Grow Great - A Podcast About City Government Leadership

Leadership: How Can You Know If You’re Good?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:09 — 39.5MB)

Watching a grandson play in a junior high football game can teach many lessons, including whether or not you’re as good as you think. In all fairness, he had been warning me all week that his team likely going to be killed. Turns out, he was right.

Leaders can sometimes suffer delusions thinking we’re better…or worse…than we may really be. How can we know the truth?

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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We encourage you to contact us. Feedback, suggestions, criticisms, insights, experiences – they’re all welcomed. Thank you for watching and listening!

Great Leaders Don’t Blame Others

Podcast, Video / By Randy Cantrell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:06 — 32.1MB)

Bum Phillips on failure Bum Phillips was a quotable NFL coach, a good ‘ol boy from Texas. We’re fans of this quote Bum uttered about failure. It speaks to the excuse-making that is so easy to do, and shows how blaming others (or anything really) isn’t the path toward growing great.

“You fail all the time, but you aren’t a failure until you start blaming someone else.”

Join us for the conversation about how great leaders shoulder the responsibility to create a high-performance culture. Great leaders happily accept responsibility…for everything. It’s empowering and provides leaders with the liberty to get on with helping their organization reach new heights.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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Connect With Lisa On Linkedin • Connect With Randy On Linkedin

We encourage you to contact us. Feedback, suggestions, criticisms, insights, experiences – they’re all welcomed. Thank you for watching and listening!

Great Leaders Find People Who Are Best At Different Things

Podcast, Video / By Randy Cantrell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:51 — 38.3MB)

Grow Great - finding the best in people This quote serves as today’s conversation starter. “Great leaders are not the best at everything. They find people who are best at different things and get them all on the same team!”

Keep in mind that Lisa and I define leadership in a few simple terms:

• A focus on others
• Doing for others what they can’t do for themselves
• Positive influence

We’re tempted to surround ourselves with people mostly like we are. “Birds of a feather,” and all that. Great leaders figure out how to identify what others may be best at, and put them into a place where they can be most successful in helping the team achieve more. It’s how high-performance cultures are built.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Check out the Hosts page for our profiles.
Connect With Lisa On Linkedin • Connect With Randy On Linkedin

We encourage you to contact us. Feedback, suggestions, criticisms, insights, experiences – they’re all welcomed. Thank you for watching and listening!

Leaders Encourage, Appreciate & Celebrate

Podcast / By Randy Cantrell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:37 — 36.3MB)

We’re thinking of that scene in Meet The Fockers where Jack (played by Robert De Niro) looks at the wall of fame Greg’s parents have erected and says, “I didn’t know they made 9th place ribbons.” To which Greg’s dad (played by Dustin Hoffman) remarks, “Oh Jack, they got ’em all the way up to 10th place!” 😀

Today we’re going to discuss the positive impact leaders have in encouraging higher performance.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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Connect With Lisa On Linkedin • Connect With Randy On Linkedin

We encourage you to contact us. Feedback, suggestions, criticisms, insights, experiences – they’re all welcomed. Thank you for watching and listening!

When Leaders Lose A Valued Team Member

Podcast / By Randy Cantrell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:04 — 27.5MB)

He drives to work calculating all the things on his to-do list. It’s a never-ending stream of activities. His calendar is packed making him wonder when he’s going to get any actual work done. “It is what it is,” he thinks to himself.

Coffee in hand, he enters the building and heads straight to his office to settle in. Within minutes his right-hand person, Beth, knocks on his open door asking if he’s got a few minutes. “Sure,” he says. “Come on in.” Beth enters closing the door behind her. That’s his first signal that something is wrong.

Beth submits her resignation. She’s accepting a better opportunity with more pay, better hours, and “a lot less stress.”

Today Lisa and I talk about what happens when leaders lose a valued team member.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Check out the Hosts page for our profiles.
Connect With Lisa On Linkedin • Connect With Randy On Linkedin

We encourage you to contact us. Feedback, suggestions, criticisms, insights, experiences – they’re all welcomed. Thank you for watching and listening!

Was Theodore Roosevelt Right About Leadership?

Podcast / By Randy Cantrell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:06 — 30.3MB)

Was Theodore Roosevelt Right About Leadership?

Lisa and I discuss this quote by Theodore Roosevelt.

I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. – Theodore Roosevelt

Do you agree with it? How do you see leadership, specifically your own?

Our leadership is dramatically impacted by how we see ourselves in the world, and how we see ourselves fitting into the outcomes of our organization. It also impacts our willingness and ability to follow so we can learn.

In the spirit of always striving to improve, join us for the conversation. We’d love for you to share your insights with us.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Check out the Hosts page for our profiles.
Connect With Lisa On Linkedin • Connect With Randy On Linkedin

We encourage you to contact us. Feedback, suggestions, criticisms, insights, experiences – they’re all welcomed. Thank you for watching and listening!