In Prioritizing your Life, the FIRST Item Should be the LIFE DEFINING One

I’m a checklist kind of guy. Whenever I start a new project or effort, I create an Excel document that itemizes everything that I think needs to get done and by when. I then have a column that I can use to check off when the action item is complete. Recently, however, this got me thinking out loud about what should be the MOST IMPORTANT item on my list of priorities.

You see, our priorities not only organize us, the DEFINE us. Let’s drill down some more on this. Take a minute and list your TOP 5 LIFE PRIORITIES as they are right now (making sure not to read the rest of this blog until you do!). Next, take a look at your list again. Did you have things such as the ones below?

• Cherish and protect my loved ones
• Make an impact in the lives of others
• Be the best in my chosen profession

Now, if your list did not look like this, DO NOT feel badly! We so easily get caught up in the minutia of life that our priorities tend to reflect our most immediate wants and needs which is certainly understandable. We usually focus on things like get a promotion, exceed my work goals, plan that vacation, etc. but in doing so we lose altitude on what should be most important.

I believe that when we focus on the big picture, then it drives everything else. For example, in wanting to protect my loved ones, all other decisions and actions will reflect that priority in driving my career success, how I spend my spare time with who and what, etc. When viewed this way, everything else is just icing on the cake!

I have heard it said that we are DEFINED by the CHOICES we make. In other words, as author and speaker John Maxwell says, “the choices we make, make us!” I encourage you to take another look at your list. What would change if you prioritized the MOST IMPORTANT things versus the MOST IMMEDIATE? If you need any assistance in doing so, I believe strongly that coaches and mentors can help you so I encourage you to seek them out. I recently read about the concept of a personal board of directors. Accordingly, I once heard Dr. Tim Elmore from Growing Leaders state that he has several advisers for different parts of his life (e.g. family, finances, business, spiritual, etc.). Think about who can help you and how you can help!

As always if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! 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

Principal Consultant – Out Loud Strategies

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

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

Visit our website at: www.outloudinc.com

Feel free to “LIKE” our FB Page www.facebook.com/outloudinc

Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about CREATING yourself!

In this graduation season, I often hear students talk about taking a “gap” year to help “find” themselves. This got me thinking out loud . . . Really?! You have to find yourself? You’re RIGHT THERE!!

Now obviously I know what people mean whey they say this but I believe we go about it all wrong! You see, I think lots of time when we are looking for insight or some new personal awareness, we just go on with our lives hoping that some epiphany will strike like some lightning bolt of self-awareness! It just doesn’t work that way (thankfully, I think that would be painful!) and besides, you can take ten gap years and still be waiting! And as leadership and personal effectiveness guru, John Maxwell states: “If nothing changes, nothing ever changes!”

Let me propose another strategy. Instead of taking a passive approach and waiting to find yourself, take an ACTIVE approach and actually CREATE yourself! We are born with the human potential to change our thoughts, attitudes, knowledge, and abilities to whatever we desire to be. The kicker, though, is that this requires us to be INTENTIONAL about it. Let me share a case in point.

Years ago, I met an impressive young leader, let’s call him “E”. When I met E he was polished, a great public speaker, dressed impeccably, had a solid work ethic, and was incredibly well-mannered. My initial thought was that E had grown up in an upper middle class home with nurturing parents who loved and encouraged him to be his best. I could not have been more wrong! E actually grew up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Miami. As a child he delivered drugs for his single mother. By the time he was 12, he lost both his mother and older sister to the ravages of drug addiction and AIDS. He was left alone to take of himself and look after his younger sister. But E decided to CREATE himself into something better. He INTENTIONALY rose above the situation and environment he was in to become the sharp young man when I met him. He went on to earn his college degree and made sure his younger sister did too and now works with youth. The point is that E knew at a young age that in order for things to change FOR us, things have to change WITHIN us!

So how do we go about CREATING ourselves? I don’t pretend to know exactly how but here are some tips that have helped me:

• Determine what it is that you WANT to DO or BE (granted, you need some reality here but don’t be afraid to stretch yourself!)

• Ascertain what skills, knowledge, attributes, etc. you need in order to get there

• Develop a GROWTH PLAN that will lead you to this LIFE DESTINATION

• Enlist coaches, friends, mentors, etc. that will SUPPORT you in this journey

• Understand some of those around you will not want to see you change and improve

• Develop the MINDSET and HEARTSET that holds on to the INTENTIONAL process of hard work required to CREATE ourselves.

Here is one final thought: You can CONTINUALLY do this! Different stages of life require us to become different people in some very significant ways. I believe the most successful people understand this and create strategies to help them make the changes needed.

As always if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! 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

Principal Consultant – Out Loud Strategies

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

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

Visit our website at: www.outloudinc.com

Feel free to “LIKE” our FB Page www.facebook.com/outloudinc

Ethics versus Performance: What matters most in Leadership?

The media is full of stories of successful performers, athletes, and entrepreneurs but are failures as people. they get in legal troubles, have broken relationships, and a host of other issues. This always gets me thinking out loud about how certain individuals can reach such fame and fortune in their fields of endeavor but fail so miserably in terms of how they carry themselves.

In his book, The Only Way to Win, Jim Loehr whose firm works with the world's top athletes and executives, makes the case that the most successful people have BOTH!. Essentially he states that PERFORMANCE character strengths determine how we relate and view OURSELVES. MORAL character strengths determine how we relate to and view OTHERS.

Performance Character Strengths include:

• Determination
• Concentration
• Resilience
• Competitiveness
• Ambition
• Mental Toughness

Moral Character Strengths include:

• Care for other people
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Fairness
• Generosity
• Respect

So now that you have an idea of the difference between the two, here is a powerful activity that you can complete to see where you fall on this spectrum:

1. List your TOP 6 Character Strengths (the ones that receive the most attention or energy)
2. Next RANK them from 1 – 6 with 1 being the most important.
3. Now REVIEW your lists, which category do you draw the most from – MORAL or PERFORMANCE?

The point is you need BOTH performance and moral strengths to succeed - without a doubt. But as author and leadership expert John Maxwell states, “TALENT gets you in the door but CHARACTER keeps you in the room.” I put so much emphasis on this topic because your followers will take their cues from you. What happens in the C-Suite will make its way to the Mailroom! Culture ALWAYS starts at the top and it IS CONTAGEOUS!

As always if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! 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

Principal Consultant – Out Loud Strategies

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

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

Visit our website at: www.outloudinc.com

Feel free to “LIKE” our FB Page www.facebook.com/outloudinc

Are you an “expectant” leader?

Winds in the east, there's a mist comin' in

Like somethin' is brewin' and 'bout to begin.

Can't put me finger on what lies in store,

But I feel what's to happen all happened before

-       P.L. Travers

I really like this is the opening line of Mary Poppins based upon the book by P.L. Travers. Just like how the arrival of Mary Poppins changed the life of the family in the story for the better, it got me thinking out loud about the advantages of living a life of expectation or anticipation!

So let me ask you a few questions:

• Do you view your alarm clock as a death knell or a starter’s pistol?
• Do you feel you are just going through the motions or does each day promise something new?
• Do you intentionally plan to learn or experience something new each day or do you just take it as it comes?
• When is the last time you ordered something different on your pizza or favorite takeout?

Here’s the point. As leaders, we are role-models whether we want to be or not and living a life of expectation of something new, better, or interesting each day is an incredible gift you can provide for yourself and those that follow you. It has so many benefits:

• It puts us in a positive mindset
• It makes us more creative
• It helps us believe in possibilities vs just probabilities
• It adds zest in life and gets us out of our ruts
• It makes the kind of person others want to be around
• It helps others look forward to their next day

So how do we start living a LIFE OF EXPECTATION? Like everything related to personal growth, it requires you to be INTENTIONAL about it! You have to plan for it and not put it off! Here are a few examples:

• Calendar a new experience in your community
• Choose to view an independent film (vs the normal fare of comic heroes or paranormal activity which seems all that Hollywood can produce these days!)
• Visit a new exhibit at a local museum
• Go to the nearest national park service park, monument, etc.

In terms of leading in the workplace:

• Hold a meeting in a new location (or have a “walking meeting” as embraced by Steve Jobs!)
• Ask one of your staff to lead a project
• Intentionally practice one new leadership approach or skill that you learned from a chapter in a book or video presentation for one full work week and ask everyone else do the same
• Have your team sign up for a free webinar related to something germane to your business and debrief after
• Ask one of your staff to teach everyone else how to do something they are particular good at (e.g. social media, software program, negotiating, etc.)

Granted, I know we are all busy but just try this in small, digestible steps. Maybe substitute an experience for the regular evening TV. Cover your eyes and order whatever your finger lands on a menu (obviously I will give you a pass if you have a food allergy!). Ask “How can I?” versus “Can I?” . . . just once. Let these small things become big deals!

As always if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! 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

Principal Consultant – Out Loud Strategies

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

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

Visit our website at: www.outloudinc.com

Please “LIKE” our FB Page www.facebook.com/outloudinc