There is no wasted EFFORT, just missed OPPORTUNITIES!

The other night I attended a hockey game. Trust me, there is something a little surreal about going to hockey game in south Florida. Seriously, I have to bring something warmer to wear in the arena than I do outside! Unfortunately the home team lost but after looking at the game stats, this got me thinking out loud about effort and results.

You see, while looking at the score board, the opposing but winning team had more “shots on goal” than the home team. Keep in mind, all those shots did not result in a scoring goal, it just means the eventual winning team made more successful efforts.

Lots of time, you will hear people (maybe your own team members or maybe even yourself) say “that was just wasted effort”. I used to say that myself but I now know better. Just like the hockey metaphor, every effort toward a goal is never wasted. True, you may not meet your goal every time but you learn something every time you take your shot! You learn what works well and what is not as effective. You learn that your first approach was not completely successful but parts of it were. History shows us that Thomas Edison made thousands of attempts in his efforts to create the light bulb. When asked about this by a reporter, he said “I did not fail thousands of times, I just discovered thousands of ways of how not to do it!”

The point is this. There is no such thing as wasted effort, just missed opportunities. Just like in hockey, conditions will rarely be ideal. You may not have all the resources you need. The perfect team may not be assembled. None of that, however, should stop you from making the attempt! The more effort extended, the higher the probability of successful results. Failure only comes when we don’t take advantage of the opportunity to take a shot!

I would wager you took a risk or two to get where you are today. You bet on yourself or one of your ideas when others were skeptical. Just keep taking those “shots on goal” and don’t miss your opportunities!

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

Success = Paying the Fiddler!

One of my favorite bands from one of my home towns (I’ve moved around a bit!) is Jupiter Coyote. One of their songs talks about the old proverb of “Paying the fiddler for the dance.” In his tongue and cheek way, the songwriter reminds us you always have to pay to play! This got me thinking out loud about how this very concept is fading from modern society where so many expect success to come easily, cheaply, and quickly! The simple fact is success takes hard work, requires us to pay a price, and it will not occur over night!

In fact, lasting success only comes from sustained and intentional growth. In his 15 Laws of Growth, John Maxwell captures this very concept in his “Law of Consistency”. Specifically, success only comes from targeted and consistent growth efforts. The trick is to focus on growth FIRST and then goals. You see, while Goals may challenge you, a Growth orientation changes you! Goals are finite in their impact but Growth is infinite in its potential.

To set you on this path of personal expansion and growth, John’s encourages you to answer the following four questions:

• WHAT do you want to improve or expand upon in terms of your capabilities, knowledge and skills?
• HOW will you go about growing in this areas? This involves picking strategies and mediums that match how you like to learn (visually, verbally, by doing, etc.)
• WHY do you want to improve? What are you missing that you want to gain? What gaps in your performance do you want to fill and for what reasons?
• WHEN is the best time start? I will give you hint, it’s called RIGHT NOW!

Here is the good news. Growth, like any good investment, compounds on itself. It never loses value! So if you want to succeed in this dance of life, you have to pay the fiddler! Dreams and ambitions do come true, but they don’t come free! Make the best investment you ever will . . . invest in yourself because you are more than worthy of it and more able to capitalize on it!

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

For a BEYOND YOU leader, “end of the table, back of the room, and last in line” makes perfect sense!

I love the concept of a “Beyond You” leader and this was a conference theme of a great speaker event called Leadercast. One of the regular speakers is Andy Stanley who shared “If your leadership is NOT ABOUT YOU, its reach and impact will live far beyond you. If your leadership is ALL ABOUT YOU, it will last only long enough to be someone’s bad example.” This got me thinking out loud about what are the qualities of a BEYOND YOU or Servant Leader.

Last week I had the privilege of coordinating the attendance of over 200 collegiate attendees from 5 different colleges and universities to attend the World Leaders Conference in West Palm Beach Florida. It was an amazing two days of some of the most dynamic, nationally known speakers and authors with SERVANT LEADERSHIP as its primary theme. While waiting for the students to arrive for one of their lunch sessions, I started to think about what typifies a “Beyond You” or Servant Leader. Here is where I landed.

End of the Table:

“Me First” leaders love being at the front of the table, either as the seat of authority or as close to it as possible. They want to be close to the “cool kid(s)” so that others will think they are one, too!

“Beyond You” or servant leaders let others have that opportunity. They are secure and confident enough in themselves that they neither need nor desire such recognition. They know their work will always speak for itself. Now don’t get me wrong, you still get to eat! This isn’t “be a martyr” leadership for goodness sake!

Back of the Room:

Many in the leadership development world believe that it is all about being in the front of the room and have others dig on you for an hour and a half! Taking credit and accolades all at the same time.

Now whereas there is a time and place for being in front of others, it should not be our consuming passion. When I advised student groups and they put on programs and events, I loved seeing them on stage in front of everyone. My role was to be there for support, not the main attraction! Perhaps the best example of this was during the 1980 Winter Olympics when the underdog USA hockey team beat the powerhouse Soviets. After the inspiring victory, US Coach Herb Brooks retreated to a hallway in the arena while his players and the crowd celebrated their victory. He know it was time for the players to shine, not him. He clearly was a “Beyond You” leader. This is important to understand. The BEST leaders work for success of others, not their own!

Last in Line:

“All About Me” types insist on being first in line. They will shove, elbow, body check, etc. their way to the front both literally and figuratively. They are the ultra-competitive types. They somehow feel entitled to it due some perceived special role or status.

Servant Leaders on the other hand have enough emotional maturity to know how little such things matter. Often they are too busy creating their own lines for higher purposes! Author and YouTube sensation, Simon Sinek, shared at the Leadercast event that the culture of the US Marine Corps is just this way. It has been a long standing tradition that still happens to this day that at meal time, the most junior enlisted ranks eat first and the most senior general officers eat last. This is the epitome of servant leadership when the most experienced and decorated officers still look out for the needs of their people before theirs!

So here’s a quick test to tell whether or not you are a servant leader. Just notice where you find yourself at any given time – at the table, in the room, or waiting in line!

For more information about the conferences I mentioned, go to:

www.leadercast.com

www.worldleadersconference.com

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

When Motivating Others, Add CAUSE to CONTENT!

John Maxwell is a master communicator both on-stage and in his writings. I recently heard him say that the success of his books (and he has sold millions of them!) is based upon gathering his information but then focusing on IMPACT! This got me thinking out loud about how we as leaders can use that simple formula to motivate others!

Often when we are attempting to motivate or influence others, we rely often on our data, reasoned arguments, well researched content, etc. The problem is that we often stop there. I believe the best leaders use good data but they attach that to even better CAUSES. As Simon Sinek of YouTube fame proposes the WHY (or CAUSE) is always more powerful than the WHAT. Stated another way, effective leaders stress WHY something is important. WHY efforts are worthy of both our time and best efforts. WHY it matters!

Whereas not an exhaustive list, here are some strategies that help propel you from simple information to impact:

Tell Stories – stories are critical – I was listening to the Wharton School Radio (totally geeking out on that channel these days!) on SiriusXM. One of their guests was stressing the importance of telling stories of great customer service and the positive impact it had on improving his business. It created an atmosphere of friendly competition where his staff wanted to share their stories. Stories paint word pictures of the CAUSES that are most important to you!

Keep It Interesting – Author and speaker Omar Periu shared, “until you make it interesting, you are just someone’s interruption!” Find new and different ways to communicating content. Maybe simple signs instead of PPT. Bring in guests or clients to share what is important to them. Remember that people learn best in their own ways. Some are visual, some are auditory, some are tactile, and some need time to reflect. Mix you media and methods to motivate others.

BE Sincere – are you truly passionate about your CAUSE? Share what is most important to you. Talk more about what you are for versus what you are against. People (especially the millennials now in the workplace) like to feel they are part of something big and meaningful – give that to them!

Call to Action – Finally, as John Maxwell shares, it is important to always let others know what you want them to KNOW and what you want them to DO! A clear call to action helps generate focus that leads to the results you are looking for.

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

What are you DESIGNED to DO?

Recently I finished a great book by my virtual mentor, John Maxwell. The book was entitled Intentional Living: Choosing a Life that Matters. In this book, John focuses a lot on “finding your WHY.” You see, once you find your WHY, or the reasons why you believe you were placed on the planet, the WHAT and the HOW takes care of itself. Put another way, your WHY will fuel the WHAT you want to do and then HOW you will be able to do it! This got me thinking out loud about further defining my own purpose and significance in the life of others.

I spent some time last week thinking a lot about this and came across a great article in SUCCESS Magazine by Stephanie Wood. Stephanie outlined a great activity to help you find your meaning or your WHY and I thought I would share it with you.

First, make a list of your personal qualities (i.e. honest, hardworking, playful, creative, etc.)

Second, list all your talents (e.g. public speaking, organizing, motivating, etc.)

Third, think about those activities that you find yourself repeatedly doing (e.g. volunteering, mentoring others, fixing computer problems, or creating a marketing campaign).

Fourth, list your true desires. What do you want to be doing with your life? Do you want to travel, work for a cause, help others develop capital, or lead a high functioning team?

Finally, take a look at your respective list and circle the one word or phrase that best captures your personal characteristic of each category above.

Now it is time to complete the following sentence:

I, (fill in your name) was DESIGNED to (fill in your most valued personal quality) who can (insert strongest talent) because I find myself (fill in the activity that repeats itself often in your life) because I am SUPPOSED to (fill in your truest desire).

Once you do this once, it is OK to refine it a bit but I believe you will be very surprised by the result. You see, I believe each one of us was intentionally DESIGNED to do something important in this world. Something no one else can do but YOU! It is my hope that with that understanding comes the self-realization of just how important and valuable you are!

Here is where I landed in this activity:

I, Bill Faulkner, am designed to Empower Others because I can Communicate Effectively which allows me to Teach important lessons for now because I am supposed to produce leaders for life!

You can find Stephanie’s full article in the December 2014 edition of Success Magazine.

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 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

Co-Founder – 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

You are SERIOUSLY in charge!

Perhaps the strongest leadership lessons come from the U. S. military. I am currently reading a great book by two former Navy SEALS turned corporate trainers, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, who declare that at the core of leadership is “extreme ownership” (thus the title of their book!). This got me thinking out loud about what that concept means.

According to Willink and Babin, the best leaders don’t just take responsibility for what is in their job descriptions, the best leaders take extreme ownership over everything their job entails. This includes the:

Strategy

People

Purpose

Values

EVEYTHING . . . that your enterprise is about.

This does not mean micromanagement, however, it means aligning all of the above to work in harmony with the mission before you. It means a deep attention to detail and proactively anticipating both challenges and opportunities. It means modeling that behavior for your team and colleagues so that they will take ownership as well. Stated another way by Dr. Henry Cloud, as a leader, you are ridiculously in charge!

The sad thing is that such a serious approach to leadership runs counter to the “cover your but, I’m not responsible for my actions” parts of our culture. Too often we see politicians, athletes, celebrities, and entertainers rationalizing their actions and receiving minimal to no consequences for behavior that would land most of us in jail or at the very least, out of a job!

So how do you know if you are the type of leader who takes your responsibilities and obligations seriously to the point where you have extreme ownership? It all depends on how you answer these two questions below:

When things go well, do you keep the credit or share it?

When things go bad, do you share the blame or own it?

So what is required of a leader who is SERIOUSLY IN CHARGE?

• Serious Self-Leadership – you have to understand you have to lead yourself and the responsibilities of your leadership seriously before asking others to do the same.
• Moral Courage – I will be the first to admit that taking such extreme ownership is not easy nor is it a lot of fun. I have had serious “ouch” moments in my career when I have had to admit to mistakes and make corrections. That required I stick to the “true north” of my moral compass.
• Commitment in Choice – being seriously in charge requires a deliberate choice to do so. It will not normally happen on its own. It requires us to evaluate our actions against the results.
• “In Spite Of” Responsibility – Even when it is not clear or there are lots of circumstance or reasons surrounding why something did or did not happen, you have to eventually take the responsibility for the final outcome in spite of the confusion, people issues, etc. that surround it.

 Here is the good news. When a leader handles his or her self in this seriously in charge manner, your credibility with your team, colleagues, and even supervisors sky rockets! Further, you will earn a lot of leadership credits with those around you. Finally, you will maintain your own self-respect which I believe in priceless.

If you want to learn more, I would recommend:

• Extreme Ownership: How Navy SEALS Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
• Boundaries for Leaders: Results, Relationships, and being ridiculously in charge by Dr. Henry Cloud

One of my most favorite workshops to facilitate surrounds this issue of leading with integrity and I would greatly enjoy the opportunity to discuss more with you. 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 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

Co-Founder – 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

New Year, Now REACH!

If you live in Florida for any length of time, you cannot help but be impressed by the physical and operational size of Walt Disney World. One important reason for such growth and quality is the Walt himself would encourage his team members to “plus” every good idea! Truly a great example of a leader encouraging himself and his team to REACH! The result is the entertainment and marketing juggernaut we see today. This got me thinking out loud about what we need to REACH for or PLUS this year.

Finishing my series of Remember, Resolve, and then REACH, it is important to understand that when we REACH, we are extending our current:

• Thoughts
• Talents
• Abilities
• Aspirations

to get to something better, higher, or stronger. The challenge is that so few of us really do this. According to author and speaker Paul Martinelli, he states that one of the major mistakes people make when setting goals is that they establish goals that they know they can already achieve! That might make things incrementally better, but it won’t “jump the curve”. The point being is that we should always be reaching for goals that we are not totally sure we can achieve. Now, does this mean we will always reach those “plus” goals? No, but on the other hand, we just might! That is when life gets very interesting! Currently there is a film out about a prior Mount Everest expedition. Not only did the climbers need to reach to even make an attempt that few people have ever tried, they had to survive the descent. Whether experienced climbers or relative new comers, they all knew that a successful ascent was not a given, in fact, most expeditions fail. They had to REACH!

So how do we “plus” our lives this year? As stated, Debbie Phillips and Robert Berkley from GroupMV suggest we select a word or theme for the year. Such a theme sets a tone and provides focus for thought, time, and energy. Everything we do can then be directed back to this theme. Some questions to help us stay in focus include:

• Does this action support my theme?
• Will this action help me have more of my theme in my life?
• Will this attitude or behavior increase my chances for fulfilling my year-long theme?

I hope you enjoyed this three part series. 2016 is already shaping up to be an interesting year for me but I hope it is a successful one for you. Just take a few minutes to remember last year’s impactful events, resolve to create meaningful goals, then “plus” them!

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 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

Co-Founder – 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