Growing Leadership

• A desire to ramp up one’s impact as a leader
• Becoming open to increasing one’s self-awareness around their desired impact and current state as a leader.
• Engaging in some process that measurably increases their power in at least one or more of the keystone areas.
• The willingness to learn and change.

It is clear that developing stronger leadership is absolutely necessary if one is to have both personal fulfillment and greater success. When one realizes they are the instrument for not only their success but the success of their staff and the organization around them – a desire grows to become a better instrument.  As this desire to become a better instrument for the vision grows a leader will begin to become more aware of what they do well and what is holding them back from being an even better leader. As one stays focused on having greater impact and sees the strengths as well as the gaps – there is a growing willingness to stretch, learn and change.  This is a natural unfolding that most experience as they embrace the development journey.

Yet, for many there is a resistance to stepping into the development process.  Why?  Because when you do you must face yourself.  If there is not the recognition around the value of change the very part of ourselves we must change in order to grow resists the process of transformation.  In my view this is why leadership development is not embraced more widely.  It has nothing to do with budget or the questions as to its value.  Even as more and more research has shown the return on investment from the development of leadership – executives and organization’s resist.  Yet, as change continues to escalate and the complexities of a global world impact our competitive edge more and more – executives will come to realize that one of the only ways they can gain some edge is through their own development.  Human beings are funny creatures – it tends to take pain or failure to generate the desire to grow and change.  That being said, every leader I have known who has ever fully embraced the development journey finds it enriching once they get under way with it.  There are always a few rough spots in the development process but for the most part the leaders to step into it find most of the experience quite enjoyable.

1. Gravitas comes from the power of ones self image, purpose and integrity.  It is expressed through a leader’s authentic physical, emotional and spiritual presence.
2. Achievement comes from the power of vision and focus.  It is expressed through the ability of a leader to move forward key personal and organizational priorities.
3. Influence comes from the power to create mutual value, inspire, and motivate.  It is expressed through our ability to engage others in meaningful, respectful and trustworthy ways.

There are many competencies a leader must develop under these keystones yet these are the primary areas to measure a leader’s impact.  Ultimately an extraordinary leader must have a foundation of personal purpose and power, must be able to influence others and ultimately must generate high value results.  In my next entry I will talk, at a high level, about what it takes to develop these keystones.

Taming the Tornado of Overwhelm

In part I and part II of this series we shared how we are facing a growing experience of overwhelm at work and in our lives.  There is just not a sense we are able to keep up any more. Further we highlighted that overwhelm is not so much a symptom of our times as it is a symptom of trying to use outdated means to be successful during the times we find ourselves in.  In short, these times are calling for a transformation in our approach to working and living.    As mentioned the earlier entries the biggest thing we are all being called to do is evolve how we relate to our own thinking, feelings and resulting behaviors.   The fields of biology, neurobiology and quantum physics are highlighting that our power as human beings comes from taking full responsibility for our thoughts, to take full advantage of our freedom we experience by making conscious choices (versus just being on automatic pilot) and ultimately to direct our success and happiness from the inside out.  In short, we are creative beings and today’s times are demanding we raise our game!

While the foundation for all of this must be taking charge of our thinking – there are additional core principles and practices that can be deployed to assist you in vastly decreasing overwhelm at work and in life.  They are the “GUTS^TM” of gaining greater control and here they are:

Gaining Clarity

We are still surprised that in the our work with our clients, one of questions that stops many of my clients in their tracks when we ask it is “What do you want….?”

• What do you want personally from your experience as a business leader?
• What do you want from your overall work experience?
• What do you want from your life overall?
• What do you want from those who work for you or you work with?

In most cases, when we ask people these questions they look at us almost like “what are you asking me that question for?”  Yet, having tracked many successful people over the past 20 years, we find that most have gained success due to some good luck as well as some very positive habits these people unconsciously deployed over and over again.  As their success grew they may have had clear goals but they never asked on a deeper level what they wanted and yet their success continued to grow.  Yet, as success grew – so did the distractions.   For example, we have worked with a number of CEOs and business leaders who grew their businesses from start up to thriving organizations with hundreds of employees.   Their vision and business savvy got them to this point but then they found themselves overwhelmed by the complexities of the organization they have built.  They faced questions like:

• How do I build a strong team around me?
• How do I maintain a high performing culture and retain the best people?
• How do I expand into markets that I am unaware of?
• How do I get others to rise to the standards I set to serve our customers?

The bottom line, unless the business leader answer the question “Given what I have built – now what do I want?” – they usually begin spending a lot more  money on consultants than they need to because they have no inner navigational system to deal with the questions bulleted above.   In a sense, they have no vision to direct their own decision making.  There is an underlying assumption that this is just a puzzle and if I just get the right pieces together then it will all work the way it used to.  Unfortunately it is that very assumption that ruins hundreds of businesses a year.  You hear things like:

• I ran out of runway and could not find the financing necessary.
• I could not hold on to the best people.
• I could never find sales people.
• I just got tired of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The problem was not a missing puzzle piece – the problem in most failed businesses is that vision is missing and the key leaders do not ask “what do I want?”  Answering this question from the deepest place and forming a vision is the foundation of success that clears distractions, removes overwhelm and vastly increases the probability of success.

Ultimate Self-Care

Have you ever been a weight lifter?  Well if you were you know that you can’t work the same muscle group day in and day out.  Why?  Because if you continue to work these muscle groups day after day without rest – the lactic acid that is generated during your work out will continue to build up and ultmately break down your muscles.  In other words, recovery is part of the strengthening process!   So how does this understanding relate to overwhelm?    The unconscious belief that breaks and taking lunch at work is a luxury is akin to concluding to strengthen my biceps I must work them every day.   Unfortunately, without recovery, even positive stress, will not only have a negative impact on our health it will decrease our performance at work!   Research has shown by simply taking a break for 15 minutes in the morning, taking our full lunch hour and taking a 15 minute break in the afternoon vastly improves our productivity as well as our health ¹.   In short, At some point you have to shut down and let your brain and nervous system recover from even enjoyable stress or you are going to create major problems for your health and performance. As overwhelm has increased, we have increasingly become a society addicted to adrenaline and the thought of slowing down, taking a deep breath and catching up has become akin to boredom . In short, we must come to appreciate the fulfillment that comes from quiet and reflection as well as realize the tremendous benefits of such time that leads to greater creativity, success and personal fulfillment.

Taking Charge

In a sense, we really dealt with this part of the GUTS when we highlighted the importance to taking charge of your thinking, emotions and behaviors.   Yet, taking charge also involves being conscious of the realization that the only time we have is NOW and that taking charge of our focus requires we strip away anything that distracts us from what is most important.  As David mentioned in his entry entitled “Time Management – The Illusion” – time is an illusion.  Yes, it is an important concept that allows us to consciously place boundaries around our focus yet ultimately we can only get something done now.   Therefore “Taking Charge” ultimately means we take charge of our focus moment to moment by learning how to remain conscious of the choices we are making and why we are making them.

Savvy Influence

Finally, a part of overwhelm is generated based on how we influence and how we allow others to influence us.  Here you need to ask yourself:

• Am I surrounding myself with people who align with me – who inspire and uplift me?
• Am I saying yes to the right things and are the commitments I am making supporting my ultimate vision?
• Am I making powerful requests for what I need in order to succeed and live a fulfilled life?
• Do i feel safe having direct open conversations about what matters with those I work with?

The key is to spend time with people who we can be mutually supportive of and whose company provides inspiration to our visions.  Being able to proactively build relationships is central to our long term success.   When you think about it, the most influential people in organizations are the rainmakers.  Why is this?  Certainly this is because they tend to generate sales but even more importantly such rainmakers tend to have a vast and deep network of relationships that they can call upon for support.  They usually provide tremendous value to their networks and generate a big bank account of favors that can be returned.  When rainmakers walk into a networking event everyone wants time with them.  Having that quality of relationships and wielding that level of influence equals power.  With so many willing to help them – they also don’t have to work as hard.

We hope that you enjoyed this series of articles.  Please know that both of us would value an opportunity to talk to you individually or organizationally about how you can apply these principles to not only reduce overwhelm but increase your success!  As always we welcome your comments.

The Sky's The Limit

1. Focus intensely on what you want to create. To do this you must become crystal clear about why you want to create it and how you will measure your success.  Once you have this clarity – and not before – you can create the necessary laser focus that will pull you towards your desired outcome.
2. Place a frame around that and for a period of time make that your sole focus.  Think about any big accomplishment you have had in your life or in work.  I guarantee when you were working to achieve it – it was foremost in your mind and above most other things at that time.  So your vision for success and how you are going to measure it must be THE or at least a major – priority.
3. Tap into your memory and improve the past through your imagination. Every executive I have ever worked with has been wildly successful at some point. You are no exception.  Why do I say tap into memory? Because when we remember a success and relate it to our current goal – it empowers certainty.  Having certainty we will succeed is essential to continually growing our success.  So as you are considering what growing your success means to you – find a memory from your past when you achieved a major breakthrough and build your vision on that foundation.  When you do this you will tap into super charged inner resources that most people do not realize they have.
4. Let go, have faith and expect it or something else better to happen. You see there are a number of paradoxes in this proven formula.  One of them is that you need to focus intensely on what you want to create and at the same time let go and stay open.  One of the biggest misunderstandings around achievement is that once I have a goal – I now have to plan my actions to achieve it.  Now this is a method and it can have some effect.  Yet, using this method is akin to using a dull blade to cut through leather.  It takes more time and causes more stress.  You see, it does not matter how smart you are – there is no way you can imagine all the possibilities for how something can manifest.   The key to generating leveraged actions towards your goal is to create intense desire around the outcome and then take advantage of what happens moment to moment.  When you fixate on some particular direction to achieve something – you will miss multiple opportunities that are happening every day, that if you get, will lead you far more naturally and easily towards great achievement.
5. Remove any inner obstacle that is in the way of you believing it is possible. First, there is nothing inherently wrong with anyone yet we are the ones that most get in the way of success.  It is not the circumstances or other people in our lives that divert our success – if we do not believe that we are buying into an illusion that will hinder our greater success.  You see we are all perfectly programmed for the outcomes we generate – in every area of our lives.  So when we are unaware of all the habits that get in our way and have no way to shift them – our ability to achieve greater success is muted.  To be wildly successful you must know yourself so over time you have more and more control over how you respond to situations and others.   All of us block our success more than we know but unless we tune in – we don’t realize it.  Again, the journey of expanding our power comes from setting big goals and facing any habits we have that diverts us from our desired outcome.   Success breeds success.  Avoidance of inner obstacles leads to marginal success at best.
6. Enjoy the results yet also learn. If you follow the first five steps in this formula you will achieve greater and greater success.  Yet, it does not end with accomplishment.  Once you accomplish your goal or something close to it – you need to explore what worked and what got in the way on the journey to your achievement.  When you do this you will have a better chance at repeating what you did well as well as shifting the negative moves into the plus column next time.

These simple steps are powerful and there is a lot contained in each step.  The good news is you are already successful so you likely have deployed most, if not all, of these steps already in your career.   It is how we succeed really.  By consciously following these steps  you can continually and exponentially grow your success.  New heights are always available and it is true what they say “The Sky is the Limit” – in fact – it has been shown we have far fewer limitations than we think we do.

Super Charge Your Success

1. We don’t set clear goals and/or may lack the necessary crystal clarity around what we really want.  This lack of crystal clarity holds us back.
2. We have inner obstacles – habits of thinking, emoting and behaving – that for the most part remain hidden from us that act like a wet blanket over our success in certain areas.  And even if we are clear about certain “blocker habits” – we tend think “that’s just the way I am – I really can’t change that about me, even though, I know it blocks me from greater success. What can I do?“

Watch the Video

The third and final video is here highlights the most powerful aspect of Stuart Lichtman’s program – which addresses number two above.  Not only is is possible to change ways of operating that stand in our way of greater success – Stuart Lichtman has created processes that make it easy for YOU to clear them and without the need of any external assistance.   So, do you have any area of your business or life where you feel you have not reached your full potential? Do any of these statements resonate for you?:

• I have always wanted to double the size of my business but it seems I can only get it to this point and I am not sure why.
• I know I could be a better leader and if I was it would allow me to have more impact yet I am not sure how to change and even if I was I am not sure that I have the time and energy to make those changes given my other priorities.
• I really want a balanced life but its just impossible but work just eats up my time.
• I have always wanted to start that business yet something always seems to get in the way.
• I know my team could be far more productive yet I am not sure really what to do about it.

If statements LIKE this resonate for you then watch the third video entitled “Free from Blockers.”

Watch the Video

I want to remind you that these videos were prepared for the general public – please take this into consideration when watching them and consider those achievements in your work as a leader and/or in your business that you know would make a big difference but for some reason you have not achieved them.

This video also introduces Stuart’s Dream Achiever Program which provides you everything you need to fully engage Stuart’s proven processes in your business and life at an extremely generous investment (and includes a 60 day money back guarantee). Again, Stuart’s work changes everything!  Why? Because he has developed a fool proof process that allows anyone who applies it to become masterful at generating results beyond anything they have ever experienced.  Yes, it is proven!  At least for those in his Super Achiever Coaching Program – fin that they can now achieve their most profound desires 100% of the time.  Please enjoy the video and if you have any questions about this program or anything else please let me know.  I am here to support you in any way I can.

The ones who forward change are those who have taken a hard look at themselves.  One of my favorite examples is Nelson Mandela.  He sat in a prison cell for 27 years and while in those terrible conditions he took the time to reflect – asking who he needed to be to get through that time and help his country.  The transformation that happened to this great man – occurred a great deal because of his own self-inquiry that was forced during those years in prison.  Mandela came out of those terrible conditions with a much more powerful presence than before he entered the cell that gained deep respect not only from his countrymen and world leaders – he also became deeply admired by his jailers.  He stepped out of prison into his role as President of South Africa with the intent to integrate a country and he did!  He transformed that country yet did so only after transforming himself. 

Those who avoid such inquiry start believing their own hype – that the way they think, emote and behave is the only way to do so.   Such “leaders” do not have a vision for the common good and they are not really open to listening.  In essence they have accepted the status quo and use the past as a means to dictate the future.

True leaders look at themselves as an instrument for a vision that has a place for everyone in their constituency.  They lead by example and realize they do not have all the answers.  Yet, most importantly these leaders are willing to look at themselves and their closely held beliefs and they are willing to change these beliefs in order to achieve what is more important to them.

As I mentioned in my blog entry “The Last Thing Standing In the Way of Executive Development is the Executive” – the main reason why leadership development is not more practiced comes down to the resistance of leaders in organizations to engage the process completely and fully.  Why?  Because it means that an executive in a leadership position must question their views and do deep self-inquiry in order to become a more effective leaders.  Yes, this is uncomfortable yet true leaders rise above this concern because there is something bigger at stake.  Such leaders realize the more they have access to their true power – they will give others permission to embrace theirs.

Also, this discomfort is over emphasized in our experience because I have never met a person who committed to the path of their own development who over time not only found greater effectiveness in their leadership – they also found much more freedom and joy at work and in life.   A little discomfort was a small price to pay for the results.

So if you are looking towards the new year with a desire to change something at work or in the world.  Start by considering this quote from Ghandi:

Be the Change You Want to See In the World

Whether you like it or not – all effective change starts with you! Leadership development is not something for other people who “need it.”  It is for the ones who desire to have impact.  So, if you have a deep desire for change then make sure you are doing something next year to support your own transformation as a leader!

In this video produced for The Maryland Chamber of Commerce I focus on the foundation of leadership – your personal power. I have said many times that in order to develop as a leader you must make it personal and bring your unique purpose, passion and presence to the role. Without this foundation leadership can not take hold in you. You are a leader by title only unless this foundation is clarified and leveraged. Enjoy the video and please offer your comments.

What is “Development” About Anyway?

I do not like the word development because it implies there is something missing in us.  Which is not the case really.  This term comes from an old outdated therapy model that examines our failings rather than our greatness.   “Empowerment”  is really what leadership development is all about because true leaders understand who they are and why they are leading.  To engage in a “development” or empowerment path you must answer the following questions:

• What do I most desire to create in terms of my results, success, impact, achievement, etc.?
• What are my greatest strengths and how do I build upon these to accomplish this?
• What habits do I have that do not support my vision?
• What kind of person must I  become to achieve my vision, priorities, etc.?
• What, if I learned it, would help me quickly close the gap between my current reality and the vision?

The answers to these questions set the stage for your development or rather empowerment.

Why Should I Empower Myself Anyway?

The short answer is because it will lead to a far better experience in your life and your work.  You will feel more alive and you will be more successful.  Again, you may already be successful financially yet are you successful in every area at the level YOU DESIRE?  The follow up reason is that you have not even come close to tapping into your capacity – human beings are the most creative force on this planet yet we tend to underestimate our power and greatness.  The “evening news” tends to highlight our bad side yet if you look at those out there making a difference in others lives – it is incredible what we are capable of when we embrace our humanity and stretch to be all we can be.

What Keeps Us From Enthusiastically Embracing The Empowerment Pathway?

If most people are failing to leverage their full power – why is this?  The question is why do they leave all of that power on the table?  There are a few major answers to this.  First, many people do not know what they do not know.  In other words, they do not realize what is possible for them so they do not understand the value of engaging in the empowerment pathway.  Second, most people do not answer the fundamental questions noted above.  The third reason is – COMFORT.  Comfort has always been the enemy of greater success and fulfillment.  Yet today we live in a society where we don’t even have to walk out our door to experience most things.  We can call in food, we can be entertained, we can work remotely, we can even express our sexuality.   When ever you feel comfortable for too long you stop taking action towards your desires.  How do you get out of this cycle?

What Can I Do to Overcome My Addiction to Comfort?

Be bold enough, dig deep and ask yourself – what do you really care about in your life, your work, for your organization?  Once you answer this question – ask yourself if you could have impact in this – what would you like to shift, change, improve?  Next turn this into a clear purpose and do what you must to turn this purpose into a burning desire.  Once that transformation occurs you will naturally rise above your own discomfort to realize that desire.  This one step is critical to anyone’s or any organization’s long term success.