Applied Leadership Podcast: Recent Episodes
Applied Leadership Partners
A short, useful guide to help you apply and improve your leadership. Timely topics. Timeless wisdom.
For any high performer, working on improving ourselves or learning something is a near-constant activity. At what point do those activities become something to fill our ego, versus truly allowing us to have an integrated life? Optimization for optimizations sake?
We need to figure out ways to make these activities woven into our everyday lives and habits. We also need to know our objectives as to why we want to improve something. There are real things that are asked of us by our families and teammates, where we want to be our best to those we care about. To prepare for those moments, we need to know which activities make us resilient, healthy, and great at life.
We're honored to have our friend Steve Shenbaum as a guest on this episode! Steve is the founder of Game On and is an expert on communication, leadership, and character development. He has worked with numerous professional teams and professional athletes, and is a consultant for the NBA Pre-Draft and Rookie Transition Programs.
We tackle the question: How do you go from knowing what it takes to be elite to actually being elite?
It starts with not being perfect, sacrificing your pride and your ego. We all have to start as beginners and be willing to work through a long period of not being good at it at all. And realizing that, and keeping at it. It also requires access to others who are elite and a lot of sacrifice to focus on being great at what you want.
There's a lot in the news right now (and there has been for a while. There are macro and micro trends in the markets. There are people who are very worried about certain trends and are not paying enough attention to their business, customers, competitors, and other key factors.
People want to be informed and get ahead of things, and not get left behind. We're trying to stay in the sweet spot and not be so consumed that we don't pay enough attention to our specific piece of the business, the market, families, and what's truly impactful in our everyday lives.
As a leader, a new leader especially, it's natural to have ideas that we want to put into motion, changes to make, and things we want to put our fingerprint on. We would do ourselves a favor by making sure we've got time in the seat/position, learning and understanding what's going on first, and offering help to what is already in motion. In this episode, we discuss making decisions as a new leader, considering a myriad of variables, managing resisters to decisions you've made, and being the biggest champion for your boss when they are the ones making tough decisions.
Being elite comes with high expectations, whatever the team may be or what you want to accomplish. There are standards that need to be adhered to if someone wants to be on the team. The standards have to be high and the support has to be high. Teams need to bring each other up together; the objective is to be successful TOGETHER.
We've got a special guest this week! Our ALPs colleague Sarah Holzhalb joins us for the first time on the Applied Leadership Podcast. She shares a little bit of her story and we discuss our evolutions as people in our personal and professional lives, choices that have informed our job changes and what keeps others from making big leaps in their lives. We hope you enjoy this listen!
We discuss our top leadership tools, tactics and strategies that we would gift to anyone in order for them to be an effective leader.
We hope you enjoy this conversation about AI, with our friend and episode guest, Ben Davis. We discuss what we are seeing and how we are using AI in our personal and professional lives. There's a lot to consider about how to use it for quick learning and answers, and not using it when it comes to true human connection, conversation, and deep work and creation.
Ben served nine years as a Navy SEAL, holding leadership roles across three combat deployments. Following his military career, Ben earned an MBA from the College of William & Mary and has since worked in finance, technology sales, and business consulting.
It's Q1, and people are already moving fast to meet their annual goals. We certainly are at ALPs. And, we're already feeling the strain and tension of our calendars. We talk all the time about managing our energy, time, effort, and business, to keep the bigger picture in mind. .
We have to be able to stay in the game and do great work for the long haul, while also getting short term wins. We can't win the year in one quarter. It's going take all four quarters, and we need to have a strategic plan in place.
Whether it's our careers, our personal lives, or hobbies, things aren't going to be exciting all the time. Sometimes a job is just a job, and we need to be okay with that, especially when it puts food on the table and provides for our family. And other times, sticking with something that is ruining our health or family, doesn't make sense. There's a healthy tension between the two that we will always have to balance.
Blayne and Brandon recently combined professional and personal travel in a 1,000+ mile, 20-state road trip together. They share reflections on the quality conversations they had, what they're grateful for, friends they dropped in on, massive CD collections and more.
We hope you enjoy this fun episode!
Within the ALPs team, with our families, friends, and business partners, we've been hearing a lot about how we're supposed to manage and deal with all the uncertainty, strife, upheaval, and stress swirling all around us. It can be difficult not to get lost in the infinite amount of information on the news and on social media and feel a sense of despair and hopelessness. It's one thing to try and stay informed, versus being absorbed by it all. We've found that what works for us is getting off our phones and spending more in-person time with those around us. Not putting our heads in the sand, but finding there's more value and reward in genuine connection with others to provide hope that all isn't lost.
We get asked often about what we have done to kick our business off, keep it going and lessons learned from building leadership development business. We talk with people who feel they have something to offer and want to build a similar opportunity.
In this episode we offer some considerations on what to think about before you get started
-- Understand what you bring to the marketplace. You have to know who you are and who you aren't.
-- Have a uniqe perspective. What value are you providing that others aren't? Provide a unique window on perspective and content so you aren't parroting others.
-- Let the market speak to you. Who is your customer? Who do you want to serve?
Join us for a conversation with special guest, George Dougherty. We discuss the proliferation of AI, the effects of it on human performance, relationships, leadership and trust.
George is a senior military leader, scientist, and business strategist. In his service as an active duty and reserve officer, he held the second-highest military position in U.S. Air Force science and technology. He is co-author of the Air Force’s current science and technology strategy, which established a renewed focus on transformational capabilities. He led technical programs and units, and helped develop cutting-edge systems including the F-22 stealth fighter. In his civilian career, he has served as an executive in two international management consulting firms, helping the senior leaders of Fortune 500 corporations and high-growth technology and life sciences companies to navigate strategic change in their industries. Dougherty holds a BS and MS in engineering from the University of Virginia, a PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of California-Berkeley, and an MBA from Cornell University.
Simon & Schuster link for George's book and links to all the online retailers:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Beast-in-the-Machine/George-M-Dougherty/9781637747186
Audible for the audiobook version: https://www.audible.com/pd/Beast-in-the-Machine-Audiobook/B0DPNHJH53?msockid=25b861fee07668df177d74a1e1ef6900
Learn more about George and his work at his website: www.georgemdougherty.com
Following up from our last episode, we continue our conversation on Imposter Syndrome. This week, we focus on the topic of what if we REALLY are faking it? What if we are acting like a true imposter in the role we are in?
Here are some earnest questions to ask yourself:
- Do you understand what you're trying to be and what you're trying to do? Or are you focused on the idea of it?
- Are you just doing the moves or are you doing the work?
- Do you feel overlooked or needing attention?
We hope you enjoy this conversation. If you've been struggling with a version of Imposter Syndrome, we hope you can be comfortable being yourself and trusting that who you are, and what you do, is enough.
Every leader deals with Imposter Syndrome at some point in their life. You are not alone and it is so normal. And it can happen and pop up when you least expect it. There's a reason you're in the position that you're in - whether it's a management position, training people in a skill or speaking in front of a group, you do have relevant experience and skills to share.
Get out of your head and into the space you've been asked to be in!
Continuing our conversation from our last episode about quitting, today we want to discuss staying focused and steadfast during the hard times.
- Paying attention to what is happening around you and how you're feeling.
- The importance of bringing friends, teammates and mentors with you.
- Sharing responsibility for getting things done with those around you.
- What to do when you've been at it a while, and all you feel is discouraged.
- Adjusting the "hows" instead of the "whats" of our endeavors before we quit.
We don't like the Q-word at ALPs and it's hard to even say it. So, let's rephrase - how do we know when it's time to stop doing something - to stop a project, an initiative, a certain direction, etc.?
It depends.
If it's something that's harmful to you or others, the answer is probably now.
If the answer is more ambiguous, then you should ask yourself more questions.
How long have you been at it, in earnest?
Is there solid data on the effort?
Is it something that will be worthwhile down the road and you're called to finish it?
What's the why behind your efforts?
We wrestle with all these questions on our latest episode.
Throughout our careers, we've worked both in offices and remotely, growing and building businesses with totally remote teams and in a brick-and-mortar location. Connection matters no matter what your workspace is like. Sharing space with people brings with it a certain value that cannot be reached virtually alone. Genuine connection, sharing stories, and time with each other are priceless. Working remotely takes more focus and intentionality, but can be just as rewarding. It all comes down to the nature of the business, of your people, and those you serve. There's no right answer for every business and every team.
In this special episode, Blayne and Brandon talk about what it's like coming back to West Point and, overall, being rooted in a community that matters. Blayne graduated in 2001 and Brandon had an Active Duty assignment on the Superintendants Staff.
They filmed this episode after leading a half-day workshop to an impressive group of 140 cadets, talking about how perseverance is greater than endurance and difficult conversations. Sharing this unique opportunity together to share stories with a group of future leaders in the Army on hallowed ground of West Point, was a special experience that won't fade anytime soon. We hope you enjoy it!
One theme that is dominating our conversations with our partners, our colleagues, friends and family lately is common feeling of uncertainty.
In this episode, we take our memory back to 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic, the last time we had a fairly high degree of uncertainty.
- What did we learn from our experiences in 2020-2021?
- Trying not to get lost in the fray of panic.
- Being discerning as to what you're allowing into your brain, consciousness and concern.
- Shrink your world down to what you can manage to make better
- Control the controllables
Leadership doesn't have to be a lonely place - when you have your peers and subordinates in the right spots. In this episode we dive deep into:
- Assembling the right team in the right roles
- How to delegate certain aspects of the business to the right people
- Consistent communications through all channels of the mission and strategy
- How unstated expectations will go unmet
- Giving your team opportunities to take on big responsibilities and ownership
- Putting your work in the proper perspective for our life for sustainability
We hope you enjoy listening to this special episode of the Applied Leadership Podcast. The Tattered Cover Bookstore in Aspen Grove, CO, hosted Brandon for a fireside chat, book reading, and signing to celebrate the launch of Perseverance > Endurance, written by Brandon and Blayne.
During this chat, Brandon discusses his and Blayne's motivation to write the book, combining their experiences on the battlefield in Army Special Operations, and leading in corporate America and in the non-profit sectors.
As Brandon says, "No one holds a monopoly over hardship." You don't need to wear a uniform to face hardship, challenges, or to persevere through them. No matter what you're facing in life, we hope this episode and the book provide you with some useful tools to persevere through adversity and grow for the better.
When we talk about a vision, we mean an aspirational picture of a greater future. This is something that leaders need to consider with their teams. As leaders, we need our team to understand that they are a crucial part in the ultimate achievement of our team, so they can have ownership over their piece of the mission.
Casting a vision must be made intentionally and invites people to be a part of greatness. And to be great.
Here are some crucial questions that leaders should ask when they are creating and communicating a vision to their teams and stakeholders:
- What's missing?
- Where are we trying to go?
- Where are we presently?
- What are the downfalls if I don't cast a vision for my team?
Intro Music: Into the Wasteland by The Wasteland Fathers
We've done a lot of cold calls with our time working in sales. As much as we've done it, it's still not our favorite thing to do at all. It's tough, it's uncomfortable. And it's necessary if we want to grow our business and reach new audiences that don't know what we're about.
Some highlights from the episode, why this is hard, and why it's worthwhile to be earnest:
-- Empathize: Put yourself in their shoes. We enjoy deep work, concentration and getting things done. We have some feelings about interrupting others, just as we don't like having our flow of work and thoughts interrupted.
-- Put in Effort and be Earnest: Feel really good about what you're asking/proposing to someone. Put a lot of thought and work into your message. It will help raise your professionalism in earnest.
-- Ask, don't manipulate: Ask if it's a good time to connect with them and why you're reaching out. If the answer is no, respect that, leave and follow up later.
-- Be helpful, be specific, don't name drop: Have something to offer, be specific with your ask. Be interested, not interesting.
We love this topic! At ALPs, we view "self-leadership" as "discipline." Here are some highlights of this episode:
-- On a day-to-day basis, discipline is having command over yourself, doing what IS good, not what FEELS good.
-- We all know that oftentimes, the thing we need to do is the thing we want to do the least. Which means we need to do it even more.
-- When discussing self-discipline regarding leadership, we must have command over the content, the room, and ourselves. We keep the same thought process when we present to our partners and deliver leadership content to our partners.
-- Habits and routines are great, but what do they lead us to? We must choose the proper methods of self-discipline that align us with a deep meaning and purpose in achieving a goal, whether it's personal or business.
--A brief discussion of the Stoic Virtues - Wisdom, Justice, Temperance, and Courage as a framework for discipline and staying on the right path.
We actually talked each other out of starting a leadership consulting business for the better part of 10 years! And then, all of our ideas came together and we couldn't deny what we need to create anymore. We're so grateful to have this opportunity everyday - and we have our family and many of our friends and colleagues to thank for supporting us.
Our goal has always been to walk alongside our partners on the trail, pointing out the hazards ahead for them to avoid, as we've tripped over some of the same hazards in our careers.
We truly want to be partners with those whom we work with - not just suits on a stage speaking to people. But bringing people into the ALPs family, helping teams truly APPLY solid frameworks and principles within their own business in order to overcome challenges and win.
There are a lot of unknowns happening around us in our country and the world, which add to whatever is going on in our individual lives. All we can do is control what we can control and find the good where we can.
Some highlights include:
- Humans crave and look for predictive patterns. When something happens out of the norm, it can be unsettling.
- Normalize your stress - feeling that way is okay, and uncertainty is normal.
- It can be tough to navigate your way through difficult situations when people don't know where to turn for solid information.
- Choose to lean on our own ability to understand what's going on with our families, in our communities and make assessments with what's going on around us and in our hearts.
- Control what you can control - your physical wellness with moving your body, your emotional/mental wellness with thoughtful conversations, internal work, genuine relationships and spiritual considerations.
- Say "No" where you can, do less where you can - Build in some margin to adjust, adapt and dial it up when it's time to sprint.
Finally - be cool! Love each other.
Creating a culture of initiative within your team requires a few things; competence, confidence and an environment where initiative is rewarded and supported. Initiative also requires solid guidance, resources and parameters set by leadership so their people can run and create good work. If leaders can provide those elements, they can help foster courage and responsibility within their team.
The dreaded Q4 is upon us. It's hard for Q3 to come to an end and think that we've reached the summit. But that's a false summit, and we still have to persevere to the end of the year and truly hit the mountain top we aim for. It's an opportunity for greatness and to start the next year strong—stick with it!
We feel this one! We've worked in the corporate world, know what it's like to play calendar Tetris and try to make it all fit. You may have more control over your calendar than you think. Ask yourself, "Does it have to be this way?" It takes some thoughtfulness - fully understanding the goals and objectives, setting, and the priorities of work. It may require some dialogue and communication with the people at work and at home to get some cushion.
We get asked a lot about how we come up with our content, modules, and ideas. We've always tried to ask ourselves, "What problem are we trying to solve? What is the need?" The creative process is a total collaborative effort between our team and our partners. We encourage you to set aside time intentionally on a regular basis to think and work on any creative ventures. And try to be genuine and useful, not brilliant!
Leadership inspiration and influential figures come and go throughout our lives - parents, relatives, teachers, peers and people we don't personally know. Blayne and Brandon share the individuals who have shaped their leadership style and inspired them at different points in their lives.
We are excited to have our friend Jan Rutherford on the show today. Jan Rutherford is a former Green Beret and founder of Self-Reliant Leadership® where he coaches executives, and leads Crucible® wilderness expeditions with executives and veterans. Jan has over 25 years of business experience and has held executive roles in business development, marketing, sales, training, product management, and as a CEO. He joins us to discuss how leaders can guard against pridefulness and shares insights from his upcoming book "Becoming a Self-Reliant Leader: How Grit and Disciplined Duty Forge Indomitable Teams" co-authored by Jacquie Jordan. Crafted from Rutherford’s Crucible® Expeditions wilderness experience, Becoming a Self-Reliant Leader is a practical guide that explores each step of the Crucible journey and how its lessons can be applied to today’s leadership challenges. Pre-order his book today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637745591
Blayne and Brandon rehash some victories so far in 2024 in Episode 25 of the Applied Leadership Podcast, "Recent Proud Moments." We hope you enjoy it and take the time to reflect on your own personal and professional wins so far. Celebrate with your team, friends, and family!
We often get what we need, not what we want. You may not want to be a leader, but maybe you need to be one. It's where you're at now, so what do we do about it? It's worth digging deep into yourself and asking why you may feel the way you do. At the same time, you can feel like you don't want it, yet embrace it as a positive opportunity.
Do you have to always have all the answers as a leader?
What do you do when you feel stuck in the moment, and everyone is looking to you?
Even as a leader, you cannot always have all the answers, even in a moment of crisis. However, you should always bring calm. Assess the situation and create the conditions for a good answer to emerge from the team. Calm is more important than always having the answer.
ALPs exist to share hard-earned leadership wisdom with leaders who are on the frontlines of missions that matter and are trying to get better every day. We're always thinking about how to responsibly grow the business, keeping our lives properly integrated as we want, and doing the work with people we love. There's a healthy tension within this that we wrestle with both in work and our family lives.
There's an inverse relationship between completing the mission and being positively involved in building workplace relationships and advocating for your teams. Sharing the good work that our team is doing and hoping that others find value in it requires building and maintaining relationships.
Social media is a tricky place, especially when you're a business. Companies have to be careful about posting too much on social media, yet they need to share intentionally to meaningfully attract the right partners and clients. This is something we wrestle with every day, both at ALPs and in our personal lives. Knowing the true motivation and why to use social media for your company is the key.
This is an episode everyone will relate to—as a leader, a teammate, a spouse, a parent, a family member, or a friend. We all wear different hats and have a myriad of responsibilities and interests that vie for our time. As leaders, we need to ensure that we are allowing our people the time to be the best versions of themselves in all aspects of their lives. As leaders, we need to make sure we are doing the same for ourselves.
For this week's episode we are doing another round of answering questions from our Colorado Fire Leadership Series. Our second session with this engaging group of firefighters, volunteers, and dispatchers was about the foundations of leadership, different leadership styles, and theories. Questions answered during this episode include leaders who attempt to manage their way out of leadership, span of control, keeping the mission at the focus, and more. We hope you enjoy it!
We get asked all the time - "Don't you guys get nervous.... doing public speaking, speaking in front of large audiences, etc." YES! We are nervous every single time! We prepare like crazy, and whether we present to large audiences or small groups of high-caliber people, it's daunting no matter the group. But we also see the nervousness, the opportunity, the pressure, as a privilege.
We usually tackle one question in our episodes, but today we're doing something a little different. We recently started our Colorado Fire Leadership Series with the Elizabeth Fire District of Colorado, a team of full-time and volunteer firefighters, dispatchers, and support personnel. Our first module of Cultures of Excellence resulted in so many engaging and thoughtful questions that we wanted to dedicate an episode to answer the remaining ones we couldn't get to during our session. These questions are applicable to anyone in a leadership position. We hope you enjoy it!
As leaders, how do we balance the relationship between authenticity and understanding we still have a mission and a purpose to accomplish? There's a line to be managed, which can be difficult. It's the work of the leader to understand and exercise judgment within appropriate context and within the company's culture. Authenticity, self-control and consistency together cab lead to overall trust within teams.
We get this question asked often - what are we reading, what podcasts are we listening to, what kinds of content and material do we find valuable? We aren't completely immune to the social media junk food, and do our best to stay intentional about what we mentally digest. Blayne and Brandon talk about topics, methods and content that they read and some specific recommendations.
What are your goals and intentions for 2024? Our approach tends to lean toward a more thematic path for what we want to accomplish. We want to challenge ourselves in ways that are hard and lean into having clear objectives on the calendar. There are a ton of ways of how you put together the framework for your life, personally and professionally. Blayne and Brandon provide some of their methods for how they plan out their year.
It takes a real balance to ensure you hear your people out and take care of their needs while at the same time ensuring the job is getting done. It takes integration of both. It takes hard work. It takes difficult decisions to keep the health of the business at the forefront.
When you're a small business owner, choosing to bring on a business partner is one of the most significant decisions you can make. Our view is that in this decision, like a marriage or life partnership, you have to think long term. Finding another individual or small team that aligns with your life values is key, with the amount of time you all will be spending with each other, toiling, celebrating wins and bouncing back from losses together. Listen in to more gems of advice from Blayne and Brandon about how they continue to build the ALPs team.
Establishing and documenting the expectations of a specific partnership from the very beginning is key to managing that relationship. How do you respond and address any concerns up front to keep the relationship going? What do you do when it's time to cut ties and walk away?
There are so many events happening in the world that are difficult to understand and even more difficult to try and manage our feelings and not feel overwhelmed. Instead of having complete apathy or enmeshing ourselves in everything, our focus should be on doing what we can, where we can. Chipping away at making our families, our homes, and our communities better, doing it together with people we love and keeping hope alive.
How you decide to push yourself depends on what your goal is and what you're aiming for. There's also a cost around how much you push yourself, and how it affects those closest to you.
Everyone can relate to being the new person on a team, and it is hard. Whether you're being onboarded, or onboarding someone new to your team, support and willingness to help go both ways. In this episode, we'll discuss how to welcome and support a new employee, and how to conduct yourself if you're the new leader joining a team of people who have been around awhile.
Grinding and operating at the red line all the time is a recipe for disaster - for you, your team and the business. Creating intentional space in our calendars for our relationships, physical health and downtime is imperative for overall wellness and resilience over the long haul. Doing this along the way will ensure you're at your best when it's time to surge and hit those opportunities when they come.
As leaders, how do we ensure that we are properly supporting those doing the day-to-day, front facing work, when we may have different perspectives? By acknowledging that people approach problems, strategies and decisions through our own unique lens, we also need to ensure that we create a culture that builds an understanding of these perspectives to work together.
As a leader, your influence can lead to positive or negative outcomes. Is there a difference between influence and manipulation when it comes to getting results? It can be a bit more nuanced than saying manipulation is "bad" or "good". Are we trying to make a change because it serves "me" or because it serves "we"?
As leaders, your culture is going to be what you allow. Enabling an environment where disunity and disruption are allowed by a few, sacrifices team culture and sets consequences for the long term. Brandon and Blayne discuss how to address disruptions early on to keep your team cohesion solid and goals on track.
Brandon and Blayne discuss some practical ways that we can get curious about how we know when we need to listen to our intuitions or our mind. We can gain some awareness and ask curious questions about why we're feeling the way we are.
Blayne and Brandon reflect on some hard-earned wisdom and lessons learned from mistakes they made early on in their leadership journey, in the military, business and family life.
There is a very important difference between peacekeeping and peaceMAKING.
Quiet is not to be confused with Peace.
As leaders, it is our responsibility to embrace the discomfort and proactively work to address the wide range of challenges that can create disharmony within our teams.
We know you don't want to "die on every hill", but it is critical to catch things while they are relatively small...because they won't stay that way. And when small resentments build up, they can lead to outright contempt.
It's important to note that disharmony can be both person and interpersonal. In both cases, it is your job to seek it out and address it.
And for the things that simply cannot or will not change, then we make peace accepting it.
Just the word Accountability gets people's guard up. It tends to have a negative conotation and many leaders are just not comfortable with the concept. But we know that Accountability is really just applied Responsibility, and we can absolutely do it effectively.
In this episode, we discuss the core aspects of Accountability and how we can implement these to help make it part of our organization's culture.
Empowerment is a huge topic in the leadership space. It seems that everybody wants to empower their people, but few have really figured it out. This week, we dig into empowerment. We talk about what it IS, what it ISN'T, and most importantly, how you can effectively make it happen in your organization.
A lot of talented , driven people wrestle with the notion of "Impact". We feel compelled, even obligated, to leave our mark. Or as Steve Jobs said, "make a dent in the universe."
We think that for most people, it'd be health to re-frame the conversation and starting thinking instead about Contribution.
By shifting our perspective to contribution, we can do more for others, lead without authority, and feel free to simply do our best.
Verbs > Nouns
This Thanksgiving, let's all strive to demonstrate our gratitude through our actions. Be it a hand-written note, a sincerely phone call, or just a warm hug. The gesture doesn't have to be grand, but it does have to be in earnest.
It's not about being thankful or having an "attitude of gratitude", it's about truly GIVING Thanks.
There’s a reason why the Rangers, the Green Berets, and many other Special Operations Units use unknown distance ruck marches to assess candidates. The ruck is often called “the ultimate equalizer”. It can make a 250lbs linebacker fall by the wayside while a 140lbs teenager drives on. The ruck does not discriminate and it does not relent.
But those who really know, know that the unknown distance march isn’t about the weight of the ruck or the number of miles covered.
It’s about the uncertainty – the ability to persevere through continuous hardship for however long it takes. It’s about learning to focus on the mission, not the moment.
There is no inherent value in optionality. None. All of the value resides in the options themselves...and none of that value is captured until an option is exercised...and the optionality goes away.
In this episode we discuss our desire to keep our options open and why it might be hurting us in the long run.
You can read this at: https://www.appliedleadershippartners.com/blog/the-danger-in-keeping-our-options-open
Many of life's most important topics are very complex. It's natural for us, as humans, to try and make them simple. How we seek that simplicity is what makes all of the difference.
If we choose not to deeply engage with a complex subject, we settle for a simplistic view of it. And that's perfectly ok, so long as we recognize the limits of our understanding.
However, we can also choose to really dig in and wrestle with complex topics, uncovering all of the nuance and difficulty. If we do that, then sometimes we can emerge on the other side able to clearly provide a simple explanation.
Leadership is all about decision making. If you're in charge, you're going to have to decide who to hire, what to invest in, when to kill a project; the list goes on and on. But we're not in this by ourselves. Surely, we want to involve our teams in the decision making process, right? Absolutely! And how we include our teams will make all the difference.
Like almost everything we talk about, we believe that there is a healthy middle ground for making team decisions. On one had, we certainly don't want to make decisions in isolation. If we do that, we'll be un(der)informed and risk making a bad call. However, we also don't want to become stuck trying to make an important decision by committee. The goal is to make truly informed decisions, where we incorporate the relevant input, make the call, and OWN it.
In times of uncertainty, it's natural to want to conserve what we have. Whenever we feel like we have, or may end up having less than we need, we tend to hold on to what we have a little bit tighter. We conserve water during droughts, we conserve energy when we're sleep deprived, etc. On it's face, there is nothing wrong with conservation. Sometimes it's just the right thing to do.
But in most cases, we believe that we can do better than simply conserving. What if instead of defending what we have left, we tried to restore what we've lost? What if we could regenerate our energy, our relationships, our businesses, our land, and our communities?
If you're like us, you often feel like there are just too many important things to do. Even after we eliminate to time-wasters and automate the ankle-biters, we're still left with a list that's longer than we can handle. So what do we do when it's all important stuff, but we still can't seem to get to it everything that we need to? Spoiler alert: It's not multi-tasking!
Instead take a page out of the Special Forces playbook and take some time to clarify your "lines of effort" - the main categories of your priorities. Once you can see them clearly, you can look for ways to optimize your time and energy. You can organize your activities in ways that let you do one thing, while achieving multiple goals.
For example: A run on the treadmill will check your fitness box. But a run on a trail with a friend can check the fitness, nature, and friends box. You're still just doing one thing, but you're getting much more out of that time and effort. It's a simple principle that applies to all aspects of your work and life. Once you see, you won't be able to unsee it.
As we all start coming back together, there is a lot to consider. And while there isn't any recent precedent for emerging from a global pandemic, there are places we can look for insight.
The military has been re-deploying (or coming home from war) for a LONG time. Brandon and I have experienced it ourselves and here are the four biggest lessons we've learned about re-uniting, re-engaging, and re-integrating.
Communication is a critical component of leading people. We build trust be demonstrating a pattern of dependable communication. As leaders these three communication commitments serve us well: clarity, courage, and consistency.
Clarity: See the world as it truly is, not as we want it to be, and share this with our teams. Share guidance, intent, and vision when communicating.
Candor: Be honest...say what needs to be said, when it needs to be said. if we don't know, or if we are wrong, say it. Clear is kind.
Consistency: Say what you mean and do what you say. Follow through with actions and resist the urge to routinely pivot.
Welcome to the Applied Leadership Podcast! We are stoked to have you joining us on the trail.
Our goal is to bring you the most leadership value per minute of any podcast on the airwaves.
Every episode is designed to help you refine and apply your leadership practice. Episodes are 5-10 minutes in length and will give you actionable takeaways. Timely subjects. Timeless wisdom.
We'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions, would like to chat, or have topics that you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can find us at www.appliedleadershippartners.com or simply send us a note at contact@appliedleadershippartners.com
As leaders, we cannot please everybody, though we wish to. "Leadership isn't Liker-ship" means not everyone on the team will like the decision. Frankly, you as the leader might not like it, but you can make it and align the team to execute together because we can have alignment without agreement. Alignment is harmony of efforts. Agreement is harmony of opinions. There will inevitably be disagreements within any team. As leaders, we can hear all relevant perspectives on a given matter, review all the information, and still be left with differences of opinions within the team. As leaders, we have to care for those who disagree, while aligning all teammates to achieve the objective. We can do that with care and compassion for those who disagree, while staying the course and ensuring they remain valuable members of an aligned team.
If you're watching this video, I think it's safe to say that being BUSY is not your goal in life, at least not anymore. But if you're like us, you still want to be productive. You still want to be fulfilled. And we do that by being ENGAGED.
So how do we get there? How can we get ourselves and our teams to shift from busyness to engagement? This may be the most important leadership question of our time. And while we don't have all the answers, we do have a some suggestions as to where to start.
Priorities: It's not about how much you do. It's not even about doing things right. It's about doing the right things. Most of us have far too many things on our to-do list and too little understanding on what's most important. If you have a team, providing them with clear priorities is one of the best things you can do as a leader. Good, smart people will do amazing things if they can execute confidently.
Focus: We need to start doing one thing at a time. The distractions are endless, and the ability to focus is truly a super power. Sadly (and contrary to many marketing campaigns), there is no secret pill or potion to help us focus. We have to practice. We need to train ourselves. Start with the simple stuff. Just brush your teeth. Or drive your car. Or have one conversation.
Our goal is to live a fully engaged life. And that means that we have to stop being so damn busy.
In a world with so much change and chaos, it's natural to reach for something certain to hold on to. It is totally normal to want some certainty...but we can't have it, because it just doesn't exist.
So what do we do? How can we lead our teams into an uncertain future? Well, while we can't have certainty, we can have CONFIDENCE. And we earn confidence through a combination of experience and preparation.
When we stop trying to predict the future, we can start preparing for it.
Influence is a big part of the world we live in. It seems that everybody is trying to get more of it. As leaders, we absolutely need influence to move our teams forward. That's not debatable. Influence IS important. But what's more important is how we derive and apply that influence.
We believe influence comes in two fundamental forms: Force and Power.
Force tends to work in the short run. We can push and pull and grab people's attention. We can gain influence by shouting the loudest or pushing the hardest or gaining the most leverage. But when we think about the people we most admire, those who are most influential, we don't see that. Instead we see calm and confidence and consistency and integrity.
The people we truly respect seem to be magnetic. We just want to be around them, to be on their team, to help in their work. They have a certain GRAVITY to them. And that is their real power.
Generating this kind of power takes time. It is the slower, but stronger path to influence. And all it requires is for us to be where we are and WHO we are. Just like any celestial body, our mass will eventually pull others toward us, and maybe even into our orbit. If we can focus on our mission, stay in our lane, do the work, and stay within our integrity, we can slowly build some mass and generate some gravity.
It's hard to resist the shorter path to influence. It's easy to chase whatever is currently getting clicks or likes. It's faster to force it. But that is not the way to long-term success. Great teams, companies, and cultures are not built that way. So take your time. Think hard about who you are and what you stand for, then be that person. The gravity will build and the influence will come.