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Change – Growth or Grief

SA Leadership Podcast Episode #194

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:36 — 10.6MB) | Embed

There are seven facets of change that I want to consider in this podcast.

Few People Like Change

There seems to be a misconception that leaders enjoy change and followers do not. Leaders don’t like change anymore than the next person, unless it is their idea for change. As a leader you must understand the basis of your positive energy about change. Especially if you initiate it.

Change Happens Whether You Like It Or Not

Change requires energy – positive or negative. Focus all of your energy on building the new and instead of fighting the old. Focus on what you can control. Remain flexible. Do not allow change to cause you to become emotionally stuck in your development.

There are 3 Times When People Change

(1)You will change when you hurt enough that you have to. This is the worst type of change. (2)You will change when you learn enough that you will want to change. (3)You will change when you receive enough that you are able to change. A leader will see the need for change before others will see it. In that moment you must present the case why change is necessary. Reassure the team that you struggle just as much as others.

You Have To Face Reality

You cannot make change unless you know what is going on. This is about the Law of the Scoreboard. What inning, how much time is left, and who is winning?

A team cannot make the necessary adjustments if they do not know where they stand. The leader should set goals that stretches the team to maximize potential and possibility. The leader must set realistic goals for the team.

Practice A Positive Stance

During difficult times, attitude is the difference-maker. Your stance should reflect how you view circumstances by means of your attitude, assumptions, and expectations. Here are 5 keys for a positive outlook

  1. Life is filled with good and bad.
  2. Some of the good and bad I cannot control.
  3. Some of the good and bad will find me.
  4. The good and bad become better with a positive outlook.
  5. The good and bad become worse with a negative outlook.

Be Teachable

Be willing to learn from the changes of life. Here is a key question; “How has failure shaped your life?” Perhaps our answer is like the posted sign that reads; If I had it to all over again, I would ask for help! Your greatest growth occurs through your failures, setbacks and disappointments.

Learn To Be your Best Friend

Too many people are their worst enemy. Success or failure does not define who you are. Celebrate or cry for 24 hours – then move on with life. Do not become stuck.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music:  “Canal 3” by Quinicas Mooreira

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The Science of Behavioral Change

Sean Young got his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford. He’s now a Professor at UCLA’s medical school and wrote a great book called Stick With It in which he walks us through the science of making behavioral changes stick.

He tells us that we need to work with seven psychological forces if we want to master the process of changing our behavior. And, he boils them down into the handy-dandy acronym: SCIENCE.

Stepladders + Community + Important + Easy + Neurohacks + Captivating + Engrained.

Let’s take a quick look.

  • Stepladders. Sean tells us that we need to break our Dreams down into Goals and then break those Goals down into Steps. The simpler and smaller the steps the better. Climb up your stepladder!
  • Community. The science is unequivocal. One of the fastest ways to change your behavior is to surround yourself with people who’re supporting you in your behavioral change.
  • Important. You’ve gotta really want to change. Your why needs to be strong. Changing a certain behavior needs to be, of course, truly important.
  • Easy. And, it needs to be EASY! Like, super easy. Sean tells us: “People often think they understand easy, but they actually don’t.” And, he tells us there are three ways to make it easier: Control your environment  + limit choice + make a plan.
  • Neurohacks. Sean tells us that most of us get it backwards. We think we need to change how we think to change our behaviors. He says it’s more like the As If Principle. “People need to change their actions and their minds will follow. What you’re doing is ‘tricking’ the brain into realizing that change is possible.” ← That’s a “neurohack.”
  • Captivating. Gamification and rewards are nice. But the key is to make your rewards “captivating.”
  • Engrained. How do you make a new habit engrained? Habits 101 style: Use your finite willpower to program your basal ganglia to make things run on autopilot. How? Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.

Stepladders + Community + Important + Easy + Neurohacks + Captivating + Engrained.

What is one behavior that you are attempting to modify or break all together? Remember from the Judaeo=Christian position, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

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Character Traits of A Champion

SA Leadership Podcast Episode #193

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:29 — 11.4MB) | Embed

The book by Ben Bergeron, Chasing Excellence, is all about character. More Specifically, the author spells out 12 unique character qualities of a champion. Jerry Rice once stated, “Today I will do what others won’t so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”

COMMITMENT – It all starts with commitment. If you are playing the “I am good enough,” game then there is literally no chance of you ever experiencing excellence, actualizing your potential, or being the best version of yourself. ZERO, ZIP NADA! If you do not commit to a specific meaningful goal for your life then any road will take you there.

  • GRIT – What is grit? It means that when things get hard you push harder, when you fall you get back in the game, relentless consistency, heart, and passion – that is GRIT!
  • CONFIDENCE – Confidence is when you make the most challenging keys to success part of your daily grind and stick with the character traits unwaveringly.
  • MAXIMIZING MINUTES – Ralph Marston stated, “Now is everything you have to work with. When you live it fully, it is more than enough.” So when is a good time to be excellent? NOW, NOW, NOW!
  • THE PROCESS – Nick Saban’s “The Process”, talks about living fully in the current moment. Stop thinking about the future and start living in this moment, bringing your full potential to the table NOW!
  • CONTROL – Somethings are within our control. Other things are not. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
  • TURN THE PAGE – Understanding that you only have control over the present moment is the key to being able to turn the page. Reliving the past is a recipe for depression, fearing the future is a surefire way to anxiety. The only you can impact the past is to rectify it. The future can only be influenced by the choices you are making in the present.
  • HUMILITY – the moment that you believe you have arrived at the door of greatness, it will be slammed in your face!
  • COMPETITIVE EXCELLENCE – I will maximize my minutes by thinking, acting, training, and competing with excellence, regardless of the circumstances.”
  • CLUTCH – this is the ability to do what you normally do under immense pressure.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music:  “Wishful Thinking” by Dan Lebowitz

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Combination Locks

Unlocking Your Potential

Jim Rohn tells us in his book, Leading An Inspired Life, that integrating life-changing ideas into your life is a bit like figuring out a combination lock.

He tells us: “Ideas can change your life. And sometimes all you need is just one more good idea in a series of good ideas. It’s like dialing the numbers of a combination lock. After you’ve dialed five or six numbers, the lock may not come open. But you probably don’t need five or six more numbers. Maybe you need just one more number, one more idea. Maybe a seminar, scriptures or a sermon can provide it. The lyrics from a song could do it. The dialogue from a movie could do it. Conversation with a friend might do it. If you keep your eyes and ears open, you’ll find that one last idea you need.

Once you find that idea, the lock comes open, and there’s the door for you to walk through. Just one more idea, no matter where you get it, may be all you need to open that door of opportunity.”

I love that.

It captures the essence of what we’re doing with these +1s.

Let’s open some locks.

And step into the doorways of our infinite potential.

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11 Life Lessons

SA Leadership Podcast Episode #192

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:33 — 11.5MB) | Embed

LL#1 – Life is not fair – Get used to it! The notion that socialism is a ultimate cure-all is nothing more than wishful dreaming. Since life is not fair, don’t waste yours in a hope-so-maybe-so dream! Make something of yourself through diligent work – one micro-win at a time.

LL#2 – The world will not care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. What are you building, creating, learning today?

LL#3 – You will not make $60,000/year right out of High School. You will not become a vice-president of a company with all of the executive perks until you earn it.

LL#4 – If you think that your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss!

LL#5 – Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity!

LL#6 – If you mess up, it is not your parents fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

LL#7 – Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way by paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rainforest from the parasites of your parents generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

LL#8 – Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but LIFE has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life!

LL#9 – Life is not divided into semester. You don’t get summer breaks off and very few employees are interested in helping you find yourself. DO that on your own time.

LL#10 – Television is not real life. In the real world people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to their jobs.

LL#11 – Be nice to nerds. Chances are you will end up working for one.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music:  “Wishful Thinking” by Dan Lebowitz

 

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Hit The Rock

In our last Blog Article we took a quick look at Warren Buffett’s three-step goal setting process and then chatted about how it fits into our Big 3: Energy + Family + Service.

First, pop quiz: Did you do that exercise? If not, all good but…

If we want to move from theory to practice and from merely consuming these ideas to actually deeply thinking about and LIVING these ideas, we’ve gotta do the work.

The image that comes to mind for me is a stonecutter.

Imagine a guy (or gal) banging away at a HUGE rock with a sledgehammer. He pounds and pounds and pounds at that rock with his sledgehammer again and again and again.

And absolutely nothing happens.

Just a big rock. And a sweaty sledgehammer guy.

Then, apparently out of nowhere, on the next strike the rock splits. YAYUH!!!

Now, if you happened to be walking by that guy right when he made the swing that cracked open the rock you might think that a) the guy was super strong and/or b) splitting rocks is easy.

Moral of the story: We’ve gotta show up and hit the rock. Every day. If we want to make sure our ladder is leaning up against the right wall and that we’re living a life of deep, authentic purpose and meaning, we NEED to show up and do the work.

We’ve gotta turn off the entertainment at night so our brains can relax and we can get a good night of sleep. Then wake up early, feeling energized as we choose to go Deep into Creative work before we splash around in the Shallow side of the Reactive pool of life.

Over. And over. And over again.

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Team Development

SA Leadership Podcast Episode #191

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:19 — 18.6MB) | Embed

These questions are not to be asked every now and then – rather they are to be asked daily!

How Can I Make My Team Better?

  • Ask questions. Listen. Learn. Lead.
    • This was the #1 approach of John Wooden. He stated that I have to find my team in order to lead my team.
    • Pat Summit of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball stated that she was leading by assumption – “I did not know what my team was thinking.
    • It is said that 70% of American workers are not in their strength zone.
    • Improvement in this first question is a result of good communication
    • What do I want them to know?
    • What do they want me to know?
    • Positioning – How can I help them succeed? If you are out of position you will never succeed.
    • Game Plan – What do I want them to do?

Am I A Good Example For My Team?

  • We are all visual – show me! Model growth for me and give me the resources for growth!
  • I need to model growth for clarity! I must model growth for credibility!
  • What am I doing right now that enhances the culture of the team? Where am I going tomorrow?
  • There are 3 crucial questions followers are asking every day of their leaders.
    • Do you care about me? – Do you demonstrate genuine care?
    • Can you help me? Are you in fact helping your team or driving them?
    • Can I trust you? Am I a trustworthy leader?

Do I Create A Growth Environment for My Team?

  • We get to the top by our giftedness. We can only stay on top by our growth!
  • People will work hard to make a company better. But what they most want is to know that I am getting better!
  • Create a Leadership Bubble for people to grow into versus creating a leadership pothole for people to fall into.
  • Qualities of a Growth Environment
    • Others are ahead of you
    • You are continually challenged
    • Your focus is forward
    • The atmosphere is affirming
    • You are often out of your comfort zone
    • You wake up excited
    • Failure is not your enemy
    • Others are growing
    • People desire change
    • Growth is modeled and expected

Do I Evaluate How Much Time I Give Each Team Member

  • The Pareto Principle states that you give 80% of your time to the top 20% of your Team that will yield 80% of the returns.
  • You have my heart, but you earn my time!

Am I Developing Depth For My Team?

  • Great Teams have
    • Relationship depth – Connection
    • Diversity Depth – Completion
    • Servanthood Depth – Care
    • Skill Depth – Competence
    • Leadership Depth – Continuity & Clarity
    • Growth Depth – Capacity
  • Two questions you must ask
    • Am I developing myself?
    • Am I developing others?

Evaluate these 5 questions on developing a team using a scale of 1-5. Ask your team to evaluate you using the same scale and the same questions. Use this information for discussion and growing.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music:  “8th Anniversary by Diamond Ortiz

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Three Steps To Clarity

Energy, Family, Service

In Born for This, Chris Guillebeau tells us that, according to legend, Warren Buffet once gave a struggling friend a three steps process for setting goals. Here’s the quick look.

1. Start by writing down 25 things you’d like to do in your life.
2. Circle the Top 5 goals.
3. Throw away the other 20 goals and focus on tasks that relate to the Top 5.

As Chris says: “The principle is that you can’t work hard on 25 important things at once. You might think that the other 20 are still important, just not as important as the top five. But no — Buffett’s advice is to run away from the non-circled items as fast as you can. By choosing only five life goals, you’ll be far more invested in achieving them.”

I feel this is an important exercise for all industries and especially the faith community that I have been part of all of my life. Everything cannot be urgent and equally important at the same time. Nothing becomes urgent and important when we do this. I am not good at everything, but I am good at a few things. Therefore, I have vested myself in the disciplines and financial investments to become better on a daily basis. Greatness is not achieved with FREE – “I will not give unto the Lord anything that costs me nothing.”

When I have clarity in my life, energy, family, and service goals come into view. When I am the clearest in these three areas, I find that I am the most effective with others in my sphere of influence. Become clear in the things that fire passion in your heart. What is it that you would pay to do because you are that passionate?

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Passion

SA Leadership Podcast Episode #190

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:19 — 14.9MB) | Embed

If you want to understand the topic of passion, you must review the life of Rueben Martinez. Here is a link for a quick YouTube glimpse into the man behind Latino Literacy 

Reuben, as a Barber started with 2 volumes for customers to read. This grew into 17,000 volumes and now has sold over 2 million copies of great Latino inspired books. He has received the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (Genius Grant) in 2004; US Small Minority Business Advocate of the year in 2004; Honorary Doctorate from Whittier College in 2005; desires to open 25 Latino Bookstores before he dies.

There is no substitute for passion when it comes to energizing your talent. Let’s examine these six insights into Passion.

Passion Is The First Step To Achievement

Loving what you do is key to opening the door for achievement. Socrates once stated that until what you want is equal to your need for air, you will not obtain what you want.

Passion Increases Willpower

You discover your passion by answering these three questions: What do you sing about? What do you cry about? What do you dream about?

Passion Produces Energy

When you have passion you become energized. Energized passion will help you stay the course and not give up.

Passion Is The Foundation To Excellence

Passion will transform you from average to excellence. Dr Martin Luther King stated until a man has found something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.

Passion Is The Key To Success

People are such that whenever anything fires their souls, impossibilities vanish. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world is the triumph of enthusiasm.”

Passion Makes A Person Contagious

It has been said that you cannot kindle a fire in any other heart until it is burning within your own.

To ignite your passion….

Prioritize your life according to Your Passion – Tim Redmon stated there are many things that catch m y eye, but only a few things that will catch my heart.”

Protect your Passion – Resist people that resist change and keep you from keeping the fire alive. Hang around people who see you for your potential.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

Pursue Your Passion With Everything You’ve Got – What do you want to accomplish in your lifetime? How do you want to focus your en energy? Survival, Success or significance?

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Roles and Goals

The BIG Three

Stephen Covey stated that we should pay attention to our Roles and Goals. If we leave this open-ended, there are an infinite variety of roles and goals to pursue. So let’s narrow this down to the BIG Three roles and goals – ENERGY + FAMILY + SERVICE = Successful Living!

Energy. For me, it ALL starts with Energy. If I have a tough time getting out of bed in the morning, I’m going to have a tough time living optimally. Therefore, I prioritize making sure my Energy is strong.

Family. Why do I want to feel radiantly alive and energized? First and foremost, I want to be an exemplary husband and father. I’m the only one in the world who can be a great husband to my wife and father to my children. In the midst of striving to do great things and make a difference in the world, it’s easy to forget that it all starts at home.

Service. The other reason I keep my energy strong is to be of service. I want to be, in the words of the French movement philosopher Georges Hébert , “Fit to be useful.”

This three step process begins with this question: Identify what you at your best looks like in these three categories? Then capture these thoughts in each category; when I am at my best I….

ENERGY: It starts with proper eating and sleeping habits. Nothing zaps your energy like processed foods, sugars and a string of late nights and later mornings. Get in the habit of clean eating and scheduled sleep. Couple this with exercise bursts throughout the day and your energy level will stay up.

The benefits (aka “The Why” a la Nietzsche’s “He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how.”): I am radiantly alive. I am grounded. Powerful. Calm. Confident. Energized.

FAMILY: Me at my best: I am an exemplary husband and father. I love to work and create. AND I’m committed to being a great husband and father. An exemplar. That standard fires me up. The benefits: Joy. Presence. Love. Kindness. Patience. Consistency. Celebrating my 50th anniversary with my Love. The #1 thing you can do every day to make that happen: Quality time one-on-one with your children EVERY day. Defined as at least 30 minutes (target 60 during week and hours on weekend) of just me and them.

SERVICE: I desire to be a exemplary teacher and community leader. I am committed to using my God-given gifts as a force for heroic good while continuing to study, embody and teach wisdom I love and making a difference in our faith community. There is GREAT JOY in doing what you were put on this earth to do!