My Weekend 911 Story
We quickly swerved around a blown tire flying down I40 and watched an out-of-control SUV barrel into the woods. I yelled to Titus to call 911, as I pulled over immediately, jumped out of the car, and sprinted into the woods while thinking in the back of my mind … what am I going to do to help? I hope he’s okay. What am I going to see?
It's wild how everything can change in a matter of minutes. An easy drive listening to Nebraska blow a game against Northwestern was interrupted by a blown tire and crashing car.
Have you ever been enjoying your day at work and all of a sudden, a crisis happens? Everything is on fire?
What “fire” moments did you deal with last week?
Was your team equipped to solve it or were you pulled in to save the day?
Were you able to get the problem resolved?
What do you wish you knew prior to dealing with the issue?
Do “fires” keep you from doing what only you can do, on a regular basis?
As a leader there are many times you are pulled into situations that interrupt your day.
Do you operate like my experience above, sprinting towards the crisis, dialing for help without the competency to fix it?
Do you operate like the 911 operator taking time out of your day to assess the situation and who to call to help?
Do you operate like the highway patrolman or EMT flying into save the day because no one else around has the skills to help?
The crisis will come. The questions is, how will you navigate it, while continuing to take care of your team and business?
After 10 years of providing executive coaching, it’s evident that the healthiest and most effective leaders are able to operate more like the 911 operator. They listen, connect, and go on with their day. Their teams are capable of solving complex problems. High performance leaders don’t have to run to the fire every week.
Many of you are pulled into the fires because your managers are not equipped to handle the complex situations. They run towards it with you on the phone. They know they don’t know what to do, but they know they need to be there because it’s the right thing to do.
Until you develop your managers you will continue to be pulled out of work that keeps your team and business healthy.
The rest of the story:
The driver was shaken up, but thankfully okay. He was able to get out of the car with minimal injuries.
Three Opportunities to Consider
Manager Development: Register your managers for our Courageous Manager’s Virtual Cohort launching in October.
Executive Development: Sign up for executive coaching or let us know you are interested in our next Courageous Leaders Executive Experience to help leaders rest, think and prepare to lead well.
Lesson 4: The Joy of Celebration
One the greatest rewards of a leading is celebrating the growth and opportunity of our team members.
Over the past 4 weeks, one truth has become increasingly clear. Leaders are missing out on one of the greatest aspects of leadership - Celebration.
Why is that?
Truth: Many leaders are wearing themselves out because they are not getting out of the way. (This stings a bit, but it might be true for me, too!)
Truth: Many team members are leaving your organization because they are tired of not having the opportunity to leverage their strengths.
Leaders - We have good intentions. Everything gets busy. We just get it done. We make it happen. It’s faster. But, then, the follow-up (the actual work) has to take place and no one on the team is ready to carry it on.
Hence … you miss the joy of celebration.
If you are staying up late doing what your team members should be doing, you are not celebrating. You are setting everyone up for failure. You have to learn to train, delegate and empower.
One the greatest rewards of a leading is celebrating the growth and opportunity of our team members.
You celebrate when milestones are hit, goals are met, or tasks are done at a high level.
Then you celebrate in a way that in meaningful for your team members. That’s another thing I love about the SDI 2.0. The Core Strengths platform and Outlook Plug-in provide clear tips on how to encourage a team member who is not wired up like me.
We need to make sure we set team members up for success and celebrate them.
We need to make sure we celebrate our team members in a way that makes them feel valued and appreciated.
The sense of gratitude, joy and confidence that welled up in Titus after he successfully rode the motorcycle was well worth the effort to set him up for success.
What's Next?
Let's meet up for a virtual coffee to talk about what's happening in your world and figure out the best next steps to address it: https://calendly.com/insightleadership/virtualcoffee
The Day My Face Slid Across 2x4's
Have you ever moved forward rapidly without fully preparing?
Have you ever made quick decisions that left you wishing you hadn’t?
Have you ever moved forward rapidly without fully preparing?
Have you ever made quick decisions that left you wishing you hadn’t?
It was a beautiful day in Northwest Arkansas and we were riding all over Slaughter Pen Trails for the first time with no need to pay attention to the time. I finally felt like I was ready to jump again. It had been years, but I finally felt ready. I mean - I had jumped 6 inches that day so what’s 4-6 feet?
My buddy said, “do you want me to video tape you?”. How can I say no to an epic video that would show my wife that I still have athletic abilities?
Then it happened. My face slid across 2 x 4’s for the first time and prayerfully the last …
There are many leadership and life lessons to share from this crash …
Here’s the lesson of the day: If I would have looked down the trail a bit further I could have prepared for what was coming. I would have realized the “ramp” wasn’t really a ramp … I would have had a better chance to execute well or could have chosen a different path.
Sometimes we get excited, we think we are ready, and we aren’t. The problem is that we are leaders not just mountain bikers. We have teams relying on us to lead well. While we can get up and shake it off - our teams might not get up as easily. Mistakes are more costly and painful. They cost us at our jobs and they cost us at home.
This time - there is too much at stake. Everyone has already felt the pain and anxiety from COVID 19 - they don’t need more.
How are you going to continue to develop your leadership and management to help yourself and your teams avoid sliding across the 2x4’s. at work?
A few tips:
Slow down before you start going fast. Give yourself the time to prepare.
Don’t rely on what you used to know to navigate every decision. Keep learning and pay attention to the new challenges you have not been through yet.
Gain clarity on where you are going and how you plan to get there. A good plan gives you a solid shot to execute it.
If you need help finding clarity or improving your leadership and management to avoid the pitfalls give us a call.
How do you emerge stronger when you are rocked to the core? I mean, really rocked.
How do you emerge stronger when you are rocked to the core? I mean, really rocked.
There I was, holding on to a rock in the middle of the rapids, rethinking my whole life. I was rocked to the core.
There I was, holding on to a rock in the middle of the rapids, rethinking my whole life. I was rocked to the core.
Let’s start from the beginning of the day.
We had church on zoom and my friend texted me right after I wrapped up to say, “meet me in 15 min, we are hitting the river.” So, of course, I don’t ask any questions. As a side, I do ask my wife (she says yes!) and I head out the door.
There’s 4 of us at the start.
The first set of rapids were exhilarating. Bigger than normal and the adrenaline was pumping. MAN, I LOVE THE RIVER! Wait...what’s happening? Where is Clay going? In retrospect, he was the wisest of our group when he bailed at that first rapid due to an equipment issue.
The three of us ventured back to the river. The event planner yells back at us and says, “there’s a rough spot up here somewhere, I’m not sure where”. We genuinely appreciated the heads up and it had been years since I’ve swam a rapid and I wasn’t about to start now. But, just in case, I slide my sunglasses into my life vest and navigate forward. Some might say this was my first mistake – a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.
We navigate the next section fine … but before I know it, I’m high sided on a rock and swimming. I’m determined to catch up to my kayak which is in arm's length, but the current took it faster than I could blink - deep into the rapids. I’m squarely in the chaos, when the water sweeps me right into a protruding rock. Sticking out of the rapids just enough to hold onto without being swept away.
There I was holding on to a rock in the middle of the rapids rethinking my whole life.
This is what I mean by being rocked to the core.
I thought:
Screw this, I’m out...
I’m done kayaking ...
I love my wife …
I love my kids …
I don’t want to drown …
I hope the rock doesn’t budge …
Is there anyone who can help …
A few times I tried to get my footing to walk the 20 feet to the shore, but every time I started to move, the rapids started to sweep me away.
I had to assess my options:
Am I going to be the guy who gets rescued by the park rangers swift water team? (No)
Am I going to drown swimming the rapids? (maybe, but chances are I won’t die)
I went with option 2 since our coordinator also happened to be my doctor and I figured he would be able to resuscitate me if worst came to worst. Believe it or not, I was trained to swim the rapids and knew the basics... feet up – head up.
That was my only option. Feet up - head up. It became my mantra … I said a prayer and let go of the rock.
The waves were huge. My feet were hitting the rocks, the river water was flowing into my lungs as I tried desperately to keep my head from slamming into the rocks underneath me. 250 yards later and I was drained – the only thing keeping me afloat was the vest. 250 more yards, wave after wave beating me up like a novice in a UFC fight, when I faintly hear someone yelling to me from the shore, “Swim here, swim here”. I didn’t have an ounce of energy left and had consumed gallons of river water that was weighing me down even more. I thought there was no chance, but I rolled over and started, with all my remaining strength, the breaststroke through the current. The next thing I remember is being on the shore “expelling” all that river water that had made its way into my lungs.
I was done with the near-death experience… but, it wasn’t over. I was done … but, I had to kayak another 3 miles.
It was the first time I didn’t look forward to being on the river.
Many of us have felt similar feelings during COVID 19. We have been rocked to the core. We’ve felt like we are holding onto the rock in the middle of the rapids and the only option is to let go and pray.
Well, how do you emerge stronger from that?
Here’s what I’ve thought about since that May 17, moment on the rock.
I could only do what I was trained to do. Head up – feet up. The training worked. I’m here, but I’m shaken up and not planning my next trip yet.
A guide would have been helpful. A guide would have led me through the rapids and given me a chance to truly enjoy a beautiful day on the river.
Painful moments help us remember what’s most important and we should shift our behavior accordingly.
How do you emerge stronger when you are rocked to the core? Find the right guide for moving forward. Avoid navigating disruption without a clear map.
If I would have read a field guide on that section of the river, I would have known what I was getting into and how to get through it.
That why we’ve created A Leader’s Field Guide for ReEntry. We created a guide to help you navigate through disruption without having to make the choice of being rescued or praying you won’t drown.
Learn more about the guide here.
Purchase the guide here and receive access to it today. You don’t have to wait.
Performance Management | The 201° Story
It was the summer of 2019. Our family was officially growing from 3 boys to 3 boys and little girl. So our house size needed to grow as well. We found the perfect house in the woods. Sure … it had what Meg needed inside, but it also has what I need outside. A massive, custom-built, Texas-style smoker.
Okay. Here’s how I fed my family and friends all summer. Here’s when it clicked.
Great management is like smoking a pork shoulder. Don’t roll your eyes - get ready to go eat and become a better manager. Management is not just telling people what to do and making sure it’s done. Management should truly be helping your people achieve their fullest potential and then celebrating when it happens! That doesn’t happen organically, naturally or easily. It takes a process. (just like it takes a process to get to 201°!)
Step 1 | Preparation
The Food: Preparation is key. The right cut of meat, the right spices, the right temp on the fire. If you don’t prepare, there’s a good chance you won’t enjoy the end result.
The Backyard Smoker
The Manager: Onboarding the team member properly makes a drastic impact on the success of that team member. Build a relationship with them, find their strengths, discover their communication style and bring clarity to how they can succeed. We leverage the SDI 2.0 to help shorten the learning curve in new relationships and enhance those that already exist.
Step 2 | Maintain Consistency
The Food: The pork shoulder is on the grate. It’s cooking. There are three responsibilities I have during this step of the process.
a) Monitor the smoker temperature
b) Monitor the meat temperature
c) Continue to add the proper amount of logs to the fire to maintain the temperature
The goal is consistency. It takes effort, checking, knowing the right size of the log to put in the fire box. The meat can keep improving with consistency.
The Manager: Maintaining a consistently healthy work environment is key to developing a direct report to reach their potential. Our check-in process helps the team member take ownership of their development and gives you the opportunity to provide steady feedback so they can keep improving. The goal is growth and moving towards 201°. If you don’t keep the fire going or if you let it go for too long the temp can drop. That’s when you need to lean in even more to get back on track.
Step 3 | The Wrap
Time To Wrap!
The Food: The pork is edible at 145°, but it would be horrible. It’s like giving a direct report a task and they complete it, but they do such a bad job that you will never ask them to do it again. Well - that could be on you for asking them too soon. (maybe). Back to the food. When the pork shoulder reaches 180° you pull it out and wrap it in foil. The foil increases the temp faster and gets it to 201° in half the time. If you wrap too soon the pork can cook but will lose out on the flavor and burnt ends. You have to do the wrap at the right time, which is clear to you since you are checking it on a regular basis to maintain consistency.
The Manager: When the team member is ready for next-level coaching you need to provide it. You have been maintaining consistency and development for them, but you and I both know that some comments they need to hear they won’t hear until they are ready. We don’t want to break them, we want to develop them. Picture a team member at 180° and you are almost to 201°. It’s time to have a conversation about their growth, development and how they can hit the next level. Then you maintain consistency at a faster pace to help them get there.
Step 4 | The Celebration and Rest
The Food: When the temperature gauge on the meat hits 201° it’s a party for all. Hard work is going to pay off soon. You pull the pork shoulder off gently because it’s falling apart already. After you pull it off the smoker it’s time to let it rest for an hour. It’s still cooking. It’s 201° degrees! Let it rest for an hour and finish prepping the rest of the meal. If you don’t let it rest you will not experience the full potential of what you spent so much time working on.
The Manager: When the team member pushes through a challenging project with success and hits 201° you celebrate! When we Hustle and Grind we need to remember to Rest! If we don’t give them a moment to rest we will miss out on the team member truly hitting their full potential.
Well … that’s the 201° Performance Management Story. It’s time for you to experience your own 201° stories. Give us a shout to bring 201° to you soon.