Did You Lead This Year by Walking BOTH Roads?

Did You Lead This Year by Walking BOTH Roads? www.outoudinc.blogspot.com

Unless you’re a zillionaire, you probably had both good and bad days this year. Then again, I guess zillionaires have their bad days. Like when their G-6 jet won’t start or someone thoughtlessly scratches the yacht (I hate when that happens. . . awfully inconvenient that!). But as my habit of using December to REFLECT and January to PLAN, I have been thinking out loud about how as leaders we have to “walk both roads” of, as Jimmy Buffet sings, “good days and bad days and going half-mad days!”

I have often said that anyone can be a successful leader. That is, it’s easy to lead when everything is going your way and things come easy. True leadership, transformational leadership, however, comes when you lead yourself and others through tough times. I bet you are a transformational leader as opposed to one that blame others when things don’t work out (that’s a prerogative that seems to be reserved exclusively for politicians and celebrities these days!). In fact, I know you don’t cut and run when things get hard! You just square up your shoulders and step forward into the whirlwind of life. Just remember sometimes you will end up in the pleasant suburbs of Liferockesistan and other days smack in the middle of downtown Thissucksville! You’ll just have to let go of the baggage that no longer serves you and enjoy the sights along the way.

To be honest 2016 was a challenging year for me. But it was also a time of great growth. I learned so much in the books I finally got to read, the great people that I got to meet, and the experiences I have had. I have learned a lot about myself too and what I still need to work on.

So even if 2016 was not your best year either, just remember you are still above ground and walking tall (or in my case, more like 5’9” on a good day)! Take encouragement in Tennyson’s words of King Odysseus in his later years, “Though much is taken, much abides; and though we are not now that strength in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in WILL to STRIVE, To FIND, and NOT to Yield. “

So, don’t yield and take the good with the bad like a champ! You’re not done yet . . . not by a long shot! Besides, your people now and the people you have yet to lead need you to help them walk both roads too! You see at the end of the day there is just no avoiding it and the best leaders have mastered the art of leading when its easy and when leadership gets tough. It is my fervent hope and prayer 2017 will be your best year yet. But just in case you do hit a bump or two in the road, when people ask you how you are doing, just tell them “fine and dandy” (but inside, proudly proclaim . . . “and still walking both roads”!).

Many thanks to those who supported Out Loud Strategies and this blog this year. Due to your support I had the opportunity to speak in front of several large groups and a couple of my postings reached over 100 and 200 views! I hope I have added value to you and I look forward to what I can share in 2017! 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 to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership (and still walking both roads!),

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

Your Best 5 Minutes this Week!

Being a positive person in cynical world is not easy! Everything from news stories to entertainment works to bring you down. Besides, trying to be up-beat around your grouchy family and friends really irritates them (though I admit to secretly enjoying their discomfort!). This has got me thinking out loud about why more people are not as happy or as satisfied with their lives as they should be. I recently completed a 5-minute exercise that just may help!

First, I believe the reason we do not feel as good about ourselves as we should is all based on messages we receive from advertising, media and the entertainment industry. Advertisers know that nothing works like envy! In other words, if you do not drive a certain car, wear certain clothes, look a certain way, have a certain life style, drink a certain beer, etc. then somehow you are “less than”. The way to become “better than”, therefore, is to use or buy that particular product or live a certain way. I call this “the Big Lie”. You see advertisers and the media know that everyone has a soft spot in our armor and they exploit that. The result is we spend time, energy, and money chasing something that really does not exist. Seriously, does anyone understand a perfume or cologne commercial?!

Truly we live in an unencouraging world. In fact, leadership expert and author John Maxwell often states that one of the primary jobs of leaders is to encourage others. In light of John’s great advice, I want to lead you by encouraging you to take 5 Minutes to encourage YOURSELF. Adopting a powerful exercise from Jim Loehr’s grate book, The Only Way to Win, I want you to take 5 minutes to think about yourself. I know that sounds weird in that most people rarely do so. Regardless, I want you to take 5 minutes to think and then write about YOUR BEST SELF. In other words, list those things about yourself that you are most proud of in terms of:

• Accomplishments
• Character Strengths
• Values
• Relationships
• Skills
• Abilities
• Attempts
• Challenges You Overcome
• What You Have Built
• What You Still Want to DO!

The only rule is that you cannot stop until you use the entire 5 minutes (or 10 if you are feeling particularly generous about yourself!). I did this very exercise this week and it was incredibly powerful in that just like everyone else, I have times of self-doubt. The problem becomes when we dwell on the negatives, it diminishes are effectiveness in work and life. Confidence (as opposed to arrogance) is an impact multiplier!

I will also grant you that doing this was not as easy as it sounds because we live in a world that does easily let us feel good about ourselves. But here’s the thing, you need to stop second guessing your own worth and value. You need to listen to YOUR BEST SELF more than the Itty Bitty Critical Committee that often lives in your head! If you still find it difficult to complete this exercise, then contact me and let’s see if I 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 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

A “When I . . .” life is no life at all!

Recently I read a story about Jill Costello in Jim Loehr’s great book, The Only Way to Win. Jill was a coxswain on the UC-Berkley rowing team who found out she had Stage IV lung cancer at the end of her Junior year. This was obviously a remarkable diagnosis for a non-smoking 21-year-old who also so happened to be a peak athlete but was more remarkable was her courage and grace in dealing with her disease. Featured in the November, 2010 issue of Sports Illustrated, she stated, “Your life is happening right now and this is the only moment you can control. This is the only minute that really matters. If you are dwelling on something that happened in the past or feeling anxious about the future, you are missing out on your life”. Such a profound insight got me thinking out loud that too many of us are leading a “When I . . . “ life!

Your life is happening right now and this is the only moment you can control. This is the only minute that really matters. If you are dwelling on something that happened in the past or feeling anxious about the future, you are missing out on your life. - Jill Costello

I have often written about the danger of waiting for some life event to happen before you get on with your life. This creates a “When I . . .” mindset.

When I get a promotion . . .

When I find the right person . . .

When I move to a new location . . .

When I get into shape . . .

When I earn that next degree . . .

When I . . .

When I . . .

(equally troubling and unproductive is the past tense, “If I had just . . . .”!)

Now don’t get me wrong, it is imperative that we set life changing goals for ourselves and work hard to achieve them. The problem is when these can also become life delaying goals where we miss out on our life that is happening now while we are waiting on the one we are hoping for! Just think of the relationships, experiences, learning, and development we can be having NOW just because we are waiting on something better?!?!

I have heard it said that yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery; thus, today is a present! Today is truly a gift so what will you do with it? How will you spend it? I encourage you to take joy in the minute whenever you can. Don’t forget to lose focus on what is right in front of you while you are looking ahead. I bet you will be surprised about all the great stuff that you can experience in the here and now versus the there and then!

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 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 constitutes “Legitimate Leadership”?

This may be the most controversial blog I have written to date but this is NOT an intentionally political submission. I will always attempt to honor the primary focus of this blog which is leadership development and personal effectiveness but with the death of Fidel Castro, it has me thinking out loud about the age-old debate among leadership thinkers about what constitutes “legitimate leadership”?

First, and I want to make this perfectly clear. Whatever you believe constitutes legitimate economic/political system then that as your opinion and I will not criticize it. Quite frankly there has been far too much “political shaming” recently and I am not going to play!

To begin and to be fair, the Batista regime that ruled Cuba prior to Castro’s rise was no prize. It was corrupt and had its own abuses that caused misery to many. With that being said, however, the harsh facts are that Castro became a brutal dictator in every sense of the word. According to Amnesty International that tracks human rights abuses. Castro and his brother along with their associates are responsible for the imprisonment, torture, and murder of thousands of Cuban people whose only crime was disagreeing with them. These brave individuals are often referred to as “Prisoners of Conscience” and this practice continues to this day. Further, living in South Florida, I have heard story after story from families whose relations were forced to surrender their homes and all their possessions before they were allowed to leave Cuba. Those without means who want to escape were forced to do so on anything that would float to cross the Florida Straights to reach America.

But the fundamental question remains, are dictators leaders? In other words, is dictatorship a legitimate form of leadership? I once had the opportunity to hear a faculty member from the prestigious Jepson School of Leadership at the University of Richmond speak to the very issue. His classic example was on Adolf Hitler. Like Castro, Hitler provided many social supports in Nazi Germany. Similarly, both men were larger than life and were fiery speakers. To some they even deserved celebrity status but in my last blog I warned against confusing celebrity about ability, or in this case, humanity.

In final analysis, however, there is nothing to respect or emulate in their example. You see the faculty member’s conclusion was that leadership carries a moral imperative and I agree. True leaders understand that the means never justify the ends. They understand that people and their freedoms should be paramount. Therefore, it is my belief dictators are not leaders, they are dictators.

In his address to the United Nations, leadership expert and author John Maxwell shared the rubric to the assembly what would reveal any leader of principal or a legitimate leader if they could answer the following in the affirmative.

• Can I trust you?
• Do you care for me?
• Can you help me?

So, what are we to do? Those of you who lead others from wherever you are? I would encourage you to do something! Be worthy of trust . . . care . . . 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 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 is your “pyramid for success”?

Legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, is known as much for his mentorship and leadership off the court as his success on the court which was considerable. With many national championships to his credit, this incredible leader encouraged players to focus more on the process it took to win versus the prize of winning itself. This got me thinking out loud about the contrast between his philosophy to that of the win at any cost, high dollar programs that collegiate sports have since become. I think the primary difference is that he started with the foundation first and built from there.

I recently had the opportunity to view a great video from SUCCESS magazine that featured footage of Coach himself along with achievers he mentored and influenced which included other famous coaches, entertainers, authors, etc. One telling moment is that he started every season with a team meeting where he would teach players to right way to put on their shoes and socks. Really!?!? These were young men that have been doing that activity most of their lives but Coach Wooden always taught lessons on two levels. The obvious level (i.e. if you do not put your shoes on right, you will get blisters which will affect your play) and the deeper level (i.e. what is foundational to success in life?).

You see Coach was pulling from his Pyramid of Success. Even though it took several years to develop, he eventually created a list of characteristics, attributes, and attitudes that he believed would lead to the pinnacle – Competitive Advantage. To get there, however, you had to have a firm foundation so Coach placed Industriousness and Enthusiasm as the cornerstones upon which everything else is built. Coach Wooden knew that success in any endeavor in life was an inside job! In other words, you had to work on yourself first before you hope to have success in life later.

A Google search will reveal a number of images of Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success and I encourage you to take a look. Along with that, I encourage you to build your own pyramid. A simple process can include:

• VALUES - what are your primary values that you build your life upon or that guide you? These are foundational.
• ATTRIBUTES – next, what characteristics or qualities are important for you to have? It is OK if they are not completely developed in you as long as they are qualities that you strive for.
• TALENTS/SKILLS – what talents and capacities are important to you? Remember, you always work to your strengths so this list should be focused and finite.
• SUCCESS DEFINED – how to you eventually define success? For Coach Wooden it was Competitive Advantage. For me it is IMPACT. This should appear at very top of your pyramid, the primary thing you strive for!

Remember, this is YOUR pyramid. This is how you uniquely define success. As incredibly successful UCLA gymnastics coach Valorie Field shares, “be YOUR best, not someone else’s best.” Just to do your very best, was what was important to Coach Wooden and I agree. If you do your very best, then I promise you at the end of the day it will be more than good enough. In fact, it will be great! Coach often encouraged others to “make every day a masterpiece” and I do the same!

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 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

We Need Better than “Just Good Enough” Leaders!

Now from the title of this week’s blog, you would assume it concerns the most recent U.S. election. You would be right. You might also think that I have picked a side. You would be wrong! But the events of the past week do have me thinking out loud about the state of leadership here in the U.S. and around the world.

I have had the pleasure of hearing the world’s leading expert on leadership, John Maxwell, teach in person on several occasions. He often states that we are in a “leadership crises” both here and abroad, I am prone to agree. Regardless of your political persuasion, you must have the intellectual honesty to admit that both of the eventual candidates had serious character deficiencies. Therefore, when most Americans went to the ballot box they voted for their “just good enough” candidate.

So how did we get here? Certainly, there were quality candidates on both sides of the political spectrum at the early stages of the process that did not have such baggage. They were earnestly sincere in their beliefs and had a track record of honest leadership. I think part of it is that often we confuse celebrity with ability or perhaps notoriety with integrity. The sad truth is that the “cult of personality” is alive and well in modern society which often disappoints. The outcome is that I believe that with some exceptions on both sides of the aisle, our best is not in Washington, DC. Even though there are great men and women leaders who would be imminently qualified, who would want to expose themselves and their families to the level of “no holds barred” destructive scrutiny that is pervasive in most campaigns? The result is that those in office, tend to stay in office well beyond their shelf life!

Whereas I have no clear fixes for the system as it currently is, I do have some criteria for what would constitute EXCELLENT leadership. Notice I did not say perfect because there is no such thing. As John Maxwell shares, we should practice Healthy Hypocrisy where it is OK if your words and deeds do not always MATCH UP as long as they eventually CATCH UP! But I think we can and should do better than “just good enough” leadership both within ourselves and the leaders we elect.

• We need excellent leaders that focus on the GREATER GOOD versus the NARROW INTEREST
• We need excellent leaders that consider the NEEDS OF THE MANY versus the DESIRES OF THE VOTING BLOCK
• We need excellent leaders that lead from the perspective of the LONG WAY versus the NEXT ELECTION
• We need excellent leaders that understand COLLABORATION is more productive than CONFRONTATION
• We need excellent leaders that are PROBLEM SOLVERS versus CRISES PRODUCERS
• We need excellent leaders who understand the BENEFITS of UNITING people far outweighs the UTILITY of DIVIDING people
• We need excellent leaders that know decisions can be YES, AND propositions versus just the EITHER, OR ELSE or WIN/LOSE ultimatums.

On second thought, perhaps that is how we fix the system. Maybe if we expect ourselves and others to be “more than adequate” leaders versus “just good enough” and if enough of you step up to leadership roles, then maybe we can create a system that works!

Remember that the name of my firm is based on the fact that leadership is an OUT LOUD proposition. So, find your voice because you have something to say!

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 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 will be the finest hour of your leadership?

If you believe as I do, you are pretty disappointed in what the entertainment industry produces these days. Let’s face it, if you are over a certain age, you are not in Hollywood’s demographic! But every once in a while, there is an exception. The Finest Hours depicts one of the most famous rescues in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard and left me much to think out loud about in terms of what leaders must eventually do.

Starring Chris Pine as Coast Guardsmen Bernie Webber, this real-life adventure is set in the early 1950’s when the tanker SS Pendleton becomes sheared in half during a brutal nor’easter off Cape Cod. Weber is asked to take a small boat and crew and attempt a rescue for the surviving tanker crew. The chances of success are slim and just getting to the ship in the dangerous sea conditions is doubtful. Weber, who is portrayed as having his own doubts about his abilities and his own crew’s chances for survival goes out anyway and in the heroic tradition of the U.S. Coast Guard simply states, “we have to go out, but there is no rule about coming back.”

Now in all practicality, you will never face such a dramatic moment in your leadership tenure but this movie reveals that leaders eventually have to make the hard decision. The courageous decision. The decision that no one else seems willing to make. This can include things like:

Initiating a needed change in your organization or community.

Addressing a toxic person or culture.

Taking a leap of faith that will change your life!

Believe it or not you will have many of such opportunities as your leadership and responsibilities grow. And in the spirit of “you have to go out but you don't have to come back”, these times will be your finest hours! The times when you took a breath and stepped forward into commitment! The times you did the hard thing, the uncomfortable thing, the risky thing. The time when you did not kick the can down the road and let it be someone else’s problem.

It has been said there are no great men or women, just ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances and did what had to be done. So, you see, being a courageous leader requires no specials skills or abilities, just a WILLINGNESS TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT!

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 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