The 4 Most Important Things

I’m convinced there are four basic elements of highly effective leadership….and I’ve laid them out quickly for you here.

1. Energy: if you don’t bring energy to your work each day, don’t expect anyone to get excited about following you.

2. Risk: if you’re not willing to try new and innovative approaches to solving problems, don’t expect anyone to think you’re doing anything but playing it safe.

3. Relationships: if you’re not willing to back up privately with what you say publicly, don’t expect anyone to believe what you say.

4. Moral Compass: if you’re not starting from an ethical foundation, don’t expect anyone to think that you’re in it for anyone but yourself.

You already have these behaviors inside you. Implementing them consistently however means you will need to commit to being more intentional than ever before in your daily leadership practice.

You can do it…even if theses approaches “don’t feel like you.” They work. Push yourself to give them a try and watch what happens.

If you’d like to learn more about ‘the 4 things” check out my book Unstoppable Power and read through the practical examples of how this methodology has been so transformative.

Thanks for being here.

Jay

pic

Practice? I Don’t Need to Practice!

When I was growing up I had a passion for basketball. I practiced for hours…often beginning my training for the following season a few weeks after the current season ended. I put in the time to understand the fundamentals until they were second nature. Then I worked on more advanced skills when I was ready. 

The result was that I was a pretty good ball player.

Fast forward to my thirty-first year of formal leadership roles…

• When did I practice my leadership skills to get better? 
• When did I work on the fundamentals? 
• When did I know I was ready to work on more advanced skills?

Yes, I went through leadership development classes (and delivered hundreds and hundreds of hours of training to leaders)…but was all of that actual practice?

If we believe a few hours of leadership development training alone is going to count as ‘practice’ we are sorely mistaken. Leadership classes are a perfect way to BEGIN practice….they are definitely not the end.

To layer a famous Winston Churchill quote on our leadership development topic: “This is not the end…it is not even the beginning of the end…it is perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Classes are an essential start to the process; however, we must practice. We must take risks, struggle, try new approaches…all with the end goal in mind of elevating how we lead.

The inherent arrogance that comes with a fancy job title or recent promotion can be a massive derailer without us even being aware. Surely we don’t need to practice if we’ve achieved this level of success, right?

Remember, the higher up the ladder you climb, the greater the number of eyes (often envious eyes) will be fixated on your every move. 

So, do you choose to portray an air of perfection to those around you?

Maybe, showing you’re human just like everyone else opens the door for you to actually practice what you’ve learned?

Practice might just be the secret ingredient that allows you to take that next big step in your career. What do you think? How do you ‘practice’ leading?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

pic

The One Thing About AI That I Want to Know

Everyone is talking about AI: change, eliminating jobs, boosting productivity, treating AI as an employee…fear, excitement, panic, curiosity, paralysis, ChatGPT, generative AI and on and on.

Yet there continues to be an open question for me relative to AI and what to do about it. The level of uncertainty about what it means is abundantly clear, but the missing piece of the conversation for me is now obvious. Yet I still haven’t found the answer.

The roadmap, the plan, the framework. 

I want to learn more about how to build a structure, ask the right questions, and explore the process of change to best understand the impact on the people side. I’m less interested in keeping up with the latest and greatest version of a particular app.

What process have you used?

What are the skills necessary to help your organization move forward?

What happened when you implemented your plan?

We’re exploring this right now in my firm…more to come soon. But in the meantime, I’d love to hear what you’ve done.

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Pic

That One Time I...

walked past that person with my head down.

didn’t acknowledge the effort from a colleague.

decided not to be bothered with reaching out to someone who was struggling.

thought I deserved to focus on myself when others needed me.

took a friend for granted.

didn’t volunteer when I should have.

thought about my failures but didn’t change.

justified my inaction.

regretted not being who I wanted to be.

Those days are (mostly) behind me now. The push to be a better version of ourselves, at least for me, is a life long journey. Thankfully…I’m now well on my way.

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Pic

One Thing is For Certain

I need to have a certain professional look.

I need to dress in a certain style.

I need to cut my hair a certain way.

I need to use certain words.

I need to behave in a certain manner.

I need to follow a certain career path.

I need to work for certain companies.

I need to worship in a certain way.

I need to have a certain family life.

I need to have certain friends.

I need to live my entire life a certain way.

No I don’t.

I need to be certain about one thing.

I certainly need to unapologetically be my authentic self.

What about you?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Pic

Deluge

The other day I put a list together of the stressors that are hitting me lately. 

It is an extraordinarily long list. 

Some items are actually quite good, but unfortunately the negatives are all too plentiful. You might find yourself dealing with too many negatives in your life as well. I asked myself, “is this how it’s going to be now…is this my new normal?”

The answer was no, of course not…even when if feels like life doesn’t seem to be letting up.

In addition to leaning into my faith as I’ve been discussing here lately, I forced myself to zoom out from my own self-centered view of the world. It turns out the really challenging points in my life don’t last forever; nor do I have it as bad as so many other people right here in my own community, let alone around the world.

Perspective is a powerful, and fairly simple tool for coping. The trick is remembering to use it.

What do you do when it feels like the world has you down?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Pic

Faith at Work…What?

This is not a radical right (or left) wing message. This is actually quite simple and direct.

If you have a faith perspective that is important to you, don’t abandon that faith because your weekly worship time has ended.

If you truly believe the doctrine…the values…the expectations about the way you should live your life…don’t let your life outside of the physical building where you worship become an excuse to stop practicing your faith.

Your faith infused into your business means you will be successful.

Your faith infused into how you lead and treat others will mean you are an effective leader.

Your faith as an internal guide to help you navigate the complexities of our world will not fail you.

It’s that simple, really. If your faith is at the center…the rest will follow in a much more meaningful way that simple executing “good transactions.”

What do you think?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Pic