Lee Ellis's Blog, page 327

Intimate Thoughts on Leadership and Living the Right Way – How does Your Life Purpose Compare?

This audio interview is one of the most intimate, personal interviews that Lee has done recently—great stories, personal insight, and transparency and vulnerability from Lee. Please listen to this interview courtesy of Profitability Revolution Paradigm, and share your comments –

 

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New Speaking Clip – Shoot Down and Capture, Imaginary Monkey and Motorcycles, and More

Why Character and Courage are the Right Traits to Lead – Lee Ellis’ Interview on the Brian Oxman Show

Today is National Citizenship Day! Why is it Important?

Happy Citizenship Day today! Originally started in 1940, it marks a special day to remember the signing of the U.S. Constitution and to commemorate those that have become American citizens through “coming of age or naturalization.”

To some of the best citizens and leaders living in the best country in the world—keep living and leading with honor today!

Link to Citizenship Day Webpage.

Infographic: “Leadership Styles around the world – Where Do You Fit Best?”

Think that you have a handle on management styles around the world? This insightful infographic, courtesy of the Brighton School of Management, visually shows various leadership characteristics in global regions around the world. Prefer a more autocratic style of leadership? France may your favorite destination. Want your boss to listen to your concerns and welcome being held accountable afterwards? Norway is your country of choice.

Please review and share your thoughts!

The Latest Recommendation from Lee’s Bookshelf – “The Way of the Seal: Think Like and Elite Warrior to Succeed” by Mark Devine & Allyson Machate

The Latest Recommendation from Lee’s Bookshelf – The Way of the Seal: Think Like and Elite Warrior to Succeed by Mark Devine & Allyson Machate. Have you read it? Please share!

Brief Description – “Want to be tough? Cool under fire? Able to sense danger before it’s too late? In The Way of the SEAL, ex-Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine reveals exercises, meditations, and focusing techniques to train your mind for mental toughness, emotional resilience, and uncanny intuition. Along the way you’ll reaffirm your ultimate purpose, define your most important goals, and take concrete steps to make them happen. It’s a practical guide for businesspeople or anyone who wants to be an elite operator in life.”

Click here to learn more on Good Reads.

On This Day in History, September 14th – Leadership Milestone

On this day in history in 1984, Joe Kittinger, a former USAF fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, becomes the first person to pilot a gas balloon solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

How’s that for some courageous, leading edge, record-breaking attitude? What do you want to do but are afraid to do? Re-visit it again and see what’ll take to do it!

Today is “Positive Thinking Day” – Need a Boost? Check it Out

Today is “Positive Thinking Day”, so don’t miss it! Here’s an excerpt from Lee’s book, Leading with Honor, on Staying Positive –

“POWs are not alone in facing hardships. All leaders face difficulties and challenges every day. None of us can control what the next day will bring, but there is one thing we all can control: our attitude.

Attitude is crucial for success in any endeavor, and no one influences organizational and individual attitudes more than the leader. Although it’s not easy to turn lemons into lemonade, leaders must strive to do just that by maintaining a positive attitude. We have to expect that we’re going to be handed lemons, sour grapes, rotten deals, and unfair decisions. How we deal with them is the true test of our leadership. Because leaders have such a powerful influence on others, they don’t have the luxury of wallowing in negativity and self-pity. Attitude was not a problem for me as a POW. I believed that someday we would return and things would be okay.

Actually, I had more difficulty with attitude after I returned home to the ‘real world,’ because I expected everything to run smoothly all the time. Of course, that was not the case, and I had to learn to adjust while staying positive.”

Learn more about Leading with Honor – Click Here

STORY: Shilo Harris’ Tenacious Fight to Live After Serious Battle Injuries

From L to R: Army Staff Sergeant, Shilo Harris; Col Lee Ellis USAF (Ret)

Shilo Harris is a military warrior with a story of blessing, triumph, tragedy, and tenacity. With third degree burns on over 30 percent of his body while serving our country, Shilo fought for his life and now shares his story to inspire others.

Lee and Shilo spent time together last Fall (pictured above). Watch his story below on a recent Huckabee Show interview.

Grasping the Freedom of Succession Planning – Leadership Lessons Learned

By Lee Ellis

Recently, my wife Mary and I discussed the need to review and update our will, which is now about fifteen years old. The next day over coffee a friend asked me if I had a will. Later that day in a random conversation, a stranger mentioned that he knew an estate attorney in my neighborhood. The next day I heard on the radio that August was national “get a will” month. I got the message! After dragging our feet for several years, we have an appointment this week to begin the process.

As you know, the topic of succession planning is more than keeping a personal will up to date. Did you ever notice how hard it is for leaders to plan for the time when you or one of your team members leaves the organization? The military does this well by consistently developing officers and enlisted to move up to the next level. When having the right leader in place is a matter of life and death, the goal is succession at every level without missing a beat.

In the POW camps of Vietnam, having clarity about who assumed command was a huge plus for our success and morale. Not only did we have amazingly well prepared leaders, we had an automatic succession plan—the next senior person became the leader. If you had two people of the same rank, then the one with the earliest promotion date was the leader.

“Had the military not intentionally trained each officer, the outcome of our POW experience could have been very different—increased confusion, mixed messages, lack of unity, and greater loss of life.”

If you believe in the mission of your work and want it to continue, you must proactively plan for turnover and succession at all levels –

Top Leaders. Succession planning at the highest level is about finding leaders that can protect the vision and move it forward. A bad hire is always costly, and costs at the executive level are tangible and intangible whether it’s a loss of revenue, momentum, or direction needed to stay competitive in a rapidly changing environment.
Mid-level Managers. Pro-active companies have a training pipeline for managers—especially those deemed to be high potentials.
Front Line Supervisors. Leadership always makes a difference, regardless of the level. These leaders are most involved in getting the job done (results) and taking care of people (relationships).

With good succession planning in place, you’re much better prepared to promote internally, which has many advantages. You’re hiring a known entity and already understand their talents, character, courage, and commitment. Remember—the best insight for hiring is the old saw “has done–will do.” Other advantages include –

Saving on outside recruiting costs. The average cost of finding and hiring someone from outside the company is 1.7 times more than an internal hire ($8,676 vs. $15,008) reports the Saratoga Institute.
Better morale and retention. It shows you value your people inside the organization.
Quicker on-boarding and ramp up. Internal hires know the culture and processes of the organization.
Great chances of long-term success. Statistically, experts say that 40-60 percent of external hires aren’t successful compared with only 25 percent for internal hires.

“Developing your own people also provides the opportunity to add knowledge and skills as well as reinforcing your organizational culture, values and policies.”

Even with the best internal succession plans and programs, sometimes it’s necessary to look outside. Typical situations that might favor hiring outside would include a –

Lack of qualified and experienced candidates.
Need for new energy and innovation in a new project/direction.
Need for a turnaround person in an area that’s stalled out or dysfunctional.

Regardless of your succession planning process, one thing is clear—it begins with the hiring process. Getting the right people on the bus and in the right seats will be critical to success (Jim Collins), and we should begin with the end in mind (Stephen Covey).

So what are you doing about succession planning? And by the way, when was the last time you updated your will? Both are too important to neglect. Think about it and share your thoughts and experiences.

LE

Related Articles:

4 Leadership Vitamins to Take for Low Emotional Intelligence

Four Fundamental Vital Signs for Healthy Organizations

One of the Best Ways to Learn the Unshakable Foundations of Great Leadership

Each leadership lesson shares in-depth questions and quotes from Lee.

Character and integrity are the unshakable foundations of great leadership. We’re so excited about the leaders that are using Leading with Honor as group training with their teams and volunteers.

Our new group training resources share deeper questions and personal thoughts from Lee on the leadership lessons shared in his book.

Please take a closer look at Leading with Honor Group Training, download sample copies, and see all of the extra resources availble -

On This Day in History – Important Leadership Milestones

On this day in history in 1954, racial integration of public schools began in Washington D.C. and Maryland. These municipalities chose to lead the cause of civil rights that eventually spread nationwide.

This courageous act epitomizes Lee’s leadership mission – “Lean into the pain of your fear to do what you know is right even when it doesn’t feel natural or safe. That’s leading with honor.”