Applied Leadership Podcast

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.

Welcome to the Applied Leadership Podcast! We are stoked to have you joining us on the trail. 

Our goal is to bring you the most leadership value per minute of any podcast on the airwaves.

Every episode is designed to help you refine and apply your leadership practice. Episodes are 5-10 minutes in length and will give you actionable takeaways. Timely subjects. Timeless wisdom.

We'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions, would like to chat, or have topics that you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can find us at www.appliedleadershippartners.com or simply send us a note at [email protected] 

As leaders, we cannot please everybody, though we wish to. "Leadership isn't Liker-ship" means not everyone on the team will like the decision. Frankly, you as the leader might not like it, but you can make it and align the team to execute together because we can have alignment without agreement. Alignment is harmony of efforts. Agreement is harmony of opinions. There will inevitably be disagreements within any team. As leaders, we can hear all relevant perspectives on a given matter, review all the information, and still be left with differences of opinions within the team. As leaders, we have to care for those who disagree, while aligning all teammates to achieve the objective. We can do that with care and compassion for those who disagree, while staying the course and ensuring they remain valuable members of an aligned team.

If you're watching this video, I think it's safe to say that being BUSY is not your goal in life, at least not anymore. But if you're like us, you still want to be productive. You still want to be fulfilled. And we do that by being ENGAGED.

So how do we get there? How can we get ourselves and our teams to shift from busyness to engagement? This may be the most important leadership question of our time. And while we don't have all the answers, we do have a some suggestions as to where to start.

Priorities: It's not about how much you do. It's not even about doing things right. It's about doing the right things. Most of us have far too many things on our to-do list and too little understanding on what's most important. If you have a team, providing them with clear priorities is one of the best things you can do as a leader. Good, smart people will do amazing things if they can execute confidently.

Focus: We need to start doing one thing at a time. The distractions are endless, and the ability to focus is truly a super power. Sadly (and contrary to many marketing campaigns), there is no secret pill or potion to help us focus. We have to practice. We need to train ourselves. Start with the simple stuff. Just brush your teeth. Or drive your car. Or have one conversation.

Our goal is to live a fully engaged life. And that means that we have to stop being so damn busy.

In a world with so much change and chaos, it's natural to reach for something certain to hold on to. It is totally normal to want some certainty...but we can't have it, because it just doesn't exist.

So what do we do? How can we lead our teams into an uncertain future? Well, while we can't have certainty, we can have CONFIDENCE. And we earn confidence through a combination of experience and preparation.

When we stop trying to predict the future, we can start preparing for it.

Influence is a big part of the world we live in. It seems that everybody is trying to get more of it. As leaders, we absolutely need influence to move our teams forward. That's not debatable. Influence IS important. But what's more important is how we derive and apply that influence.

We believe influence comes in two fundamental forms: Force and Power.

Force tends to work in the short run. We can push and pull and grab people's attention. We can gain influence by shouting the loudest or pushing the hardest or gaining the most leverage. But when we think about the people we most admire, those who are most influential, we don't see that. Instead we see calm and confidence and consistency and integrity.

The people we truly respect seem to be magnetic. We just want to be around them, to be on their team, to help in their work. They have a certain GRAVITY to them. And that is their real power.

Generating this kind of power takes time. It is the slower, but stronger path to influence. And all it requires is for us to be where we are and WHO we are. Just like any celestial body, our mass will eventually pull others toward us, and maybe even into our orbit. If we can focus on our mission, stay in our lane, do the work, and stay within our integrity, we can slowly build some mass and generate some gravity.

It's hard to resist the shorter path to influence. It's easy to chase whatever is currently getting clicks or likes. It's faster to force it. But that is not the way to long-term success. Great teams, companies, and cultures are not built that way. So take your time. Think hard about who you are and what you stand for, then be that person. The gravity will build and the influence will come.