Recent Blog Posts
From: Kaplan, B. & Manchester, J. (2018). The power of vulnerability: how to create a team of leaders by shifting inward. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Press.
"Remaining courageous, humble, and fascinated makes us more open to seeing where we have opportunities to grow and learn. And there are other mind-sets we can adopt to keep on the learning path. One I especially like is looking at ourselves and others with what we can call 'The Eyes of Love.' It's about choosing to be gentle with ourselves, especially when life gets tough, rather than giving in to our crocodilian reflex of self-judgment.
We grow so much just by being gentle with ourselves. Think about how quickly children grow when they are in an atmosphere of love rather than judgment. Unfortunately, as adults, most of us have PhDs in judgment. Our inner critic is super strong. We judge and criticize ourselves for not knowing better and for not growing faster, or tell ourselves that growing is too hard, that we aren't worth it, and that we don't have time for it.
Looking at ourselves through judgmental eyes slows down our growth. We end up in a downward spiral. Let's examine how this self-limiting pattern works.
Afraid of judgment if we try and fail, we look the other way from our growth opportunities. As a result, we slowly become unable to see those opportunities - we become deaf to the whispers in our lives, since these ask us to make changes and take risks that our inner critic fears. This means we end up making the same, self-limiting choices over and over again. Then, because we can't easily overlook the consequences of our self-limiting choices, such as dysfunctional relationships, lack of fulfillment, and lack of effectiveness, we start judging ourselves for those self-created misfortunes, feeling even worse about ourselves. As we stay in our unconscious, self-punishing, downward spiral, the layers of self-judgment become so thick that they paralyze us over time. We feel bad about ourselves and bad about feeling bad, becoming ever more resistant to letting go of old limiting ways. With every setback, we judge ourselves more feeling worse and getting more entangled in this downward spiral, which then discourages us even further.
Reflecting on some of the following questions with kindness can help us snap out of a negative judgement spiral:
- What can this station in life teach me?
- What old ways of thinking are limiting me?
- How have these ways of thinking helped me? How are they common and understandable strategies of the mind to help me live?
- What do I not want to see? What if I allowed myself to see these limiting thoughts?
- Who would I be without these ways of thinking? What new ways of thinking can I adopt that fuel fulfillment, connection, and effectiveness?
- How can I respond differently to my current situation?
- What am I grateful for? How can I bring more of the things that make me grateful into my life?
Or, in one question: 'How am I growing?'
Sometimes, we may find the answer is 'not at all' or 'not in the ways I would like'; that's when we know we need to find the courage and humility to keep pursuing our own expansion, without self-judgment (p. 64-67)."
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"Everyone has the capacity to be a leader; and the authority for this power is inside everyone.
Once you buy into the premise that each of us can be a leader, the next step is to give yourself permission to tap into that power. Not so easy. First, you need to overcome the self-limiting belief that you do not have the authority to access it. Put another way, you do not have to wait for the boss to give you direction or grant you permission. Instead, believe you are the boss of you, and only you can control when you access your power to lead.
A leader inspires others by serving as a role model, sometimes going first and other times listening from behind. A leader innovates either through fresh ideas or by courageously starting the process of opening up by showing vulnerability. The fountainhead of leadership is internal and its impact is external. A leader does not have to manage a team, or run a company, or be the boss. A leader emerges from the group because of their influence on others in the way they shape the team by expressing the power of their truth and insight.
Anyone con be the first one to offer an raise a counter or contrary view. Anyone can question the boss. Anyone can be the person who reads the energy in the room and then brings clarity to the team that it is going down the wrong track. Anyone can volunteer to show how she can be comfortable being uncomfortable and act as a role model for others. So, if anyone can do it - even at the same time.
Once you start to imagine yourself as a leader - despite the position you play in the formal structure - you create limitless opportunity to bring your power to the life of the team you serve (p. 109-111)."
From: Kaplan, B. & Manchester, J. (2018). The power of vulnerability: how to create a team of leaders by shifting inward. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Press.
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COLUMBUS — The Ohio State Leadership Center is offering a social media giveaway on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for a select three-hour or online leadership workshop.
Located in the Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership Department, the Ohio State Leadership Center works to provide leadership training to individuals, companies, and organizations that can be used to further grow the organization. The majority of workshops are held in the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center.
These sessions are led by a group of professionals who have years of experience in the field. The Ohio State Leadership Center is also easily accessible and an affordable option for people looking for leadership training.
“Our workshops are highly interactive and include large and small group discussions, assessments, and hands on activities,” Beth Flynn, leadership consultant and trainer, said. “We offer quality information at a price that is reasonable.”
The Ohio State Leadership Center has received exceptional feedback from participants. Beth Flynn said the organization has had a number of individuals sign-up for additional workshops after they have attended their first.
“We are a friendly group. One of the greatest compliments we can receive is that people register for additional workshops after attending one of ours, send others or invite us to work with their team,” said Flynn.
To win a free workshop, simply follow the Leadership Center on social media and share their post regarding the giveaway. Their handle is @osuleadership center on all platforms.
CEOs who Engage for Impact:
- “They lead with intent. These CEOs translate their vision, goals, and acute awareness of context into commercial intent for the business overall and for every interaction they engage in.
- They understand the players. They tune in to understand the unique needs - emotional, financial, physical, or otherwise - of the full multitude of players who impact realization of intent.
- They build routines to enlist these players to support the intent (p.90).”
What are some additional things that CEOs do to Engage for Impact?
From: Botelho, E. L; & Powell, K.R. (2018). The ceo next door: the four behaviors that transform ordinary people into world-class leaders. New York: Currency.
- “High performers are more successful than their peers, yet they are less stressed.
- High performers love challenges and are more confident they will achieve their goals despite adversity.
- High performers are healthier than their peers.
- High performers are happy.
- High performers are admired.
- High performers get better grades and reach high positions of success.
- High performers work passionately regardless of traditional rewards.
- High performers are assertive (for the right reasons).
- High performers see and serve beyond their strengths.
- High performers are uniquely productive - they’ve mastered prolific quality output.
- High performers are adaptive servant leaders (p. 37-43).”
What are some additional qualities or practices of high performers?
From: Burchard, B. (2018). High performance habits: how extraordinary people become that way. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc.
- "Synergy: Team members complement each other's strengths, weaknesses, and behavioral preferences.
- Commitment: Team members are fully committed to the team's success, and they are willing to sacrifice their egos for the good of the team.
- Constructive Contention: The toughest challenges and issues are put on the table and debated vigorously.
- Accountability: Even though there is usually a designated leader, team leadership is often shared. Team members hold each other accountable, challenge and help each other, and are deeply concerned about their teammates.
- Purpose: The team develops shared goals, purpose, and core values aligned with stakeholder needs.
- Rewards: The team shares in significant rewards for achieving their goals and even bigger rewards for exceeding expectations.
- Transparency: Communication is fluid and transparent, and all information is shared openly and candidly.
- Collaboration: Team members exude a 'we are stronger than me' attitude by breaking down silos, working across functional boundaries, and proactively tapping into each other's strengths.
- Growth Mindset: there is a growth mindset grounded in curiosity.
- Ownership: The entire team feels a joint sense of ownership for their collective results and they behave like owners (p. 51-52)."
From: Rake, J. (2018). The bridge to growth: how servant leaders achieve better results and why it matters more than ever. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.
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"You don't have to be hemmed in by limiting beliefs. You can exchange them for liberating truths. I'd like to suggest a simple six-step process to help you do that.
First, recognize the limiting belief. If a belief reflects black-and-white thinking, it might be a limiting belief. Same thing if it's personalizing, catastrophizing, or universalizing. Whatever the content of the belief, no matter how true it seems, it's important to recognize that it's just an opinion about reality - and there's a good shot it's wrong.
Second, record the belief. Let's be honest. It could be anything. We all have our own challenges.
Third, review the belief. Start by evaluating whether the belief is empowering. Try to look at it objectively. Is it enabling you to accomplish the outcomes you want, or is it preventing you from doing so?
Fourth, reject or reframe the belief. If a limiting belief is false, you can simply reject it.
Reframing is a bit more involved. Many limiting beliefs have a kernel of truth in them. That's what makes them convincing. But they're not the whole truth. If a limiting belief is true or partly true, you don't have to settle for it. You can always recast the story.
Fifth, revise the belief. This is where it gets interesting. I'm not talking about simple affirmations, though those can be helpful and have their place. I'm talking about reorienting your thinking around a new and liberating truth.
Sixth and finally, reorient yourself to the new belief. Start living from the perspective of this new, liberating truth. You might not fully buy into it. That's fine. Try it on. It may feel awkward at first, like putting on a coat that's too big. But if you keep telling yourself the truth, it will eventually fit, and you'll get more comfortable with it (p. 74-79)."
Please share how you have revised your beliefs.
From: Hyatt, M. (2018). Your best year ever: a 5-step plan for achieving your most important goals. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
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"It all comes down to caring. If you don't love, you don't care, and if you don't care, you won't make the time to unite, communicate, encourage, connect, commit, serve, or sacrifice. Positive leaders care about the people they lead. They care about their team and organization. They care about changing the world because they know the world needs changing. Because they care, they do more, give more, encourage more, help more, guide more, mentor more, develop more, build more, and ultimately accomplish more. If I had a dollar for every time I heard the saying, 'People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care,' I would be rich. But the reason why people say it so much is because it's true. When you care about someone, they know it and feel it. And when they know you care about them, they will care about you and follow you with loyalty and passion (p. 180-181)."
How do you demonstrate to others that you care about them?
From: Gordon, J. (2017). The power of positive leadership: how and why positive leaders transform teams and organizations and change the world. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons.
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"Cultivating identification with others at work in ways that will fuel empathy and compassion requires being available, both physically and psychologically. Availability becomes real in organizations through simple gestures such as keeping one's door open, arriving early for a meeting, holding online office hours for distributed teams, or lingering in a kitchen or break room to be around others. Any of these small acts to make ourselves accessible opens the space for connection and mutual engagement that is a powerful form of care.
Leaders who convey psychological presence with others in the organization are often described as great leaders who can command loyalty and commitment. And in the hyperconnected technological world of work, physical and psychological presence becomes a deeply meaningful gesture. Turning off the cell phone to be with someone is a move toward identification and empathy. Opening the door to another person's experience and shutting off the email is another (p. 127-128)."
What are some ways that you show that you are physically and psychologically available?
From: Worline, M.C., & Dutton, J.E. (2017). Awakening compassion at work. Oakland CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
- "Before group discussions, give people 2-3 minutes to jot down their thoughts
- In online meetings, encourage responses in the chat box
- Break the team into pairs or small groups to discuss issues and report back to the larger group. This can be done both live and online
- Build in moments of silence for introverts to reflect
- Put a question out to the group, and allow each person 2 minutes to give an opinion on the topic
- Ask introverts to take a role as scribe or timekeeper to help increase their visibility
- On conference calls and online meetings, ask for input from east to west or ask in alphabetical order of names
- To tackle specific issues, incorporate small task forces that meet outside the large group and then report back
- Take unscheduled breaks when energy is low (p. 131)."
What are some additional ideas you can add to increasing engagement with Introverts?
From: Kahnweiler, J. B. (2018). The introverted leader: building on your quiet strength. 2nd edition. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Tags: introversion, leaders, leadership, engagement, ideas, leadership development
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