Just say “Yes!” to helicopters and zip lines (and other assorted adventures!)

Thinking Out Loud has been on a couple week hiatus because I was doing this kind of stuff!

I recently had the opportunity to take the trip of a lifetime to Alaska. Forget about planes, trains, and automobiles (though we used all three!). While on this trip I kayaked in the Icy Straight, rafted down the Mendenhall River, zip-lined in Ketchikan, helicoptered to a glacier, took an 8 hour bus ride in Denali National Park (a little rough), road a bike Vancouver, and cruised in an ocean liner (not so rough!!).

Now a couple of these modes of human conveyance were smack in the middle of my comfort zone – namely, the cruise ship where everyone aboard is well fed and pampered and the bike riding which I pretty much mastered as a child. Others, however took me a bit out of my comfort zone which got me thinking out loud about the rewards of risk taking.

You see if I had not taken the risk to kayak with my wife (who is a trooper by the way and the one who usually gets me in this situations!) in the Icy Straight, I never would have seen the incredible Alaskan scenery or wild life from that vantage point. The most incredible opportunity was taking a helicopter to the Yanet Glacier at the foot of Mount Deborah. In doing so, I was able to walk on a glacier that had existed for thousands of years. But the point being is this, there was no other way to get to these places thus bringing me to the REALLY big point:

Taking some risks now and then gets you to where all the good stuff is!

In order to see the wondrous sights and sounds of Alaska, I had to take some calculated risks. I had to ignore the lizard part of my brain that said suspending myself 50 feet off the ground from a rope was a good idea! 

Now would the world have come to the end if I had not done those things? Of course not, but it would not have changed much either! It would not has been as fulfilling.

So what risks do you need to take to get a change of scenery?

-      -In your personal life?

-      -In your career and professional life?

-      -In your spiritual life?

What new horizons are just a zip line away?

-       -What’s next?

What possibilities are waiting for you to explore?

-       -Versus just what is probable?

As always, if I can help you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

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

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner

Want to be successful? Better find your tribe!

I have always been a tribal person. The most fulfilling times of my life is when I am around and working with groups of like-minded people. From my fellow band-geeks in highschool to groups of colleagues now, I am just more productive when I am working in and with groups gathered around a common goal or theme.

Recently I was listening to a Success magazine interview with entrepreneur turned author and speaker, Seth Godin. Seth stated that in order to have sales success, you must have a tribal mindset. Specifically, you must Lead the tribe, Connect the tribe, and then Ask the tribe. In other words, before you ask people to buy your product or service, you must first lead them to who you are and what you are offering, connect them to both yourself and other tribe members, and then (and only then!) can you ask them to buy!

This got me thinking out loud about how I could apply Seth’s insight into leadership. To me leadership in this tribal mindset involves the following:

1. You must first CREATE the tribe. Leadership expert John Maxwell often states no one does anything great alone. You must build your dream team to support your dream!
2. You must LEAD the tribe. If you went to all the trouble to pull people together, then you better be prepared to lead them well.
3. You must CONNECT the tribe. You must connect with them and connect them to each other. High functioning teams have high functioning relationships.
4. You must SERVE the tribe. The greatest leaders are those that have a servant leader mindset. This involves getting up to your eyeballs in the life and issues of your team. Granted, this does not mean your micro or middle manage, it just means you share their burdens and pitch in where it will do the most good.
5. You must ASK your tribe. Once leadership credibility has been established, then and only then do you have the permission to ask your tribe to support your efforts. Notice that this comes last for a reason. You cannot get to this point until you touched upon all the previous. This also points to a basic human need in that people want to feel needed. They need to know that they are important to what you are doing. So go ahead and ask them but make it a big ask, a meaningful ask, and a fulfilling ask.

The very process was used to create an incredible leadership program at Nova Southeastern University. We first created the program and connected the students to both ourselves and each other in very intentional ways. We serve this group of students by being available and always accessible to them. This gives us permission to then do great things for the university, in turn, build their own "tribes" that they can create, lead, connect, and serve.  

Clearly, this is a model that you can replicate and sustain with similar results regardless of your industry or effort. So do you have a tribe to help you succeed? Are you taking excellent care of the one you have now? Have you asked first before serving, connecting, or leading first?

I would be honored if you would join my tribe! If I can serve you by helping you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization (and your tribe!).

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

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

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner