Lead For Clarity

Shandel and Melanie welcome a special guest, Ed Wickman, to discuss his experiences with the Purposefully Connect stage of the Process of Sustainable Growth. The team explores the concepts of the healthy cycle of growth versus the unhealthy cycle of misery. Ed reflects on how early in his career he lacked leadership tools and fell into a "boss mentality." He contrasts this with his current approach of aligning teams around shared values and purpose. Ed shares his insights, favorite tools and leadership approaches! 

Key Takeaways: 

1. Focus on building trust and authentic connections with employees. Get to know them as people through daily check-ins and active listening. This helps foster engagement and open communication.
2. Shift from a top-down "boss" mentality to a side-by-side coaching approach through empathy, shared language, and supporting employees' growth and goals.
3. Be persistent over time in driving cultural changes through small, consistent actions each day like recognizing contributions and using shared values in conversations. Building trust among peers is also important for facilitating change.

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In this episode, hosts Shandel and Melanie provide listeners with strategies and tips for effectively setting goals for the new year 2024. The team talks through digging into the "why" behind goals and drivers, what success specifically looks like numerically, creating attainable action plans, planning for life obstacles, and making goals connect to one's deepest values and purpose. 

They discuss the importance of having both a strategic plan as well as flexibility to adapt goals over time. Distinguishing between surface level "symptoms" like customer service issues, versus deeper underlying "causes" such as low morale or lack of tools that should be the real focus of goals.

Shandel Group's comprehensive SMAART goals template adds elements beyond the typical SMART framework. This includes making goals specific, setting quantifiable and measurable metrics, breaking large goals into achievable smaller steps, anticipating potential barriers and how to overcome them, ensuring goals are truly meaningful and relevant, and setting regular dates to re-evaluate progress and celebrate milestones. Each component of the template is explored in detail to help listeners set clear, measurable and attainable goals. 

The value of accountability partners is highlighted, as is reflecting on successes and failures from the past year. Additional resources will be shared through the Shandel Group newsletter to support listeners at various stages of the goal setting process. 

If you'd like to use our worksheet to workshop your goals, reach out to us at [email protected]! We encourage you to apply the discussed strategies to inform your own goal setting for 2024. 

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This episode of Lead for Clarity focused on the "pain stage" of the Process of Sustainable Growth. Shandel and Melanie interviewed their guest, Rob Shipp, about his experiences in the Navy and how he has worked to develop trust with his team. Rob discussed how he realized the Navy hadn't been focusing enough on developing leadership skills. He worked with Melanie to provide a 9-week leadership training program for his team. The discussion explored how acknowledging pain and being uncomfortable can help drive growth. Rob also shared personal stories about improving communication with his children and looking inward at his own behaviors. The episode emphasized the importance of addressing pain points in order to progress through the growth cycle.

Key Takeaways:

• Addressing pain points and areas of discomfort is necessary to progress through the healthy growth cycle.
• Focusing only on behaviors and results is superficial; getting to the root causes by exploring events, stories, and feelings leads to deeper understanding and change.
• Developing trust, both giving and receiving it, is an ongoing leadership challenge that requires self-reflection and commitment.
• Personal growth often happens through acknowledging pain in relationships close to home, like with children, and looking inward at one's own behaviors and communication styles.
• Providing opportunities for teams to have open discussions about both work and personal lives can foster stronger connections and engagement with leadership development.

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the truth and is brought back, (20) you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

Review:

Confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you may be healed. This was last week's message. This week is when someone is not confessing and they should be.  :) 

ASK: Why would someone wander from the truth?

1. They do NOTHING…that’s right... their life is not changed one bit, they stop obeying = backslide
2. Sin, they don’t want to stop, because they like it more than living upright  moral lives.
3. Hard times, persecution (seed sown in rocky soil) - MT 13
4. They don’t fully grasp it, they don’t understand, and I think they don’t get the big picture of what life is meant to be. Garden of Eden- relationship with God.  (seed sown along the path) 
5. Enticements of the world crowd out and take the place of Jesus (seed sown among thorns), things of this world are more important than Jesus. 

Disappointment that leads to “maybe it’s just not worth it” 

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Shandel Sutherland and Melanie Montgomery welcome back guest Lydia Faitalia. Lydia shares how centering her values helped bring balance and opportunities in her life as a working mom. She shared her story of centering her life around her values, having hard conversations, digging deep within herself, and building a fulfilling career. Having the courage to confront difficult issues and go through hard situations, even if it meant disappointing others, allowed her to thrive.

Focusing on and centering your life and decisions around your core values can lead to positive growth, shifts, and opportunities. It's important to take the time to understand your own values and priorities through self-reflection and difficult conversations. Leaning into discomfort and confronting hard issues, even if it means disappointing others, allows for growth and thriving in the long run. Investing in your own leadership development through coaching and mentorship focused on values profoundly impacts all areas of life. Having the courage to go through difficulties and revisit values during uncertainty provides clarity, confidence, and freedom to say no when needed. Doing inner work and being vulnerable in the process of understanding values leads to benefits personally and professionally. Leaders should encourage others to value themselves enough to invest in their own growth and leadership through focusing on their core principles.

To learn more about the Process of Sustainable Growth, check out the first episode of this season! 

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In this episode, Shandel Sutherland and Melanie Montgomery discuss the dangers of "off ramping" from sustainable growth and entering an "unhealthy cycle of misery." They provide frameworks to identify unhealthy vs. healthy leadership cycles and steps to get back on track.

Off ramping occurs when leaders stop investing in growth and instead focus only on short-term wins and survival. This leads to an "unhealthy cycle of misery" characterized by negative mindsets, culture, and lack of positive change. 

The cycle of misery centers around having a "victor" mindset of only caring about winning rather than values. Behaviors in the cycle of misery include blaming others, being distracted to avoid problems, and only focusing on short-term dollars and dividends. As the cycle continues, it leads to a culture of dictating orders rather than empowering growth, which disconnects the leader from the team over time.

To get out of this cycle, leaders must reconnect to their values and those of the organization through truth, trust, and humility. Admitting mistakes is key to regaining focus on sustainable growth. The goal is not to never off ramp, as all leaders will occasionally, but to recognize it quickly and take steps to reconnect and get back on track through values-based leadership.

The podcast provides a framework to identify unhealthy vs healthy leadership cycles and emphasizes that all leaders will occasionally off ramp, so the goal is recognizing it and getting back on track as quickly as possible.

Discussion Questions:

• Have you ever recognized being in the Cycle of Misery in your leadership? 
• What phase do you think you may be in now?
• How can you reconnect to values and get back on track?

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This episode of Lead for Clarity focuses on the final stage of the Process of Sustainable Growth - Profit. Shandel and Melanie discuss what profit means beyond just monetary gains, emphasizing things like team morale, effectiveness, and clarity of vision. ACTions to take in the profit stage are accomplishing the mission, conveying appreciation and celebration, and tackling the next pain point or challenge.

Properly reflecting on accomplishments and celebrating as a team builds stronger relationships and confidence to tackle what's next in the continuous process of sustainable growth. Leaders should give themselves and their teams permission to feel good about wins before moving forward. Rushing ahead without acknowledging goals being met can demoralize teams.

Tools suggested include financial planning, strategic analysis and ensuring cultural alignment as the organization expands. Additional takeaways are that growth happens in ongoing cycles, and each new challenge should be faced with optimism after celebrating wins. Sharing one's growth journey can help coach others. Maintaining momentum comes from continually seeking new ways to improve.

Key Takeaways:

• Define profit beyond just monetary gains to include team morale, effectiveness, clarity of vision
• Make time to celebrate accomplishments to boost confidence for the next challenge
• Track personal and team wins to reference past successes when facing future difficulties
• Avoid rushing to the next objective without acknowledging goals being met
• In profit stage, accomplish mission, convey appreciation, celebrate, and tackle next pain point
• Give yourself and team permission to feel good about wins before moving forward
• Consider financial planning, strategic analysis, cultural alignment as organization grows

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In this podcast episode, Shandel and Melanie the important but often overlooked "prune" stage of the growth process. They explain why pruning is necessary for long-term sustainable growth and share tools and strategies for effectively pruning at both the individual and organizational levels. Listeners will learn a framework for effectively navigating this stage of growth through asking questions, collaborating with others, and carefully trimming areas that are no longer serving long-term goals.

The episode provides a framework for thoughtfully navigating the prune stage through collaboration and trimming non-essential things to focus on long-term sustainable growth. Pruning involves removing things that served you in the past but may now be hindering momentum. It allows for working smarter with less effort. Collaboration and communication are vital. Involving teams and being a good listener helps facilitate change and avoids losing trust. Leaders should ask questions like "Why are we doing this?" and recognize they don't have all the answers. Delegating effectively and learning what can be pruned frees up time and space. Individuals can prune habits, set new goals, and optimize processes during downtimes. Even good things may need pruning to make room for new priorities as circumstances change over time.

Topics covered:

• Why the prune stage is so important but often resisted
• The difference between pruning happening "to you" vs. being proactive  
• Examples of what to look for to prune like hidden renegades on teams
• Asking the right questions like "Why are we doing it this way?"
• Learning to delegate effectively to free up time and space
• Involving teams in decision making through collaboration and communication
• Setting new goals and priorities after pruning unnecessary habits
• Using downtime to optimize processes and sharpen existing skills
• Personal examples of pruning even good habits to make room for new focus areas

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In this episode, Shandel and Melanie discuss the key stages of the growth process model, with a focus on navigating the Progress stage. The team stresses the importance of celebrating milestones to maintain motivation as changes start to take shape. Checking in on morale and buy-in, simplifying processes, and clear communication are also highlighted as important factors for success during this phase. The discussion provides actionable tips leaders and individuals can apply to stay on track during periods of progress.

The Progress stage of the Cycle for Sustainable Growth is where changes start to be seen. The team discusses what growth looks like in reality vs expectations. Growth is not a straight line, and we need to embrace the ups and downs. Identifying meaningful ways to mark progress and using these milestones to celebrate wins along the way and stay motivated is key. 

During this stage, it’s important to check in to ensure everyone remains on board with changes. How is the morale? Check for contentment and discontentment. Simplifying and streamlining as things start to fall into place will set you up for success in the next stage. Communicating progress clearly to build understanding and buy-in helps continue the growth.  

The ACTion steps in the Progress stage are:

• Acknowledge success – celebrate progress & follow through on celebration plan of milestones.
• Check in – continue to guard the culture and make sure people are not becoming complacent. 
• Take fuel, take a breath – really get to know and invest in your team.

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In this episode, Shandel and Melanie discuss the third stage of the Process for Sustainable Growth - the Plant Stage. This stage is all about doing the hard work of implementing changes after an initial period of excitement. Lasting change requires continuing the hard work of implementation even after the initial excitement fades. Sticking with training, accountability practices and skill-building leads to profound results.

It's important to have patience during the Plant Stage as new habits and behaviors take hold over time. Sticking with the process of implementation and not giving up prematurely is critical for success. Accountability, confrontation, and training/development are critical actions during this stage. Holding teams and individuals accountable to new standards through feedback and healthy conflict helps ensure goals and expectations are properly understood and met. 

Investing in systems, processes and regular development opportunities like strategic planning, sales training and leadership labs helps new behaviors take root culturally and form lasting habits. Ongoing training that uses tools like the 12 Steps to Accountability empowers people with understanding, confidence and skills so they can meet expectations independently over the long run. People want to feel their skills and careers are being continuously invested in. Consistent checking in and reinforcement aids long-term learning retention and application. 

Driving real and lasting change requires continuing efforts even after initial enthusiasm fades. Sticking with training, accountability, and skill-building over time leads to profound results by forming new habits and transforming organizational culture for the better. Regular check-ins aid in ongoing learning and proper application of new strategies.

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#LeadForClarity #LeadershipDevelopment #Leadership #Growth #ExecutiveCoaching #LeadershipCoaching #EmotionalIntelligence #Clarity #PersonalAccountability #Communication