their mouths shut, to tell you their good ideas. Asking questions also encourages people at all levels to raise important issues that you as the leader might not be aware of.  This gives you more opportunity to clarify what your goals and outcomes are, and allows you to keep people focused on the mission.

 

2. Leaders Give Credit to Others

If you are not the kind of person who gives compliments to people, this one is going to be really important for you. 

“If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you.” Paul Bear Bryant

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

• When something goes bad, do you jump to the illogical conclusion that there is no way that you could have done something wrong? 
• When something goes semi-right, do you share in the victories and losses? 
• When things go right, do you do your best to give all of the credit to others? 

 

3. Leaders Value Opposing Viewpoints

If you do not welcome opposing viewpoints on your team, you are going to set yourself up for a very lonely road of leadership.  

If you refuse to take the ideas of other people, they are soon going to stop giving you their ideas. 

If you find yourself taking action on more of your ideas than the ideas of people on your team, you are probably not moving in the right direction.

The reason why opposing viewpoints are so important is that it sparks discussion.

 

MO’s Final Thoughts:

Leadership really is about respect.  In fact, if you want to get a good understanding and a clear and concise understanding of how important it is, look no further than John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership chapter 7… “The Law of Respect.”  When you start from the premise that you are going to both respect the people that you lead, and give them a reason to respect you, it creates something pretty cool.  Without respect, your team will fall apart.  People don’t want to follow others that they do not respect. Practice respect, and it will raise your leadership lid.

 

Amazon Book Links:

Team of Rivals, Doris Goodwin - https://amzn.to/39USxO6

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell - https://amzn.to/2O4tr6Q

 

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Leaders Fail More (Ep. 29)

Episode 29: Leaders Fail More

 

Leaders can really only do a couple of things.  They can use their actions and the way they view life to inspire others, or they can discourage others.  

 

1. Leaders Must Stay Visible

You can’t go AWOL.  As the leader, your people need to know where you are and what you are doing.  They need to use you as the guide to what needs to be accomplished.  

It is all about building relationships, and getting ready for what is to come. The best way to do this, is to have people on my side, and the best way for me to do that is to help them know that I am on their side.

You have to be visible more than just to pop in and let people know what they need to do.

Your main job as a leader is to build relationships and add value to others. 

QUESTION: What are you doing to be intentional in your relationship building? Are you creating opportunities for engagement with the people who look to you for management and leadership? 

There does have to be some kind of boundaries, but as the leader, you have to create those boundaries, care for your people, and help them become better in the process. You can't do that unless you are engaging with them on a personal level.

QUESTION: How are your personal skills? What are the people skills that you need to work on? Who can you ask on your team to be honest with you about what you need to change regarding your visibility to the people you lead? 

 

2. Leaders Must Stay Positive

You need to give your team a reason to follow you. Nobody likes somebody negative. 

QUESTION: If I were to ask your team what kind of outlook you have most of the time, what would it be? 

You have to be ready to help people see the potential for winning.

One of the ingredients is having self-confidence. 

QUESTION: What are the things that you are afraid of right now? What are the boogeymen that you have to face up against to be self-confident? 

This does not mean that you will not experience losses, but it will make you a better person in the process, and help you to keep going when you don't want to go anymore. 

Leaders are always looking for the potential negative pieces of the puzzle, and look for traps that might slow the team down. Leaders are about getting the job done, and doing it with others by their side. 

 

3. Leaders Must Stay Honest

It's important for you to give off and exude that self-confidence, but in a qualified manner. 

The Peter Principle says this… In any organization, most of us are going to “rise to the level of incompetence.” 

QUESTION: Are you willing to be unwavering in your quest to become the best? 

You have to accept nothing less than your very best. As soon as people are relying on you, you just don't have to be good, you have to be great. 

 “Where good enough, isn’t.” - Hertz Rent-a-Car

“Good is the enemy of great.” - Jim Collins, Good to Great

QUESTION: What do you not do that you have to add to your regiment to make sure that you are the best? 

Because if you don't:

1) you will get fired because you will be outed for not getting the job done,  

2) you will keep your positions and destroy all of the people that look to you to make them better… which is even worse.

Harsh, yes. But, everything rises and falls on leadership. And, if that is the case, then the success of your people as individuals and together as a team has everything to do with your ability to shape them for the future, and make the right decisions to help them and the company succeed. 

 

MO’s Final Thoughts:

The bottom line is this. You have to be willing to fail. Leadership is not about being comfortable, it's about making change. And the way that you make changes you go against the grain. You have to be ready to step out of your comfort zone and screw it up a time or two. 

 

Amazon Book Links:

Good to Great, Jim Collins - https://amzn.to/36Jin5l

 

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Leaders Begin with the End (Ep. 28)

Episode 28: Leaders Begin with the End

“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” -Stephen R. Covey

“Life is like a parachute. You have to get it right the first time.” - Eleanor Roosevelt 

Everybody is going to leave a legacy, it really just depends on what kind of legacy you want to leave.

 

1. Define Your Legacy

QUESTION: What kind of legacy do you want to leave? What do you want to be remembered for?

BOOK: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller

Whether you are at the beginning of your career, or the middle, or you are getting ready to retire, you can make an impact in your job.  

When we can start getting people in line with their desired legacy, then we can get them on a path to making correct directional decisions, and really make an impact on the people that they are around.

Every time you go from one place to another, you make an impact and leave a print on that company, and the lives of other people.  

QUESTION: How are you going to leave others better for having known you?

 

2. Live Your Legacy

“If you don't know where you are going, any road can take you there.” - Lewis Carroll

There is no time like the present to get moving.

If you can define the legacy, you can start to live that out today.  

The only way that you can develop a legacy is by building credibility as a leader. 

Nobody wants to follow somebody who doesn’t know where he or she is going. 

Your legacy, the one that you walk out on a daily basis, has to include people.  That’s what leaders are all about.

 

3. Impart Your Legacy

QUESTION: How are you going to bring others along on your journey?

"Succession is one of the key responsibilities of leadership." - Max Depree 

“Legacy lives on in people, not things.” - John Maxwell 

QUESTION: Who are the men and women who are teaching you on a daily basis how to do leadership?  

If you don’t have a crystal clear focus, you can go all the way back up to the first point and learn how to define that legacy and talk through it with the leaders that you trust to speak into your life.

 

MO’s Final Thoughts:

BOOK: Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Arctic Explorer, Margot Moreell & Stephanie Capparell.

“I am sure we are all the better for having known him and that his example to us made us see life as a bigger thing and not petty and small as some people see it." 

 

Amazon Book Links:

Leadership is an Art, Max DePree - https://amzn.to/3rlcGT8

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller - https://amzn.to/35wFEqv

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell - https://amzn.to/2O4tr6Q

Made in America, Sam Walton - https://amzn.to/2S91pcN

Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Arctic Explorer, Margot Moreell & Stephanie Capparell - https://amzn.to/35yxi1t

 

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Leaders Are There When You Need Them (Ep. 27)

Episode 27: Leaders Are There When You Need Them

All of us have to answer to somebody. 

“When you own your own business you trade in your boss for a thousand bosses.” Meaning, you are now responsible to anyone who purchases your product or services.

It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you lie within the chain of the company, you are going to be called upon to lead some time in your career.

QUESTION: Are you going to be ready to lead when the time comes? 

“Roving Leader” can be defined as one who “responds swiftly and effectively” in times of uncertainty or trouble. - Leadership is an Art, Max DePree

When it comes time to make a difference, anybody can do that.

 

1. Roving Leaders Are There When You Need Them

“The Brady Six” documentary - even though Tom Brady started as lowest man on the totem pole in the depth chart, he practiced as if he was the starting quarterback. He was going to be ready when he got his chance. 

One of my favorite books, in fact it is in the top five on my top 50 book list, is a book called, The Magic of Thinking Big: Chapter 2 - “Excusitis” - For every excuse you have, you can and should turn it around and look at it as a reason. 

Reasons and excuses get the same results.

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Benjamin Franklin

You are never going to know exactly what you are called on to do. If you are in the mindframe that you are ready to take action, you will be just fine.

 

2. Roving Leaders Practice Interdependence

Leadership interdependence is, leadership that is not handled carelessly; that which is shared, but never given away. 

If you truly want to be a person of influence and a leader that others look up to, resolve today that you are never going to put the blame on somebody else.  Period. 

The responsibility falls on you.

Roving leadership demands discipline.  Discipline is what it takes to get the job done. 

QUESTION: What does discipline look like in your sphere of influence? 

“The shortcut to the process is the process.” Coach Nick Saban 

If you are the person on the team who chooses to have the hard conversation about discipline, people will start to rally behind you. Just you watch.

 

MO’s FINAL THOUGHTS:

 

What it comes down to is the condition of your attitude, and the level of competence that you have. These two things together will shape the experience that both you and the people at your company have when it comes to your leadership. When you choose to get rid of excuses and couple that with living in the sweet spot of discipline, this will make you more apt to being an effective roving leader. 

 

Amazon Book Links:

Leadership is an Art, Max DePree - https://amzn.to/3rlcGT8

Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz - https://amzn.to/3aF5Dhj

 

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Leaders Promote Emotional Intelligence – Part 2 (Ep. 26)

Episode 26: Leaders Promote Emotional Intelligence (Part 2)

 

Part 1 Recap: 

1. Leaders Always Improve Communication

Emotional intelligence - It is “your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships.” Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Bradburry and Greaves

1. Understand the emotions both in yourself and others, 
2. Have the wherewithal to manage your behavior and your relationships. 

Self-awareness is the ability to understand yourself as you really are. 

Social awareness is what helps you stay focused and absorb the important information that will help you be relational. 

 

2. Leaders Always Build Trust.

Every day we are both put in a position to trust others, and ask others to trust us. 

To build trust, you have to learn how to manage your relationships. 

Relationships are like cultivating a garden. Building trust takes time. 

Reflection Exercise: Think about the relationships in your life that cause you to trust. What are you missing in those relationships? What do you need to do to take that relationship to the next level? 

Another thing that you can do is actually ask people how you can gain more of their trust. And, when you ask, actually listen to their answer. 

 

3. Leaders Always Have Tough Conversations.

Avoid arguments at all costs. There are no winners in an argument, only losers. 

With that being said, leaders DO have the tough conversations. The other side of arguing would be to totally disregard the conversations that need to be had. But, that is the art of leadership.  

QUESTION: Are you calm and effective in the way that you handle tough conversations?

The “one minute reprimand” - One Minute Manager

Tough conversations come in the context of what should already be good and positive leadership on your part.

Tough conversations usually happen on multiple occasions for one topic. The first conversation is helping them to understand the changes that need to be made. But the second conversation is always more important. It is the conversation where you come back and help them understand that they have made the change successfully and that you are happy with their performance. Or, you have a follow-up conversation to let them know that they still have to make changes, whether big or small.

You have to have the interest of your people first and foremost. If they know that you are trying to help correct their mistakes or errors for the sake of the team and also their ability to get better at what they do, they will want this kind of feedback. 

When people know that you mean it, and that you want to get better at leading them, they will invite it and appreciate it.

 

MO’s FINAL THOUGHTS:

Start treating people like individuals, while at the same time not losing the team aspect of everything. Everybody understands communication differently. There are some people on your team that you need to reevaluate, to see if you have been treating the relationship properly, and giving it the kind of attention that you should be. Always be promoting a healthy bottom line, both in production, and relationships that you have with the people in your team. Having both will set you up to be effective in leadership.

 

Amazon Book Links:

Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves - https://amzn.to/2StSjao

How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie - https://amzn.to/2MD12o1

The One Minute Manager, Blanchard and Johnson - https://amzn.to/3oASlsL

 

Special thanks to:

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Work it out by LiQWYD https://soundcloud.com/liqwyd 

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/l_work-it-out

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/erSmdVocHO0

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Leaders Promote Emotional Intelligence – Part 1 (Ep. 25)

Episode 25: Leaders Promote Emotional Intelligence (Part 1)

“Relationship management is your ability to use your awareness of your own emotions and those of others to manage interactions successfully.” Emotional Intelligence 2.0

 

1. Leaders Always Improve Communication.

• You need to improve your own ability to communicate
• You need to help others improve their communication

Learning how to communicate in business will either catapult your company into the next level of productivity, or bring it down, and make life difficult for everybody.  

“Understanding the Four Communication Styles in the Workplace”, Rider University

1. Analytical Communicators: These are the people that focus on statistics and figures. 
2. Intuitive Communicators: They figure out what the goal of a specific project needs to be, and they focus on that bigger picture.

• Jim Collins, Good to Great - Hedgehog Concept
• Angela Duckworth, Grit 

QUESTION: Are you willing to do the things that others won’t, when it’s not fun anymore? 

• Functional Communicators: These are the people that love processes. They want to go step-by-step and reach the final product in “the right way.” 

The downside for functional communicators is that these people believe that there is a right way, and usually the right way is their way. So, they can end up alienating others that they don’t see things the way that they do. 

• Personal Communicators: These are the people that hold the team together. If you are hanging by a thread, these are the people that are skilled in seeing a ton of different perspectives and learning the reasoning behind why people form their specific ideas. These people are inspirational, they foster trust, and always try to leverage the buy-in. 

QUESTION: First, what kind of communicator are you? Secondly, what kind of communicators do you have on your team? 

When you realize that people are unique and different on your team, then you will get less frustrated when people don’t understand you. 

When you can communicate with people from all four of these styles, it is going to make you more in tune with the needs of individuals, the team, and even the company. 

Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be broken. 

If you can build your roots deep with all of these different styles on your team, you might bend, and the hurricanes of life might come at you, but you will never break because you are continually letting the relational roots get deeper and stronger.

 

MO’s Final Thoughts:

This week my encouragement for you is to write down on a piece of paper the people on your team and try to figure out what kind of communication style they have. Start viewing your people as unique, knowing that you need to meet them where they are at. Take a few moments to do that and I would venture that it is going to raise your communication skills, and build those roots with your team members.

 

Amazon Book Links:

Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves - https://amzn.to/2StSjao

Good to Great, Jim Collins - https://amzn.to/36Jin5l

 

Article:

“Understanding the Four Communication Styles in the Workplace”, Rider University - https://bit.ly/2RCq49r

 

Special thanks to:

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Work it out by LiQWYD https://soundcloud.com/liqwyd 

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/l_work-it-out

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/erSmdVocHO0

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