Lee Ellis's Blog, page 165
October 7, 2019
Buy Both Books Together and Save 30%!
Purchase the latest books from Lee Ellis and FreedomStar Media in one package. Leading with Honor is the award-winning release outlining the 14 leadership lessons learned in the POW camps of Vietnam. And, Engage with Honor is the award-winning release that applies many of the original leadership lessons into a practical Courageous Accountability Model.
Check them out in the Online Store
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Mastering the Leadership Strength of Situational Awareness
“Think or Die.” In our day-to-day work, most of us would consider this statement to be pretty dramatic. But for F-16 pilots, their slogan is defined as a keen level of “SA” or “Situational Awareness” because it’s a matter of life and death in their work.
700 Feet per Second Awareness
F-16 pilots mainly serve as “Wild Weasels”, leading the strike force into enemy territory while sniffing out and destroying enemy radars and surface-to-air missiles. In the cockpit, one pilot manages all aspects of the process:
flying the aircraft by outside visual references while operating at more than 700 feet per second.
monitoring three screens (enemy radar detection; friendly and enemy aircraft; and weather/navigation).
detecting and eliminating enemy threats with onboard weapons.
Given what these Wild Weasels can do in these task-saturated life and death situations, you and I should have no problems with having keen situational awareness while sitting in a meeting with our boss and peers, right? Unfortunately it’s not that easy.
“The absence of Situational Awareness in leadership can be a threat to our effectiveness and career.” [Tweet This]
Strengthening Situational Awareness
Several years ago, one of my executive coaching clients (we’ll call him Brad), an up-and-coming junior executive, learned to “think or die” in his profession.
Regardless of the agenda for the meeting, Brad would often hijack it with his interruptions and comments. Some of his remarks were on point, but more often he took the group off subject and wasted everyone’s time. As his coach, it was my job to help him learn to adapt his behavior by reading a situation and managing his words and actions appropriately. It sounds simple, but it takes focus, discipline, and controlled energy for a quick thinking, highly verbal personality to master. After a few weeks of false starts, Brad finally managed to contain himself and limit his input during meetings.
One day after the meeting, one of his peers asked if he was feeling okay. He responded, “Sure, why do you ask?” His friend responded with a smile that he had never seen Brad so quiet and self-managed in a meeting. Later that day I got a phone call from Brad, beaming with energy over his new success. Brad made a crucial course correction, and it paid off. He is now a Senior VP in a Fortune 200 company.
“As a leadership coach, this skill is what I focus on the most—to be as situationally aware as possible of what’s going on in the room while using your natural strengths.” [Tweet This]
Situational Awareness How-To
So how can you coach yourself to be more situationally aware?
Know Yourself. Understand your strengths, struggles, and patterns of your natural behavior. Have you found yourself with someone who told stories or information that wasn’t relevant to anyone but them? Their mind is wandering as if they’re on cruise control. Bumping into clueless people happens often, doesn’t it?
Know the Situations that Threaten Good SA. Examine your response at work with your manager and your team. Is your tendency to dominate or withdraw? How could you better manage your SA and engage to respond more effectively? I worked with one team where the manager avoided any disagreements or conflict by dominating the meetings. The manager just talked incessantly until everyone was worn out and disengaged.
Be Proactive in Your Thinking. Set aside your own emotions or thoughts in the moment, and think about others and consider what might be going on with them in certain situations. Ask good questions to gain more insight. Then, coach yourself to respond in the most effective and appropriate way.
Here’s my monthly Leading with Honor Coaching on situational awareness—please watch and add your reactions and comments:
Mastering the Art of SA
At this point in my career, coaching and training others on this skill is challenging and rewarding—and as close to the excitement of being a fighter pilot as I can get. Situational awareness requires outward focus, listening, observing, and consideration of the dynamics of the situation as well as an inward awareness to manage our strengths and struggles to be the most effective. SA is always crucial to the art of leadership, and the stakes can be high.
So how is your SA? What has been your success? Lessons learned? Please share your wisdom and experience below.
LE
Coming in January 2020! The new book from co-authors Lee Ellis and Hugh Massie
You may have some awareness of the unique differences in people, but do you know how to harness and manage these differences to create a dynamic people culture? Knowledge of hard-wired behaviors (for self and others) is the distinctive differentiator that opens the door for personal and professional growth, and it ultimately enables the cohesive trust needed for high-performance teams.
Grounded in statistical research and supported by data from millions of clients and more than 45 years of workplace experience, Leadership Behavior DNA: Discovering Natural Talents and Managing Differences, will coach you on how they’ve successfully helped organizations achieve their goals by applying practical insights on human design.
NEW! A Self-Study Training Course for Your Team
[image error] The topic of clarity is covered in an entire chapter and session of the new Engage with Honor Group Training Guide as a self-study leadership development course for your team.
Used with the award-winning book, Engage with Honor, this training guide provides everything you need to build a culture of courageous accountability.
Download a free sample in the Leading with Honor Store
Purchase your copies – bulk savings are available
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October 6, 2019
On This Day in Leadership History, October 6th
On this day in leadership history in 1961, U.S. president John F. Kennedy advised American families to build or buy bomb shelters to protect them in the event of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union.
What’s the leadership lesson? Whether for positive or negative reasons, honorable leaders and their teams make contingency plans for the future. Where are some areas where you’re vulnerable?
Fallout Shelter – Wikipedia
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October 3, 2019
Article – Lead Where You Are
Great article and reminder from our friends at WildSparq on “leading where you are.” Even if you haven’t attained your ultimate leadership goals yet, there’s power and influence today in leading where you are.
Please check out the article on their website and post your comments and thoughts too – thank you
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Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, October 4, 2019
“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” – Mario Andretti
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October 2, 2019
An FAQ on Leadership Self-Awareness
A ‘Leading with Honor’ FAQ –
“In recent interviews, you highlighted the importance of self-awareness and the capacity to overcome obstacles as a basis for personal development. Please explain why.”
Lee Ellis’ Answer –
“True self-awareness requires an honest, personal evaluation of one’s natural strengths and struggles. What are my natural gifts and abilities, and what are my areas where I need help from others?
Then to go even deeper in self-awareness, we must also evaluate the problem of human nature—the potential for good and evil are both in our DNA. Sitting in the shivering cells of the Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn concluded that the line separating good and evil runs not through states or political parties, but through the heart of every human being. Another famous prisoner, Victor Frankl, Viennese psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor and author of the classic book, Man’s Search for Meaning, gave us very clear advice on how to handle this issue saying, ‘Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.’
To make the choice between good and evil takes courage. Evil is deceptive and can be very appealing to shallow, short-sighted desires. Doing good and making the right choice often means choosing the hard road to oppose the temptations of pride, fear, laziness, and negativity. But the honor that comes from doing one’s duty, or serving others in need, is a long-term view that is only possible through the combination of honor and its guardian companion accountability, required for good self-governance and healthy leadership. This is the key to overcoming obstacles and growing as an honorable leader.”
Read more in the FAQ section of our website.
Learn more about our behavioral assessment, Leadership Behavior DNA.
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October 1, 2019
Coaching Clip – “Developing Millennial Professionals”
In this segment of leadership coaching from Lee Ellis, he shares how to develop millennial professionals in the new age of leadership through the concept “leaders developing leaders”. When we learn and apply this foundational leadership attribute, our opportunity for long-term success grows.
Also, check out the full visual presentation on this topic on our SlideShare page.
The book, Engage with Honor, is available in the Leading with Honor Store
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September 30, 2019
Less Turnover with Engaged Team – See Inside
Did you know for teams that are more engaged and understand their role and value, there is substantially less staff turnover. The new “Engage with Honor Group Training Guide” can help train your entire team by learning the Courageous Accountability Model.
Learn more and download a free sample in the Leading with Honor Store –
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Cultural Clarity – the key to your organization’s success
Great article from CFA Bryan Taylor on modeling, articulating, and practicing culture in life and work. Leaders must know how to do this well for long-term success.
Check out his insightful article on the Outcomes Magazine website, and share your comments below
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September 29, 2019
On This Day in Leadership History, September 29th
On this day in leadership history in 1984, Elizabeth Taylor was voted to be the world’s most beautiful woman in a Louis Harris poll. Ironically at the same time, Taylor was in the Betty Ford Clinic overcoming a weight problem.
What’s the leadership lesson? Honorable leaders must have an objective view of self and seek to know their core identity. This creates strength and resilience especially in challenging moments.
Elizabeth Taylor – Wikipedia
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