Dec 5, 2022
The Diamond in the Rough
The definition of that phrase is about finding a diamond in nature, or in the rough. A raw material that requires some effort. In order to reach its full potential, it needs some attention; to be cut and polished to reveal its worth. Ultimately, it is a metaphor for a thing or person hidden in the surroundings and circumstances of the world. Virtuous and unseen… untapped value waiting to be developed. In the case of you and me, untapped talent. After almost three years of enduring the pandemic, how many of us see ourselves as that diamond? Even if we didn’t engage in the Great Resignation, or are left reeling from the Great Regret, we may still be in search of a job that develops our passion and purpose. We may still be questioning our calling and what fulfills our work life.
That being said, let’s pivot the focus of the diamond metaphor. From us to what we seek. The job. Looking for the diamond in the rough. Knowing that when we find it, it will take some work on our part to polish it. To reveal its worth.
The Job Search
In our last episode, it was about defining what we want and what we are looking for. For now, where do we start? Where are we looking? There are jobs everywhere. Which means, I can understand being picky or considering all the options before jumping into anything. My fear is we may be too picky or eliminate a “diamond” because it may take time and effort before we see the value.
When I started my professional career right after graduating university, it wasn’t in my field of study, graphic design. It was with Dillard’s department store in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I accepted a manager’s role in visual merchandising. I took it not knowing what I didn’t know. Make sense? I thought it would be a start of something. Not knowing what that something was going to be. Very shortly thereafter, I was recruited by Polo Ralph Lauren, and ending up starting my career in Men’s fashion in New York City.
What are some ways we can find our start or our next gig? Here are a couple of suggestions.
Talk to People We Know
Networking is one of easiest and most accessible of resources. And more than just a connection, go deep. Find people who may be doing something of interest or know people who are doing something interesting. Invest time in asking questions and developing contacts. Create a funnel of people who can be potential promoters and champions for your cause.
Research
As much as this has become a trite response, “google it”. Yes, do the research. Utilize resources like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Google. Investigate job possibilities. Explore what’s out there. Consider the industries and positions with potential gaps needing to be filled. What organizations are growing and looking for talent?
Find a Recruiter
If there is a need for a specialized job, involve a third-party advocate, like a recruiter, who can act on your behalf and help with the search. While this typically has an associative cost, many times that investment is covered by the employer as part of the search.
Next Steps
Once some options have come into view from your job search efforts, I suggest making the proverbial “pros and cons” list. Reflect and begin connecting the dots with the identified things we wanted in a job as well as our passion, purpose, gifts, talents, mindset and skillset to each of the possibilities. It reminds me of something Steve Jobs said about the unpredictability of life when we are planning our future.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
Once we turn the possibility into an opportunity, here’s the “diamond” moment, how will we see that potential job? Maybe it’s a first job. Something new, or it’s another job in a long line of jobs. Can we see the potential beyond the first 30/60/90 days? Can we see how this might open up doors in the future for what we really want to do?
Let’s be real, when we find the job with a high degree of interest and we are contemplating the decision to accept it, it does not mean we are saying yes to an absolute or final job. It does not bind us for life. We’re not aiming for perfect. We’re making the best decision for the opportunity that lies ahead. Realize, a job doesn’t define our journey, it’s part of the journey.
Make the decision… Pick up the diamond and let’s see what happens next.
Nov 21, 2022
Introduction
This is the first part in our series, The Great Realization. If you missed our introduction to this series, watch the introduction before diving into Part 1: Defining a Job below.
Defining A Job
The grass is always greener on the other side.
Yes, that is a very familiar term. About when we think one circumstance is better than another. Laced with a bit of envy, this perspective can shape our decision making even if appearances are deceiving. And they usually are. Especially when we add another oldie, but goodie statement, “If it seems too good to be true…” Which can mean we are suspicious that something must be wrong with something we are unexpectedly enjoying.
One of the big conversations regarding the COVID impact on the business landscape was The Great Resignation. A phenomenon that saw employees actively and intentionally leaving their jobs. COVID locked people in place, at home. During this required downtime, it appears to have stimulated thoughts about their job. About how they saw meaning in what they did. In time, it pivoted into a virtual job with the workplace being the kitchen or dining room table. This change provoked people into evaluating their purpose. This was the catalyst for looking for the dream job. People started leaving.
As we enter the third year of COVID, we have shifted the awareness of people leaving jobs to people evaluating something else. Did they make the right choice to leave and is the ‘grass truly greener’?
A March 2022 Guardian article noted this “resignation” turnover was real and lots of people had changed jobs in the past two years. In fact, the feeling was it wasn’t so much leaving jobs as swapping jobs. It cited a job research study by Muse, which found as much as seventy-two percent of workers experienced surprise or regret in their new post. Nearly half (48%) said they would try to get their old job back. They called this “shift shock” So, it begs the question…is the grass actually the exact same color?
Based on what has happened and how to move forward, I challenge some of the following considerations in searching for a “right fit” job.
Purpose. I thought I would tackle the biggest rock first. COVID may very well have stimulated this contemplation…what do I really want to do? That can be a complex answer, or it can be simple. What do you want to do versus what do you have to do versus what do you get to do.
Want to do; this is about desire. Maybe it’s something you’ve always wanted to do. It’s been in the back of your mind, and you’ve always wondered “what if”. One side may say “That’s high risk – to step into something new you’ve dreamt about”. Another side may say “That’s high reward – to step into something you’re passionate about”.
Have to do; this is about necessity. If you have to create provision…provision to maintain a quality of life, support your family, consistently pay down debt…you may have to take the job that supports your needs at this time. This doesn’t mean you can’t dream or work towards another future. It does mean it may take time. And who is to say you can’t or won’t be fulfilled in a current post. It could very well be the exact laboratory to perfect a targeted skill set for the future.
Get to do; this is about appreciation. Maybe we are in the right job, and we’ve forgotten to fully engage in its possibilities. Maybe we have felt stuck, and all we have to do is expand and evolve in the job. We may not like certain aspects of the job, and yet it is precisely where we should be. Maybe we haven’t given it a chance to have it be bigger than it is, as well as recognizing the influence you can have on others and your own purpose.
Purpose aside, now the considerations wrap around personal need – what we need and a job that provides support for those needs. Maybe it’s about compensation like pay scale, commission, potential for bonus, etc. Maybe it’s about benefits like healthcare, 401k programs, paid vacation, flex schedules, and so on. Maybe it is about personal growth like ongoing development, promotion, educational opportunities. Maybe simple things like convenience, geography, accessibility, and maybe even culture – that the company stands for something and has purpose beyond profitability.
It reminds me of Maslow’s Hierarchy; a concept shared by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”. It provides a look at human needs within a five-tier model. The hierarchy is often displayed as a pyramid, with basic needs at the bottom and more complex needs at the top.
Starting at the bottom, it identifies physiological need, or the base needs for human survival. The next level is about safety needs, including things like our health, our employment status, our home, and so on. The next is love and belonging, which involves a need for the love, appreciation and value in our relationships. The fourth level is esteem; specifically, things like self-worth, status, achievement, confidence and a sense of social significance. The top of this five-tier pyramid is self-actualization, or the need of feeling fulfilled and living a purpose-driven life.
If you think about trying to find the “right” job, maybe we start with Maslow’s pyramid as we step into our opportunities. Grass being greener must begin with how we define ‘green’. Because without that kind of realization, the job may be a checked box and not a part of personal growth journey.
Aug 1, 2022
“Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them. ” Brené Brown
When it comes to the options on what makes the list of choices for personal and organizational core values, integrity makes every list. Not just on the list, it is often the first-mentioned, and at the top of the list. In a way, it is the filter every other value is sifted through. This is a value driver, reinforcing how we commit to, believe in, and follow through with the other values.
Consider some of these common quotes and sayings about integrity:
- “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one else is watching.”
- “Integrity is following through with what you said, and walking the talk.”
- “Integrity is staying true to who you are, especially when times get tough.”
It is about truth. Your personal truth. Truth that hurts when convenience would be easier. It’s about character. It’s about how we treat others. It’s what influences respect from others. It’s honesty, and acting honestly. It’s when you can fail miserably and know you did your best, versus winning big time knowing you cut corners to get it done. It’s when your private and your public align. It’s about trust – the trust you have in yourself and the trust you create for the others around you. It’s the big reason people follow you.
Integrity in leadership
When you think of a great leader, someone with a great management style, what characteristics come to mind? What is it that compels us to follow? I contend that much of what draws followers in is the character of the leader, and their ability to put the needs of others ahead of their own. We see this humility and their desire to make others successful. We trust them to stand beside us. We trust their integrity.
Case in point, if you know someone who has the title of leader, and has shown they lack integrity…would you follow them? Maybe the title would dictate it, however, the character of the leader will always impact to what extent you follow. This reminds me of what John Maxwell says, “He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.”
So, how does integrity play a part in you, your team, or your organization? How would you describe and define integrity as it applies to those perspectives?
Start thinking about integrity today
Get a sheet of paper and a pen. Draft your answers to some or all of following questions:
- What kind of actions define integrity?
- Why is having integrity important, necessary, and essential in your leadership style?
- Why would someone follow you?
- How would you rate your ability and intention in: admitting mistakes, being vulnerable, responding to change, working through difficulty & uncertainty, forgiving others, keeping promises, and doing the next right thing?
- Who models integrity well in your sphere of influence? What are their behaviors? Who doesn’t, and why?
- If you asked your team to rate/describe your leadership integrity, or the integrity of the company leadership, what would they say?
- Mirror moment: Is there a gap between what you say and what you do? What about what you ought to be doing and what you are doing, or how you think you are leading versus how you are actually living out your leadership?
- How would you process the following question: Can you train integrity?
Are these honest answers, or ones we want to hear? Maybe that is the first test of the level or depth of our integrity. Are we willing, honest, and open enough to tell the truth? Starting with ourselves.
Leadership style: integrity
Integrity in leadership is…well, everything. If this is off, everything else is off as well. Warren Buffet said, “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” Integrity is the cornerstone.
So where is the easiest place to look for it? As I researched integrity, a word kept sticking with me.
Authenticity.
Why? Because I wholeheartedly believe that leadership is not just what you do, it’s who you are. You are a leader because there was something about you. You have been wired a certain way. Your skill set and mindset. Your decisions. Your intentions. Your passion and purpose.
Integrity therefore comes from within, and aligns exactly with who we are and the values we live by…no matter what. Sticking to those values, to our belief and faith, in all circumstances. Success and failure. Sunny day or rainy day. To be resolutely committed to who we are at all times, regardless of circumstances. Assertively authentic, especially when things are unprecedented and upside down.
I leave you with a challenge; a simple integrity “to do”. Be the example. Be the example of the level and degree of integrity you want to have…personally, with your team, or in your organization. Be it…out loud, every day with whatever you are given. Even if no one is watching.
5 ways you can bring focus on integrity
- Conduct assessment and/or survey to gauge how teams rate integrity within your organization
- Instead of just noting integrity as a core value, collaborate on how to live it out behaviorally
- Get or become a mentor, accountability partner or battle buddy; speak truth about behavior
- Create and encourage “tell the truth” sessions to discuss what needs to start, stop, and continue
- Reward and recognize integrity, even the small stuff – when you see it, say it
May 25, 2022
“There is no age requirement for leadership…for things like vulnerability, authenticity, passion, purpose, or being a servant. However, when we put these in motion, our experience and perspective will play a part.” Kurt Reinhart
I launched this series of articles to share 11 “ingredients” that make up a recipe for leadership. Each one represents an element that creates significant impact and influence:
- Part 1: Purpose – Where leadership is born
- Part 2: Mastery – What strengthens our leadership
- Part 3: Integrity – How leadership is delivered
- Part 4: Accountability – How to own our leadership
- Part 5: Intentional Influence – Where leadership goes
- Part 6: Organizational Flexibility – How leadership moves
- Part 7: Perseverance & Crisis Management – To what extent leadership will go
- Part 8: Vulnerability & Transparency – How leadership reveals truth
- Part 9: Optimism & Leadership Style – What gives leadership energy
- Part 10: Service – Where others see our leadership
Each one has a focus and a place in every moment we are given, and exercising them is key to the growth and development of our leadership style. But what happens when we expand all into view? Not as one offs, although that is just as important given a specific context. What is possible in our leadership when all the ingredients are in view?
Perspective as a Means for Growth and Professional Development
Perspective relates to a view of things. A capacity to see things as they are and even how they might be. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually. Sometimes right in the middle of the tension between what is true and real with what is perceived and relative. Between what we think we ought to do versus what we know we do. This is leadership. This is life.
Undoubtedly, we have a library of skills, abilities, and knowledge to come into play. The challenge is the variables and the uncertainty of what we are given. There is no absolute formulaic approach for our leadership. We need to balance what we know with what is front of us. It calls us to be aware, to foster an awareness beyond what we know. How do we bring everything into view as we move forward?
Start Thinking about Perspective Today
Get a sheet of paper and a pen. Draft your answers to some or all of following questions:
- How do you define perspective and situational awareness?
- What are the current ways you gain perspective?
- What triggers your need for greater perspective and awareness?
- How would you evaluate your decision-making best practices?
- Do you incorporate perspective into an intentional leadership style?
- When you are in the midst of situations, what are your instincts?
- What makes up your inventory of considerations?
- How open are you to the perspective of others when considering what courses of action to take?
- What would your team say about your ability to gain perspective?
Do these questions impact and influence how you gain perspective? Leadership, relationships, working through crisis and opportunity, managing situations and our teams, championing professional development – our approach is rarely rigid due to each circumstance being unique. What we know versus what we ought to know calls us into something deeper: to seek more perspective to make the most of our leadership.
Building an Intentional Leadership Style around Perspective
Maybe the thing I end this series with is to bolster a situational and relational awareness by encouraging our intuition and discernment. Both work hand in hand, but they are not the same. While intuition refers to a gut feeling or a hunch, discernment helps us wisely recognize and use our intuition when we need it. When looked at this way, we see that intuition is not just a reliance on flighty emotions, but is grounded in intelligence. Intuition can cause unnecessary fear or worry, and discernment can help us reel in those emotions and not let them incapacitate our thinking and doing.
Here is another way to look at this. You and I may have an idea of what we should do, but that does not mean we can do it or even that we should do it. It may not be realistic or practical. Skills, abilities, and knowledge do not guarantee an idea will be successful. Even if it seems in our gut we are able to do it, the idea may be out of reach. What we decide to do is the byproduct of our discernment.
The ingredients making up our leadership recipe are of service to the teams we get to oversee. They are leveraged in the pursuit of our ideas through the efforts of those who follow us. They are developed on purpose, for purpose.
Our leadership should challenge us and those around us, not constrict us. It requires a daily commitment to be the best version of ourselves to benefit the people around us. A desire for greater perspective to put everything into view – what is seen and unseen – with no guarantees in outcome. With the knowledge and understanding of who I am, what I believe, what I have, where I place my faith, and how hard and how long I am willing to work to be the best leader I can be.
How will you step into your intentional leadership today?
How to hone your sense of perspective
- Discuss and develop situational awareness within your organization
- Explore decision-making approaches with your teams, such as the Socratic method
- Define best practices in gaining perspective when thinking strategically
- Identify ways to allow others to provide insight and feedback in projects
- Be in the practice of assessing threats, risks, and tripping points, as well as strengths and opportunities as you make personal and organizational decisions
May 25, 2022
“Good leaders must first be good servants.” Robert Greenleaf
Robert Greenleaf is considered by many in the leadership field to be the founder of the modern Servant Leadership movement. His thoughts and works influenced a whole generation of managers and leaders by sharing this concept as a favorable and effective leadership style.
What Is Servant Leadership?
In 1970, Greenleaf published his first essay, entitled “The Servant As Leader”, which introduced the term “servant leadership” into the contemporary lexicon of management theory. Later, the essay was expanded into a book, which is perhaps one of the most influential management texts ever written. Of his philosophy, Robert Greenleaf wrote in “Essentials”,
“The servant-leader is servant first… Becoming a servant-leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first… The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?”
The Responsibilities of Leadership
Let’s be real: when we are elevated into a position of leadership, we become accountable for the expectations, objectives, and the delivery of the same within our sphere of influence. We are responsible for the ways and means of achieving those things, as well as the team members and their energies and efforts in accomplishing those things. Each day, and in every opportunity, we are directed and governed by the goal of getting things done through others.
I believe the biggest question we face in this leadership role and in our given capacity is, how do we conduct our leadership in the pursuit of getting things done through our teams?
Consider that question. Pause and reflect. When you and your team have something to get done, what tempers all of your efforts? How do you respond?
Start Thinking about Servant Leadership Today
Get a sheet of paper and a pen. Draft your answers to some or all of following questions:
- How do you define service? What is servant leadership to you?
- When you have goals to meet and exceed, how do you balance your needs with the needs of others?
- How would you rate your abilities in Greenleaf’s Principles of Servant Leadership:
- Listening
- Empathy
- Healing
- Awareness
- Persuasion
- Conceptualization
- Foresight
- Stewardship
- Commitment to the growth of people
- Building community
- How do you typically demonstrate servant leadership? Where does it fit into your daily routine?
- If your team was asked about your leadership, how would they define it?
Where do these answers take you? Where is your focus regarding whose needs or aspirations? What is your relationship with servant leadership? I find that when we truly have the posture of servant leadership, we are focused on the best interests of others above our own. We strive to make others successful, knowing our success becomes the result of theirs.
Exercising Servant Leadership
Perhaps the take-away is to be better at (or at least more aware of) servant leadership. If you research it, you will get plenty of insight. Beyond Greenleaf’s obvious influence, this concept is universal. It is timeless, and has its roots as far back as a tenet in ancient Eastern and Western philosophies, as well as the life of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. It is also broad in its application. In sales and service, it is about the customer. In our communities, it is about investing in those in need. In leadership, it is about our team members.
In a way, servant leadership is close to being an oxymoron. To lead, one must follow – by serving others. One must put the needs of another ahead of their own. Why is this good for leadership? In the past, managers operated on a transactional basis with employees. An exchange of service. “Do this in exchange for pay and benefits.” One will only contribute so much in that kind of arrangement. When a leader gets to know what matters to the team member, when they care about what the team member needs, possibility expands.
The thing is, it does not really take a ton of effort. Lead by example. Make sure the team has the “why” in things. Encourage collaboration; up and down, and side to side. Help them grow, personally and professionally. Ask for their feedback, insight, and ideas. Give them credit and celebrate their accomplishments. Share your appreciation for what they do. Care for them. In fact, do not stop there; make it a practice with each day given…care for every person.
It is easy to be self-centered. That comes naturally. To mindfully, intentionally, actively serve someone else…that is harder. And potentially the greatest achievement you will ever have. Be part of someone else’s success. Lift them up. Trust me, your shoulders are strong enough!
How to Exemplify Servant Leadership
- Define and communicate organizational service and servant leadership
- Have your team evaluate the quality of leadership within your organization
- Look for specific opportunities to have your team share insight on upcoming projects
- Schedule one-on-one time with your team to get to know them. Plan a 30-minute touch base
- Pick a servant leadership principle and make it a focus for the day or week
- Make an obvious effort of showing your appreciation. Maybe post a “Thankful Thursday” message celebrating a team member or team on LinkedIn
May 16, 2022
“It is not what happens to us that matters so much as what happens in us.” Jerry Sittser
Go back 18 months. Go back 20. What you did as a leader over a timeline to the current day. What happened? What did you notice? What did you learn about yourself, your team, and your business?
The pandemic was a popular time for phrases like action plan, problem solving, and crisis management. But nine times out of ten, leaders used these terms to discuss setbacks, not opportunities. For me, and I bet with you as well, this time was ripe with circumstances that challenged what we did as leaders and how we did it. As I shared previously, the organizational mission doesn’t change, but the way we deliver that mission can definitely change. Now, we step into what degree we deliver it. What about when the circumstances create discomfort, uncertainty and distraction? What about when we face difficulty? Are we staying true to what we need to do, day in-day out, when our leadership is being challenged?
I am reminded of two wonderful quotes. One from Robert Frost, who shared, “The only way out is through”. The other from Winston Churchill, “If you are going through hell, keep going.” Both of these resonated with me because the crisis of COVID tested our resilience and our ability to keep doing what we need to do. It tested our perseverance.
Perseverance in Crisis Management
Perseverance is defined as persistence in doing something despite difficulty in achieving success. It’s the quality someone resolutely continues to do what they need to do even though it is difficult. Words like resiliency, determination, endurance, steadfastness, grit, and moxie come to mind.
Question: what’s the action plan when overseeing something during difficulty? What is important as we work through disruption? What are the common denominators in an uncertain landscape? Both crisis and crisis management give us enormous opportunities as leaders.
Leaders who are growing through crisis, show up and stand out. They put people first. They calmly embrace reality. They remain flexible by leveraging their resources, and create an action plan that suits. They use good judgment. They provide value to others. They’re confident, vulnerable, and authentic. They assure us of the hope found in “we’ll get through this together”, and “this too shall pass.”
How do we respond to the question, “are we managing crisis or are we leading through it?”
Start Thinking about Perseverance in Crisis Management Today
Get a sheet of paper and a pen. Draft your answers to some or all of following questions:
- How do you define perseverance and resilience?
- How do you typically respond to crisis, adversity, disruption, and difficulty?
- How do you evaluate your goals, objectives, mission and values when you face difficulty?
- Do you tend to lose sight of your organizational mission in a crisis?
- What are your problem solving steps when you face difficulty and are in the midst of adversity?
- Think back about a previous time when you faced difficulty. How did you respond, what got you through it, and what did you learn?
- What training on working through difficulty are you providing your team and organization?
- When you persevere through difficulty, how are you processing the lessons and planning for the future?
- How are you paying attention to your people during difficulty? What do they need from you?
How will these questions and answers influence perseverance in yourself, within your team and in your organization? Our resilience in change, failure, and all challenges is seen. It is felt by the teams we oversee. Our greatest influence is our response to crisis.
Crisis Management as a Leadership Opportunity
In March 2020, leadership guru John Maxwell delivered a three-day virtual leadership summit, Leading Through Crisis. I would absolutely encourage you to check out this video. The biggest ‘aha’ I experienced was the underlying opportunity in crisis when he said, “With this crisis, we’ve all been given a lemon. So, I’m going to take that lemon, cut that baby open, and I’m making lemonade.”
His message of leading through adversity resonated. Adversity is often seen as a bad thing. We want bad things to end. We want to know when they will be over. While I understand that perspective, that is not my thinking. Adversity challenges us to change the question from “why is this happening?” to “what can we learn and improve?” Opportunity lies in the middle of our adversity. Perseverance is our driver to explore what happens next.
Adversity, crisis, failure, distraction… All of these experiences create change, and cause us to change with it. They challenge how we look at wanting the old normal, risking new success, and how we work through what we are given. It increases our focus by having us re-evaluate our priorities and what we see as essential in our life. It also gets us to be creative in our thinking, bold in our decisions, and precise in our action plan.
Today, be intentional about who you are and who you are becoming in difficulty. Believing whatever you face makes you better. And remember, your people are your greatest resource. When you and I persevere for them and for their sake, they persevere.
Your Action Plan for Building Perseverance
- Define organizational perseverance, resiliency, and grit
- Elevate organizational mission, purpose and “the big picture”
- When in season of difficulty, be very transparent and communicate often
- Encourage team collaboration and development of perseverance best practices
- Take opportunities to reflect on and capture lessons being learned
- Celebrate wins and success stories often
- Pay attention to emotional intelligence and resilience
- Foster employee health and well-being programs
