2021 is 15% over already. It seems like we are still talking about how bad 2020 was, and - in the blink of an eye - our runway for achieving our best work in 2021 is 15% gone.

In today's episode, we check in on our 2021 goals, talk about what distracts us from meeting those goals and provide some guidance on what to do about it. It's clear we are all still recovering from a bad year, so give yourself some grace, take a step back, assess where you are and where you want to be, and move forward in that direction.

Thanks for joining us today and don't forget to hit the subscribe button and reach out at [email protected].

Today Tiffany and Robert discuss the future of Leadership and Organizational development in light of the events of the last few years.

In a recent Forbes article by Dede Henley, she talks about the emergent nature of leadership in 2021 and beyond and identifies five elements of future leadership. According to Henley, only around 18% of us as leaders are equipped with the skills and mentality needed to succeed post-2020.

• S - Spiritual
• P - Physical
• I - Intellectual
• N - iNtuition
• E - Emotion

These SPINE elements paint a more holistic version of what it will take to survive and thrive as a leader and human as we look to transition successfully to an after-COVID world.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dedehenley/2020/12/19/2021-leadership-resolutions-to-find-success-in-our-changing-world/?sh=68f7e9226fab

Thanks for joining us today and don't forget to hit the subscribe button or reach out at [email protected].

Today, we finish up our series on The Seven Deadly Leadership Sins with, Pride. Organizational Pride is especially tricky to deal with as leaders, at scale, because it encompasses other Deadly Leadership Sins. However, the good news is that if you can successfully mitigate Organizational Pride, you may have an easier time avoiding other leadership sins as well.

Simply put, Organizational Pride is the inability or unwillingness to listen. It's the outright rejection of the correct path because we collectively feel like we know better. Most of the time, we can mitigate this at the moment-in-time we realize we made a bad decision as leaders - but we are often too afraid to act or change course because of the potential negative implications.

Organizational Pride also rears its ugly head with a myopic focus on "the plan". Sometimes, as leaders, we get too focused on delivering against a rigid plan, that we fail to notice when the ground underneath us shifts and we must adapt.

The remedy to Organizational Pride is to first start being honest with yourself about your mistakes, and then to other people. Next, re-examine your incentive structure and the gravitational pulls towards self-centered behaviors. Finally, work to redefine your organizational's success criteria to be success focused, where the only way to win is if your peer/neighbor wins.

Thanks for joining us today and don't forget to hit the subscribe button or reach out at [email protected].

In today's episode, Tiffany and Robert continue the discussion on another Deadly Leadership Sin: Envy. Envy within an organization can take a dangerous internal or external focus.

Internally, we shift the focus on measuring effort at the expense of customer-focused metrics as a way to avoid responsibility and diminish the impact of negative outcomes.

Externally, we become myopically focused on our competitors trying to duplicate what is already done - instead of focusing fanatically on our customer's needs and moving our decisions towards them.

As a remedy, Tiffany shares a hard-won series of six customer satisfaction questions to help fight against Organizational Envy and become more customer focused in the future. These have a bit of a professional-services bent to them but should serve as a solid starting point for any leader looking to fight the negative impact of Envy within their organization:

1. Are we making you successful?
2. Do you view us as a strategic partner?
3. Do you believe you have access to the best talent to meet your needs?
4. Are we helping your boss look good?
5. Do you feel like we are invested in you?
6. What is our pain-to-value ratio? How difficult are we to work with based on the value we provide?

Thanks for joining us today and don't forget to hit the subscribe button or reach out at [email protected].

In today's episode, Tiffany and Robert discuss our next Deadly Leadership Sin: Wrath. In organizations, Wrath can take many forms mostly centered around "radio silence" - simply a refusal to address or deal with problems within the ecosystem.

As before, we discuss potential remedies which start at the top (big surprise) and may need some more specific ground rules or outside coaching.

Thanks for joining us today and don't forget to hit the subscribe button or reach out at [email protected].

In today's episode, Tiffany and Robert discuss the fourth Deadly Leadership Sin: Sloth.

In an organization, Sloth looks like taking the path of least resistance. We are not saying "Leaders are Lazy" or lack professional will. Rather, as leaders, we tend to default to praising and rewarding our high performing superstars while simultaneously ignoring our poor performers or toxic employees.

Data suggests that the toxic employees are more damaging to your organization than superstar employees are helpful. In human interactions, repelling forces are always more powerful than forces of attraction.

The remedy here is simple to understand but difficult to implement. First, is to set ground rules on the team, that everyone contributes to and agrees on. Next is to provide feedback (positive and negative) when behaviors misalign with those ground rules. As a leader, setting the example, communicating the ground rules, and providing regular, consistent, and timely feedback is critical to avoid Organizational Sloth.

Thanks for joining us today and don't forget to hit the subscribe button or reach out at [email protected].

In today's episode Tiffany and Robert discuss the third Deadly Leadership Sin: Greed. Greed is an especially difficult sin to identify and remedy because it fills the space of what you don't hear. So, today's episode is about finding signals in the noise.

Greed, simply put, assumes customer obsession. Almost every initiative starts with the customer at the center, but we tend to drift in other directions towards priorities and metrics that are easier to measure and provide more comfort - versus focusing on what really matters. We leave the end user or customer out of the conversation.

The key remedy here is to focus on bringing the customer's voice back into the discussion and making sure the team is myopically focused on that above all else.

Thanks for joining us today and don't forget to hit the subscribe button or reach out at [email protected].

In today's episode Tiffany and Robert discuss the second Deadly Leadership Sin: Gluttony. Within an organization, Gluttony looks like feeling short changed.

Gluttony can sound like:

• "If only I had more training" or
• "If only I had more marketing support" or
• "If only I had more resources"

Gluttony is the behavior of constantly taking without any clear articulation of how these resources will be used to win.

Luckily, there's a remedy for Gluttony and insatiable behaviors within an organization.

• First, define very clear and agreed upon priorities. Before a team can start down a path, they should be really clear about what the business outcomes and priorities are.
• Second, as a leader, ask "But what if it could...?" to engage in some blue sky thinking. "If I removed your obstacles, then what would happen?

Thanks for listening and reach out any time at [email protected].

In today's episode Tiffany and Robert discuss the first Deadly Leadership Sin: Lust. Within an organization, Lust looks like inflexibility and creating false dependencies that lead to blame shifting over time.

We've all heard it before:

• "We can't get started until we have X" or
• "We can't approve this until we get Y" (when Y was never required).

Luckily, there's a remedy for Lust and inflexible behaviors within an organization.

• First, feedback. Leaders must identify what inflexibility "sounds like" within an organization and provide timely feedback to their team when they see it.
• Second, Leaders must facilitate an environment of trust. Teams that increase trust will be less likely to engage in inflexibility. Check out The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Start with "Yes, And..."
• Finally, we provide a simple heuristic for identifying flexible and low-dysfunction team members: "I would want to work with this person again".

Thanks for listening and reach out any time at [email protected].

Today, we share a recording of a recent presentation Tiffany gave to a group of executives around The Seven Deadly Leadership Sins and How to Get to The Good Place.

In this discussion Tiffany outlines seven critical flaws that create dysfunction within an organization and remedies to get through each of them. This is a great conversation for any leader looking to accomplish more within their organization.

Thanks for listening and reach out any time at [email protected].