Webinar: “On FIRE! Seizing the Power to Transform Our Lives from Mundane to Extraordinary!”
| Feeling tired, emotionally exhausted, and frustrated with not being able to move things forward? If so, you’re not alone! Workplace stats indicate people are more reactive and more disengaged, and not able to deliver their best at work. If you can relate, it’s time for some food for the soul. Please join me and my guest John O’Leary for a discussion on how we can create a more fulfilling and healthy life, while also becoming a more effective leader, partner, parent, and human being! In 1987, John O’Leary was a curious nine-year-old boy. Playing with fire and gasoline, John created a massive explosion in his home and was burned on 100% of his body. He was given less than a 1% chance to live. John’s epic story of survival has never felt more relevant than today given all the challenges we face. Today, John is the author of the #1 National Bestselling books ON FIRE and IN AWE. John is also the host of the top-rated Live Inspired Podcast and speaks all over the world. Consistently described as “the best speaker we’ve ever had,” John’s emotional story-telling, unexpected humor and authenticity make each presentation unforgettable. We look forward to seeing you on October 31, 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM (MDT.) Register to reserve your spot! , |
Recording of L2L Webinar with Sam Reese, CEO of Vistage Worldwide
At the end of August, I was joined by Sam Reese, CEO of Vistage Worldwide for a discussion on where leadership is going and what great leaders are doing to inspire action and engagement.
Following are my key takeaways from our discussion.
- Develop your people and then work hard to keep them. Sam was given advice early in his career that as leaders our primary job is to develop others so that they become so capable and talented that your competition wants to recruit them away. Then we have to work hard to keep them by creating the environments where they can continue to grow and develop into better versions of themselves.
- Lead with vision, mission and purpose while keeping “purpose” out front and center every day. Purpose, or why we do what we do, drives engagement and helps people connect their contributions to the bigger agenda. Sam shared an example of keeping purpose out front. To this day he starts his team meetings by asking his team members to share a story of how they helped their customers.
- Embrace ambiguity and uncertainty. It’s easy to get pulled away from our vision when we think it’s our job to remove all ambiguity. Things are changing so quickly that we need to be okay with not knowing all the answers. What we thought was the right answer or course of action yesterday may be the wrong answer today.
- Command and control leadership is dead. People don’t want to be led by leaders who direct and control things. We need to hear from our team members and learn to listen intently. We also need to put our egos aside and avoid driving our own agendas.
- Lead with the right question rather than the right answer. Many of us have been promoted because we know the right answers. As we take on bigger roles, we can’t know everything so we have to ask more than tell and rely more heavily on those who are closest to the action.
- Practice vulnerability and transparency. Vulnerability can be seen as weak, even risky when leaders are with other leaders or in a competitive situation. When we don’t open up as to what’s really going on we invite others to do the same; and when we create cultures where it’s not safe to address the real issues, that’s when you need to worry.
- Hold people accountable and jump into the details when needed.One way to hold people accountable is to have regularly scheduled weekly 1:1 meetings with each of your team members. Sam recommends we start our 1:1 meetings with these 3 simple questions, “What’s going well?” “What’s not going well?” and “Where do you need my help?”
Check out the full interview by clicking the video below.
Webinar: “Accelerating the Creation of a Combat Ready Team”
You’re invited to join us for our first “Leader to Leader” Webinar of 2024 where we invite leaders from a variety of contexts to share leadership best practices with our community of leaders.
Next month we will have a discussion on how to build high performing teams with Colonel Jason “Stinger” Houston, of the USAF. During this webinar, Col Houston will share how he assembled a new squadron of 60 “top gun” aviators within six weeks of deployment to the Middle East. What were his team development priorities, who were the key players, and how did he ultimately create a high-performing combat ready team in record time?
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
9:00 AM to 10:00 AM (MT); 11:00 AM to Noon (ET)
April, 2019 – A Team Development Case Study
“I took command of the 336th Fighter squadron in late April 2019. When I accepted this responsibility, the squadron culture was that of low trust, unhealthy divisions within the aircrew, and diminishing morale and standards. My first priority was to work on the morale and culture of the squadron to rebuild trust and get buy-in. My ultimate goal was to create a high-functioning, highly connected team that would be ready for a combat deployment a year later.
Within three weeks of taking command the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East had changed dramatically. Tensions with Iran had reached a boiling point when oil tankers were being attached in the Strait of Hormuz. Within six weeks of taking command, our squadron was Presidentially directed to deploy to combat, a year ahead of schedule, and my long-term strategy of rebuilding the culture of the squadron was overcome by a new series of events.
Before I knew it, I was leading 60 personnel (aviators and enlisted) and a squadron of F-15Es to the United Arab Emirates for an undetermined amount of time. We would spend the next six months not only deterring Iran but conducting simultaneous operations in three areas of responsibility: the Arabian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq and Syria (Operation Freedom Sentinel and Operation Inherent Resolve).”