A lot of talented , driven people wrestle with the notion of "Impact". We feel compelled, even obligated, to leave our mark. Or as Steve Jobs said, "make a dent in the universe."

We think that for most people, it'd be health to re-frame the conversation and starting thinking instead about Contribution. 

By shifting our perspective to contribution, we can do more for others, lead without authority, and feel free to simply do our best.

Verbs > Nouns

This Thanksgiving, let's all strive to demonstrate our gratitude through our actions. Be it a hand-written note, a sincerely phone call, or just a warm hug. The gesture doesn't have to be grand, but it does have to be in earnest. 

It's not about being thankful or having an "attitude of gratitude", it's about truly GIVING Thanks.

There’s a reason why the Rangers, the Green Berets, and many other Special Operations Units use unknown distance ruck marches to assess candidates. The ruck is often called “the ultimate equalizer”. It can make a 250lbs linebacker fall by the wayside while a 140lbs teenager drives on. The ruck does not discriminate and it does not relent. 

But those who really know, know that the unknown distance march isn’t about the weight of the ruck or the number of miles covered.

It’s about the uncertainty – the ability to persevere through continuous hardship for however long it takes. It’s about learning to focus on the mission, not the moment. 

There is no inherent value in optionality. None. All of the value resides in the options themselves...and none of that value is captured until an option is exercised...and the optionality goes away. 

In this episode we discuss our desire to keep our options open and why it might be hurting us in the long run. 

You can read this at: https://www.appliedleadershippartners.com/blog/the-danger-in-keeping-our-options-open

Many of life's most important topics are very complex. It's natural for us, as humans, to try and make them simple. How we seek that simplicity is what makes all of the difference.

If we choose not to deeply engage with a complex subject, we settle for a simplistic view of it. And that's perfectly ok, so long as we recognize the limits of our understanding. 

However, we can also choose to really dig in and wrestle with complex topics, uncovering all of the nuance and difficulty. If we do that, then sometimes we can emerge on the other side able to clearly provide a simple explanation. 

Leadership is all about decision making. If you're in charge, you're going to have to decide who to hire, what to invest in, when to kill a project; the list goes on and on. But we're not in this by ourselves. Surely, we want to involve our teams in the decision making process, right? Absolutely! And how we include our teams will make all the difference.

Like almost everything we talk about, we believe that there is a healthy middle ground for making team decisions. On one had, we certainly don't want to make decisions in isolation. If we do that, we'll be un(der)informed and risk making a bad call. However, we also don't want to become stuck trying to make an important decision by committee. The goal is to make truly informed decisions, where we incorporate the relevant input, make the call, and OWN it. 

In times of uncertainty, it's natural to want to conserve what we have. Whenever we feel like we have, or may end up having less than we need, we tend to hold on to what we have a little bit tighter. We conserve water during droughts, we conserve energy when we're sleep deprived, etc. On it's face, there is nothing wrong with conservation. Sometimes it's just the right thing to do. 

But in most cases, we believe that we can do better than simply conserving. What if instead of defending what we have left, we tried to restore what we've lost? What if we could regenerate our energy, our relationships, our businesses, our land, and our communities? 

If you're like us, you often feel like there are just too many important things to do. Even after we eliminate to time-wasters and automate the ankle-biters, we're still left with a list that's longer than we can handle. So what do we do when it's all important stuff, but we still can't seem to get to it everything that we need to? Spoiler alert: It's not multi-tasking!

Instead take a page out of the Special Forces playbook and take some time to clarify your "lines of effort" - the main categories of your priorities. Once you can see them clearly, you can look for ways to optimize your time and energy. You can organize your activities in ways that let you do one thing, while achieving multiple goals.

For example: A run on the treadmill will check your fitness box. But a run on a trail with a friend can check the fitness, nature, and friends box. You're still just doing one thing, but you're getting much more out of that time and effort. It's a simple principle that applies to all aspects of your work and life. Once you see, you won't be able to unsee it.

As we all start coming back together, there is a lot to consider. And while there isn't any recent precedent for emerging from a global pandemic, there are places we can look for insight.

The military has been re-deploying (or coming home from war) for a LONG time. Brandon and I have experienced it ourselves and here are the four biggest lessons we've learned about re-uniting, re-engaging, and re-integrating.

Communication is a critical component of leading people. We build trust be demonstrating a pattern of dependable communication. As leaders these three communication commitments serve us well: clarity, courage, and consistency.

Clarity: See the world as it truly is, not as we want it to be, and share this with our teams. Share guidance, intent, and vision when communicating.

Candor: Be honest...say what needs to be said, when it needs to be said. if we don't know, or if we are wrong, say it. Clear is kind.

Consistency: Say what you mean and do what you say. Follow through with actions and resist the urge to routinely pivot.