A member of your team commits an error – an honest mistake. It negatively impacts somebody in your organization. Lisa and I discuss what she calls mistakes of the heart versus mistakes of the mind. How should we react? What impact might our reaction have on our leadership?
Why isn’t merely a great question to suss out purpose, but it helps us better understand ourselves – and others. By taking the time to ask “WHY?” and then (more importantly) taking the time to listen to the answer, we can help each other move forward.
Everything is hard until it’s easy. Everything is slow until it’s fast.
You have dreams and ambitions. You also have pain, suffering and sorrow. Hopefully you have a few Instagram moments every now and again, but mostly your life is likely routine filled with a fair amount of tears, angst and trepidation coupled with bouts of confidence, belief and optimism. It’s the roller coaster that we’re all riding on. Together.
That whole “leave it outside the office” admonition is not just foolish, it’s impossible. Life doesn’t happen or get in the way…life is part of who we become – and who we already are – as leaders. It’s also what helps each of us build compassion toward others.
Leadership is:
Influence
A focus on others
Doing for others what they’re unable to do for themselves
All the elements of our life contribute to build stronger leadership IF we’ll leverage them properly.
Today, Lisa and I share some of our “life outside the office” and how it’s serving us to increase our resilience and determination.
Randy’s computer died. So we’re going to take a break since we really have no other choice…as we await the arrival of his new machine. We’ll be back in April. Catch up on episodes you may have missed and we’ll be back before you know it. Thanks for watching and listening.
Growing up I was always entertained when a plate spinner would appear on a variety TV show.
Today was the absolute worst day ever And don’t try to convince me that
There’s something good in every day
Because, when you take a closer look,
This world is a pretty evil place.
Even if
Some goodness does shine through once in a while
Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.
And it’s not true that
It’s all in the mind and heart
Because
True happiness can be attained
Only if one’s surroundings are good.
It’s not true that good exists
I’m sure you can agree that
The reality
Creates
My attitude
It’s all beyond my control
And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that
Today was a very good day.
by Chanie Gorkin
Now read it from bottom to top.
Life is largely a matter of perspective. When you find yourself growing less grateful, more frustrated and confused, shift your thinking to focus on the things that are going well. Mostly, think about the people accompanying you on your leadership journey. Focusing on others tend to help us figure things out in our own lives.
Southlake, Texas is a thriving community in the northeast area of Tarrant County, with portions in Denton County. Since 2005 Southlake has enjoyed the leadership of City Manager Shana K. Yelverton. I must give a special shout-out to Shana and her leadership team, especially Alison Ortowski, Assistant City Manager and Stacey Black, Senior Human Resources Director. These were the folks who gave me my first opportunity to serve leaders in city government. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be doing this work or this podcast. I owe them an enormous debt of gratitude for introducing a guy with a CEO background, who deeply believed people make THE difference, to the world of public administration.
At our first meeting, I told Shana that I wasn’t likely the right fit to help coach some of her top-level leaders because I knew nothing about the world of city government leadership. She insisted that I was likely exactly what she needed. “We don’t operate like just any city,” she said. I quickly learned how true that was. I remember sitting down with Shana one morning in her office, after engaging with many members of her leadership team, and saying, “I could take your team and be air-dropped into any organization in DFW and I guarantee we’d quickly figure it out.” They were – and are – that good!
You’ll see that high achieving spirit and competence in James Brandon.
Here’s a video produced by the City of Southlake spotlighting James (something he hates passionately, but I’m pleased they did it). Click here (or the image below) to watch it on Facebook.
