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.