The FRONT: A Leadership Podcast

Leaders are always watched. Even when they are not on the field!

I love football as an analogy for business. ANy sports really share so many similarities in leadership and the business world. Leadership is an all the time thing. Many newer managers want to grandstand and show what they can accomplish while they are on the "field" and in play. The reality is that if you are in a leadership role, you are being watched ALL the time! Both your teammates (staff and peers) and the fans (other departments) are watching all the time to see how you perform as a leader... even when you are on the sideline.

Are you leading from the front and showing character and poise? Or are you a one-dimensional taking the limelight from your team to show how good you are? Because you really should invest in your people, grow them and make them self-sufficient. and then when you cheer and lead from the sideline, you will like take more wins than losses!  

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In training, you should TELL  and SHOW your staff to get the best out of them!

Training and teaching are all about being in the front! We likely all remember the weekly "show and tell" when we were in school. Well, in leadership and management it's the inverse. You must TELL and SHOW your people what needs to be done!

Effective training boils down to good communication followed by action. It is also being able to perform the task you are asking to get done yourself. You must clearly communicate what you want to be done; the goal or the task at hand. And, you must be able to articulate it in a manner that your peers or employees are able to comprehend.  If, as a leader, you cannot or will not do the things you want your people to do, then your team will lack accountability. Without accountability, your team, and your business cannot grow. So, train, teach, and grow others around you. Tell people what you want as an outcome, and then be able to show them to help bring them along!

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If you want greater success... you MUST manage your state and up your attitude! So tonight I'm having a discussion on managing your state of mind and upping your attitude! Staying positive is one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself for business! https://youtu.be/fhW1di172E8 Positive self-talk is important. Because positive self-talk leads to positive outcomes. positive outcomes give you a positive self-image and a good self-image keeps the positive attitude strong. Affirmations are a part of positive self-talk. When setting your mind right with an affirmation it is important that you declare the affirmation as if it is already true! Things that help with positivity for me are:

• Positive books, CD's and Audio
• Having positive peers
• Subscribing to positive content online
• Planning your day/work
• Positive meditation - either in the morning or at night.

AND - here are my 6 steps for positive meditation:

1. Do some light exercise. (10 pushups and 10 situps, get the blood flowing!)
2. Get into a comfortable position. (Either sitting straight up or laying flat)
3. Focus on your breathing. Deep slow breaths; visualize your body being relaxed.
4. Choose a single minded focus (maybe two things, but one is ideal)
5. Clear your mind and keep a clear and specific focus.
6. Start out at 3 or 5 minutes. Gradually work your way up to longer as desired. (I personally spend 10-15 minutes and that give me a good positive mindset!)

So I hope you enjoyed the video and the notes! Stay positive, rock it! You are a force! Download This Episode Now! [subscribe2]

Mediocrity is Garbage.

If your life is important then you will stop making excuses and take action! Mediocrity is boring and uninspiring. Excellence and chasing your dream is hard! Everyone has a dream, what is yours? What did you want to do before "real life" set in? I challenge you to look at yourself as a champion and take action! Do something, you have to start right now! Once you have made the decision, even a few minutes every day can move you further along towards excellence!

So whatever it is that you want to be, do or have. Just decide. Then START!  

 

*** NOTE - Yes, the is a re-edited video and re-post of my original Facebook Live Challenge Day 24. (This can be viewed at the link here.) I wanted to add it as an audio podcast as well, and a little refresh and reboot never hurts! So thank you for checking it out this week! ***

You must grow a little everyday day and stay teachable to see ultimate success.

It's so important to stay receptive, listen and be willing to learn. Here are a few points for continued growth and learning.

• People who learn more, tend to earn more.
• Through adult learning, people are often more open minded and more socially connected, more involved in their communities and more likely to be active. Active both physically and mentally!
• People who are willing to continually grow tend to invest more into other people and more often into other people (mentoring).
• Continued growth and learning contributes to higher self-confidence. The more you know, the more willing you are to stretch and the stronger willed you are. (This can be both good and bad!)
• Along with higher self-confidence comes self-resiliency. So, when things don’t go your way, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again, or keep going!

READ BOOKS (Or listen to audio books!)

One of the best ways to learn and grow… I RECOMMEND READING! You can learn from all kinds of books, watch YouTube, “Google it,” or seek out a mentor. Read the Bible today. There are so many great lessons in the Bible. If you are very familiar, then seek out a new Bible plan, and read through it in a different order or method. It may expand your understanding!  

 

Follow through and follow up (with customers) seems to be, to many people, a lost art.

I used to think that lack of follow up, or a follow up "problem" was exclusive to salespeople, in the traditional sense. I have had several experiences with many businesses lately where there is no follow through. Meaning someone at the business tells me they will do something, and then they just don't. And this is a wide variety of businesses - gymnastics camps, gym memberships, dentists, retail - it's a rampant problem. So... I figured it would make a great topic for my show tonight. So... here we go!

It's true. An excellent coach isn't in the huddle. They let their players play!

When it comes game time. You must trust your people to execute. The coach is not on the field with the players, so let the leaders lead in the moment. And, vice-versa, as a top performer, you know what to do... DO IT! The job needs to get done and you need to be able to be counted on to do it and to make the play!

The same goes for business, if you are a staff member, maybe a middle-manager, and you have been trained and you know what to do. You know what needs to be done by others to execute. THEN DO IT!

 

It's all about the leadership, positivity, and motivation!

As you know that is the focus of my twice weekly podcast and blog. So today, I am just throwing out a pure 9 minutes of those things that are important to me. Energy, Enthusiasm, Excitement, Motivation and Positive Attitudes! I love this stuff, it fires me up!! So please, check out my recent video blog below, or my podcast (available on iHeart, Google Play, and iTunes). I hope you enjoy today's message!

You must take charge. You must participate in your own rescue. Grab the life preserver.

Today I am talking about taking charge and being an active participant in your own rescue. Taking charge has so many meanings. Taking charge of your health, of your life, of your family, and of yourself. There are a whole lot of things that you can take charge of. SO… Are you? Okay, so that’s too broad an area to go over in a 10-minute run (below). So let’s talk about taking charge in business. Let’s talk about being an active participant in your business. And this one is not just for the leaders and managers of the world out there. This is really for anyone that wants to see some level of success. It’s especially for those of you that have ever said to yourselves… “man if I was in charge I would do…”

So how do you get there?

You must take charge, act and take necessary steps toward your dream or goal. If you ever want to see any major level of success. Regardless of your level or title in an organization, especially the employee or “staff member” level, you’ve got to participate in your own rescue. DAILY. Meaning: you must get prepared, you have to go out and seek knowledge it is not just a manager’s job to lead you to the promised land “drop” some knowledge on you and then hope that you do the job. You have to seek, you must be the hunter. There so many resources. Many of them are free! You won’t have to invest much more than your time. Google, YouTube, business blogs. They are out there – hundreds of them on every subject you can imagine. Want to know how to bake a cake, Google it – recipes appear how about to fix a sink – there’s a video on that! So if you can find all these simply by investing your time – START INVESTING THAT TIME IN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW. (I would imagine if you’re watching the video, listening to my podcast, you are already going after it and you either need to know where you want to know see you can do it!

15 minutes a day.

That’s the trick. You MUST set aside 15 minutes EVERY SINGLE DAY for yourself to learn and grow. 15 minutes easily turns into 30, then 45 than an hour or more. And you are passionate about a subject or doing something. You will be floored at how much time you can find. When I started doing videos, consistent videos, it began as a 30 day Facebook challenge – and it was a CHALLENGE. It was stress each day to figure out what I would talk about or what to do. Then a few things, I guess this is the part where if you’re going to write something down, this is at. Plan, prepare, and pull the trigger (TAKE ACTION). It really became that easy. If you want to get anywhere in life, you want to do more, you want to be more than you feel you are right now. You have to be an active participant, if not you’ll stay stuck in your own comfort zone. You must take charge of your daily activities. That really is all there is to it. Many people though, they would rather hang out on the couch, maybe crack open a beer, play some Xbox and then wonder… Why am I not achieving what I want? Why is the money not coming? Better activities, lead to better questions, lead to better results. So I’m telling you, and I know I’ve said it several times, be an active participant – participate in your own rescue, take charge now of where it is you are headed!

 

No one likes drama. Especially at work! Eliminating Animosity and Drama in Your Workplace As a leader, you cannot accept the drama, gossip, and animosity that sometimes brews in a place of business. It’s inevitable, no matter how much you would like everything in harmony. Drama happens. People may talk behind others backs (gossip), judge appearance, and then it bleeds into work activities, and work ethic. One thing I have seen is that REALLY good people will not stay in a place where the environment is shitty. First thing is first. Make sure that it isn’t you, the leader or manager that is the problem. If you are the source of the drama or negativity, you got some work to do. No one else will change you and in fact, most of the people that work with or for you will stop trying for fear that you will verbally beat the crap out of them. You need to look in the mirror, get introspective. Look at your stress levels, your work ethic and so on. You should be certain first and foremost that you are not the source of any of the things you don’t want to be represented in your workplace or in your life for that matter. Then you’ve got some clean up to do. Here are 5 simple steps to eliminating and then keeping your “house” clear of drama.

1. One of the first and best things you can and should do is to set clear expectations with your people. Do this right away. Do it upon hire, and then have the self-accountability to follow through when something does arise. (NOTE – I said when, because inevitably it will… this is not an if, but a when it shows up.)
2. When you overhear something being said negatively, especially if it’s about another person. Approach it immediately, in the moment. Do not wait and let things fester or grow.
3. Approach all concerns no matter how small – address these issues head on. Meaning that you may need to pull the concerned (gossipy, drama spewing) individual into a private office and have a one-on-one conversation. Sometimes, it’s just that people want to be heard and if you lend them an ear it can clear the air.
4. If more than one party is involved (assuming it isn’t a volatile situation). Include both parties in a group conversation and help to mediate and steer it positively. So often, gossip and drama spread simply because of a different viewpoint. If you help to bring both or multiple people together through communication it can clear things up quickly. PLUS – it’s hard to look at another human, especially one that you work with daily, in the face and still be willing to perpetuate a crappy attitude.
5. When it comes to drama or negativity, you may need to remind your team who is the boss. And I don’t mean in an authoritarian kind of way, I just mean remind EVERYONE that you don’t allow negativity, gossip or drama, and if there is a legitimate concern, YOU should be the one to address it head on. You don’t need peer resolution or a peer judgment team on these issues.

Keep in mind that even before approaching any of these steps, you must have integrity to follow through with what you say you will do. By setting clear expectations, and having the accountability to follow through if anger, negativity, gossip or drama do show up; you will gain the respect of your peers and your people and it will help maintain a positive and healthy environment where people can make the office their sanctuary. Their safe place because they know it will be upbeat, positive and they know what to expect.

1. Set clear expectations
2. Approach it immediately
3. Address these issues head on
4. Include both parties in a group conversation and help to mediate and steer it positively
5. Remind your team who is the boss