Applied Leadership Podcast

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.