Transformation4Change: Recent Episodes
Dr. George Ayee
Inspire, equip, energize, enable leaders to lead successfully through change, adversity, disruption, tough times, and transformation
There’s no greater gift than to honor your life’s calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become most truly alive. - – Oprah Winfrey
Defining your purpose gives you clarity about what’s important. When you then use it to guide your choices and decisions, it gives your life greater meaning and a deep sense of fulfilment. Your purpose is a pathway, not the destination. When external influences or your own internal voices try to take you off course, your purpose gives you a clear sense of direction and guides you back on track.
British author and motivational speaker, Simon Sinek, explained “why statement” as “The compelling higher purpose that inspires us and acts as the source of all we do.”
Our individual Why’s defines what drives us, fulfills us, and gives us purpose for doing what we wake up each morning to do. Life is full of twists and turns, and we must be hungry and well prepared for the trip called life.
To clarify your why, here are a few questions for reflection:
•When are you at your best?
•When are you at your worst?
•What are you passionate about?
•When do you feel most energized?
•What is the core purpose of your role?
•Why does it matter?
Your personal why is your calling, conviction, mission statement, a vision of your life and work, the thread of your career story, your core source of inspiration and motivation, the reference point for all your decisions and actions, it defines who you are and what makes you highly productive and the reason for your life’s work.
WHAT IS YOUR WHY? Have a great week.
Open your mind to the possibilities lurking around you, the possibilities ahead of you, and what you can become if…
Come on an amazing journey with me and explore the possibilities in answering the question WHAT COULD YOU BE IF…
Have a great week and see you at the summit of achievers!
The word to unclog is free, release, clear or unblock. For things to flow smoothly through a pipeline, it must be cleaned out. When you look at your life, are things working well or smoothly. When you look at the performance of your business, is it working as planned. As a business leader, are you getting the results of the department or section you are in control off? If the answer is No, there must be something or someone blocking the results. Are your relationships working well? Whatever it is in your life, business, relationship, or work, if it is not working, you must identify the causes and resolve it. I have seen so many brilliant people who are not living their true potential because the pipeline is clogged up.
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain!
Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of achievers.
For years Eagles have fascinated and inspired us with many stories highlighting the behavior and wisdom of how the eagle operates. I have personally been fascinated with these stories that when I was hired to start a university in Africa several years ago, I used the eagle as the logo for this university and developed a philosophy around the eagle to help students reach the highest level of success in academia. The stories about eagles continue to inspire me, challenge, and captivate my thinking, and fascinate my curiosity.
To achieve anything in life, you must have a focused vision and clarity of what you want to achieve or become. Focus 1million percent on your vision to protect it. Eagles have strong vision. A focused vision backed by consistent action produces results.
Your vision will be tested through the storms of life. Some run away from the storms, give up when the storms show up while others go through the eye of the storm until they experience safety and stability.
Use the storms of life to tenaciously protect your vision and soar with the storms that show up on your radar. To rise to greater heights in life, you must face the storms of life, confront the challenges head on without running away from it.
Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of the visionaries.
A process involves a sequence of steps or activities that lead to a particular outcome or result. Are you interested in climbing the corporate ladder? Building a successful business, being the leader that others would like to follow? Are you on a journey of becoming? Whatever you have going on for you, trust the process.
Millions around the world are interested in achievement and progress but not ready to go through the process of becoming. Do you trust the current process?
Many years ago, a wise old man told me to learn to climb the tree from the bottom. That was his way of saying learn to start small and grow from there. The microwave generation want everything now and fast. To be successful and maintain it, you must go through the process.
In this short podcast, I want to remind my listeners to trust the process, be patient through the process, and not give up in the process. They that wait and go through the process, are successful in the end.
Have a fantastic week and enjoy the process.
The servant leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve first.’ The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership defines servant leadership as “a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.” A servant leader focuses on the growth and well-being of employees and other stakeholders in their organization. Servant leaders seek to help the people they serve grow as individuals.
Robert K. Greenleaf first promulgated the philosophy of Servant leadership in an essay called “The Servant as Leader,” which was first published in 1970. Greenleaf indicated that servant leaders in organizations provide support to their employees, allowing them to learn and grow through inclusive leadership, which employs their expertise and strategies to the fore.
Traditional leadership focuses on things like strategy, goals, financial performance, and customer satisfaction, operational excellence, safety, business development among others.
Servant leadership is a philosophy where a leader is a servant first. Servant leaders aspire to serve their team and the organization first ahead of personal interest and objectives. It is a selfless leadership style where a leader possesses a natural feeling to serve for the greater good.
Wikipedia describes servant leadership as a “leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve. This is different from traditional leadership where the leader's focus is the success of their company or organization. A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of the employees first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.
Be a servant leader and inspire your direct reports to be more, do more and give more. See you at the summit of servant leaders and have a fantastic week.
Change is a part of life. To be a great, authentic, inspiring, engaging leader, you must change.
As leaders, we can’t always predict with 100% what changes lie ahead, but we can increase our readiness, the capability of our organizations to deal with an uncertain future. How do we do that? We will need to develop a thriving mindset, one that factors in purpose, attitude, connections (relationships), and energy.
PACEsetters’s global study of over 2,000 leaders revealed that CEOs are very concerned with the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing world and figuring out how to lead organizations ill prepared to effectively deal with those changes. The study found that more than 75% of employees within organizations had experienced major changes through mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, downsizing, and outsourcing of jobs and others.
You have heard it said that change is the only constant. That change is difficult. That People don’t like change, be the change you want to see in the world, that the measure of intelligence is the ability to change, that everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves. You have also heard it said that change before you must, that the greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude, change is inevitable. That growth is optional, to improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often, I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination, other words of wisdom from change says, if you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude, The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new, since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality, Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future. These are all great words of wisdom to help us frame, shape, refine our thinking about change.
My call to action (CTA) is that you decide right now to start making the changes you need to be the best version of yourself. I am very passionate about the subject of change. Why, because I know that in change lies the gem and nuggets for achievement, success, accomplishment and business and success. Your achievement and progress will always come dressed in CHANGE clothes. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of world changers.
The word change is to alter, modify, transform, amend, convert, or adjust. Change is as old as human civilization. We change a business model to respond to market demands, we alter our perspective and worldview for better and greater insight, we modify our thinking, leadership behavior, approach and style to changing situations and circumstances, we amend our organization and business systems and processes for service excellence and improvement, performance and productivity, we adjust our way of working to respond to business challenges and customer needs to enhance the customer experience, we transform and renovate our organizational culture to increase performance, employee experience, to be recognized as an employer of choice, we convert our learning and development programs to be cost effective, shape and modify leadership and employee behavior, equip and empower the leadership bench. All that I have spoken about is change. Change is a great asset, and we should embrace it and use change instead of it using us.
Change is beneficial and a great asset to forward thinking and all those hungry to change the trajectory of their lives, business, or organization. When we fully understand and appreciate the value of change, we begin to explore and exploit change to our advantage. Take a deeper look at your leadership approach and style, does it need a makeover through change, review your business processes sand systems, can you improve it through change, look at your company results, can you increase improve the outcomes, review your relationships, can you make a change so that you can do better and progress faster, how are doing with your health and safety programs in your organization, what can you change to improve your safety record and enhance employee experience through your health and wellness programs. We have a lot to benefit from change and trust that you can begin to look at change differently.
The Unstoppable Leader
Are you ready to use your authentic leadership skill and behavior to reach your full potential, and become an unstoppable leader? During turbulent times, our leadership approach and style faces the biggest litmus test. True leadership is earned not given, and you earn it by gaining trust from the people you lead. Behavior, not title, determines your authority. Vince Lombardi has a famous saying: “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” Leadership Challenge is about mobilizing people to create extraordinary results, and uniting people to turn challenges into successes.
Today’s employees expect more from their leaders. They may have once accepted you as their boss; however, they now want a leader they can emulate and learn from. A leader who is invested in their continued growth, development, and success. An unstoppable leader can help employees, direct reports or team achieve and harness their potential through their own experience and leadership journey. Getting the most from your team requires being an open, authentic, respective, inclusive, and transparent leader showing them how they can reach the same level of success and even more.
As a conscious, unstoppable leader, tough times aren’t only a test, they’re also an opportunity. "Let go of who you think you should be and embrace who you are." - Brene Brown
Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of unstoppable leaders
Nelson Mandela said, “Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.” It can also be defined as bounce back from change, setbacks, or disruption. Resilience is our ability to cope with difficult situations and to adapt to life's changes and crises. Resilience is the ability to adapt well in the face of threat, adversity, or significant stress. Resilience allows us to bounce back after hardship or disruptive change and adversity. It is our ability to cope with and recover from setbacks. To foster change resilience, we need to create a space where it is safe to voice opinions, share ideas and make mistakes.
Resilience is the ability to bounce back when things don’t go as planned. Learn to be resilient during times of adversity, disruption, and chaos. In this podcast I talk about the resilience advantage. When you learn to be resilient, you position yourself for advancement and progress. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of the champions.
The title of being a professional therefore is not in the certificates, degrees, awards, diplomas we collect but rather in how we behave. I have heard some employees refer to their bosses as a true professional and others referring to their supervisors, managers, leaders as not professional. I refer to my personal doctor as a true professional. From the very minute I enter his practice to when I leave, the experience makes me conclude that he is a true professional worth talking about. The way he talks to me, the depth of his knowledge about medicine, the way he carries himself, the choice of words, the way he explains what may be happening in my body all speaks to his ability as a true professional. I contrast my current doctor to the former one and can say that though he qualified as a doctor and knows his subject, I left his office feeling that I need another doctor. I believe you know what I am talking about because you have experienced different medical doctors. We can say the same about teachers or any other profession. Professionalism speaks to the standards of behavior and attitude of a person in each profession. Professionalism is necessary for your long-term success and business.
Will you say you are a true professional. If I were to interview your direct reports, team members or employees can they all unequivocally say that you are a true professional. I was facilitating a workshop and asked the leaders the leader they admire the most in their organization. I gave them a piece of paper to write the name of this person on and give it back to me. The name Kevin came up. All the leaders except 2 mentioned another name. I asked why Kevin? They said Kevin is a true leader and professional. He leads from the front, has open door policy, truly cares, talks to you with respect, inspires his team, clearly articulates his expectations, handles conflict constructively, treats everybody with respect, and works with the team to achieve results. Now this is where it gets interesting. I met another group of leaders the following day and asked the same question and the same name Kevin came up with similar descriptions of Kevin. This is what I believe and have noted over the years, true professionalism is in the person and not in the title, position, diploma, or certificates. So, who is a true professional? I am glad you asked, and I am very eager to tell you.
Being a professional in your chosen field means much more than wearing a coat and tie or possessing a college degree and a noted title. Professionalism has to do with how you conduct yourself during your business affairs. True professionals possess several important characteristics that can apply to virtually any type of business. Professionalism is the way you conduct yourself at work to represent both yourself and your company in a positive way.
In this podcast, I unpack what a true professional is and to give you the opportunity to introspect and answer the question ARE YOU A TRUE PROFESSIONAL? Have a fantastic week.
Years ago, I was working with a major client to develop their leadership pipeline. During the seminar, one of the attendees decided to drop out from the program and his reasoning was that he is more comfortable being an individual contributor rather than getting on the leadership journey. At the time, it didn’t make sense to me but now I know that leadership is not for everyone and it’s okay if you are not ready and prepared to take on leadership responsibilities. I believe the leadership journey gives you the opportunity to learn and grow, mature, make a significant contribution and stretch your abilities.
Leadership is a heavy responsibility and a fulfilling one at the same time. To be a great and respected leader is not for the faint hearted. The leadership journey is filled with challenges and it’s also an amazing opportunity to make a difference in our homes, organizations, business communities and our World. Leading with passion and authenticity can be rewarding. Great leadership is about integrity, honesty, passion, vision, taking risks, fearlessness, compassion, courage, authenticity, collaboration, self-awareness, selflessness, purposefulness, humility, intuition, and wisdom.
When we help leaders renovate their inward state, what’s happening inside them that influences their outside results we will be enhancing the leadership practice. Having been in the change leadership and management space for many years, I can confidently say that the main reason why change initiatives, projects, or programs are not achieving the outcomes and results and why the changes are not sustainable is because the leaders go back to doing things the way they have always done it. When there is no authentic or real change from the inside, leaders revert to the old ways of doing things. How do we change that? By working on the inward condition of the leader comprising of belief systems, thought processes, worldview, self-concept, self-identity, and socialization. You can never be any different from the way you see yourself.
When we look at exceptional and outstanding leadership, it’s about character, courage, and wisdom. It’s important that when we talk about developing leaders, we ensure that we elevate the consciousness of these leaders to lead through complexity, uncertainty, volatility, disruption, and ambiguity.
Enjoy and learn the nuggets presented in this podcast and continue the journey of becoming a great leader that others want to follow and work with voluntarily. Secondly, be the leader you will be proud of working with. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of great leaders.
Any change or transformation of significance will create people issues. New leaders will be asked to step up, jobs will be changed, new skills and capabilities must be developed, and people will be uncertain and will have concerns. Dealing with these issues on a reactive rather than on a proactive basis will impact the outcomes and success of the change.
Successful change does not happen by developing flamboyant change plans, engaging change resources, bringing in consultants, using tools and templates, commit financial and human resources to fulfilling the plan, and communicating the change. All these are good but not enough to achieve successful change and transformation. We should remember that people always wish for change because they know that it’s the constant thing in this world, and they will always have this deep, inner desire to improve things for their betterment and progress.
Are we oblivious to the significant waste of human capital and financial resources that come with failure of change and transformation? It’s amazing how disruption, pandemic, chaos, instability, and challenges can cause us to introspect, review, revise, our way of doing things. As soon as we saw that the pandemic was coming to an end, we went back to “Business as Usual” When will we learn and grow? When will we shift our paradigms regarding the human side of change? Every successful change that I have been part of succeeded because we took the human side of change seriously.
The statement “our employees are our most important asset” has become a cliché rather than a true demonstration of what some leaders truly believe. Employees know for certain if they are being regarded as the most important assets. When the time comes for a change to be implemented, employees are sent an email about the change and expected to get on-board and help implement the change. This is not the right way to treat people, especially the people that are your most valuable asset. By proactively engaging and supporting people in times of change, we demonstrate in action that we value them.
Are you restless with your current state? Are you feeling stuck? Are you resting on the achievement of yesterday? Do you feel you have more in you and yet you seem to be stagnant. The key to addressing these questions you have been struggling with is to navigate forward and onward without allowing yourself to make excuses for your current situation or state. Navigating forward with purpose, determination and consistency will get you out of your current situation.
The word to navigate is to steer, traverse, direct, or pilot. In a world filled with challenges and opportunities, the temptation to stay put, rest, or do nothing and wait for things to change when you should be the one to change can be very strong. It takes courage, resiliency, determination, persistence, and perseverance to keep navigating forward in the direction of your leadership journey, taking your company forward, writing that book or whatever project you may be working on.
I was watching television the other day when a comedian made a comment about how they make people laugh and happy and then get back to their hotel feeling lonely and lost after the event. Some have committed suicide not knowing how to continue with life. Navigating forward is even more urgent these days because of all we went through the past few years and what others are going through.
As a leader, you need to learn to navigate forward amidst the challenges, as a business you need to move forward despite the various obstacles, as a family you need to keep moving forward because its only in navigating forward where you will breakthrough and achieve your goals. There are times when knowing the path to follow may not be clear. But you must keep navigating in the hope that you will get to the other side.
In this podcast I share a few nuggets on what to do to effectively navigate forward. The solution you are looking for is right ahead of you. Have a fantastic week and keep navigating forward.
Powerful forces are changing our world. Their impact is touching all countries, sectors, companies, and, increasingly, workers and the environment. They are also mutating in some unexpected ways and combining to create even greater impact than we expected.
The word disruption is a disturbance, commotion, interruption, distraction, interference, or disorder. These words all have a negative connotation; however, disruption can be very good for you and me. It is human nature to want to settle, have stability, control, and go with the flow. However, anytime our lives are disrupted, our businesses are shaken, our thoughts are disrupted with new information and new perspectives, we begin to rise to the challenge and do amazing things with the disruption.
We live in an era of disruption in which powerful global forces are changing how we live and work. Global disruptive trends offer considerable new opportunities to companies, sectors, countries, and individuals that embrace disruption successfully. On the other hand, the number of those who cannot keep up with these changing times or events has grown significantly.
Disruption opens the way for us to think differently. It allows us to use our imagination to redefine the industries we work in and the world we live in. As a result, society benefits from innovations that improve our efficiency and the ease of our daily lives. Disruptions can be a catalyst that can help solve major issues.
In this episode, I unpack the role of disruption and its benefits. When we change our views and perceptions regarding disruption, we begin to take advantage of disruption and use it rather than allowing it to use us. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of disruptors.
English philosopher James Allen wrote: “As a man thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.” Stoic and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote: “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.” Poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” Author Earl Nightingale said: “We become what we think about,” and Mark Twain wrote: “Life consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever flowing through one's head.” We live in a world of thought.
Our thoughts create our experiences, and we experience what we think. It is the quality of our thoughts that create the quality of our life, how we lead, what we do, and the future we will create. We move in the direction of our thoughts. Is your current way of thinking giving you the results you want? Is the way you think about your employees, peers, organization, boss, family, helping you to be more, do more and give more? We have become victims of our own thoughts and can rethink and be victors from our thoughts. Our thoughts trigger emotions, and these emotions feed back into the original thought. As we continue to give mental attention to the initial thought, it strengthens the emotion, which then energizes the thought. We experience a continuous cycle of think, feel, think, feel, think, feel.
When we repeatedly engage in the same thought patterns of think, feel, do, these patterns encode a blueprint in our subconscious mind. Our subconscious mind runs 95% of our life on automation.
Our thinking holds the key to the future we want to create. You can never be any different from the quality of your thinking. Your thinking has brought you this far and your thinking will impact your today and your tomorrow. Have a great week and see you at the summit of great thinkers.
Inspirational leadership refers to your ability to influence those around you positively and motivate others to achieve success. It provides your team members with the opportunity to develop their ambition based on your actions and attitudes.
An inspirational leader will develop talent and provide employees with opportunities to grow. These leaders are willing to take a risk on a person to stretch them so that their very best will burst forth. They have a desire to develop their team members and push them outside their comfort zone — and are prepared with a safety net in case the individual falters or things do not go as planned.
I have worked with some great leaders and not so great leaders. The inspirational leaders provided an enabling environment for me to thrive, inspired me to be more, give more and do more. Their style of leadership caused our team to go beyond the call of duty to resolve complex problems and issues, find creative and innovative ways to do things, and made coming to work an exciting adventure. I believe you recall working for such a leader in your career. Some of you are working for such a leader at this very moment. You agree with me that we all want to work for a leader who inspires us, who brings out the best in us and who is there for us when challenges come.
Inspirational leaders provide opportunities for others to grow personally and professionally and make progress toward their individual aspirations. Inspirational leaders encourage employees to flourish both individually and collectively. According to experts, inspired employees are more productive and committed to their organization.
Inspirational leadership encourages others to remain committed to their individual tasks while also leading their team by setting a good example. Good leaders encourage their direct reports with gratitude, making it more likely for their direct reports to repeat successful behaviors.
Develop your ability, capacity, capability, and personality to be an inspirational leader. Employees, direct reports, supervisors, coordinators, managers, and individuals want to follow a leader who inspires them to be and give their best.
Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of inspirational leaders.
Being weighed down from all the things and others is stealing your future and growth one disappointment and hurt at a time. I feel your pain because I have had my own share of pain, disappointments, hurt, mistreatment, and others. The question is can you change the discourse. Absolutely yes you can. You have the inner resources and the help of Almighty God to help you sidestep all the issues, drama, challenges and start moving towards what you want.
The Phrase, let it go is not another cliché but a very powerful statement when you take it to heart, and act on exactly what the statement says. There is no hurt too grave, disappointment too big, relationship too deep, that is beyond letting go. Remember that whatever we are willing to let go, creates room for better things to come to us. Let go that business that you are trying to revive when everything says, the time has passed. Let go the boss who wrongly fired you for whatever reason and prepare for the next job, let go of that relationship that you taught you can never do without, there is always someone better waiting for you.
Let go the organization that is choking your growth and identify the one that can stretch and fully tap your potential, Let go of the pain of the accident and see the scars as a reminder that you are still here and therefore you have a great tomorrow. Whatever it is you are holding on to, just let it go and experience the peace, emotional stability, energy, and clarity of mind to start moving in the direction of your dreams and aspirations. Just let it GO!
Have a fantastic week and keep moving forward and leave the baggage behind
James Allen about peace said “Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom”
Peace stealers are busy doing what they do best and that is stealing your peace in your most unguarded moments. Personally, my peace has been stolen repeatedly until I figured out how to detect the signs before it consumes me. I’ve wasted a lot of time being held hostage to some ridiculous stuff. It’s my duty to protect my peace and that is what I suggest you do as well to navigate the gift called life.
The word peace means harmony. To be peaceful is about calmness, stillness, tranquility, serenity, or silence. When you are peaceful, you are creative, have more energy, you can think straight, you can focus and do amazing things with your life. Being peaceful is in great demand these days because of all the happenings around us. Some people are not sleeping well at night because of the weight they are carrying. Some dread going to work because of the work environment. Some proverbially ride on the statement “Thank God its Friday” They can’t wait for Friday to come even when its only Monday morning. For whatever reason, we have peace stealers all around us. When you go to work there is someone who will do something to steal your joy, at home, there may be irritants vying to steal your joy. The news media or social media has things that take away your happiness and peace. To be peaceful will not happen by chance, you must crave and work diligently to be peaceful.
A spiritual leader is credited as saying “Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. Those who envy others do not obtain peace of mind.”
In this episode of transformation4change podcast, I provide some nuggets on how to maintain your peace and do amazing things with your life and leave an amazing trail behind you. Peace is your antidote to the vicissitudes of life. Decide to crave for peace and strive for peace with all your life. Have a fantastic week.
The Late Dr. Robert Schuler said, “The Me I see Is the Me I will become” When you look in the mirror, what do you see? A miracle about to happen, an influencer, a change maker, a thought leader. Do you see yourself as contributing to your world? An author of a best seller? A successful business owner in the making, a song writer, or a successful person in general? What you see is what you become.
Every successful person I know, read about, heard about, was first successful in their mind and then went to work to bring that picture to life. These successful people first painted a picture of the success they want on the canvass of their minds. What picture are you painting? When your vision of yourself is limited, your life will be limited. You become what you see and focus on most of the time. A vision is a destination that you want to arrive at within a period.
A personal vision is a declaration of a purpose.
•A vision creates self discipline.
•A vision brings focus
•A vision is a trigger of effort
•A vision causes you spend your energy on what matters most
•A vision helps to set direction.
•A personal vision fuels your passion
“The first step toward creating the future you want to see is developing your ability to envision it. Your VISION will ignite the fire of passion that fuels your commitment to do WHATEVER IT Will TAKE to achieve excellence. Your VISION will allow you to transform your dreams, aspirations, goals, objectives, into reality through consistent human action. VISION has no boundaries and knows no limits. Your VISION of yourself is what you become in life.”
Have a fantastic week and see you on my next podcast.
Angela Duckworth and her colleagues research revealed the importance of Mental Toughness. They concluded in one of their findings by saying “Our hypothesis that grit is essential to high achievement evolved during interviews with professionals in investment banking, painting, journalism, academia, medicine, and law. Asked what quality distinguishes star performers in their respective fields, these individuals cited grit or a close synonym as often as talent. In fact, many were awed by the achievements of peers who did not at first seem as gifted as others but whose sustained commitment to their ambitions was exceptional. Likewise, many noted with surprise that prodigiously gifted peers did not end up in the upper echelons of their field.”
An elite athlete must be able to handle pressure, have self-belief and avoid lifestyle distractions. They must have that urge to win and know that they have all the capabilities to do anything they desire. This separates good athletes from the elite athletes (Jones et al.,2002). “Mental toughness” also refers to the idea of being able to push past failures by remaining positive and competitive. It also involves training and preparing oneself to be mentally ready for whatever challenge comes our way. "Mental toughness is the ability to resist, manage and overcome doubts, worries, concerns and circumstances that prevent you from succeeding, or excelling at a task or towards an objective or a performance outcome that you set out to achieve."
One of the most important qualities achievers possess is mental toughness: the drive and determination and willpower to keep going when the going gets tough. Determination and willpower are qualities you can develop. You can develop mental toughness. However, developing mental toughness and greater willpower takes time. What is mental toughness? According to Wikipedia, Mental toughness is a measure of individual resilience and confidence that may predict success in sport, education, and the workplace. In recent decades, the term has been commonly used by coaches, sport psychologists, sports commentators, and business leaders. A positive mentality or mental toughness is a benefactor to success.
In this episode, I present the final part of how to develop your mental muscle. Enjoy the nuggets in this episode as you continue your journey of developing your mental muscles. Your mind holds the key to your accomplishments today and tomorrow. Have a fantastic week.
Mental Toughness is "The ability to work hard and respond resiliently to failure and adversity; the inner quality that enables individuals to work hard and stick to their long-term passions and goals." Mentally tough athletes are more consistent than others. They don’t miss workouts. They don’t miss assignments. They always have their teammates back.
Mentally tough leaders are more consistent than their peers. They have a clear goal that they work towards each day. They don’t let short–term profits, negative feedback, or hectic schedules prevent them from continuing the march towards their vision. They make a habit of building up the people around them — not just once, but over and repeatedly.
Mental toughness isn’t about getting an incredible dose of inspiration or courage. It’s about building the daily habits that allow you to stick to a schedule and overcome challenges and distractions over and over and over again. The good news is that grit and perseverance can become your defining traits, regardless of the talent you were born with. You can become more consistent. You can’t become committed or consistent with a weak mind.
Mentally tough people don’t have to be more courageous, more talented, or more intelligent — just more consistent. Mentally tough people develop systems that help them focus on the important stuff regardless of how many obstacles life puts in front of them. It’s their habits that form the foundation of their mental beliefs and ultimately set them apart.
Mentally tough artists, writers, and employees deliver on a more consistent basis than most. They work on a schedule, not just when they feel motivated. They approach their work like a pro, not an amateur. They do the most important thing first and don’t shirk responsibilities.
Allow these nuggets to help you develop mental toughness so that you not only withstand the challenges life throws at you but help you plough through these challenges and chart a great future for yourself, family, community, and future generations. Have a fantastic week.
Developing your mental muscles is a great way to enhance your cognitive abilities and improve your overall mental well-being. What is mental toughness? According to Wikipedia, Mental toughness is a measure of individual resilience and confidence that may predict success in sport, education, and the workplace. In recent decades, the term has been commonly used by coaches, sport psychologists, sports commentators, and business leaders.
One of the most important qualities achievers possess is mental toughness: the drive and determination and willpower to keep going when the going gets tough. Determination and willpower are qualities you can develop. You can develop mental toughness, however, developing mental toughness and greater willpower takes time.
A positive mentality or mental toughness is a benefactor to success. An elite athlete must be able to handle pressure, have self-belief and avoid lifestyle distractions. They must have that urge to win and know that they have all the capabilities to do anything they desire. Mental toughness refers to the idea of being able to push past failures by remaining positive and competitive. It involves training and preparing oneself to be mentally ready for whatever challenge comes our way.
Mental toughness is the ability to resist, manage and overcome doubts, worries, concerns, and circumstances that prevent you from succeeding, or excelling at a task or towards an objective or a performance outcome that you set out to achieve.
Developing your mental muscles is an ongoing process that requires consistency and dedication. You can gradually strengthen your cognitive abilities and improve your overall mental resilience through mental toughness.
In this podcast I present how to develop your mental muscles so that you can achieve your goals, aspirations, vision, and purpose. Have a Fantastic Week.
Research shows that most efforts to fundamentally change the trajectory of an organization fail. Regardless of the size of your business or industry, transformation is vital for you to remain relevant in the marketplace.
Businesses must make fundamental changes to their operations so they can deliver better value to customers. It is also about organizational cultural change. Companies need to challenge the status quo from within and experiment to find what works for their organization. Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder said "In today’s era of volatility, there is no other way but to re-invent. The only sustainable advantage you can have over others is agility, that’s it."
Transforming the business or organization can mean replacing old business practices with ones that embrace a different way of thinking, growth mindset, challenging the status quo, to unlock the full potential of leaders and the business. In short, Transformation capability and readiness is becoming a core business imperative.
In this episode I present some ideas regarding how to be successful in your business transformation program. Have a great week.
The business landscape is changing rapidly. From AI and automation to big data and digital disruption, there are so many disrupters impacting business. In less than a decade, workplaces may look very different. With that in mind, we can expect leadership to shift dramatically too. So, with the landscape for businesses changing so rapidly, what can we expect the future leaders to look like? Furthermore, what can leaders do now to set up future leaders for success?
The business world is arguably on the cusp of the greatest period of transformation since the First Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Global business is facing a wave of disruptive influences that look set to spark the Fourth Industrial Revolution. What leadership skills do we need within the dynamic marketplace to thrive, and stay competitive in the war for talent and customers?
To be successful now and in the future, leaders need to pivot, learn new skills to be effective in a continuously changing and complex world. In this podcast I share nuggets and amplify skills that leaders need to solve complex problems in a world of change, disruption, complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty. Have a fantastic week.
A Global Crisis Survey, conducted by PwC in 2021 involving 2,814 business leaders, 70% responded that the crisis had a major negative impact on their businesses. On the other hand, only 20% saw a positive impact on their organization. Effective management and crisis leadership were some of the potential ways in which organizations showed resilience to the looming crisis.
The real test of leadership does not occur when everything is sailing smoothly. Rather, leadership is oftentimes tested during a crisis. The way you behave and act during a crisis will establish your credentials as a good leader or a poor one.
To lead through crisis requires a different mindset. When leading through a crisis, most leaders are forced to think and behave in ways that feel unfamiliar. Whether it’s a technological, financial, natural, or health crisis — at work or in the community — crises demand that leaders take an emergency response plan and adapt it as new evidence as more information is received. A crisis can exert a high impact on human needs, emotions, and behaviors,” says Klann. “We may not be conscious of this, but our behaviors send messages to others about our own underlying needs and emotions.”
Crises don’t just test our tenacity, our resolve, how smart we are but they also test our character, too. You cannot control the crisis, but you can control how you respond to it.
Come along with me as we unpack nuggets on how to lead in crisis. Have a fantastic week.
To successfully influence change throughout your organization, you must create an environment that promotes change. You create the readiness for change by removing all the roadblocks that inhibit successful change.
Now I have a confession to make. I have an addiction that I have been trying to shake off for years. I have gone for therapy several times and it has not worked. I am still trying to get over the addiction and hope that one of these days I will succeed. I am addicted to helping organizations, leaders, professionals, and individuals embrace, explore, exploit, and navigate change successfully. This addiction has so much impacted me to the point that I talk about change and transformation continuously; I give keynote address to organizations on change and transformation, I gossip change, dream about change and transformation, go to bed and wake up with change and transformation. If you know of a great therapist who can help me work on this addiction, kindly give me a shout.
We are all products of change. Where you are today as a leader, organization, team, has been influenced by the changes you embraced and the changes you fought against. When we learn to be nimble, ride the waves of change, make change our ally, pivot and be flexible with change, we will be successful in the end. Don’t become obsolete, work the change so that change can work for you and your organization.
I have observed over the years that the environment for successful change is tainted by ineffective policies, practices, leadership behaviors, and tinted mindsets that cloud and muddy the waters for successful change. When we create an enabling environment for successful change, empower and equip our leaders and employees for change and create a psychologically safe space for genuine and authentic conversations we influence change positively.
The first step to influencing change is to identify what you want to change in the first place and preempt how people will react to the change. When people believe and understand how the change will impact their lives, how they have been engaged through the change process, their involvement in shaping the change, they are better prepared to support the change. Remember, those who help shape and plan the change will rarely battle the change!
Knowing how to influence change in your organization can help you take steps to improve your organizational productivity, performance, and culture. It’s important to remember that Change isn’t something you do to an organization, but with an organization. In this episode I share nuggets on how to influence change and get the results you want out of change. Have a fantastic week.
Leadership serves several functions crucial to the success of the organization. Effective leaders provide clarity of purpose, motivate, and guide the organization to realize its mission. Regardless of your position, understanding your role as a leader can help you contribute more meaningfully to the accomplishment of your company's or organizational objectives. Great leadership is about inspiring your team to deliver the result, creating the right conditions, and enabling environment for them to thrive, and facilitating your team to achieve amazing outcomes.
Jerome Taillard said, “Leadership listens, inspires, motivates, and gives a direction, a common goal to aspire to.”
Leadership habits are the building blocks of great leadership. These habits are reflected in how you show up as a leader, how you set the tone and temperature in your working environment, your ability to highlight goals, how you engage and communicate, how you conduct meetings or gathering of your direct reports and team, how you handle conflict and so on. I have often made the statement that a great leader is that person who leaves the work environment and work continues as if they are right there watching over what is happening or not happening. In this episode, I provide nuggets on leadership habits for results. Have a fantastic week.
Our dissatisfaction with the status quo drives us and gives us energy to be more, do more and give more. A lot of leaders have settled with the status quo and have spent years doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. Some of these leaders have convinced themselves that the organizational culture will not change and therefore they don’t do anything.
One of the major hinderances to leaders not fulfilling their potential is that they are not hungry enough to do all that they can do. There is a lot of leadership talent wastage in organizations primary because most of the leaders are comfortable with the status quo and afraid to make changes. When leaders are not hungry enough, they justify and make excuses for their inaction, they are convinced that they cannot do much about the situation and are not ready to rock the boat. Some are quiet because observing the status quo is a way to earn their promotion. Are you hungry enough for what you want? Are you hungry to take the necessary risk to question the status quo and cause others to be hungry to take the necessary action?
A few years ago, I was listening to a video clip by Les Brown, the great motivational and transformational speaker and he said, ‘You’ve got to be Hungry’. I was so inspired and energized by that clip that I have been hungry ever since in pursuit of the things I want to accomplish in my life. Those five words were a driver of the things I have done and continue to do to this very day. As a new emerging leader, are you hungry enough to put in the work, learn, grow, experiment, invest in yourself to thrive on your leadership journey? As a business owner, are you willing to put in the long hours, and grow your business? As a leader, are you willing to be authentic, develop and build your team into a high performance team? Whatever you want to accomplish or achieve, you’ve got to be hungry proverbially to achieve it come rain or shine. Be hungry for what you want to accomplish and go to work to achieve it. Have a fantastic week and be hungry enough to take action on your goals, dreams and mission.
Jason Richmond said “You already have a culture, even if you haven’t consciously developed it. Culture is also what happens when no one pays attention, and then you pay the price.” He continued “Sustaining culture change is particularly challenging because we ask people to alter deeply ingrained and sometimes unconscious behaviors and habits.”
I have read great strategies and business plans. As a consultant working with leadership teams and boards, I have reviewed, facilitated and co-created strategic plans and I have concluded that unless leaders create an environment for people to unleash their potential, creativity and innovation, leadership intentions and high-sounding verbiage does not mean anything.
When employees know that their voices will be heard, their opinions will be respected, and their efforts will be appreciated it sets in motion the foundation for organizational growth. It is employees who make things happen in the company. You cannot achieve results without people. You can have the best organization strategy and business plan, but without people making it happen, it will just be a strategy or plan. Growth is an essential ingredient to continued business success. While most businesses may achieve this growth organically, this can require considerable time and effort. Organizational culture has a significant role in igniting organizational growth. The stronger the culture, the higher the employee engagement. In this weeks Transformation4change podcast, I present nuggets on how to ignite organizational growth. Have a fantastic week.
Do you respect yourself and respect others? Leaders who use swear words, demean people, talk down the team, are egocentric, and disrespectful will not go very far. They may get away with it for a while but not for very long. Build trust and respect among your team, and there will be no challenge the team cannot solve. Trust is earned through hard work and actions, not simply good intentions.
A high level of trust creates a more positive employee experience and can also lead to a more productive workplace where people feel safe and respected. Building trust means that through your actions, you make people feel comfortable relying on you, feel confident in your abilities and your intentions and feel motivated to work with you. Being a trusted and respected leader can lead to amazing results. Trust is a very fickle thing though. It takes time to develop and earn trust, but it is very easy to lose or break it.
Trust is a precious gift, you cannot lead without it, grow a long-lasting relationship, keep your valuable customers, build your team, achieve results and be successful in the marketplace without trust.
When people trust you, they go beyond the call of duty to create amazing results and outcomes for your collective success. Allow these nuggets for building trust and respect to reframe your thinking and help you build trust and respect. Have a fantastic week.
The performance of your people and organization is contingent on the quality of your culture. Organizational culture facilitates the achievement of yourorganization’s strategic objectives, attracts the right employees, and has mechanism to jettison those employees who may not fit in. Organizationalculture often mirrors the organization’s core values and directly reflects theorganization’s leadership.
Organizational culture is the collection of beliefs, values and methods of interaction that create the environment of your organization. This culture encompasses the foundational values of a company or business. It also reflects your organization’s expectations and philosophy and the experiences of the employees and leaders within it.
Organizational culture includes your organization’s expectations, experiences, philosophy, as well as the values that guide employee behavior, and isexpressed in employee self-image, inner workings, and interactions with the outside world. Is your current organizational culture enabling your results or is it stifling your current performance? Great cultures retain top talent, enhance the employee and customer experience, make working in the organization a great place to be and grow. With a great culture, you can become an employer of choice and achieve your organization’s strategic imperative.
When your people are thrilled to come to work every day, give their very best, feel psychologically safe to contribute, then you are doing something right. I present a few nuggets on cultivating and nurturing your organization culture. Have a fantastic week.
Raise Your Standards (Part 2)
Raising your standards begins the process of changing the trajectory of your life, business results, relationships, family, organization, leadership journey, spiritual journey, and others. What is a standard? A standard is a model for excellence, a criterion, benchmark, touchstone, yardstick, specification, guideline, measure, or requirement. You can raise your standard for leading your team, improving your relationships, moving on the ladder of success, achievement, or career, you can raise your leadership standard, spiritual, health and wellness, business, or organization results.
So, the question is how do you raise your standards?
· It begins with self introspection – what area do you want to raise your standards in?
· What are those beliefs aiding or nurturing these standards or lack thereof?
· How do you break through these limiting beliefs so that you can be free to do what you want to do and get the results you want to achieve
When you raise your standards, you position yourself well in the market place, you thrill your customers, you elevate your leadership consciousness, you create and put in motion likeminded thinkers to gravitate towards you. Raising your standards is a precondition for living a successful life and running a successful business. Have a fantastic week.
Yvonne Ruke Akpoveta describes Change Leadership as the ability to influence and inspire action in others and respond with vision and agility during periods of growth, disruption, or uncertainty to bring about the needed change.
When leaders truly lead change, when they commit the resource, when they are visible throughout the change process, when they genuinely sponsor and lead the change, results follow. I believe that what is important to the executive bench, they give their attention to. When leaders begin to position change leadership as a strategic imperative and as a competitive edge, the millions and dollars wasted each year will be saved. It is not rocket science that when leaders lead change successfully, the results are there to show for that investment. We can stop the financial hemorrhage and wastage of resources when leaders lead the change instead of leaving it in the hands of change practitioners, change managers, change leaders who do not have the authority or positional power to influence results.
I encouraged you to make the decision right now backed by commitment and consistent positive action to change the narrative regarding effective leadership for successful change. When we lead well, change efforts succeed. Have a fantastic week.
Raising your standards begins the process of changing the trajectory of your life, business results, relationships, family, organization, leadershipjourney, spiritual journey, and others. You can raise your standard for leading your team, improving your relationships, moving on the ladder of success, achievement, or career, you can raise your leadership standard, spiritual, health and wellness, business, or organization results.
When you raise the standard for your life and stop making excuses you begin to make an inner shift to take control over the quality of your life. It is only whenyou decide to accept nothing less than your ultimate goals will you achieve them. Its time to upgrade your standards and decide that only the best is goodfor you, and you will never settle for less.
Have a Fantastic Week.
People can be challenging to work with sometimes and they can be a great delight as well. As a leader, you are tasked to deliver results, grow the business, achieve strategic objectives, coach, mentor, inspire your team or direct reports. These demands put pressure on you as a leader and you must keep refueling your mental tank, refresh, re-energize and rejuvenate consistency to handle the challenges and requirements of the job. I salute all the leaders out there because leadership is a heavy and challenging responsibility. Organizations thrive or fail through leadership. Employees reach the pinnacle of success and advancement through the leaders who support them.
The word to inspire is to spur, stimulate, motivate, encourage, or stimulus. We all need inspiration to progress our leadership journey. The work of leadership has many challenges. If you are working with people and on projects and programs, there will always be challenges along the way. As a leader, you need to inspire yourself daily to be able to handle the challenges that come with the job of leading. I was talking to one of my relatives who has just been promoted to a leadership position. We were talking about the good, the bad and the positives and negatives. She told me one of her major challenges is about working with difficult team members.
The main purpose of this episode of Transformation4Change podcast is to inspire you to lead with purpose, vision, authenticity and from your passion. Have a fantastic week.
Employees are ready and willing to give the best and show up to do their best work provided you create an enabling environment that frees them to do so. Employees come to work each day with a single goal - to contribute and help the organization achieve its strategic goals and objectives. The question to you as a leader is Are you willing to help them do so? When we facilitate employees to thrive at work, everybody wins.
In this episode, you will learn or refresh your memory on the best ways to help your employees thrive in your workspace. Have a fantastic week.
If you had all the time in the world, if there were no limitation, self imposed and otherwise, or other obligations in life – what would you do?
Following your passion may appear like a far-fetched dream, but it is possible. To be passionate, is to be determined to achieve what you want without being swayed or distracted. When you do what you love, it doesn’t feel like work anymore as the saying goes. Passion to thrive will allow you to do amazing work that you’re really interested in. We follow our passions because it brings us fulfillment.
Passion gives you boundless energy, intense almost single-minded focus, and the willpower to overcome even the most daunting obstacles. The more passionate we are with whatever we are focused on, the more we will work hard and smart on improving ourselves while increasing our chances of success.
In this episode, I provide ideas, perspectives, and nuggets to help you thrive with your passion. Have a fantastic week.
Where you are today is a summation of your thoughts, actions, behaviors, attitudes and so on. The results on the outside is a reflection of what is happening inside you. What is the quality of your inner life. You can never be any different from who you are on the inside. Your leadership style and behavior is a reflection of your belief profile. Be careful what you are focusing on because you become what you focus on. Do you want a different result? renovate and detox what is happening inside you. The condition of your inner life is expressed through words. Anytime you hear yourself saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing, remember it is coming from your inner condition and state. This podcast can change and engineer your life when you use the nuggets in this podcast to reframe, shape, recalibrate, reinvigorate, and reenergize your life. Share this podcast with as many people as you know, because the key to a well oiled life, successful life, successful leadership and business is An Inside Job. See you at the summit of champions!
Leadership Authenticity Part 4
The final episode on Leadership Authenticity
To be authentic is to be reliable, true, dependable, faithful, trustworthy, and genuine. The question is are you an authentic leader or person? The world is looking for authentic leaders who back their words with action, people who are not caught up with the politics and manipulations in the organization for the sake of survival and pleasing the herd. When you are all alone and introspecting your leadership style or brand, when you look at yourself in the mirror are you happy with what you are looking at? Do you have room for change? I believe we all should be ready to course correct when we identify things about ourselves that we need to work on. Doing whatever you do for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder irrespective of who you trample upon is not worth it. Develop yourself into an authentic leader and you will be pleased you did. Your employees, direct reports, and peers are looking for authenticity. They are looking for a leader who leads from their values, a leader who can say No to things that will hurt others and diminish their morale, a leader who is ready to stand up for what is right, a leader who is ready to defend the rights of others, create psychologically safe spaces for people to speak truth to power, a leader who goes to bed and can say I did what is right under pressure and challenging circumstances. I encourage you to be an authentic leader. You will sleep better, dream better, smile better, and look great as you look in the mirror. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of leadership champions.
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Many times we overlook and underrate how strong we are. The stories you continue to tell yourself is stealing from you and causing you to accept the status quo. There is more you can do with your leadership, aspirations, capabilities and your life. Do not allow the experiences of the past to stop you from fulfilling your true potential. Its time to change the narrative and live your full life. In this episode I provide a few nuggets to help you navigate the challenges and disruptions of life.
To be authentic is to be reliable, true, dependable, faithful, trustworthy, genuine. The question is are you an authentic leader or person? The world is looking for authentic leaders who back their words with action, people who are not caught up with the politics and manipulations in the organization for the sake of survival and pleasing the herd. When you are all alone and introspecting your leadership style or brand, when you look yourself in the mirror are you happy with what you are looking at? Do you have room for change? I believe we all should be ready to course correct when we identify things about ourselves that we need to work on. Doing whatever you do for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder irrespective of who you trample upon is not worth it. Develop yourself into an authentic leader and you will be pleased you did. Your employees, direct reports, peers are looking for authenticity. They are looking for a leader who leads from their values, a leader who can say No to things that will hurt the others and diminish their moral, a leader who is ready to stand up for what is right, a leader who is ready to defend the rights of others, create psychologically safe spaces for people to speak truth to power, a leader who goes to bed and can say I did what is right under pressure and challenging circumstances. I encourage you to be an authentic leader. You will sleep better, dream better, smile better, and look great as you look in the mirror. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of leadership champions.
We all have customers. There are two types of customers. The internal customers are the people we work with who ensure that the service value chain works smoothly. When we take care of our internal customers, they take care of the external customers the people we are employed to serve. In order to enhance the customer experience, we must ensure that there is no value leakage through our interactions, systems and processes designed to serve the customers both internally and externally. As a leader, how are you treating the people you work with? Have you created an enabling environment for your internal customers to thrive and bring their A-game to the work environment? Years ago, I provided training on customer service to leaders, managers, front line and back office staff in various companies and organizations. In the organizations where they fully understood the significance and correlation between internal customer experience and external customer service excellence, the results speak for themselves. This is not rocket science. Take care of your internal customers, your employees and they will take care of your external customers. Spending millions of dollars on branding your company or organization, advertising, business development initiatives are all good provided you start with improving internal relationships, systems and processes, interpersonal intelligence, service standards, inspiring leadership, and creating an environment for service excellence. When leaders walk the talk regarding service excellence, it is a win/win for both the company and the external customers. In this podcast I share nuggets in enhancing the customer experience. Have a fantastic week.
Happy New Year. Thank you all for listening to my podcast in 2022. The year 2023 is going to be amazing. How do I know that? I know that because if you want 2023 to be amazing you have to create it. You have to do things differently to get a different result. There are a few things you can do to make 2023 amazing.
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Develop yourself. You can never be any different from your level of consciousness
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Focus on what you want and work it
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Persevere through the challenges by being RESILIENT
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Go help somebody get what they want - share your talent, time, and treasure
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Decide to be a possibility thinker so that you don't miss out on the opportunities around you
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Ask for Divine help - You can never do it alone
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Keep moving forward. Rest if you must but not for too long.
Lets all make 2023 an amazing year because inside each one of us dwell seeds of greatness. Have a fantastic and result filled 2023.
To be authentic is to be reliable, true, dependable, faithful, trustworthy, genuine. The question is are you an authentic leader or person? The world is looking for authentic leaders who back their words with action, people who are not caught up with the politics and manipulations in the organization for the sake of survival and pleasing the herd. When you are all alone and introspecting your leadership style or brand, when you look yourself in the mirror are you happy with what you are looking at? Do you have room for change? I believe we all should be ready to course correct when we identify things about ourselves that we need to work on. Doing whatever you do for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder irrespective of who you trample upon is not worth it. Develop yourself into an authentic leader and you will be pleased you did. Your employees, direct reports, peers are looking for authenticity. They are looking for a leader who leads from their values, a leader who can say No to things that will hurt the others and diminish their moral, a leader who is ready to stand up for what is right, a leader who is ready to defend the rights of others, create psychologically safe spaces for people to speak truth to power, a leader who goes to bed and can say I did what is right under pressure and challenging circumstances. I encourage you to be an authentic leader. You will sleep better, dream better, smile better, and look great as you look in the mirror. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of leadership champions.
To be authentic is to be reliable, true, dependable, faithful, trustworthy, genuine. The question is are you an authentic leader or person? The world is looking for authentic leaders who back their words with action, people who are not caught up with the politics and manipulations in the organization for the sake of survival and pleasing the herd. When you are all alone and introspecting your leadership style or brand, when you look yourself in the mirror are you happy with what you are looking at? Do you have room for change? I believe we all should be ready to course correct when we identify things about ourselves that we need to work on. Doing whatever you do for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder irrespective of who you trample upon is not worth it. Develop yourself into an authentic leader and you will be pleased you did. Your employees, direct reports, peers are looking for authenticity. They are looking for a leader who leads from their values, a leader who can say No to things that will hurt the others and diminish their moral, a leader who is ready to stand up for what is right, a leader who is ready to defend the rights of others, create psychologically safe spaces for people to speak truth to power, a leader who goes to bed and can say I did what is right under pressure and challenging circumstances. I encourage you to be an authentic leader. You will sleep better, dream better, smile better, and look great as you look in the mirror. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of leadership champions.
To be authentic is to be reliable, true, dependable, faithful, trustworthy, genuine. The question is are you an authentic leader or person? The world is looking for authentic leaders who back their words with action, people who are not caught up with the politics and manipulations in the organization for the sake of survival and pleasing the herd. When you are all alone and introspecting your leadership style or brand, when you look yourself in the mirror are you happy with what you are looking at? Do you have room for change? I believe we all should be ready to course correct when we identify things about ourselves that we need to work on. Doing whatever you do for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder irrespective of who you trample upon is not worth it. Develop yourself into an authentic leader and you will be pleased you did. Your employees, direct reports, peers are looking for authenticity. They are looking for a leader who leads from their values, a leader who can say No to things that will hurt the others and diminish their moral, a leader who is ready to stand up for what is right, a leader who is ready to defend the rights of others, create psychologically safe spaces for people to speak truth to power, a leader who goes to bed and can say I did what is right under pressure and challenging circumstances. I encourage you to be an authentic leader. You will sleep better, dream better, smile better, and look great as you look in the mirror. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of leadership champions.
Challenges are good when you change your perspectives regarding what you are going through. Challenges set you up for greater things. Challenges help launch you and prepare you to do some amazing things with your life. Challenges can fuel you to move in the direction of your aspirations and dreams and an impetus for massive action. Begin to look at challenges differently because without these challenges you will not be able to move ahead in life, business, profession, or your leadership journey. Use your challenges to move you forward.
You have heard it said that if you don’t know where you are going anywhere will do. I believe you have also heard it said that if you want to predict your future, you must create it. Some if not everybody has a picture of the future they want to see in their lives. The key though is to have the future or destination you want to arrive at 5, 10, 15, 20, years from now, you must create it. The word design is to plan, to sketch, draw, shape, model, devise, create, construct, etc. To design your destination means you must do something, be intentional, thorough, and work it. What destination are you going to arrive at with the way you are going? You need to remember that you cannot arrive at your destination overnight, however, you can change your direction immediately, right now, to arrive at your destination of choice. This podcast provides you with nuggets on how to design your destination. Have a fantastic week.
The power of working as a great team cannot be overemphasized. I have worked with amazing teams and continue to work with great teams. When two or more people decide to work as one cohesive and harmonious team, phenomenal results and outcomes happen. Great businesses and organizations are born out of teamwork and team spirit. Whatever business or organization you work with or whatever business or organization you are planning to build; teamwork and collaboration can deliver significant results. Are you a leader, manager, supervisor, entrepreneur, or whatever role you are playing in your organization, make the decision right now to rally your team to work in consonance. When it comes to teamwork its not about who gets the credit but rather, our collective good and achievement. In this podcast, I present a few nuggets of how to inspire great teamwork. Have a fantastic week and make teamwork your way of working and remember together everyone achieves more.
Your mind is very powerful and holds the key to the future you want to create. You can use the mind to do amazing things, or you can talk yourself out of the amazing things you want to use your mind for. How are you using your mind? Your current state is a summation of how you have used your mind to date. We blame people, government, the economy and other things for where we are in life. Taking responsibility for where you are in life is the beginning of true freedom and the start of taking full control of your life. In this episode, I take you on a journey of understanding your mind and how you can use it to become the person you have always wanted to be. Have a fantastic week and reflect on how you are using your mind.
To achieve your goals and objectives you must learn to travel light. In order to fulfil your dreams, climb the corporate ladder, be successful in life, move up, and do all the things you want to do, you must learn to unclog your mind. You will not be able to achieve your ambition, vision, calling, and mission in life when you continue to hold on to things clogging the pipeline leading to success and accomplishment. Life happens to all of us. If you do not let go of stuff, your mind will be filled with things not taking you to where you want to finish well and strong. When you learn to clear YOUR MIND from all the mental garbage, you position yourself to do amazing things in your life. I encourage you to clear your mind of all the things not taking you to where you want to end up in life. Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don’t want. Your mind is like a canvass on which you can paint amazing pictures of the life you want and the one you imagine. Have a fantastic week and make up your mind to clear it out.
We all have a dream we want to achieve. When we were young, we had dreams and with time we added more dreams or let go of some of the dreams. Your dream is going to be tested with time to ensure that you really are serious about that dream. Its very easy to dream of something you want to achieve however, it is seeing the dream through that is where the real work is done. We get challenged by life, obstacles, setbacks, tragedies, and the vicissitudes of life. So many people have let go of their dreams when they encountered the storms of life. This podcast is to inspire you and remind you to dream again. Success belongs to those who believe in the potency of their dreams and work to achieve them. Allow this podcast to drive you to dream again and sidestep the challenges along the dream achievement journey. Have a fantastic week.
If you are asking yourself the question – Is there more? the answer is a definite YES, there is more provided you are willing and ready to set your mind to growth
People with a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time defending their mental models, philosophy of life, intelligence, or talent, making excuses and justifying their current state and thinking instead of developing their talent and abilities. They believe that talent alone creates success—without any effort on their part. This way of thinking will keep you stuck for a very long time till you make the switch to a growth mindset. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through learning, focus, consistency, dedication, perseverance, resilience, and hard work.
History’s most accomplished artists, businesspeople, influencers, philosophers, political leaders, scientists, and writers had a certain way of thinking. They were open to change, opportunities, and possibilities. They had what is now popularly referred to as a growth mindset. Meaning they have set their minds to continuously grow in every area of their lives. You can do the same when you make the decision to grow and fulfill your potential as a leader, spouse, business owner, author, songwriter, or whatever your calling is.
In this podcast, I present nuggets on how to go about that. Have a fantastic week.
I shared the Power of Focus Part One 2 weeks ago. Today I am sharing Part 2. Remember that your ability to focus or your ability to block out distractions is critical in producing results. People with broken focus procrastinate, make excuses, blame relatives, the government, the boss, children, spouse, everybody, and everything else where they can shift the blame. When you focus on what you want, you become successful especially when you stick to it until completed. When you maintain your focus on a goal or habit, you will often achieve that goal. Focus is one of the most important determinations of whether you’ll achieve a goal or not. When you focus on what you want, and not on what you don't want you will have a great possibility of achieving whatever you focus on. What you will achieve, and succeed at, is dependent on what you focus on and the actions you take daily. Your focus determines your daily activities. In this podcast, I provide you with nuggets about focus. Have a great week.
The Power of Optimism
Recently I wrote a Tribute to Isabella, my dear sister who passed away. Several of you reached out to me during this difficult season and it really meant a lot to me. Thank you all very much for your words of comfort, sympathy, and encouragement. I continue to struggle and grieve over her passing and know that with time I will heal through the process. If you happen to be going through a similar experience, hurt, or grieving over something, remember that time heals all wounds and hurts. I am looking forward to the time that I can put this experience behind me.
I am a very optimistic person and believe that life must go on and that to fulfill my mission, calling, aspiration and vision, I must begin to tune in to the optimistic channel. Optimism takes us through the challenging times and optimism reframes what we are going through and shifts the focus to what we are going to. I have a choice to make during this season of my life and you have a choice to make as well. If there is any advice to provide at this time, and I don’t know your story, my advice is to keep walking, keep on moving, keep dreaming, keep working, keep looking at the bright side of life, and before you know it, you will get to your destination. There is significant power in being optimistic. Optimism is not about denying the facts but rather knowing the facts and yet deciding to refocus, reframe, and rethink what you are going through.
You have a great life ahead of you and it's important to continuously tune into the optimism channel so that you can stay energized through the vicissitudes of life. Have a fantastic week and keep moving forward.
Your ability to focus or your ability to block out distractions is critical in producing results. When you focus on what you want, you become successful when you stick to it until completed. When you maintain your focus on a goal or habit, you will often achieve that goal. Focus is one of the most important determinations of whether you’ll achieve a goal. When you focus on what you want, and not on what you don't want you will have a great possibility of achieving whatever you focus on. What you will achieve, and succeed at, is dependent on what you focus on and the actions you take daily. Your focus determines your daily activities. In this podcast, I provide you with nuggets about focus. Have a great week.
If you are asking yourself the question – Is there more? the answer is a definite YES, there is more provided you are willing and ready to set your mind to growth
People with a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time defending their mental models, philosophy of life, intelligence, or talent, making excuses and justifying their current state and thinking instead of developing their talent and abilities. They believe that talent alone creates success—without any effort on their part. This way of thinking will keep you stuck for a very long time till you make the switch to a growth mindset. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through learning, focus, consistency, dedication, perseverance, resilience, and hard work.
History’s most accomplished artists, businesspeople, influencers, philosophers, political leaders, scientists, and writers had a certain way of thinking. They were open to change, opportunities, and possibilities. They had what is now popularly referred to as a growth mindset. Meaning they have set their minds to continuously grow in every area of their lives. You can do the same when you make the decision to grow and fulfill your potential as a leader, spouse, business owner, author, songwriter, or whatever your calling is.
In this podcast, I present nuggets on how to go about that. Have a fantastic week.
History’s most accomplished artists, businesspeople, influencers, philosophers, political leaders, scientists, and writers had a certain way of thinking. They were open to change, opportunities, and possibilities. They had what is now popularly referred to as a growth mindset. Meaning they have set their minds to continuously grow in every area of their lives. You can do the same when you make the decision to grow and fulfill your potential as a leader, spouse, business owner, author, songwriter, or whatever your calling is.
People with a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time defending their mental models, philosophy of life, intelligence, or talent, making excuses and justifying their current state and thinking instead of developing their talent and abilities. They believe that talent alone creates success—without any effort on their part. This way of thinking will keep you stuck for a very long time till you make the switch to a growth mindset. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through learning, focus, consistency, dedication, perseverance, resilience, and hard work.
If you are asking yourself the question – Is there more? the answer is a definite YES, there is more provided you are willing and ready to set your mind for growth. In this podcast, I present nuggets on how to go about that. Have a fantastic week.
I have been reading about the future of work and there are various predictions regarding the future of work. Here is what I know for a fact. The best way to predict the future of work and your future is to create it. It's only you who can stop you to be you! Nobody else can stop you if you don’t let them. When we continue to focus on what we are going through, we have more negative. What we focus on enlarges our horizon. However, when we focus on what we are going to do; our dreams, our aspirations, our vision, our future, we gather enough energy and drive to move towards that future. Every morning I wake up, I remind myself about a major conspiracy in the universe to bless me and do me good! We are throwing away our future one complaint, one negative derailment, one negative thought, one negative self-doubt, and what else we are focusing on. There is an amazing future ahead of you. This is not just another flippant statement or inspirational words to jazz you up. Contrary to popular opinion “Words Do Matter You Know”. Words have moved hearts and minds to do amazing things. I want to remind you through this podcast to never throw away your future. Don’t rob the world of your contribution. You are needed and that’s why you are still here. Focus all your energy on the future you want to create and see you at the summit of the achievers, the dreamers, the world-changers, the believers, and the doers. Have a fantastic week.
The businesses we see, the lives we admire, and the successful schools or organizations we read and hear about were built. Great relationships are built, everything that stood the test of time was built by someone or some people. To have a great life, business, relationship, organization, marriage, and family, must be built. The best way to predict your future is to create it by building it. You are building your life through your daily routine. The amount of time you are investing in yourself is building your life. Is your life important to you? Do you want to change the direction of your life? Do you want to leave a blazing trail for others to follow? Do you want to leave a legacy? Do you want a great family relationship? Do you want to grow your business? Take this small piece of advice – Build It
We have all experienced closed doors and felt very disappointed about that closed door. For some a closed door is not getting a job, losing a contract, being turned down, not being accepted into the university, and so on. Closed doors can be a blessing in disguise. The older I get, the more I have come to appreciate the purpose of closed doors. In this podcast, I provide a few nuggets on how to change your perspective regarding closed doors. Have a fantastic week.
The businesses we see, the lives we admire, and the successful schools or organizations we read and hear about were built. Great relationships are built, everything that stood the test of time was built by someone or some people. To have a great life, business, relationship, organization, marriage, and family, must be built. The best way to predict your future is to create it by building it. You are building your life through your daily routine. The amount of time you are investing in yourself is building your life. Is your life important to you? Do you want to change the direction of your life? Do you want to leave a blazing trail for others to follow? Do you want to leave a legacy? Do you want a great family relationship? Do you want to grow your business? Take this small piece of advice – Build It.
Life happens and we all need a restart. Some have lost jobs and wondering what next. Others have closed their business and struggling with the decision. No matter where you are in life, you can restart and finish well and strong. Don’t put your life on hold because of the challenges life throws at you. You can restart your life and finish well and strong. If you only knew what is ahead of you, you will get up inspired and excited about the next chapter of your life. Every ending is a new beginning. Restart and get moving. Have a fantastic week.
Life has a way of presenting us with challenges to establish our level of resilience, tenacity, resolve, and capacity. Every experience, good, bad, or ugly, has lessons to reshape our thinking and help us grow. The reason why we keep making the same mistakes repeatedly or keep complaining about various happenings is that we have refused to see things from the right perspective. Those who grow through life’s experiences and vicissitudes are well-positioned to move closer and faster toward what they want out of life. Do yourself a favor and learn to grow through it. This podcast will give you a few nuggets regarding how to grow through your challenges and experiences. Have a fantastic week.
During times of change, disruption, adversity, and chaos, we may be tempted to focus on what we are going through rather than what we are going to. When we focus on the future, the possibilities, then we can navigate the challenges life throws at us more effectively. I have always reminded those I come into contact with to focus on the possibilities around them because the mindset of the possibility thinker drives focused energy and triggers consistent action. In this podcast, I share nuggets on focusing on possibilities rather than on self-imposed limitations and challenges.
We live in a world of constant change and disruption. Individuals, professionals, leaders, businesses, that look for ways to do things better, more effectively, and efficiently, will lead the field. What are you doing to reengineer yourself so that you can lead your field? Are you embarking on continuous introspection and personal development? Are you making small changes to your attitude and behavior? Are you looking for innovative ways to be me, do more, and give more? Those who look for opportunities to innovate so as to bring more value to the marketplace, will continue to survive and thrive during times of change, transformation and disruption. This podcast will provide you with nuggets to help you innovate so that you don't evaporate.
The word to illuminate means to brighten, irradiate, lighten, or light. With all that is happening in our world, we are to be agents of illumination. As a leader, you have been given the great responsibility not only to achieve results through people but also to brighten your work environment so that your team can flourish and deliver results. I know of people who dread going back to work because the environment is uninspiring and toxic. When they get to work, they can’t wait for the workday to end so that they go back home to their loved ones or to the cat or dog or whatever pet makes their day.
Each one of us can be an agent of illumination. I once worked for a boss who was that agent. He created this environment where we all felt valued, treated with respect and dignity, made us feel like a family on a mission, and as a result we were all inspired to be more, do more, and give more. The results we produced as a cohesive team working harmoniously to achieve our collective mission and vision were phenomenal. Real and authentic leaders are agents of illumination.
We all have dreams that we want to accomplish. Dreams are so powerful that it triggers action, causes behavior change, and enables us to fulfill our potential. Your dream will be tested by challenges, adversity, and disruptions. To fulfill your dream, you must secure it and keep it front and center of your mind. This podcast provides you with nuggets on how to secure your dream and achieve it. Keep dreaming, keep working on your dreams, keep expecting your dreams to work out. Dreams that are not secured and nurtured, die with the passage of time. Let this not be you.
Challenges come to us in different ways. We all have challenges and will continue to have challenges. There is a purpose for challenges when we have the right perspective. The most effective way to design the life you want and live the life you imagine is to rise above challenges. Looking at challenges the right way positions us to continue to move towards our vision, goals, and purpose. You will have challenges at work, in your relationship, team, family, and anywhere else you frequent or stay. This podcast presents nuggets on how to handle challenges in the most effective way, the purpose of challenges in our lives, and what to do. When you change the way you look at challenges, you will then be able to resolve these challenges more effectively. Life without any challenges will be boring. Don't wish for fewer challenges, rather develop the skills, attitude, tenacity, capacity, and capability to work through the challenges so that you can rise above them. Have a great week.
This is a great question we must answer individually as we draw closer to the end of 2021. We each have been given gifts, talents, abilities to contribute to whatever area of our calling, mission, and vision. Some are in the habit of talking themselves down by belittling their gifts and potential while others are improving on what they have been blessed with. What are your gifts, what comes to you naturally, what makes you come alive? Did you use the gifts and talents you have effectively in 2021? In the few days, we have left before the year comes to an end, answer this important question, What’s in your hand. This podcast talks about identifying your gifts and talents and putting them to great use. Make 2022 to amazing year by making the decision and commitment to using What’s in Your Hand.
Keep Digging Forward – The Story of My Life
Life has a way of making us look back where we recollect our past victories and struggles. Struggles don’t define us but rather build us up. Sometimes we get stuck in the past that we are unable to see opportunities and possibilities for the future. Picture driving somewhere and constantly looking in the rear-view mirror. Keep Digging Forward captures the story of my life and how I dealt with the challenges and pressures of life to get to where I am today. The podcast provides nuggets on how to navigate adversity, disruption, challenges and be resilient through it all. If there is anything worthwhile to use to complete the year, it should be to Keep Digging Forward. Allow the content of this podcast to support you to finish the year well and strong. I get a kick out of seeing and hearing my readers and listeners continue to beat the odds and achieve what they want in life. No matter the gravity of the challenge, just Keep Digging Forward.
How to Change Your World
The success you want in your life, business, relationship, career, in various areas of your life come dressed in change clothes. It was Einstein who said doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result is equal to insanity. We are all suffering from bouts of insanity when we continue to make excuses, spend money we don’t have through credit purchases, smoke, and drink ourselves to oblivion, stretch business expenses into bankruptcy, destroy our relationships by doing stupid things, while expecting things to change. You must be kidding yourself thinking that your results will change without you changing. There is a blueprint to positive personal and business results, and it comes through doing things a certain way. We all have in our power the ability and capacity to change our world if you are hungry enough and really determined to change it. You can change the trajectory of your life, your leadership journey, the direction of your business when you take the necessary actions required consistently. Stop playing the victim and start working from a position of victory. You can change your world one change at a time. Allow the nuggets from this podcast to reframe your thinking and cause you to be so uncomfortable with the status quo and then take the necessary actions through change. You are better than you think!
Set Your Past on Fire
We all have a past. If you consider yourself as part of humanity, then you have a past. Your past can either empower you or cripple you. When you learn to put the past behind you, then you can move ahead with whatever you want to do. Some carry an ugly past with them that it becomes a heavy burden to shake off. Others literally embrace the attitude of what is in the past must be left in the past and not brought into the present. I have heard it said that we should let go of the past unless we want to continue to live there. What’s in your past that you are carrying with you? What are those disappointments and regrets that you continue to feed and nurture? Are you still carrying hurtful memories of the boss or colleague who treated you unfairly several years ago? You cannot travel light in the direction of your dreams and aspirations looking backward. Set your past on fire so that you can travel light to your destination. This podcast will show you how. Enjoy and share it with all those you care about.
Today is a great day because we are alive. Today is an opportunity for each of us to focus on our goals, ambitions, and possibilities. Today is an opportunity for you to lead better, inspire your team, solve a business and personal problem, and inspire the world with your aspirations. I don’t know about you but each day I wake up, it is a gift. We can squander the day by looking back on our disappointments, live in regret, waste it on that person who hurt us. To fulfill your goals and potential, you need to rule the day and make the best of each day. Each day holds the key to your future and each day is filled with possibilities. The quality of your future will be made up of a summation of the way you have used each day. Ruling each day is about living with intention, operating from a legacy mode, operating from a creative plane rather than a competitive plane, and doing the things that move you in the direction of your dreams. Your life will be different when you learn to rule the day. Allow the content of this podcast to make you uncomfortable so that you can act on ruling the day. I take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to listen to my podcast and sharing it with your peers. Remember to reach out and touch the world around you. Greatness is more about what we invest in people and not just what we give them. Have a fantastic week.
Employees know when a leader is authentic and employees like to work for an authentic leader. As a leader, when you engage your employees at a superficial level they see through your lack of authenticity and play along for as long as they can. Authentic leaders get the job done through their employees and team because they lead with their hearts and lead from the core. Your employees want to give their best provided you are willing to be authentic with them and stop the politics of manipulation.
Your current position in life, your successes, shortfalls, achievements, and more came because of your imagination. We can use our imaging and imagination for great strides, or we can use it to talk ourselves down and stagnate. The imagination is the mental faculty out of which visions arise. The pictures or images we form in our minds are either energizing us or pulling us down. When we were kids, we were effectively using our imaginations to paint great pictures on the canvas of our minds. When we grew up, for whatever reason, we allowed our imaginations to be contained all in the name of “Being Realistic”. Visions, pictures, images are built first in our minds before we go to work and make it a reality. The imagination is the most marvelous, amazing, miraculous, and powerful force the world has ever known. Everything you and I enjoy today came from someone’s mind. How effectively are you using your imagination? Are you using it for the greater good, or for something else less important? Visualize the exact picture of what you want in detail and go to work to create it. You are creating every moment of your life. The question is are you visualizing and creating the life you want. What you think about every day, how you visualize your life is creating your reality. Stretch your imagination, get to work, and design the life you want and the life you imagine. Use your imagination constructively.
For things to change, we must change. We are all products of change. Leaders need to change to be successful in leadership. You have heard it said that change is the only constant, yet we find it difficult to embrace, explore, and exploit change. Your success in leadership, business, relationship, and whatever you are aspiring to comes through change. Change holds the key to organizational development and effectiveness. Refusing to change will stagnate your progress and advancement. As a product of change, I know without any reservation whatsoever that when you change, you change your results. I have worked with various organizations in change and transformation. What I have observed over the years is that some of the organizations want better results without wanting to change the way they do things. This way of thinking is flawed and misplaced. It is very costly when we refuse to change. We cannot expect a different result when we continue to do things the same way. Learn to ride the waves of change; learn to appreciate the different seasons of life and business and pivot with each change. Keep this at the forefront of your mind that WHEN WE CHANGE, OUR RESULTS CHANGE.
Life has a way of making us look back where we recollect our past victories and struggles. Sometimes people get stuck in the past that they are unable to see opportunities and possibilities for the future. Picture driving somewhere and constantly looking in the rear-view mirror. That is a disaster waiting to happen when you don’t stop looking back. You do have a choice though to stop that disaster. It's very comforting to focus on the past especially when it’s a great and successful past. As nice as that might sound, we do ourselves a disservice when we constantly tout what we have achieved in the past. It's also a disservice when we constantly empower our past of regret, disappointments, disruption, hurt, pain, worry, and fear. If there is anything worthwhile to use to complete the year, it should be to keep looking ahead and let go of the past be it good, bad, or ugly. Allow the content of this podcast to support you to finish the year well and strong. I get a kick out of seeing and hearing every single one of my readers and listeners climb the ladder of success and accomplishment. The caveat is to ensure that whatever ladder you are climbing is hanging on the right wall! Life is too short to be climbing the wrong ladder.
Whatever rocks our world, makes us better not bitter! Conflict is good when we harness its power to grow the business, let go of our rough edges, improve business or personal relationships, refine a business model, improve the way we communicate, allow us to change the way we do things, see things and remodel things. We call these constructive conflicts. On the other hand, we can say a conflict is bad when we aloe it to tear us apart, destroy our relationships, cripple the business, cause destructive behaviors, suffocate our creativity, make us bitter, angry, unresponsive to change, and all the other ills of destructive conflict. What makes a conflict either constructive or destructive depends on how it is dealt with. I believe you have experienced conflict with your boss, family, employees, customers, significant other, spouse, leadership, team, and others. What was the outcome of that conflict? Did the resolution of the conflict make you better, things better or worse? Conflict is a great gift when you confront it, work through it constructively, and learn from its amazing power.
Your mind has significant power. Your mind can be your greatest ally or your worst enemy. It is composed of thoughts, perceptions, memories, beliefs, programs, habits, and tendencies. You can divide the mind into two main parts, your conscious “thinking” mind, and your subconscious “auto-pilot” mind. Your conscious mind is the “voice” in your head that has a thought, opinion, or judgment about everything it experiences. The subconscious mind is the “computer” that takes all the information from your senses and generates thoughts, actions, feelings, and behaviors that create your reality, or your experience of life. The mind has three basic functions: thinking, feeling, and wanting. To change your results, therefore, you must choose different thoughts that will change your feelings and actions. Choose to think about things that your sensory factors pick up. Put differently, you can put your attention on things that are outside of you, like the things you see, hear, feel, taste and touch. When you allow outside stimuli to direct your thoughts, you focus on ‘what is’ rather than ‘what can be.’ Possibility thinking is about thinking about what is possible as opposed to what is in the now. If you impress thoughts and ideas upon your subconscious mind over and over, you become one with what you want to be, do, and have. When you use your intellectual faculties, such as your will and imagination you will achieve your goals and heart desires.
There is one constant every leader, entrepreneur, manager, parent, a person will go through and that is the challenges of life, business, relationship, work, family, and others. There are those who rise with the challenges of life. They come alive, dream bigger, get creative, and make the best of the challenge. While there are others who fall under the weight of life’s challenges. This group complains, murmur, gets negative, blames everybody and anything they can find, wallow in self-imposed pain, and gets sick doing that. Challenges are positive, and though they may appear disturbing at first, prove to be the essence of why we are here on the planet. When you are having a 'challenge,' remind yourself that it is in the chaos that the angels are doing their best work. Challenges are like sandpaper that removes our rough edges so that we can look our best. Like gold that goes through the furnace to bring out its purity and beauty; challenges bring out the best in us as we each go through the furnace of life.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak. The seasons dictate when to plant the crops, tend them, and harvests them. To fulfill our life’s purpose and use our time wisely, we all need to tune in to the various seasons and work within the seasons. What this means is that we must set aside all the sources of negativity, including friends, family members, and business associates who will kill and diminish our hope, ambition, and enthusiasm through their negative attitudes. We need to “weed out” the garden of our lives; clear the pipeline, tune in to possibilities, be ready to change if we need to so that we finish well and strong. Let us learn from the seasons so that we finish well and strong.
Every year organizations implement change. The question is how well do leaders implement change. For whatever reason, with the millions of books written, blogs, and articles on change, the various podcast on change and transformation, the needle has not moved that much for successful change. Successful change is contingent on how we manage people ecosystems. The secret to successful change is about people; helping people through change, supporting them, preparing them, creating an enabling environment, and doing what is necessary for people to succeed with change. Leaders play a critical role and this podcast provides suggestions on what leaders should do for successful change.
Today Matters – Master Key to Phenomenal Results
Your future will not change much if you continue the same way and expecting a different result. When you focus all your time on what is going wrong with the economy, rather than focusing on what’s going right, you are wasting valuable time. Every single day you waste on what could have been, what might have been, what should have been; what you missed, focusing on the past, talking about your past, living in regret, spending time with those going nowhere, you are throwing away your tomorrow? Every single day provides the opportunity to explore your possibilities and start afresh. Use each day to build your dream on the lot you were given. Every single day you are headed somewhere. Is your destination by choice or by default? All achievers and successful people intentionally choose their destination, work intentionally towards their destination, make sacrifices by selecting what they do daily; they are very conscious of who they spend time with and are purposeful in their actions. YOUR SUCCESS IS HIDDEN IN WHAT YOU DO DAILY. Each day contributes to a favorable tomorrow. Do not squander the day.
Please Help Me
As a leader, you have been entrusted with the lives of people looking for avenues to develop, contribute, share their expertise, and make our world or organizations, businesses, a better place to be and work. Have you consistently abused that trust by stopping your team, direct reports, and whoever is under your leadership from growing, progressing, and fulfilling their potential? Recently, I was conducting a seminar for a hotel group. One of the leaders took me aside and said until such and such a person leaves the room, the rest will not be free to speak freely. When your people cannot speak freely to their leaders about what is going right or wrong and had to look for the opportunity through a workshop to speak up, it speaks to the culture of the organization. Leaders, your people are sounding the clarion call for help. Will you listen and do something about it. Are you satisfied with the way you are treating the people under your leadership? My question to you is If you could do better, should you? If you could be the voice of reason in your organization, helping all those placed under your leadership, would you?
Do I really have a future? Is the future I imagine just a figment of my imagination? Should I surrender my future to the dictates of life’s pressures? Is all the talk about a great tomorrow just another hope and inspiration stuff? As a young kid, you dreamt of becoming this and that. You had people you greatly admired and wanted to be like them when you grow up. You had certain professions you liked and promised yourself you will pursue those professions when the time comes. You then went to school, got a few certificates under your belt, started working, got married, had children, traveled the world, did several things, and here you are. For whatever reason, you have taken some detours, changed your mind regarding the direction you wanted to follow and now you are wondering, is the future I envisaged going to come to be realized? You are not alone. Here is what I know, if you want to know about your future, you must create it and you have to fight for it.
Any business, institution, leader, an entrepreneur that taps into the creative abilities of a diverse workforce, and practices authentic inclusion is positioned to do well in the marketplace. The challenges, issues, and benefits of inclusion, diversity, and equity continue to be the talk of government and the corporate world. Josh Bersin, calls diversity and inclusion one of the hottest topics of these few years. Leaders are realizing that it’s high time, they begin to leverage the advantages that accrue when they begin to see inclusion, diversity, and equity as a strategic imperative. Bersin wrote “Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business statistically outperform their peers” Doing the right thing always pays in the end. Why recruit great talent and then end up “sitting on their necks” Organizations that avoid inclusive practices, suffocates diversity, and flouts equitable practices impart the performance and productivity of their people. Why spend millions of dollars on building your company brand when your people are the real brand to leverage. In the war on talent, the organizations that will weather the storms of adversity, competition, disruption, economic downturn, and recession are those with strategies, principles, practices, and values reflecting inclusion, diversity, and equity.
A high-performance team goes through challenges during times of change, adversity, crisis, and disruption. Turf wars escalate, team leaders begin to look inward thereby protecting their positions. Political infighting emerges while some leaders promote their personal brand to make a case and statement to be kept on the team. You will assume that during challenging times teams will work more collaboratively to ensure that they sail through the crisis with very few casualties or none. This is not what happens though. With so many years of working with teams across various industries, different countries, different organizational types, sizes, and cultures some leaders do the contrary. Leaders need to fire up their teams for peak performance and productivity during times of crisis and adversity. They also need to renew the accountability, collaboration, and initiative that will make their businesses ready for life after the crisis. It is important that leaders build their teams to take advantage of crisis and disruption to collaborate, recalibrate, re-energize, refocus, and rebuild the team for greater works. Don't underestimate the power of a high-performing team.
The Gift of a New Day
Each new day presents us with the opportunity to resolve a business problem, create an enabling environment for our team members to flourish, be creative and innovate for the company’s growth. Each new day gives us a reason to forgive, make amends, grow the relationship, explore new business opportunities, and get going on things we have planned. You should begin to look out for surprises that each new day holds, be excited about your abilities, thank God you are able to see, plan, think, read, and hear each new day. You should be excited about the hours, minutes that each new day holds. Your most important resource is not money but the gift of a new day. Every new day is a special gift and should not be squandered on the challenges of yesterday. With the gift of a new day, you have the opportunity to laugh, to love, to talk, to pray, to meditate, to achieve, grow and give yourself to people who cross your path today.
Remember that today is the tomorrow you dreamt about yesterday. It has arrived with possibilities. Pause and make the best of this new day.Make each new day count.
The Essence of Trust
Trust is very important in every relationship. The most successful organizations are those that place an emphasis on leading with trust. I was speaking to a group of managers and I asked them what is the most important behavior they would like to see in their leader? They said he/she must be trustworthy. Trust is about having confidence in the honesty, integrity, and reliability of another person, firmly believing that they will act in accordance with what they say. Trust is built over time through specific behaviors repeated over time. Trust is developed when leaders walk the talk, keep promises, not telling lies or stretching the truth, treating people fairly and equitably, showing care and concern for people.
Trust is very important in leadership, in the workplace, and in developing long-lasting relationships. When people trust us, we will get more achieved in our teams and the organization. When people trust you, they will go beyond the call of duty to help you succeed in your leadership ambitions. Trust is not demanded, trust is earned over time through authentic leadership. Spend time making deposits in your trust bank account.
Personal branding is a very big thing these days. Your brand is what you stand for; a uniform perception or impression others have of you emanating from your experience, expertise, competencies, actions, or achievements within your center of influence, industry, or the marketplace. As a leader, would you work for you? Or would you keep looking for the right leader to work for? Would you buy your leadership brand or would you buy from somebody else? Your leadership brand is always projecting itself and like all brands, your leadership brand is under constant scrutiny by your direct reports, your leadership team, peers, and all others interested in your work. Your leadership track record, your leadership brand will greatly affect your relationships, your results, career progression, and opportunities. Take a critical look at your leadership style. You might need a branding makeover.
Have you ever had your goals, plans, career, relationship, business interrupted? When you hear the word interruption, what comes to mind? What emotions does it evoke? Depending on your perspective, do you see interruptions as positive or negative? The Merriam Webster Dictionary defined interruption as a stoppage or hindering of an activity for a time; a break in the continuity of something; something that causes a stoppage or break in the continuity of something. Interruptions create a gap in what we want to do, achieve or undertake. Interruptions have received a negative rap because we have always seen interruptions as disruptive, negative, and not a good thing. Research has shown that interruptions can actually be beneficial to us in various ways. Interruptions help us to pause and think about what we need to start doing, stop doing, or continue doing to achieve our goals. The next time you get interrupted, don’t just quickly discount it but rather think through how best you can use that interruption. No matter the level and size of the disruption, use it instead of allowing it to use you and disorient you completely.
The mind is very powerful. We use the mind to paint amazing pictures of the future we want to create. Whatever you focus on most of the time, you begin to create in reality. What are you allowing your mind to dwell on? Where are you allowing your mind to go? Your results follow the direction of your mind. Why not use your mind or tell it to go in the direction you want.
The mind is the gateway to your life. Your emotions, feelings, and actions all come from what is happening in your mind. Your mind is the battleground where every war will be won or lost. Whatever you are putting in your mind is contributing to your winning or losing the battle. You want massive success, you want to achieve your goals, you want to fulfill your potential; however, there are demands from people from all walks of life needing your time and attention. Everybody wants to be in on the action of your life and be part of the movie of your life. Who should you allow in? What should you allow to participate in the movie of your life? When you become selective in what you allow into your mind, you will begin to control the direction of your life. The is so much good and junk information out there asking for your time. The boss, spouse, son, daughter, friends, television, writers, significant other, books, movies, parents and so many other things asking for your time.
Every single one of us is blessed with an amazing mind; what you do with yours is totally up to you. Why not focus on what you want and keep your mind off the things you don’t want? Life is not a dress rehearsal so choose what to allow into your amazing mind. Use your life to fulfill your true potential. If you could allow yourself to do all that you were born to do, it would astound you. Begin clearing your mind of all the junk and build a wall around your mind. Keep out the negative stuff and keep meditating on the good stuff. As within, so without! Success and achievement is an inside job. The results you are currently getting is a reflection of what is happening on the inside of you. Spend time working on what is happening inside you, think right so that you can live right and achieve your goals and dreams.
The past weeks and months have been characterized by fear, anxiety, significant job losses, business closures, and the halting of business activities. We continue to hear the phrase “this unprecedented time” over and over again. Business owners and entrepreneurs across the globe are beginning to learn, create, innovate and adapt to the new challenges this pandemic has created and continues to create as we re-work business models, safety procedures in the workplace, the economy, and so much more.
We are wired and engineered to rise above the challenges and ride the waves of change, adversity, and disruption. During times like this, some will rise with the wave of change while others sink under the weight of change. The good news is that you have a choice to rise with this change and be a trailblazer, trek through this new terrain, face the obstacles and overcome. You have come a long way through the various business challenges, adversity, vicissitudes of life and this is not the time to let your guard down and sink during “this unprecedented time”. Resilience, building strength, mental toughness are all needed to go through this season. I use the word season because this season will pass.
The current environment calls for excellence. Customers and clients requirements have increased. There is significant competition in the marketplace and customers are looking for an enhanced excellent service experience with their money. Operating with excellence will position you well in the minds of your customers during this time of accelerated change and disruption. Excellence builds your confidence to be more, do more, and give more. Operating in excellence is in the best interest of our customers, the communities we operate in, and our stakeholders. When excellence dominates your way of work, you no more settle for mediocrity. Excellence is your competitive edge and is your insurance during times of change, adversity, and disruption. Excellence will get you off the current rut, instead of keeping you there.
Excellence has to do with quality, distinction, superiority, and fineness. Excellence is about giving your personal best irrespective of the circumstances, situation, or opportunity. Excellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. Make up your mind to be excellent in all your endeavors and the very best will come to you. What you give out is what you get and more.
Whatever we feed on mentally will grow larger and stronger on our horizon. I read the story about a “FISHERMAN who came to town every Saturday afternoon. He always brought his two dogs with him. One was white and the other was black. He had taught them to fight on command. Every Saturday afternoon in the town square the people would gather and these two dogs would fight and the fisherman would take bets. On one Saturday the black dog would win; another Saturday, the white dog would win - but the fisherman always won! His friends began to ask him how he did it. He said, “I starve one and feed the other. The one I feed always wins because he is stronger.”
Whatever, you may have faced and are facing stop feeding it and start focusing on the next season of your life. Every ending is a new beginning. So many people are going through a tough time and it’s understandable. However, feeding a negative experience will do more damage than good. Stop feeding your fears, anxiety, lack, irritation, and despondency. Whatever you may be feeding the most is expanding in your life. If you want to have great energy, strength to be more, do more and give more, you have to feed yourself the right mental diet.
There is a major disruption taking place in the world today due to digital transformation, speed of technological advancement, COVID 19 pandemic, social justice, massive layoffs, challenges of airline and tourism businesses, the oil and gas sector struggling to stay afloat, closure of a significant number of small businesses, green energy opportunities, challenges of inclusion, diversity, fairness, and equity. Business models that worked in the past are needing a complete overhaul. Leaders are not only working to maintain liquidity but also trying hard to inspire their work teams to stay focused and produce results, stay safe, work effectively from remote locations, or virtually and continue to see possibilities within the current dispensation. You may have lost your job, mourning the death of a loved one due to COVID 19, struggling to pay the bills, afraid of weather your business will survive the barrage and onslaught of this disruptive change. Whatever the change you are experiencing, there is a way out and a way through. I believe that there is a solution to every disruption change, you can be resilient through this change because resilience is already built into you. What you need is the awareness that you have the inner resources to work through every challenge that shows up at your doorstep. You are tougher than you think, you can be creative around your problems. Every ending is a new beginning!
Learn how to be resilient through the tough times, bounce back from misfortune, change, difficulty. Develop the capacity to recover quickly from challenges of life and learn to spring back from adversity, disruption, and transformation.