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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!

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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!

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Leadership challenges persist, but they’re not all created equally. Google the phrase and you’ll get more results than you’ll have time to investigate. Recently, prompted by a client conversation I went snooping around online. For my purposes, I was curious about what Indeed.com – the jobs marketplace – might have to say about the topic. I found an article entitled, 7 Leadership Challenges and How You Can Conquer Them. It’s a worthwhile list to consider.

Surprisingly, I found quite a few lists that had humility at or near the top – meaning, the leadership challenge is being or staying humble. Since our leadership recipe starts with humility, that’s certainly congruent with our leadership philosophy. 

No matter what list you look at, it’s wise for all of us to consider our own leadership challenges – and those within our organization (or team) – so we can minimize the problems and seize the opportunities that invariably exist within almost every challenge.

We’d love to hear about your leadership challenges. What are some leadership issues you’re currently working on? Just use our contact form and let us know. 

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!

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Sometimes we urge people to “own it,” meaning “accept responsibility for it.” What do you think of when you hear that? 

Some think about blame and guilt, declaring, “I didn’t cause it. It’s not my fault.” But today we don’t use that phrase to assign blame. Responsibility and accountability aren’t about finger-pointing, but rather about each of us – as leaders – deciding we’re going to take ownership of our actions and behavior. And we’re going to help serve others by showing them the power of doing that in their careers and lives, too. 

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!

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Procrastination. Hesitation. Dread. Fear. 

They’re all employed whenever managers don’t want to have the difficult – we’re calling them – crucial conversations. 

Hiding is tempting. Sometimes we surrender to it, opting to avoid doing what we know needs to be done. Today, we challenge you – and ourselves – to behave more like buffalo and less like cattle. 

Maybe I heard it because I was born in Oklahoma, a state with quite a bit of native American history and heritage. As a boy, I remember being fascinated whenever we’d find an arrowhead. The story likely came from that Indian culture I was around as a kid. I can’t be sure. Either that or it may have been because Oklahoma is also smack dab in the middle of tornado alley. Thunderstorms are a way of life around these parts (Oklahoma and north Texas).

The illustration is powerful. It deals with buffalo and thunderstorms. For those who may not know, thunderstorms travel from west to east. Cattle and buffalo react when the dark clouds start rolling in, signifying a coming storm. The cattle run east, away from the storm. The buffalo run west, directly in the path of the storm.

Question: Which animal is in the storm the longest?

Answer: The cattle…because they’re traveling with the storm.

The moral of the story is to behave more like a buffalo. Lean into your problems. Run into the storm. Don’t hide. Fight.

We all have to endure the storms. It’s up to us how long we take it. We can be like a cow running away from it, hiding. It just means we’ll be in the storm longer. Or, we can be buffalo and fight. Face our storm by charging into it knowing that our time there will be much briefer than we ran away from it.

Storms often appear in conversations we need to have, but we’d rather avoid conversations. 

Leadership is about doing for others. It’s a focus on others. Stop thinking of yourself. Stop being fearful for selfish reasons. Instead, think about the value you can provide in the other person by having a crucial conversation that can serve them. 

We hope you find value in today’s show. Please share it with a friend.