Lee Ellis's Blog, page 200
August 26, 2018
On This Day in Leadership History, August 26th
On this day in leadership history in 1987, the Fuller Brush Company announced plans to open two retail stores in Dallas, TX. The company that had sold its products door to door for 81 years.
What’s the leadership lesson? Even though traditional strategies are working well, it’s good for honorable leaders to be creative and test new ideas.
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August 24, 2018
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, August 24, 2018
“Lead others by showing genuine respect and dignity, and use a lot of courage and inner confidence to do it well.” – Tom Crawford
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August 23, 2018
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, Appearance
What a great event recently at the NSA Speaking Eagles breakout with Southwest Airlines CEO, Gary Kelly. It was a memorable hour. Gary is a humble CEO and “visits” not lectures.
All Speaking Eagles members who had written a book were asked to contribute a signed copy to place in the SWA library.
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Fill-in-the-Blank – Taking Time Away
Fill-in-the-Blank – “I (can/cannot) take time away from my work because ____________________.”
Please post your answers below – thank you
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August 21, 2018
3 Facts about Leadership Resilience
Check Out the entire infographic on resilience, and feel free to share with others in your network.
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August 20, 2018
Diffusing Meeting Room Behaviors the Right Way
Have you ever had that sinking feeling in your stomach about going to meetings? There are many reasons we may dread meetings—they can be boring, unorganized, unfocused, not related to my responsibilities, poorly managed, a waste of time, and the list goes on and on.
But in this blog we want to deal with a special case of “meeting dread”—perhaps the worst kind of dread. It’s the kind that comes from fear.
Fear undermines every facet of leadership, and it should not be a go-to motivational behavior for honorable leadership. [Tweet This]
We all have fears, thus overcoming them should always be a key part of our efforts to become better leaders.
Building the Bridge of Trust
Our experience shows that great leaders create an inviting workplace by extending and building trust across a wide range of mixed natural behaviors. Some leaders naturally build this workplace culture, while others have a learning curve based on their natural behaviors or past experiences.
Trust is the antidote to fear and the foundation for safe, productive meetings. [Tweet This]
But how do you build trust and eliminate fear? Let’s hear from an expert.
3 Ways to Diffuse Tension
My friend, Tom Crawford, has a stellar career marked by great success as CEO and Chairman in three major companies(1). His perspective gave great insights into how successful leaders build trust and eliminate fear. Tom highlights three crucial behaviors for leaders who want to create a healthy work environment where people will look forward to meetings.
To help coach leaders in this area, Leading with Honor incorporates a baseline assessment like Leadership Behavior DNA to pinpoint each leader’s unique leadership behavior. Some leaders have a natural bent towards building positive relationships, while others focus primarily on getting results.
With that knowledge in hand, the following three points can be better customized for professional development – here they are:
Be intentional to show respect and dignity for others.
Tom learned to appreciate all types of people early in life when working construction to pay for college. He could see the good in others regardless of their education or background. Then as a manager in the insurance industry, he learned the frustration and demotivation of having an unhealthy boss whose style was to dominate and bully, creating fear through disrespect and contempt for his people. From these opposite experiences Tom made a commitment to lead others by showing genuine respect and dignity. Having that type of commitment takes a lot of courage and inner confidence.
Establish clear expectations.
Next, watch as he talked about the importance of having clear expectations for meetings. It reduces fear and gives positive energy that increases productivity and problem-solving.
It’s crucial that everyone understands the ground rules, their responsibilities, the agenda, and the leader’s desired outcomes. They should expect that if they’re on target with their commitments, they can feel good about reporting successful progress. On the other hand if they are behind in meeting their goals, they must provide solid explanations and solutions about the problems. With a healthy team, they can also expect that others may offer helpful ideas or support.
Communicate openly and often to collaborate.
In the conversation, Tom kept coming back to the importance of healthy communications to facilitate the kind of transparency needed to collaborate and work as a team. Ultimately individual goals impact team goals, which drive organizational success. Communicating effectively is hard work for anyone, but it’s more of a stretching exercise and adapting out of their comfort zone for others.
One of my senior leaders in the POW camps, CDR Jim Stockdale (later Admiral Stockdale) said that communications were the “blood and sinew” that held the POWs together into a team. For us, it was a requirement for survival.
Make it a Leadership Habit
So what kind of leader are you? Have you made it a habit to be intentional about valuing others and helping them feel important? Are you establishing clear expectations for each person’s goals and for what happens in your meetings? Are you being intentional to communicate openly and often to promote collaboration within your team?
Keep in mind that these steps are particularly difficult when a team or organization is having financial challenges, but this process is even more important in those situations. Make the choice to have the character, courage, and commitment to follow through. Please join the conversation by commenting below.
LE
Assessing You and Your All of Your Professional Relationships
[image error]Knowing an individual’s natural leadership behaviors of your team is the smart way to lead.
With this valuable information, you can determine the right fit for a particular job, evaluate timing for staff promotions, or train an entire team how to work better in unity, productivity, and performance.
Learn More about Leadership Behavior DNA(tm) and Contact Us for customized team training proposal.
[1] Tom Crawford began as an insurance clerk and worked his way up to the executive suite and boardroom. He has served as Chairman and CEO of three major insurance companies. He now serves on several boards and heads Crawford Corporate Coaching, where he helps executive teams create clarity and systems for greater success.
[1] Tom’s philosophy and methods parallel the approach outlined in our Courageous Accountably model presented in my recent book Engage with Honor.
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14 Leadership Lesson At-a-Glance
Keep the 14 leadership lessons from “Leading with Honor” at-a-glance in your workspace. These low-cost reminder cards come in packs of 10 ready to give out to your entire team or staff.
Purchase your copies in the Online Store!
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August 19, 2018
On This Day in Leadership History, August 19th
On this day in leadership history in 1960, two dogs were launched in a satellite into Earth’s orbit by the Soviet Union. They spent a day in space before safely returning to Earth.
What’s the leadership lesson? Honorable leaders don’t send anyone else to do the difficult work for them—they do it themselves and ask for help! Choose honorable leadership everyday.
Soviet Space Dogs – Wikipedia
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August 17, 2018
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, August 17, 2018
“Courage is fundamental to all character and leadership attributes. Without it, our doubts and fears will take us out.” – Lee Ellis
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August 16, 2018
Mentor Leadership – How Leaders Can Make a Difference Everyday
In this brief segment of leadership coaching from Lee Ellis, he shares the important leadership principle of how leaders can make a difference in everyday tasks and decisions. This action forms the basis of becoming an honorable mentor leader!
What does it take to help your team and organization go to the next level? When we learn and apply this foundational leadership attribute, our opportunity for long-term success grows.
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