Leadership Fitness in 5 Minutes with Gary Slyman

Inspiring or Infuriating

According to Adam Galinksy leadership can be categorized as inspiring or infuriating based on 3 universal characteristics.

1. Visionary
2. Example
3. Mentor

Put in your head the most inspiring leader you have encountered, now think about yourself and where you land. Let's walk through the above areas and then choose one area you can improve.

Conflict! Every organization has it, but it can be healthy or unhealthy depending on your culture.

Let's walk through an example of what that looks like.

3 Elements that Create a Culture of Unhealthy Conflict

1. Polarities
2. Humiliation
3. Negative Culture

Does your work place have any of these? How can you change them?

"Bob was a great program manager and he is not thriving in his new director role."

What is up? I think he has not ended in his mind his previous role as program manager.

Could this be you? Is there something you haven't ended that is holding you back?

Let's look at three areas:

1. Pruning - what needs to go?
2. Choosing - how do you choose what to prune?
3. Executing - be deliberate and clear

What is the last transition you made? Are there things you need to end? Flesh out the details of each area and see if there is something preventing you from leading well in your new position?

I need help getting my goals on track this year. Can you help me? I have a methodology that I want to share with you.

1. Vision
2. Assessment
3. Creating a Path

Think of your goal. Think about your vision and assess where you. Then look at creating a path. There are three parts to the path: state your why, decide on a small incremental step to help you make progress, what obstacles are in the way?

What is the true meaning of Memorial Day. Only 63% of a recent group of American adults surveyed thought Memorial day's prime purpose was for recognition and remembrance.

There was a difference among those in the baby boomer generation and later, let's connect with these three questions.

1. What's its origin story?
2. What is its true purpose?
3. How can you connect?

Answer these questions for yourself. How can you continue to honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice?

How well are you being led? How well are you leading? Let's walk through a quick audit to assess these influences.

1. Thoughts
2. Speech
3. Action

I want you to first think about your leaders, then it will be easier to asses your own leadership.

How are the above being influenced by your leader and those you lead. Your thoughts, speech and actions are changing. Is this positive or negative?

How did you do?

Do you want to retain those you lead more than your competitors? Have a conversation about the follow two areas:

1. Current job performance
2. Career progression

Have these conversations with those that are you leading you and those that you are leading.

A few numbers:

• 28% who left voluntarily over the last quarter did not have a conversation with their leadership about their future with that organization.
• 28% did not have a conversation about their job satisfaction.
• 18% did not have a conversation about their current performance.
• 42% never tell their leadership they are leaving until they do.
• About the same amount as above say their organization could have done something to keep them there.

How can you and organization be intentional and different?

If you are not serving those you lead, you are not leading. How do you do this? Putting conditions in place so individuals and teams can succeed. Here is a simple model to mentally evaluate whether you are giving individuals and teams they need to succeed? March 2025 - Gallup Poll- revealed workers want work/life balance, security and stability and do something they do best 1. What do those you lead need in the short term in order to succeed? 2. What do they need in the long term to succeed? Do this for both the individual and the team. You just evaluated your team as individuals and a whole. What can you do to help them succeed?

Want to create professional opportunities for yourself?

Network

Look at these three elements:

1. Wake up your dormant network - Who is someone you haven't connected with in several years? Can you reconnect?
2. Real connections not transactions - Make it a real connection, I want to learn as much as I can about this person, their job and their organization.
3. Be curious - This is about education and learning. How did you get here? What do you think or the organization or industry?

This is an opportunity to educate yourself in all kinds of areas. You are getting a Master's degree in other's jobs and industries. This will help you perform better where you land next.

How emotionally intelligent are you? Can you put a number on it? I can. Let's look at the MSCEIT 2 test, it is an objective test measuring skills and abilities in emotional intelligence

1. Perceiving Emotions: in yourself, others and the environment
2. Connecting Emotions: ability for me to connect empathetically with others
3. Understanding Emotions: measuring your skills and abilities to understand the meaning of emotions, where they came from.
4. Managing Emotions: the emotions in yourself and others to get to the right decision.

If you understand where you are in each of these areas and where you need to grow, it will be helpful for you to be a better leader.

Looking to take this test? Contact me today.