Why a leadership mindset is just not enough . . . .

Why a Leadership Mindset is just not enough . . .

The leadership and personal development literature often speaks to the importance of a leadership “MINDSET” or the mental/cognitive qualities that effective leaders must possess. Such qualities include the normal cast of characters like Vision, Strategic Thinking, Anticipation of Environmental Changes, Identifying Opportunities, etc. All of these are critically important and the best leaders are constantly performing the mental olympics that provide them and their organizations competitive advantage. However, I would argue this is insufficient for those wishing to take their leadership to the next and truly transformative level.

Transformational leaders need the right “HEART-SET”! This is the emotional difference maker that differentiate average leaders from great ones. This includes attributes such as Passion, Drive, Boundless Energy and the sheer Joy that those who truly enjoy what they do possess.

Finally, transformational leaders need to have the necessary “SOUL-SET” that will keep and sustain you in good and bad times, growth and challenge. I believe the human soul is the gift we are given that makes you, well, you! It is the spark that ignites our physical and emotional responses to the world around us. For leaders, this may include the Conviction of the importance of your life’s work. The sense of Urgency that what you have been summoned to do must be done. Accordingly, it is the Belief that what you are doing matters to those around you.  

To adopt Simon Sinek’s work (of Ted Talk and Leadercast fame), mindset, heart-set, and soul-set satisfies the three attributes of the most successful organizations and individuals.

Mindset = answers the WHAT of your leadership. What do you do? Seriously, what is at the CORE of what you DO?

Heart-Set = answers the HOW of your leadership. How do you lead yourself and others? Is it with detachment or with sleeves rolled up passion?!?!

Soul-Set = answers the WHY of your leadership. Why do you lead? What is it that gets you out of the bed each morning? What is of such critical importance that you are willing to risk, strive, sacrifice and enlist others to help you?

As always, if I can help you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you.

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner

You Need to Get in the Game!

You need to GET IN THE GAME!

I love lots of things in life . . . I know, it’s good to have goals! 

Seriously, this time of year I get to experience two of my loves. The first is my love of leadership, leadership development, and personal growth along with equipping people in all those areas. The second is my love of college football. This week’s blog kind of combines both!

As you may know, I am privileged to be an independent and certified speaker, trainer and leadership coach with the John Maxwell Team. If you do not know who John Maxwell is, just google him! He is currently the leading authority and writer on leadership development and personal effectiveness. He speaks literally all over the world and was recently recognized by Inc. Magazine as the #1 Leadership Expert.

This past weekend, I joined over 700 new and alumni team members in Orlando to participate in a live training event with John and his executive team as well as JMT faculty. It was an incredible time of growth and challenge that included over 12 hours of teaching time with John live and in person! Add that to the fact that college football season is just a couple of weeks away and LIFE IS GOOD!

I will be sharing many “nuggets” in future blogs but I want you to reflect on this quote from John:

Exceptional people GET in the Game and STAY in the Game!

This speaks to exactly the notion that inspired the name of my firm, Out Loud Strategies. Specifically, if you have responsibilities. If you have a big “WHY”. If you have something that is of higher value to you. Then you have to GET IN THE GAME and LEAD OUT LOUD! There is just no other acceptable option. But just getting in the game is not enough, you have to STAY there. This requires you to be resilient when leadership stops being fun and starts just being hard work. You have to be persistent even in the face of setbacks and challenges. I think you get the picture but so many do not and regret doing so.

So the big question for this week is:

Are you in the game or on the sidelines?

You may be in the game but are struggling to stay there or just hoping the coach will call you off the field?

What are the consequences to you and those around if you are not sure?

As always, if I can help you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you.

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner

Hold the Date: 

John Maxwell will be hosting a ½ day live simulcast from Atlanta called the

L2 – John Maxwell Simulcast Event. It will be held on 10/10/2014 from 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM.

To find out more or to find a local simulcast site near you, visit www.L2johnmaxwell.com

When Being Contagious is a GOOD thing!

When Being Contagious is a Good Thing!

On my last blog, I mentioned something about calm being contagious. I actually learned that phrase at the 2013 Leadercast event. For those not familiar, Leadercast is a one day speaker event held live in Atlanta, GA but is simulcast to communities and cities all over the world in May. It is an incredible event that has featured prominent “thought leaders” such as John Maxwell, Angela Ahrendts, Jack Welch, and Bishop Tutu on the topic of leadership and personal effectiveness. (Please see Leadercast weblink below for more information.)

During the 2013 event, former US Navy SEAL turned author and actor Rorke Denver spoke. He stated that during his exhaustive SEAL training, a veteran Chief Petty Officer shared an incredible piece of leadership wisdom with him. Simply put, calm is contagious!

In other words, whether we like it or not or think we deserve it or not, your team members will take their cues from you! If you are calm in a crises or challenge, they will be calm. If not, then things quickly turn into a hot mess! Sometimes in the leadership literature world, you hear comments that leaders should be vulnerable. I respectfully but totally disagree! When things are coming off the tracks, I do not want my leader to be vulnerable and fragile. I want them to be decisive, confident, and hopeful!

Think about what you would prefer. If you or a relative was to undergo life-saving surgery and something happens during the procedure, do you want the doctor to be vulnerable and emotional?!?! How about an emergency responder? I bet you want these professionals to be emotionally strong and able to deal with a variety of challenges calmly and effectively. Now you may be thinking, I am not in such an industry so we do not have those kind of crises. Really? I bet when the economy took a nose dive several years ago, people in your industry were not so calm. Those companies and organizations that weathered the financial storm and came back stronger, however, had leaders who understood this very principle. That being contagious was a good thing when it came to setting a positive and ambitious tone for the organization. 

So if calm is contagious, what else could be? How about courage, joy, hope, and enthusiasm? In a weird way, you as a leader spread the “social contagion” you exhibit. Look around at your team environment, do you like what you see, hear, and feel? If so (or even if not!), it is a you and you proposition! Don't think that even for a minute you are not capable of creating the environment you want. 

So here’s my encouragement and my challenge for this week. Model the environment you want! Do so with absolute intention and see if you notice a difference.

As always, if I can help you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Tell me about your experience with spreading a positive contagion. 

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

Leadercast link – leadercast.com

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner