Upsize Your Leadership

No one questions the creative genius of Walt Disney. What most people don't know, however, is that he developed a three-phase process to maximize the creativity which he brought to decision-making. It was the process his studios used for decades to make some of the greatest innovative breakthroughs in the early history of the film industry.

In this episode I explain his method in detail and examine the neuroscience which explains why his techniques were so effective. His problem solving approach is simple to understand and easy to implement. And it's equally effective for both group and individual decision-making.

A transcript of the show is available at https://www.upsize-your-leadershipcom/episodes.

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Leadership Succeeds by Getting These V's Right

As a youngster, I stared many a time at flocks of geese flying high overhead during migration season. Every goose was committed for the long haul.

Later in life, I came to see leadership -- particularly strategic leadership -- as a long-haul enterprise. That reminded me of those geese and their characteristic V-formation.

As I toyed with the idea of flying in V-formation, I came to realize that effectiveness at long-haul leadership depends on how well you utilize a cluster of priorities whose names all begin with the letter V. Names like Vision and Values. But other less obvious ones, as well.

I take up some of those words in this podcast, which encapsulates ideas which I have shared in keynotes and trainings for over 20 years. Vision and values, as you might expect, are pivotal elements of this presentation. But so are some other "V" words you might not have thought of. This episode is sure to give you new perspectives on your leadership role.

A PDF transcript of this program is available at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2310-fly-in-v-formation.htm.

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The path to the top, in the opinion of most, is to be an achiever, a top performer. That view is drummed into us from childhood.

In elementary school, recognition and honors go to those whose achievement is superior. There are few awards, if any, for stellar character. The closest to it are good conduct awards, which are themselves more of a reward for performance than character.

And this pattern of rewards continues through our education and into our careers. Interestingly, periodic employee reviews have come to be called "performance reviews." Have you ever heard of companies or organizations conducting periodic "character reviews"?

This suggests that our culture puts much more stock in a a person's achievements than in his or her character. In fact, we tend to praise people almost exclusively on the basis of performance. But when we criticize them, we're prone to ascribe their shortcoming to some flaw in character. It seems that serious conversations about character take place only when it breaks down.

I take up the ramification of these tendencies in this podcast. And I suggest an approach to evaluating employees that is a marked departure from how reviews are typically conducted.

A transcript of today's program is available at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes.

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This is the fifth and final episode in a series of programs on growing concerns about an emerging accountability crisis in America.

In this episode, I offer my thoughts on how leaders can strengthen accountability in their organization. The strategy aims at countering a situation which is increasingly common: workers who are capable and talented, but whose accountability is lackluster. For whatever reason, they entered adulthood without a mature commitment to being accountable.

What I suggest is not a quick-fix approach. Rather, I look at a three-part strategy which grows accountability gradually and incrementally.

Each part of the strategy centers on some aspect of tasking our people and reviewing their performance. At every stage, the strategy draws on motivational techniques which will profit leaders anywhere, even if their organization does not have accountability issues.

The strategy is easy to grasp, simple to implement, and straightforward maintain. But it does require long-term commitments from leaders to model the way and to conduct frequent informal conversations with those who report to them.

You can download a transcript of this program at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2308-rebuilding-accountability.htm.

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Mark Twain is remembered for saying, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it."

For three episodes I have been talking about the erosion of personal accountability in our nation. With this fourth episode in the series, we start doing something about it.

I invite leaders to join a counteroffensive aimed at regaining the ground which accountability has lost. Not a wholesale, frontal assault, mind you. Something more akin to low-key guerilla warfare waged in the leader's sphere of influence.

And our first priority as leaders in this effort is to serve as role models of responsive, responsible accountability. Most of the episode is devoted to showing why modeling the way must be a lead initiative if we are to restore a healthier degree of accountability.

I offer a practical personal exercise which provides a benchmark on how well our current conduct as a leader equips us to be a stellar role model of accountability. It helps us identify where we need to improve our own accountability so that we can serve as a stellar example. I then discuss essentials of using our personal example to maximum effectiveness.

A transcript of the episode is free for download at https://www.lUpsizeYourLeadership.com/episodes/2307-modeling-accountability.htm.

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In the previous two episodes, I've discussed a variety of factors which produced a broad-based perception that personal accountability is greatly diminished. In the last episode, I looked at three cultural trends which have aggravated this decline. These are:

Today I examine three additional contributors.

Here's a summary of how these three work against the interests of personal accountability.

Political polarization has produced the most pronounced social division in our history, with the sole exception of the Civil War. And the distrust which springs from deep polarization inevitably undermines our sense of accountability and responsibility toward those on the other side of the polarizing divide.

Simultaneously, a long-standing ethical consensus built on Judaeo-Christian ideals has weakened appreciably, shouldered aside by a broad embrace of moral relativism. American churches and synagogues historically promoted a vibrant message of individual responsibility and personal accountability. But having steadily lost influence and attendance of late, they have fewer opportunities to promote responsible, accountable living.

As for the third item on our list -- radically shortened lifespans for businesses --its adverse impact on accountability may not be obvious. How could shorter business lifespans weaken accountability?

The impact is subtle, but powerful nonetheless. Compared with businesses historically, companies today are extremely short-lived. The average survival time of companies on the S&P500 is 18 years. Five decades ago it was 61 years. Employees have little assurance that their company will be around for them long-term. They therefore anticipate little benefit from being deeply loyal to the company. And without that loyalty, they may settle for compromised standards of accountability in their work performance.

In the next episode, I turn to strategies which leaders should pursue in response to declining accountability. Accountability may be in decline, but it's by no means dead. It's waiting to be rejuvenated by capable leaders.

A transcript of this episode can be downloaded at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com by following the menu link to Episodes.

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Everywhere I go, it seems, I hear people expressing dismay at what they see as a decaying sense of personal accountability in American culture.

Many factors contribute to the decline. This episode is the second in a multipart series which analyzes these factors from historical, sociological, and psychological standpoints.

This episode traces the adverse impact of three of these factors on personal accountability:

Later episodes in this series will delve into leadership's role and options in combating a rising tide of non-accountability. The initial programs, however, are examining root causes for our growing accountability crisis.

A printed transcript of this episode is available at https://www.UpsizeYourLeadership.com/episodes.

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I overhear more and more conversations of late about accountability. Most of these are discussions of what people perceive as an increasing lack of personal accountability in our culture.

After listeners began urging me to speak to this issue, I decided to give the subject more than a single episode. Instead, I'm planning a series of programs on the topic.

This first installment touches on several issues.

This episode initiates a number of themes which will be explored more fully in later installments of this series.

A printed transcript of this inaugural episode can be downloaded at https://www.UpsizeYourLeadership.com/episodes.

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No nation has ever been as entrepreneurial as the United States. More people in the U.S. aspire to be entrepreneurs than anywhere else on earth.

Far more people take a stab at being an entrepreneur than succeed at it. The failure rate is staggering. And a primary reason for failure is the lack of an entrepreneurial mindset.

People are attracted to an entrepreneurial career because they see the attraction of it. And the life of successful entrepreneurs is especially attractive. Dazzled by the glamorous promise of entrepreneurial success, however, they often fail to see the demand which being an entrepreneur puts on those who seek that way of life.

About one person out of five who approaches me for coaching has an entrepreneurial ambition. What the majority of them lack, however, is an entrepreneurial mindset. The truth is, successful entrepreneurs think differently from other people. It's this mindset, far more than the product or market or team that they choose, which will determine whether they achieve their dream.

In this episode, I examine five key characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset. I look at how each characteristic is attractive and enticing. Then I examine lurking dangers which are not always apparent to the outside observer.

My purpose is not to discourage entrepreneurialism. Rather, my aim is to help people ask whether their entrepreneurial mindset is sufficient to help them weather those dangers when they arise.

A transcript of this episode is available at www.UpsizeYourLeadership/episodes

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Evidence is everywhere that trust is in low repair in our nation. Polarization is deep, and it touches almost every field of human endeavor and opinion.

For almost 20 years, Dr. Mike Armour has been addressing our world's growing problem and how it impacts the world of business leadership. His 2006 book, Leadership and the Power of Trust, has been re-released in an updated and expanded second edition. And within weeks it became an Amazon best-seller in five fields of business and leadership.

In this episode he offers a summary of the book's message about Trust-Centered Leadership. And he highlights the subtitle of the book, How to Build a High-Trust, Peak-Performance Organization. He then shows how one of Microsoft's most pivotal teams used principles from the book to make stellar improvements in performance and effectiveness.

The final part of the podcast examines questions which reviewers have put to him recently about the book. He then shares the answers which he offered to these probing questions.

A transcript of the episode is available in a PDF format at https://www.UpsizeYourLeadership.com by clicking on the link to Download Scripts.

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