Leadership

I once heard a leader say that he metaphorically carries around two buckets every day. One is full of water to put out fires. The other is full of gasoline to start them. 

I love this imagery because it is so true!

Problems must be dealt with daily. (Pour on the water!)

And it’s also vital to inspire followers to take productive action consistently. (Pour on the gasoline!)

One key way to know which bucket to use is to become more situationally aware. Busyness can cause leaders to put blinders on and overlook the obvious opportunities and threats right before their eyes. 

Any crisis can cause us to develop “tunnel vision.” We can become so focused on urgent matters that we neglect truly important ones. 

At its core, leadership is about people, yet in the process of pursuing a vision and going after strategic goals or objectives, we can forget about the very people we’ve been entrusted to lead. 

It may be cliché, but leaders must pull up regularly to see from a 30,000 foot perspective. Too often, the demands of the day drag us back to ground level where we begin to lose sight of the bigger picture. 

If you are going to be the best leader possible, you must fight for your attention. You must pay attention to your surroundings. You must keep your eyes up to see the opportunities and threats surrounding yourself, your team, and your organization. 

Situational awareness allows you to lead with more clarity and effectiveness. 

Consider the following questions to help you become more situationally aware:

• What do your followers need most from you right now?
• What opportunities would be most valuable to pursue right now?
• What threats do you see or sense? 
• What key actions can you take right now to advance your vision, goals, and objectives?

All great actions are a result of great thinking. 

If you want better answers, ask better questions. 

Include your team in the decision making process. 

Invest in your team members so they can grow to reach their potential and help you achieve your vision and goals. 

Schedule time daily to reflect on your current situation and how you can address problems and fuel opportunities. 

Ask your followers what they’re seeing. Having more sets of eyes on things can help you make better decisions faster. 

Leadership is always challenging, but developing better situational awareness will help you achieve more impact and allow you to go farther faster than you ever thought possible.

Until next time…make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Imagine being a part of a community of peers where you can learn from the collective wisdom of the group with various specialized knowledge and skills. Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly live Q&A coaching calls, learn from dynamic leaders in monthly recorded interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose the option to receive a monthly 1:1 coaching call to help you go farther faster. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!

As a kid, I hated to read. I barely did what was required of me to get through my school assignments. However, something shifted in my mind after I graduated high school and entered college. Mentors whom I greatly respected shared with me that leaders are continual learners. They shared books they were reading. The modeled continual growth to me. My eyes were opened to why they had the impact and success they had achieved. 

From that point on, I began reading because I wanted to rather than because I had to for school assignments. Truth be told, I still struggled to read for the purpose of my formal education. However, when I fell in love with the topic of leadership and personal growth, I became an avid reader that has now lasted more than 25 years. 

I know reading isn’t the way that everyone learns best. Some prefer audiobooks or video training. Some like to be physically present in the room with presenters and attendees to feel the energy. How you like to learn isn’t as important as that you commit to continually learning. It’s not only good for you, but it’s vital to your leadership credibility and impact.

Leaders need to be able to stay ahead of the pack in order to lead their followers well. This doesn’t mean you need to be an expert on every topic that your organization is about. You certainly need subject matter experts on your team who know much more than you do about key topics. However, you can’t abdicate or delegate leadership development of yourself and remain relevant and effective for your followers. 

I get it. Your job often demands much of your attention and time. You wonder where you can squeeze in time to read, listen, watch, etc. to learn. If this is what you’re thinking at this moment, consider the following ways you can effectively and efficiently invest in yourself so you can be better for those you lead:

1 – Listen while exercising

If you have a regular exercise routine, pop in earbuds, and instead of listening to music, put your mind to work listening to audiobooks or podcasts on a variety of topics that are relevant to your leadership or business. Not only will you become healthier physically, but you’ll also become sharper mentally while maximizing your time.

2 – Maximize your drive time

Speaker Jim Rohn is given credit for saying that if you listen to audio training on your commute over the period of three years that you’ll have the equivalent of a Ph.D. education in your preferred topic. Whether that is 100% accurate or not, the principle is valuable. While others are mindlessly listening to the noise of radio station DJs and commercials, you can be investing in your personal development that will impact those you lead.

3 – Get up early

This is something simple that many people push back on. I get it. We’re all tired after long days, but the most successful people are strategic with their sleep habits. They don’t stay up late binge-watching the latest shows or movies. They go to bed at a reasonable hour and rise early before the rest of the world wakes up. For me, I’ve developed the habit of waking up at 5 AM each weekday morning to read, pray, journal, and think. It’s been THE game-changer for my personal and professional life. For a former “night owl” this shift was challenging at first, but I now crave my quiet early mornings. I sacrifice staying up late for the growth I experience long before my family and the rest of the world wakes up. In fact, this habit has allowed me to write books and blog articles, record podcast episodes, and create a variety of other helpful content for my clients and followers. Without my early morning routine, I would be scrambling like most people do to get going each day. Instead, I have accomplished more by 9 AM than many people accomplish throughout their entire workdays. I don’t say this to impress you or to brag. I simply want to highlight that this one daily habit has the potential to transform your life and leadership. 

4 – Schedule “power hours” 

Whether you invest time learning during your lunch break or during another time during the day, block out space on your calendar to have a personal appointment to learn and grow. Guard this time like you would any other appointment. Productivity experts tell us to ask the question – “What ONE thing can I do that will affect 1,000 other things?” Blocking out time for personal development has that kind of impact. Each time you invest in yourself, you have more to give those you lead and you will learn to work more efficiently and effectively. 

5 – Schedule time away

Leaders are busy. Sometimes the best way to invest in yourself is to escape the environment that keeps you so busy. This may mean going away to a conference or it may simply mean taking a personal retreat. Rent a cabin in the woods, take your learning materials, and something to write with. Give yourself time to think and reflect. Choose a topic to learn about and go deep during an extended period of time rather than in bite-sized chunks where you are only partly mentally engaged. Give yourself time to decompress, rest, and reflect as well. Busyness is like a drug. When you get away, the first few days can be tough. You may feel like you’re going through withdrawal. Slowing down from a frenetic pace can be tough. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself space and time. It’s not only good for you, but also for those you love and lead.

While this isn’t an exhaustive list of ways to invest in yourself, allow these to get your mind going on what can work best for you. My routine isn’t for everyone. Other people’s routines don’t work for me. John C. Maxwell is famous for stating that in order to grow yourself, you need to know yourself. Reflect on the following questions:

• How do you learn best? (reading, listening, watching, etc.)
• When are you sharpest each day? (morning, afternoon, evening)
• What topic(s) do you want to learn more about?
• When will you begin to invest in your personal development? (pick a firm date)
• What obstacles could get in your way?
• How can you overcome these obstacles?

Your personal growth matters. Don’t take this lightly. Instead, make it a priority so you can become better for yourself, your family, and those you lead. While it may take some effort, in the beginning, to get going, stay the course. It does get easier as you go, but you have to do the difficult work to start and press through the challenges. 

You can do this. 

I believe in you!

Until next time…make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Imagine being a part of a community of peers where you can learn from the collective wisdom of the group with various specialized knowledge and skills. Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly live Q&A coaching calls, learn from dynamic leaders in monthly recorded interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose the option to receive a monthly 1:1 coaching call to help you go farther faster. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!

Many leaders have a never-ending vault of ideas stored in their minds about what they “could” or “should” do, but then struggle to find the time to implement them. Many times they are unsure if they actually should pursue these ideas or if they are simply distractions from focusing and going deep on one key idea. 

As I’ve navigated through this challenge, I’ve come to realize that my strength of execution is often hindered by taking action too quickly without strategizing first. Perhaps you’ve fallen into this trap. If this sounds familiar, I believe that the secret to speeding up is actually slowing down. When you slow down to think before acting, you’ll begin to see the key steps that you should intentionally take rather than just starting off recklessly. 

This reminds me of learning how to run long distances as a kid. I remember my P.E. teacher warning us not to start off too fast when running a mile-long race. I was more of a sprinter. I played sports that require short bursts of speed like basketball and baseball rather than those that required more endurance like soccer or cross country. You can probably see where this is going…I chose not to listen to my teacher and felt the pain that ensued in my side and lungs as a result. I may have looked really good on the first of four laps, but the last three were killers!

I share this story because this is how leaders can often work if we’re not careful. Leadership and sustained success is a marathon, not a sprint. Sure, there are moments when you experience some quick wins, but they are typically fueled by a process that built up to them. It’s similar to hearing of so-called “overnight successes.” Ask the people who receive that label how many hours, days, months, and years they put in to prepare for their “overnight success” and you’ll think differently about the concept. 

If you want to go farther faster in your business or life, take a moment to think about where you need to slow down and strategize before jumping into action. As leaders, we must also be careful not to cause whiplash to our followers with changing course too quickly or frequently. It may feel painful to slow yourself down, but the long-term benefits can be amazing. 

I was recently reading Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson and he shared the story of talking to a business consultant who helped companies grow exponentially. She told him that he was falling into the trap that many entrepreneurs do. They work really hard to develop their products and services to launch them out into the world, but then quickly move onto their next idea. They repeat this pattern over and over. Instead, she advised him to slow down and invest in one product or service for a longer time period in order to multiply it’s chances of success. This was an “aha” moment for him. He decided to go all-in for a year on his core offer and did weekly promotional webinars over the course of 52 weeks. This led him to achieve massive success and build a fast-growing company called ClickFunnels that thousands of entrepreneurs are using each day to sell their own products and services. 

I share this story because it’s what many leaders need to hear. Slow down, invest deeply in your team, and refine your strategies along the way in order to have greater long-term success. Beware jumping from project to project too quickly. 

This can happen in your leadership development of your people as well. Don’t think that a meeting or two with your followers is enough to help them become the quality leaders that you need for long-term growth and success. Developing people takes time. They need both knowledge and experience. Meet with them consistently to transfer your knowledge to them, but give them time to test what they’re learning in real-time ways. After a predetermined amount of time, meet with them again to debrief, teach them something new, then turn them loose again to test that out. Do this repeatedly and your effort will ultimately multiply and you’ll see compounding interest in their growth. But it requires you to slow down long enough to invest in them intentionally. 

Take a few moments right now to think about where you need to slow down and strategize in order to speed up in your business or personal life. 

Consider where you’re rushing into action too quickly and determine to choose a better way. 

Both you and your followers will be glad you did. 

Until next time…make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Imagine being a part of a community of peers where you can learn from the collective wisdom of the group with various specialized knowledge and skills. Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly live Q&A coaching calls, learn from dynamic leaders in monthly recorded interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose the option to receive a monthly 1:1 coaching call to help you go farther faster. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!

It’s a BIG understatement to say that 2020 has been a turbulent season. And, unfortunately, the challenges you’ve been navigating won’t just go away when January 1, 2021 arrives. This is season has tested the leadership ability of leaders in all sectors of society. 

One thing that I’ve noticed during times like these is that it’s easy to focus on tactics and strategies while overlooking caring for the people in your organization or on your team. It’s easy to get tunnel vision while trying to fix the problems you’re facing. But people are your most valuable resource and they are navigating the same challenging times in their own lives. They are looking for leaders to care for them and help them move forward.

Transformational leaders have the courage to keep moving forward through the dense fog that is in front of them. Followers are desiring caring guides to help them navigate their way through the same fog. In your effort to come up with creative solutions to your problems, make sure not to overlook caring for your people.

In ancient times, the metaphor of leaders being “shepherds” and followers being considered “sheep” that needed tending was common. In our day and age, calling someone a “sheep” is intended as an insult, but I want to encourage you to reframe your thinking as a leader on this idea. Sheep need guidance and protection. On their own, they are vulnerable. Shepherds keep watch over their flocks in order to ensure they are cared for and have all they need to survive and thrive. 

Leading people is much like tending sheep. They wander when they become stressed. They look for someone to help them find their way. Right now, most people are going in all sorts of directions seeking answers to the challenges they are facing. While they may care about your organization and the goals you have, they are facing unprecedented stress and anxiety. This limits their effectiveness. It’s being reported that depression is elevating. People are feeling lost and confused just like sheep that wander off from their flock out in the wilderness. They need guides. They need a caring leader. 

As you go through this season, consider how you can shepherd your people well. 

Ask them how they’re doing. 

Seek ways to give them clarity where they feel confused. 

Discover ways to serve them in ways that make them feel valued and safe. 

You have an opportunity right now to build greater loyalty with your followers by how you take care of them in the midst of a global pandemic, social unrest, economic turmoil, and political uncertainty. 

Be the leader they need in the midst of a chaotic, and often scary, season that we’re all navigating through. 

You are a leader for such a time as this. Fight through your own confusion and fears in order to help others find peace, hope, and answers when confusion is swirling. This will not only add value to your people today but build your credibility for the years to come. 

However, here’s a warning: If you choose not to do this, be prepared for people to wander aimlessly in lost productivity and begin mistrusting you and your organization. Your inaction during this season can have long-term negative consequences.

The choice is yours. What will you do today to ensure that the future is bright for you as a leader and for your organization’s success?

Until next time…make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Imagine being a part of a community of peers where you can learn from the collective wisdom of the group with various specialized knowledge and skills. Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly live Q&A coaching calls, learn from dynamic leaders in monthly recorded interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose the option to receive a monthly 1:1 coaching call to help you go farther faster. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!

Leadership requires finding solutions to many problems, yet leaders often find themselves stuck and frustrated with the lack of creative solutions to solve them. 

Why is that? 

I believe the answer lies in one simple shift in our thinking. I believe this shift can be valuable to your leadership decision-making process. 

If you want to discover better solutions, you must ask better questions. 

This idea came up in conversations regarding business development and even faith recently. If you’re like me, you want to take action and get results quickly. However, you may struggle to slow down long enough to think better thoughts. 

One action I took to shift my thinking is to create a Q&A document where I ask a specific question and then write down the specific answers that come to my attention through prayer and deep thinking. 

Imagine giving just 5-15 minutes of focused time to specific problems, issues, or concerns that you have. Simply write or type out your question and then pray and think about possible answers. In our fast-paced digital world, it’s easy to move so fast that we never slow down long enough to think deeply. This is holding us back from finding better solutions to the problems that we face. 

Several years ago, I was introduced to the “15-Minute Miracle” exercise where you set a timer and give yourself 15 minutes to work on something specific. It’s a powerful exercise that reveals how much we can achieve in short bursts of focused time. Now, imagine applying this concept to our problem-solving process. Write a very specific question, set your timer, and write down thoughts that come to you on your blank page. 

When I was speaking to a friend recently, he told me that he learned how to design websites and do all sorts of other technical tasks by becoming very good at asking questions in Google searches. He said that when he didn’t find the answers he was looking for he would refine his questions until he did. Sometimes we’re not asking good enough questions, therefore, we’re not finding quality answers. 

Here’s your challenge for today. Create a document and write down your most pressing questions for your business, life, relationships, faith, finances, or any other topic of concern you may have. Then, schedule 15-minute time blocks throughout your upcoming week(s) to focus on one question at a time. If you’re not satisfied with the answers you come up with, refine your questions. See if fine-tuning them leads to better answers that you can confidently implement. 

I believe you have many more answers than you think. The power is in asking better questions to draw out better answers. You can also apply this to leading your team members. When they’re struggling to find answers, ask them better questions that allow them to think deeper about things from different angles. 

You can find better solutions to the problems and challenges you’re facing. It simply requires slowing down long enough to ask better questions and give yourself the space to think deeply about them. 

You can do this. I believe in you!

Until next time, make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Imagine being a part of a community of peers where you can learn from the collective wisdom of the group with various specialized knowledge and skills. Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly live Q&A coaching calls, learn from dynamic leaders in monthly recorded interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose the option to receive a monthly 1:1 coaching call to help you go farther faster. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!

Entrepreneurship coach and expert, Dan Sullivan, recently released a powerful new book with co-author Dr. Benjamin Harden entitled WHO NOT HOW. It’s not an understatement to say that this concept is transforming my business and life in real-time. 

I heard about this concept a few months ago and understood it at a surface level. As I’ve been digging deeper into the book the past few days, I’m blown away. It truly has the power to transform any leader’s life and business when implemented strategically. 

While you can certainly order your own copy for in-depth study, let me just share with you the general premise and get your brain imagining how things can improve personally and professionally when you apply the concept.

We have mostly be trained to think that we have to have all the answers as individuals. In fact, collaboration is often discouraged in our traditional educational environments. (e.g., collaborating on a test is called “cheating”!) However, Dan Sullivan astutely stated recently that the world and marketplace actually reward collaboration. 

Do you see the problem? 

We’re taught not to “cheat” as we grow up through our school years, then we struggle to collaborate later in life because we subconsciously believe we need to have all the answers individually. 

In the book, a story about Henry Ford is recounted as first told in Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Ford was being grilled by a lawyer who was trying to prove his ignorance. After hearing many of the questions that were irrelevant to the case, Ford finally pointed his finger at the lawyer and reminded him that he had a row of push buttons on his desk and whenever he needed answers to any of the questions he had, someone would answer the call and provide the information. That’s not lazy or dumb…that’s brilliant! Henry Ford lived the WHO NOT HOW concept by surrounding himself with intelligent people who had specialized knowledge. He didn’t have to.

How does this relate to you? 

It may be obvious, but I want to encourage you to think about the “WHO’s” in your life and organization. 

Who are the people who have the answers or skills that you don’t?

When are you most prone to try to figure out “HOW” on your own rather than tapping into the genius of others?

Why do you do this?

What are you stressing about that someone else can solve or do? 

One last quick concept that can be transformational is this – procrastination can lead to wisdom.

When you are procrastinating to do something, let it be a sign that you need a “WHO” to do it with or for you. We procrastinate on things we either don’t enjoy or feel we’re going to fail at. 

Invest some time today thinking about the “HOW” items that you need to let go of and “WHO” you need to delegate to or partner with to accomplish your goals. 

Let this concept sink into your mind this week and see where it can take you!

Until next time, make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Imagine being a part of a community of “WHO’s” where you can learn from the collective wisdom of the group with various specialized knowledge and skills. Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly Q&A calls, hear from dynamic leaders in monthly interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose a monthly 1:1 coaching call. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!

Long before satellite and space technologies existed, cities and nations would place watchmen on top of city walls and in towers to see what was coming their way from a distance. They were looking for good and bad. They alerted the leaders and citizens inside the walls of traders coming with goods, as well as, warned of enemies coming to attack.

The watchmen saw farther and sooner than anyone else. They played a vital role in the safety and security of their cities and nations.

This ancient and medieval role is still vital today in every organization, but it looks different. Because of this, it is often overlooked and neglected. Today’s watchmen are those who have the ability to forecast trends and discern problems before they actually happen. Today’s watchmen use their intuition to alert others to opportunities and obstacles ahead.

One of my most difficult seasons of leadership came because of serving in the role of a watchman. I saw trouble brewing, alerted my senior leader, and then was promptly attacked for not being supportive of his desired outcome. Less than two years later, it all came to a head and he was asked to resign for trying to push the very thing through that I was warning him about. At the time, I didn’t realize I was serving as a watchman for this leader and the organization. In hindsight, I now see the role I was playing and how vital it was.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, the prophet Ezekiel was told by God that he was to be a watchman for the people of Israel. Ezekiel 33:7-9 says the following:

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.”

This passage of Scripture holds a critical leadership lesson. Watchmen are vital to the health and wellbeing of individuals, organizations, cities, and nations. The watchman is responsible for alerting others about problems to avoid and opportunities to pursue. However, he or she isn’t responsible for how the information is received and acted upon.

If you are a watchman, you must sound the alarm and share the information. That’s your duty. What is done with this information is not your responsibility.

Warning: Watchmen can become very frustrated and ultimately leave organizations when they do their part and are ignored. They rarely are willing to work for or with others who refuse to heed their warnings.

Who are the watchmen in your organization?

Who are the men and women who have strong discernment skills and display the ability to look ahead for both trouble and opportunities? 

Identify these people and then lean on them for the well-being and success of your organization.

Ignore them and they will become frustrated and eventually leave. They may not even know why they are frustrated until later when they understand this important role.

Leaders come in all shapes and sizes and display a variety of skills. Spend some time today thinking about the importance of this vital role in your organization, determine who displays these qualities, and then find ways to receive regular insight and feedback from them so they can help you take advantage of opportunities and avoid trouble ahead.

Don’t overlook the watchmen. Embrace and utilize them wisely. This will pay off many times over as you advance into the future.

“Do what I say, not as I do!”

I heard this tongue-in-cheek phrase many times over the years and it describes what poor leaders often model.

If you want to become a GREAT leader, you must first do what you’re asking your followers to do. In essence, you must “walk the talk.”

In our competitive world, people won’t follow leaders for long who don’t model what they’re asking their followers to say, be, or do. It’s inauthentic and it lacks integrity. There is a fine line between doing too much of what you need your followers to execute and not doing enough.

For instance, you need to pick up the trash in your company parking lot if you see it, but you don’t need to be the custodian.

People are desiring to follow authentic leaders with integrity. When you do what you say and follow through on your commitments, you build trust and credibility. When you don’t, you quickly lose trust and credibility, which leads to low engagement of your team members and may cause them to look elsewhere for a new job opportunity.

People leave organizations for a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is the mistrust of their supervisors. More money can certainly cause people to move on, but many people are willing to earn less if they are in an environment that is positive, gives them a healthy work/life balance, and where they can follow a leader whom they respect.

While you may not be able to predict or control why people leave, make sure you’re not the reason!

Take a few moments to reflect on your current leadership approach.

Are you modeling how you want your followers to work?

Are you acting with integrity each day?

Are you walking the talk?

There is no perfect leader, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re falling short. However, use these questions to set your baseline for improvement.

Develop a rhythm of personal evaluation so you can make sure you’re growing and leading with integrity.

Be bold enough to ask your team members about the blind spots they may see in your leadership.

Tell them that you need their feedback so you can be better for your team and organization.

Give them permission to be truth-tellers if you get off-track without negative recourse for their courageous honesty.

Wherever you are in your leadership development, you have the opportunity to improve every day.

Evaluate yourself today and begin your journey to the next level.

Until next time, make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly Q&A calls, hear from dynamic leaders in monthly interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose a monthly 1:1 coaching call. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!

Accountability is something we all need, but few enjoy it.

When you truly embrace being held accountable to achieve your dreams, goals, and objectives, you can take off like a rocket.

Why is this so?

Because when you begin to see accountability as positive reinforcement, you’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish whatever you said you would do. It’s actually closely connected with having integrity.

Integrity has been defined by some as “who you are when no one is looking.” I believe this to be true. I also believe that integrity requires us to do what we say we’re going to do by the time that we say we’ll do it.

When you embrace accountability, you’ll consider your commitments more seriously. You won’t set half-hearted goals or objectives. You won’t set arbitrary deadlines that you can ignore or delay. You won’t overcommit to do too much in too short of a time period. You’ll become wiser and more diligent with your plans.

One problem that holds many leaders back from establishing an accountability culture in their organizations is the idea that “if I hold you accountable, then you can hold me accountable.” And most of us don’t want to be held accountable!

How do we overcome this challenge so we can allow accountability to take us farther faster personally and organizationally?

Consider the following 4 steps:

1 – Change Your Perspective

When you begin to see accountability as part of your success formula rather than negative disciplinary action, your mindset can change for the better. If you dread being held accountable, you’ll run away from it. If you realize how it can help you advance strategically, you’ll embrace it. It’s all about how you choose to view it.

2 – Become More Diligent

As stated above, when you take more time to choose your goals and objectives wisely, it will become easier to embrace accountability. Think through what matters most to achieve your vision. Cut out the busy work and become more intentional with your time, energy, and talents. When you define 3-5 key items to achieve in any given day, week, or quarter you’ll operate with more laser focus and your accountability check-ups can be celebrations rather than dreaded conversations.

3 – Invite Supporters to Hold You Accountable

We all need a supportive team around us in order to achieve our greatest goals. We’re not meant to go through life alone. When you explain to supportive people that you want to be held accountable so you can make your greatest contribution, you’ll gain people who want you to succeed. Tell them that you need them to hold your feet to the fire so you can make your greatest impact. This will give them the motivation to approach holding you accountable in a more enthusiastic, positive manner. This will give you the confidence that people are cheering for you rather than hoping that you’ll fail.

4 – Start Small, Then Expand

Most of us want to hit a grand slam before we learn to get a base hit. It’s natural to want to win BIG quickly. We wall want fast results. However, it takes time to develop into the person you need to become in order to achieve the big dreams, visions, and goals you have. When you start small, you can gain momentum with quick wins. These begin to build on one another and create a compound effect. One win becomes two. Two becomes four. And so on. Before you know it, you’ll be setting and achieving greater goals for yourself, your team, and your organization. Author and success mentor Darren Hardy once stated that we become overwhelmed by looking up at a staircase of 100 steps we must take, but if we’ll just focus on the next step, we can reach the top before we know it. Don’t overwhelm yourself with expecting too much too fast. Rather, embrace small beginnings and let momentum guide you to achieve bigger and better results.

Accountability isn’t a fun topic for most people, but if you’ll shift your perspective to see it as the way to fuel your forward movement, you’ll begin to embrace it and cultivate it among your team and throughout your organization. Decide today to become more accountable and set an example for your followers. Then, take the next steps to create and cultivate a culture where accountability is positively received because people can see how it can help everyone win.

Until next time, make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly Q&A calls, hear from dynamic leaders in monthly interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose a monthly 1:1 coaching call. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!

We live in a world of constant change, but some changes feel bigger than others.

For instance, occasionally we’ll hear people grumbling about a social media platform changing its style, but everyone adjusts fairly quickly and accepts the new reality.

Then there are changes that feel big and scary to people. Maybe it’s an untested marketing strategy that can’t guarantee success or an organizational restructuring that cause people to fear for their jobs or a global pandemic that affects all sectors of society. Whatever the case, bigger changes throw people off-balance. As leaders, our job is to help them navigate the uncharted waters.

So, how do you do that? Consider the following 7 steps:

1 – Listen to Concerns

Many times, people simply want to be heard. They need to communicate their concerns. They need a sounding board. When people feel heard, they feel valued. When they are ignored, they mistrust. Remember that the news of change is brand new to them while it’s been in process for quite some time for you. Give them a listening ear to help them process the change.

2 – Cast Vision

Sharing the vision of the change is critical. What is the end goal? Why is this change important? What should we expect as a result of this change? Answering these type of questions can help people be forward-thinking and energized rather than backward-thinking and fearful. Help them consider the benefits of the change to combat the pain of loss they are feeling.

3 – Sympathize, But Don’t Validate Fears

As you listen to concerns and discuss the vision, it’s fine to sympathize with the unsettled emotions of your followers, but don’t validate their fears. Fear has been defined by some as “false evidence appearing real.” Fear is based on uncertainty, not hard evidence. We fear what we’ve not experienced before. When people are expressing fear, it’s a sign that they haven’t been there before. Most of our fears are irrational and never actually happens. Be sympathetic to emotions, but don’t validate them as if they will become reality.

4 – Stay the Course

When you face resistance to change it’s tempting to shrink back. It’s easy to doubt whether you’ve made the right decision. If you’ve done your due diligence and worked hard to plan strategically, you must stay the course and persist. Push through the invisible wall of uncertainty. It’s like driving through fog; you may need to go slower and be more cautious, but you must keep moving forward if you’re going to get through it to experience clear skies on the other side. Change is difficult for most people, so they need leaders who will help them keep moving forward by staying the course that has been communicated.

5 – Reassure Consistently

When results are slow and you’re in the “messy middle” of the change process, reassure your followers that you’re making progress despite the lack of immediate obvious evidence. Re-cast the vision. Help them keep looking forward rather than backward. Be confident and compassionate simultaneously.

6 – Communicate Progress

Even though small wins may not feel exciting, any step forward in the change process is important to highlight. Share with your followers the progress that is occuring. They may not see it. Leaders see things from a higher level view. Those on the ground level may not see what’s happening. Small improvements aren’t always obvious. It’s like raising children. Parents don’t see the growth as easily as others who haven’t seen the child for a while. On a daily basis, change is incremental, but over the course of time, it is exponential.

7 – Celebrate Wins

Determine to celebrate when milestones are achieved. People need to know they’re winning. They want to be on a winning team and wins give confidence to keep working the plan. Celebrating helps alleviate fear and uncertainty. It’s the boost that the team needs in order to accomplish each next step in the change process.

Change is hard because it pushes us out of our comfort zones. But change is necessary for improvement. Healthy organizations grow. Growth doesn’t always mean getting bigger. Sometimes it means going deeper. But the reality is that staying right where you are to protect your comfort zone means that the world is moving on without you. Determine what needs to change in your organization, then help your followers navigate the change so you can experience new levels of success.

Until next time, make today GREAT!

P.S. Are you a business owner or executive who is looking to attract quality team members and keep them engaged in your organization’s vision and mission? Check out the Magnetic Leadership Community where you’ll receive weekly leadership lessons, participate in monthly Q&A calls, hear from dynamic leaders in monthly interviews, and engage in a private forum with other growing leaders like yourself. You can even choose a monthly 1:1 coaching call. CLICK HERE to learn more and join the community!