Bold Leadership podcast

Bold Leaders face challenges every day.  Negotiations take a tough turn.  Your team loses a big sale or you are a combat leader taking fire from the enemy...be a duck.  I still remember the day my Director of Operations called me into his tent in the middle of the desert 20 years ago, sat me down and said, "Dave, be a duck."  I can honestly say that I was completely befuddled and asked for an explanation.  “Dave, have you ever watched a duck on a pond?  They swiftly move across the water.  The water stays calm, the duck looks peaceful, but the duck is paddling like hell to move across the pond and you would never know it by looking at him.  Sometimes your passion and reactions limit your leadership.” To say that I am a passionate and intense individual may be an understatement and I can honestly say this is the best advice I have ever received.

I want you to look in the mirror and think about how you react when you hear bad news.  Do you show intense emotion?  Do you externalize that emotion and take it out on your team or your suppliers? Have you ever laid into a call center person who is not giving you the support you desire?  I think that most of us can say that we have lost our cool, become frustrated and taken that frustration out on people who really can’t do anything to resolve the issue.  I know I have done this and it rarely works.

Be A Duck…When things are falling to pieces how do you react and what mechanism do you have in place to ensure that you keep your cool, control the situation and make smart decisions?  Here are some tricks I suggest to handle difficult situations.  To keep it simple just follow this acronym: ACT, Assess the situation, Consider responses, and take action. Don’t rush to judgment.  Listen, I mean really listen…ensure you have all the facts then check the facts again before you react.  The initial problem will not seem as difficult once you know all of the facts.  If you go external with a problem before you have all of the facts or propose a solution based on only some of the facts you have set your team up for failure more importantly you may lose the trust of your team or customers.  Once you have the facts, consider your options. Many times you will have a multitude of options to consider that allow for many paths to a final solution that is mutually beneficial.  Finally, based on your available options take the appropriate action. I know that I have been to quick to respond and it has cost me.   The ACT philosophy works in every situation and allows you to respond appropriately based on the facts.

Its funny certain professions drive c

Everyone must understand the value of effective leadership.  It’s the only way to grow successful teams.   Without Bold Leadership you are doomed to mediocrity.  I believe that accountability serves as the key ingredient for Bold Leadership.  Today I am going to share the power of accountability, the impact of the “blame game” and provide both political and corporate examples where leaders have failed to act boldly. 

The state of our nation

•       Debt – 18 trillion dollars

•       Government violating the constitution freely

•       Economic, political, military and social failures – everyone else’s fault 

If you are a leader then you are accountable

•       CEO blames predecessor for current company challenges

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The Intro

Everyone must understand the value of effective leadership.  It’s the only way to grow successful teams.   Without Bold Leadership you are doomed to mediocrity.  I believe that bold leaders who empower individuals, value their team and look at failure as an opportunity are destined for greatness.  Today I am going to teach you why you should bridge the digital gap between your analog boss and your new hires.  How you can improve your team’s performance by bridging this gap and provide three bold rules for translating analog thought processes to digitally minded next gen teammates.

We are entering interesting times.  Most senior executives still remember watching black and white televisions.  Most of your new hires never lived without a cell phone.  You are trapped between analog executives and digital new hires.  We serve as the translator.  I know this because I live in this diametrically opposed universe everyday.  You want to leverage technology to manage processes, have an electronic dashboard to manage your metrics and leverage telecommuting to improve production from your younger team members.  The old man still wants to keep paper files, is scared of the cloud and wants everyone at their desk from 9-5 at a minimum thus sucking the life out of your younger team members. 

Lynn Connet, one of my favorite mentors once told me, “If you are unwilling to adapt and change you will become irrelevant.”  This statement has never been more true than in our ever changing digital world today.  I know you know this because you live it everyday.  I bet that your first cell phone was a flip phone, you’ve heard of black and white television and know what rabbit ears are.  Your boss on the other hand just got his first cell phone in the last five years, grew up with black and white television and knows what a busy signal sounds like.  He grew up in a business world with a typewriter, fax machine and a legal pad.  Your new hires are digitally connected.  Their first phone was an iPhone.  They grew up on facebook, twitter and instagram.  Their first resume was uploaded on linkedin 2 months before g

This episode concludes the trifecta of the leadership pyramid.  If you are leading a company then you need to listen to this episode.  We will discus the importance of listening to the team, personal development and identify some of the major land mines that come with the responsibility of leading a large organization.  Don't surround yourself with "Yes Men" and Be Bold!

This week's episode discusses the foundation of the leadership pyramid.  The secret to how quickly you will be a successful leader lies in how well you understand and perform at the tactical level.

When everything around you is going wrong we all want to do something even if it is the wrong thing.  You are drowning in quicksand.  Learn how to lead when everything is going wrong.

In this short episode Dave discusses the backgound behind bold leadership and gives you a little insight to the life that led to bold leadership.