Thinking Out Loud!

Sunday, April 17, 2016

How Young Leaders Jumpstart their Success!

Recently I have been going to some networking events in order to meet new people and add value to individuals and organizations. What usually starts out as a business building endeavor ends up being an incredible experience in meeting some outstanding young leaders. This got me thinking out loud about how such young people have been able to have incredible careers and success in such a short time.

For example, I met one young lady who, even though young for her career, has already been recognized as a top interior designer for the mega-yacht industry here in S. Florida. She is not yet 30 but has already been entrusted to make a multimillion dollar investment (no yachts no smaller than 50 feet!) even better through her expertise. Another young entrepreneur I met has the largest social media network in the state of Florida that she uses to help companies, entertainers, etc. promote their events. Through other means, I have met others such as a young leader who oversees an entire ministry operation in Europe, the youngest state legislator in the history of the state or a medical student who will graduate with not only a medical degree but degrees in law and public health – all while leading the national association of student osteopathic medicine associations!

Where do we get such talented young people? What do they have in common? How have they jumped ahead of the curve and experienced so much success so soon? While not a complete list, I have narrowed it down to the following:

Drive – these individuals are incredibly driven to succeed and be the best in their fields
Passion – closely aligned with drive, these young leaders are very passionate about what they do. It shows when they describe to me what they do and why they do it!
Persistence – these young leaders have chosen to persist even in challenging or difficult circumstances. They just kept going when others quit.
Hope – these individuals have hope for the own future and that of others. They believe both in their own potential and that of others.
Discipline – all of these individuals demonstrate uncanny discipline. They focus on what they want and they have made the necessary trade-offs to succeed.

It is easy for us who are a little older to bemoan the work ethic and priorities of millennials but interacting with young people such as these along with the many others who I know are coming behind them give me faith in their future and society as a whole. Here’s the other thing that these young leaders teach me:

If we are going to have the privilege and opportunity to lead them, we best bring our own “A” game! We should review the list above and make sure we are matching them trait for trait!

You see, young leaders still need us slightly older folks! They need our support, our sponsorship, our own expertise, our patience, and our own gifts. We have much to share with each other to make things better for EVERYONE!

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

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Big Dreams Cannot Survive in Small Disciplines

Few events produce such impactful learning as the World Leaders Conference that is held in West Palm Beach every year in early March. One of the outstanding speakers this year was Dr. John Maxwell. During his talk John stated that may people have “uphill goals but downhill habits”! This got me thinking out loud about why we do not always reach the goals that are important to us. One of the reasons is that big dreams often fall prey to small or inadequate disciplines.

As someone who is immersed in the leadership development and personal effectiveness arena, a common theme that emerges from both the success stories and their story tellers is just how disciplined these men and women are. For example, John Maxwell reads, files, writes, and reflects every day. Tony Robbins is known for his incredible workout routine. Grant Cardone constantly blows up my twitter feed at strategic times (i.e. ALL THE TIME!). Further, stories of the most successful entrepreneurs, world class athletes, and noted surgeons will reveal that they are not time wasters and have disciplined their work, leisure, family, and personal time with fine precision.

I know for myself that my most productive times are when I am incredibly busy! Why? Because it requires me to discipline both my time and efforts. I bet the same is true for you! So how can we live more disciplined lives? Consultant Tony Jeary recommends the following:

Define – what is of most important to you. What is you audacious goal?
Focus – on those activities that are most beneficial or leveraged to achieving your goals. As John Maxwell stresses, organize your activities as those that are REQUIRED of you, the most REWARDING, and provides biggest RETURN on investment
Delegate – as much as you can to high impact staff
Automate – as many of the mundane activities you can (i.e. paying bills, ordering supplies, etc.)
Eliminate – time wasters and energy suckers. This can include people, social media, and my nemesis, Amazon TV!

I have heard it said that we hope things work out but we expend little effort to create a successful outcome. That is unfortunate because it is important for you to have BIG DREAMS! It is there that lives are changed, causes are created, businesses thrive, and organizations flourish! So go ahead and DREAM BIG, your organizations need you to, your family and friends need you to, and our communities need you to. It is YOU they are waiting for!

For more information about next year’s World Leaders Conference, keep checking:

www.worldleadersconference.com

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

Sunday, April 3, 2016

How PERMANENT are your values?

The foundations of our leadership are our values. It’s just that simple and, at the same time, just that hard! Every day we read stories about leaders in business, politics, education, and the faith-based world that established themselves as trustworthy and credible. The problem becomes whenever they put themselves in situations where the opposite is true. This always gets me thinking out loud and asking why were their values so flexible?

I think one of the reasons is that at some point, some people find their values as a hindrance to get what they want. Values they stated that were so important to their enterprise, campaign, corporate brand, etc. become a nuisance when it interfered with higher profits, political advantage, personal gain, or just their desire to win. This is what separates the leaders from the “posers”. I know that sounds harsh but at some point you and I have to decide if we are truly going to lead and live with integrity . . . . or not. The best barometer of whether or not you are depends on, according to author Paul Lencioni, whether or not you are willing to be “punished for your values”. In other words, are you willing to deny yourself some advantage that you would otherwise gain OR be held accountable for your actions as a result of your values? Trust me, I have had both scenarios occur in my life and it is not fun but it is necessary if I want to have any trace of credibility with my clients, students, and (just as important) myself.

So here are some questions to ask of both yourself and your organization.

Are our stated values Permanent or just Convenient?
Are our stated values Relevant to how we operate or just Relative?
When times get tough are our values Expansive or just Expendable?

One of my favorite workshops focuses on this very issue of Ethical Leadership so please contact me if you would like more information. 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

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Intentional leadership is no accident!

Whenever I wonder about the impact I am having, I refer to a tweet from @DavidRoads that states “you were born with the ability to change someone's life - don't ever waste it.” This got me thinking out loud about how often do we realize this is true in how we lead others? Do we really know and understand the impact we DO and CAN have on others? Such questions highlight both the privilege and responsibilities we have as leaders. In other words, we can no longer leave the impact of our leadership to chance. We have to be intentional about it.

I recently finished reading a book by John Maxwell (no surprise there!) entitled Intentional Living: Choosing a life that matters. The premise of the book is that if we live and lead our lives by DESIGN as opposed to by DEFAULT, then not only will be successful, we will become significant in the lives of others!

So if you agree that your leadership makes an impact, what should your response be? I have a few suggestions:

Understand the reach of your leadership impact – keep in mind this will reach far beyond your immediate circle of direct reports and associates. They know other people too, don’t they?

Understand your influence as a leader in that your words and actions (for better or worse) will just weigh more!

Understand what it is you want to be intentional about – what is your vision or intention for those that you lead? Do you want them to grow as professionals, become more productive, or understand their own influence and impact on others?

Understand the huge responsibility of your leadership when viewed in this light. I believe that if you take this concept to heart, then every conversation, interaction, or decision takes on a new level of significance.

I encourage you to reflect about the statements above as you head into the new week. Bases upon that reflection, what could or should you do differently? Finally, I offer another encouragement from @DavidRoads: Be someone who makes someone else look forward to tomorrow.

If you would like to learn more about John Maxwell’s new book on Intentional Living and participate in a virtual MasterMind on its content, please email me. 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

Sunday, March 20, 2016

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!

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

Sunday, March 13, 2016

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!

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

Saturday, March 5, 2016

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

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