My life is about equipping people with tools to help them and others Find Their Winning Edge. One of those tools is to embrace the mindset to Be Your Best! Not THE best, but YOUR best. This is a critical distinction, as, by definition, only a small number can actually be THE best at anything. If we hold this up as our standard, then its achievability makes it uninspiring, even deflating. But anyone can be THEIR best. There are three elements that inform this mindset: 1) Purpose drives our energy 2) Be relentless 3) Compete against yourself
A Thanksgiving mindset will increase your performance! This Thursday what are you going to give thanks for? Will you have a grateful heart for all the good things that exist in your life? In 2012, I traveled approximately 130,000 miles. I was away all week from my wife and kids. My boys went through their senior years with me on the road. I was trying to make plays in my career, while also trying to stay connected with my boys and their big senior events, but I felt like I was missing out. Did I make it to all of them? No, but I did make it to most of them! That year on the many nights away from home I would stand up and thank God for all the blessings that I had in my life. I did this simple thing as part of my routine for over a year. NIKE’s slogan says, Just do it. So, I did it! I am so glad I did because now my ability to manage stress has become easier. My stress management is not easy, just easier. The outcome was an attitude of gratitude for my family and what I have. I’m grateful that was the turning point that shifted my mindset to gratefulness and I’ve never looked back. The Greater Good Science Center has research showing that gratitude is good for a person’s body, mind, and relationships. I understand being grateful in the midst of a problem, failure, abuse, or a pandemic is tough. In order to FIND YOUR WINNING EDGE, gratitude is something you should try because the rewards are two-fold.
The #KISS method will increase Performance! “Keep it Simple” #KISS A leader is a person who can inspire another to take a journey that they will not take by themselves. Winning Edge’s Take Another Step System, an inspirational leadership workshop, shows us 5 ways to inspire another person. Today we will discuss #4, The Kiss Method, Keep it Simple; last week we discussed I Got Your Back. “The liberation of simplicity”.--Mark Rembert Keep things simple for your people, and remember complexity is the enemy of clarity. In my 35+ years in business, the best leaders that I have seen are those who can take something complicated and make it simple! Your people will be energized and inspired when you can do that for them. Remember, each person has a different set of skills, experience, and level of education. Three things to consider to Keep it Simple! 1.Choose the right person for the right task 2.Establish routines 3.Eat the elephant one bite at a time
In my early days in leadership, my company’s COO came striding into our department demanding to know why some yet-to-be-completed project remained undone. He focused on one of my teammates that reported to me and demanded answers. Instinctively, I stepped in and said, “Sir–she reports to me, and I am responsible for this area.” Though I wasn’t exactly sure how we were going to pull this off, I was absolutely certain that I needed to protect my teammate. The COO, perhaps a bit taken aback, simply replied, “Good! Get it done!” The person who I’d protected was grateful, and from that moment forward, she was one of my most loyal and productive teammates. I had shown her that I had her back, and from then on, she had mine! Consider these 3 thoughts about #IGYB:
A leader is a person who can inspire another to take a journey that they will not take by themselves. Winning Edge’s Take Another Step System, an inspirational leadership workshop, shows us 5 ways to inspire another person. Today we will discuss #2, HOPE! A few weeks ago we discussed #1, TRUST. How do you know if someone has HOPE? They will understand that they can become better than their current situation. They have energy and a desire to grow. People with no hope are desperate people who believe that they have no control of their outcome. They will act out of doubt and frustration. They can be destructive in nature with no idea that they can move forward. When we build hope into another person, they will first never forget that you helped them find themselves. They will be loyal to you, and they will be able to make a difference for your organization. This will eventually help you and your organization stop quiet quitting and turnover!
A leader is a person who can inspire another person to take a journey that they will not take by themselves. Winning Edge’s Take Another Step System, an inspirational leadership workshop, shows us five ways to inspire another person. Today we will discuss #1. TRUST! Trust is the electricity of inspiration which will lead to high performance or transformation of behavior! Without it, you have nothing but quiet quitting and a revolving back door. Stephen Covey argues in his bestselling book, the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that trust is the #1 human motivation. It brings out the very best in people, but it takes time and patience. Well, what does TRUST mean? We like to think of it as when a person fully depends or relies upon someone else’s character and/or abilities to help them achieve their goals and dreams.
In Winning Edge’s Take Another Step System, an inspirational leadership workshop, we will focus with laser-like intensity on the most important leadership concept we know: inspiration. . Remember, a leader is a person who can inspire another person to take a journey that they will not take by themselves. So how do you inspire someone? Let’s take a look at John Maxwell’s inspiration formula: I nspiration = Know + See + Feel When leaders genuinely connect to their people’s heart and spirit, those around them feel valued and truly a part of the organization, and they will be inspired to take that journey that they would not make by themselves. You will make this connection through the 3 following ways: 1) How do you make people feel? 2) What do they see you do? 3) What do they know about you? Let’s Discuss!
Happy 4th of July! I recently came across a profound definition of freedom that left me in awe. It goes like this: “Freedom is when a person is in a priceless position where they have “everything” to gain and nothing to lose. Our amazing founders boldly broke free from their constraints, taking a tremendous risk to choose freedom. They adopted a mindset where they had everything to gain and nothing to lose! Do you feel weighed down by past limitations, self-imposed restrictions, or the expectations of others? Here are three perspectives on freedom that have guided me on my journey to becoming the best version of myself: Freedom of Thought Freedom of Choice The Freedom Pass
What are your main problems in business today? There are three that keep coming up in my discussions with leaders across industries: Quiet Quitting Turn and Burn of Human Capital Toxic Leadership How can we solve these problems? We invest our time in developing great leaders! So how do we do this?
My father died three years ago, and I miss him daily. His own father was inadequate in many ways, but my dad made the choice not to carry that legacy forward, but rather to build a new one. Some of you may have had excellent fathers. Some may have had experiences similar to my dad’s. In either case I hope this encourages you to create the solid ground that your kids need to FIND THEIR WINGS, so they can fly! This is my tribute to all the dads out in the world today. A dad has many identities, a friend, an uncle, a grandparent, an older brother, and especially an adoptive parent (my heroes)! Barack Obama, in his 2008 Father’s Day speech , offered the following statistics: Kids without a father in their house are: 5x more likely to live in poverty and commit crime. 9x more likely to drop out of school. 20x more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home or become teenage parents themselves. What’s the bottom line? We all need a dad!