Lee Ellis's Blog, page 127
November 30, 2020
Coaching Article – 7 Leadership Steps to Keep Your Promises (or Fail Fast)
I had already broken three promises, and the day wasn’t over yet! I was participating in an event specifically on the topic of self-governance and reliable follow-through, and in the heat of the moment I made some commitments that I couldn’t keep. While they were small things that others may not have remembered, they still had the potential to undermine my credibility and dependability with this group. I realized that I needed to be more self-aware of what I was saying to others. I like to help people, look good, and to be liked, so it’s easy for me to say that I’ll do something.
To this day, it was a learning opportunity that I haven’t forgotten. If you’re like me over the last few weeks and months, the increased pace and pressure of virtual work and activity makes keeping promises even more critical.
Simple But Not Easy
When the Honor Code was created, Article 3 was a foundational requirement to lead with honor –
“Keep your word and your commitments. Ask for relief sooner than necessary.” [Tweet This]
It’s easy to assume that we keep our word, but in reality it’s not that easy to keep promises consistently—especially to remember and keep the ones that aren’t as personally important to us. We have good intentions and a desire to help and fulfill our word with a particular person, but the truth is that some of us hastily agree to do things that get forgotten and drop off the radar. Even worse, we just decide it was a bad commitment that we should’ve never agreed to do, and now we want to ignore it instead of respectfully declining or asking for relief.
On a national scale, have you noticed the continued cynicism toward politics and the media? For the last few years, Gallup’s research indicates that the majority of the population has “very little” or only “some” confidence in the institutions of congress, television news, and internet news. There appears to be widespread skepticism, even contempt for institutions that consistently fail to keep their promises and their value statements to the public. This mentality is collectively and individually dangerous if it becomes an accepted practice to break promises.
Watch this month’s Leading with Honor Coaching clip as I share my personal advice. Be sure and interact by clicking the emoticons and posting your comments –
(Video not playing? Watch it Here.)
Why Is It Important?
Others are counting on you to keep your word. They’re planning their work, their schedule, their expectations, their hopes, even their lives based on what you’ve promised. Their trust for you is founded on your reliability to follow through.
Trust is the hinge point of leadership—when it goes up, your credibility goes up; when it goes down, your influence drops like a rock. [Tweet This]
There will be consequences if you fail. When you don’t deliver, it can be a minor problem or even disastrous. What happens when a child is told that you will pick them up after practice and you don’t show? What about when you tell your teammates you will have your next milestone done by a certain date and then don’t come through?
In the military and other time-sensitive occupations, keeping your commitments can be life or death. Entire operations are coordinated around timely execution of the tactical plan. In day-to- day life, seemingly small, unfulfilled promises can become critical to your credibility and your honor.
Ultimately, it undermines the trust of others, and trust is the foundation for leadership, influence, execution, and healthy relationships. My point is not to create feelings of guilt but awareness that we all have some room to grow on this one.
7 Steps to Keeping Your Promises
How can you guard against broken promises and commitments? Learn and apply this list of helpful, proven steps –
Be Intentional. If keeping your word is important to you, recommit to it as one of your key values. Test yourself for a couple of days and track how well you currently keep your promises.
Become More Self-Aware. Monitor your words and be fully aware of what you are promising.
Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep. Resist committing unless you’re sure you want to do it and can do it. Learn to say “no,” or say, “I’ll have to check with my team to see if we can do that.”
Write Commitments Down Immediately. Assign them a realistic completion date on your to- do list or calendar.
Be Courageous. Use the Courage Challenge engagement card to engage rather than withdraw.
Ask Your Support Team to Help You be Accountable. Get over your independence and pride. Ask for help.
Fail Fast. If you can’t keep commitments, ask for relief immediately versus ignoring it.
From a practical perspective, keeping your word makes you look stronger and more authentic and that leads to greater trust, better outcomes/results, and a more successful life in every area. From a values perspective, your honor is at stake. Keep your commitment to live and lead with honor. Please also share your wisdom and experience in the comments section below, and also download your free copy of the Honor Code that includes this principle.
LE
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Leading with Honor is the 2012 release outlining the 14 leadership lessons learned in the POW camps of Vietnam. Engage with honor is the 2016 release that applies many of the original leadership lessons into a practical Courageous Accountability Model.
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The post Coaching Article – 7 Leadership Steps to Keep Your Promises (or Fail Fast) appeared first on Leading With Honor®.
Gift-Giving Offer – Buy Together and Save 30% Off
Express thanks to your team this year by purchasing these award-winning books by Lee Ellis.
Leading with Honor is the 2012 release outlining the 14 leadership lessons learned in the POW camps of Vietnam. Engage with honor is the 2016 release that applies many of the original leadership lessons into a practical Courageous Accountability Model.
The post Gift-Giving Offer – Buy Together and Save 30% Off appeared first on Leading With Honor®.
November 29, 2020
Today in Leadership History for November 29th
On this day in leadership history in 1975, Bill Gates adopted the name Microsoft for the company he and Paul Allen had formed to write the BASIC computer language for the Altair.
What’s the leadership lesson? What does your personal or company brand mean to you? What are the attributes or values that you want to be known for? Honorable leaders know that your reputation is critical to being a positive, influential leader.
Microsoft – Wikipedia
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November 27, 2020
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, November 27, 2020
“Leadership is about getting the best performance out of others, and that requires a different focus—it’s not what you can do, but what they can do.” – Lee Ellis
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November 26, 2020
Happy Thanksgiving from Leading with Honor
Happy Thanksgiving from Lee Ellis and the Leading with Honor Team! We are grateful for friends and clients like you.
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November 24, 2020
Diffusing Leadership Fear and Tension – Lee Ellis Interview with Tom Crawford
Unfortunately, the year 2020 has had many opportunities for leaders to embrace fear. In this Leading with Honor Coaching clip with Lee Ellis and Tom Crawford, both men have a great amount of experience in dealing with positive and negative aspects of leadership fear.
In this clip, they talk about 3 ways to diffuse fear and tension in meetings – please watch and share your comments
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November 23, 2020
My Call to Those Who Want to Lead with Honor
Are you alarmed by the frequency of ethical scandals in recent years? No doubt, you have seen the headlines about Wall Street greed, but ethical problems are just as prevalent on Main Street where bookkeepers, purchasing agents, and business owners violate the trust that others have placed in them. Think of the headlines in recent months: a highly respected coach resigned for covering up NCAA violations by his players; a Congressman is convicted of accepting bribes; a religious leader cheated on his wife, another is accused of using his authority to fleece the flock; teachers changed students’ responses on standardized tests and administrators collaborated in the cover-up; and a college inflated the average SAT score of its students to improve its image.
What is happening to our society? Does anyone care about honorable leadership? What are others doing that might guide those of us who seek to turn the tide in this onslaught against character-based leadership?
It seems ironic that some of the best examples of leading with honor come from the POW camps of North Vietnam, an environment so life-threatening that one might expect to see frequent examples of self-centered, self-serving leadership. But when life and limb were on the line, these brave leaders chose honor rather than comfort, humiliation rather than cooperation with the enemy. Their courageous service can inspire and show us what is required to lead with honor.
Let’s look at some of the lessons they offer to us today.
Know yourself.
The POW leaders were experienced and strong yet they had no choice but to be humble. The enemy used torture and isolation to try to break their will and force them to cooperate in making propaganda. They were vulnerable, stripped to their core; they could not pose or pretend they were something they were not. Fortunately, they were solid—healthy people with a strong character that enabled them to lead with honor through the most unimaginable humiliation.
If you don’t know yourself and have a peace about who you are, your fears and insecurities will take you out. Rather than pursuing your passion and purpose using your unique talents, style, and convictions, you will constantly be comparing yourself to others and trying to guide your life by someone else’s ways and standards. Alternatively, when you know and accept yourself, you can be authentic, leading from your own true north. Objectively knowing your strengths gives you confidence, while awareness of your weaknesses gives you humility.
Few will ever be POWs, but eventually we will all face situations that expose who we really are. Spend time with yourself and go deep. Accept who you are, but realize there is always room for growth; work every day to build yourself strong so you can lead authentically, from the inside out.
Clarify your values and standards and commit to them.
The POWs had a uniform code of conduct that everyone knew and was charged with following. It acted like signs along the road giving direction and providing a framework for decisions, choices, and behaviors, helping them stay on the right path even in the most difficult situations.
Unfortunately, most people have only generic assumptions and a superficial understanding about their moral values and ethical commitments. Jeb Magruder, White House advisor who went to jail, said that he had been taught right but somewhere along the way he “lost his ethical compass.”
We are all cut from the same cloth as Magruder and without regularly clarifying our commitments, we will drift off course as well.
Confront your doubts and fears.
Fears and insecurities take out more leaders than anything else and they generally can be traced back to your early start.
The POW leaders were tough warriors but they all struggled with fear. Commander Jim Stockdale endured frequent physical abuse and more than four years in solitary confinement, so naturally, there were fears, but he did his duty and suffered the consequences. Great leaders know that fear is the norm, and they know they must lean into the pain of their fears to do what they know is right. Courage does not mean that you are not afraid, but it does mean that you do what is right even when it feels scary or unnatural.
Connect with your support team.
In your struggle to lead with honor, you are like any other warrior—it’s not good to fight alone. That’s why the enemy tried so hard to isolate the POWs in North Vietnam and why the POWs risked everything to keep the communication lines open. Even the toughest POWs relied on the counsel and encouragement of their teammates. Authentic leaders realize they cannot see every situation objectively. On the tough choices, you will usually need the perspective of someone who is outside the issue to help you evaluate the situation. Build a network of a few key advisors who can help you navigate the treacherous waters ahead.
Our culture desperately needs men and women who will lead with honor. Don’t take it for granted that you will lead honorably. Engage in the battle required to guard your character. To be prepared, know yourself, clarify your values, standards, and commitments, confront your doubts and fears, and connect with your support team. Then you are ready to face the giants and avoid the headlines of failure.
LE
The Primer for Honorable Leadership
[image error]In this powerful and practical award-winning book, Lee Ellis, a former Air Force pilot, candidly talks about his five and a half years of captivity and the 14 key leadership principles behind this amazing story.
As a successful executive coach and corporate consultant, he helps leaders of Fortune 500 companies, healthcare executives, small business owners, and entrepreneurs utilize these same pressure-tested principles to increase their personal and organizational success.
Purchase Leading with Honor book
Purchase Leading with Honor Group Training
The post My Call to Those Who Want to Lead with Honor appeared first on Leading With Honor®.
Thanksgiving Offer – Buy Together and Save 30% Off
Express thanks to your team this year by purchasing these award-winning books by Lee Ellis.
Leading with Honor is the 2012 release outlining the 14 leadership lessons learned in the POW camps of Vietnam. Engage with honor is the 2016 release that applies many of the original leadership lessons into a practical Courageous Accountability Model.
The post Thanksgiving Offer – Buy Together and Save 30% Off appeared first on Leading With Honor®.
November 22, 2020
Today in Leadership History for November 22nd
On this day in leadership history in 1985, 38,648 immigrants became citizens of the United States. It was the largest swearing-in ceremony.
What’s the leadership lesson? Honorable leaders know that having a diverse team with regards to race, gender, skill set, and behavioral talents makes a stronger team. Be a leader that supports the strength of diversity.
U.S. Immigration – Wikipedia
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November 20, 2020
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, November 20, 2020
“For leaders, listening and asking questions with an open mind isn’t easy and often feels a bit ‘loosey-goosey,’ but it’s a powerful tool that we all need to learn and practice.” – Lee Ellis
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