Three Questions Every Leader Must Ask

Explore three fundamental questions every leader must ask.  Discover how to overcome internal biases, challenge yourself to grow, and learn to create a winning environment in this thought-provoking and inspiring podcast. Subscribe, rate, review, and share with your team to unleash your best potential. "The Game Changers" podcast: Unleashing greatness in life and work.

Transcript

3 questions to unleash your best in life and work. Welcome to the game changers podcast. I'm your host Dale Dixon. I help leaders be their best on stage and in front of the camera. And I'm the chief innovation officer for a better business bureau. Eric Bowles coaches trains and inspires leaders to unleash their potential and the potential of those around them each week. Eric and I have a conversation around leadership and how to unleash your best in life and work. Eric, great to be with you.

eric boles:
Great to be with you, my friend.

Dale:
Three questions. Let's dive in. This started with a conversation about boards of directors and a leader you worked with and then it transitioned into some application that you see in business. And so let's start out. This is a question. These are a series of questions that I'm assuming you believe every leader of an organization what regardless of the organization needs to be asking on a continual or regular basis.

eric boles:
That's exactly right. So I had to go back and it's actually a real compliment to him on online share his name just because he's done some great things. But his name's Ray Davis and Ray at the time and still may be the CEO. He was CEO of Umqua Bank. And this was before Umqua's incredible story. Like they have really grown and all the different they work with, the great bank, I think they. Merged or acquired Columbia Bank where I live right now. I think it more of an a merger than acquisition I believe it's the merger but a Number of years ago. I had an opportunity especially early in my Consulting experiences right and I wouldn't say he was having us in to help consult It may have been more event oriented, but I remember sitting down with him being able to do a quick little interview and He asked, well, excuse me, he shared three questions that he has to ask when it comes to managing change, leading change, going after something significant. Anytime you're going after a goal, especially as an organization such as his, and he asked these three questions. He says, one, do I have the team to get us there? And it was, it's such an honest question. When you think about the goals, anyone who's right now, whether this is business, personal, whatever their case may be, there's very few significant goals that you're gonna be able to get there on your own. So when you think about the goal, you have to ask that question, do I believe that I have the team to get me there? To get us there. And if that answers yes, great, right? If that answers no, then instead of just overall team, when am I missing? or more importantly, who am I missing? Or who do I need to change out? Like those lead to some great questions. Now keep in mind, the first question still is asked, do I have the team to get us there, right? The next question you would ask, which is sometimes often overlooked and often missed, is do I have the board to get us there, right? And for those, whether small business, large business, privately held, publicly traded, does not matter, nonprofit, everything. Do you have the board, right? Because, you know, I say often, you know, I don't know how, they may not be the catalyst of getting you there, they can't be the reason you don't go, right? Right? Like, at least be net neutral, right? But the ultimate goal is that you have a board who's completely bought in as well. So do I have the team to get us there? Do I have the board to get us there? Right?

Dale:
And I don't want people get stuck on this word board because I have a friend who owns a fantastic business doing security. And he's a listener and fan of this podcast I know. So he's going to be listening to this. But he's he has established a board, but they're a group of advisors, it's not formal. And

eric boles:
That's

Dale:
and

eric boles:
right.

Dale:
I think about the small business owners who just have a group of friends who hold them accountable and bounce ideas off of it could be that simple of a board. But do I have the right? And even for my personal life, I'm thinking, do I have the right friends around me? If I am the sum total of the five people I hang out with, that's my personal board of directors. Is it working? Is it getting me where I want to go? So I think that's it's just a these are fantastic questions.

eric boles:
Dale, you just hit it and thank you for going there because I was also, before we finished that point, was do not get caught up in the language where it kind of blinds people or creates a blind spot to what we're describing. Like, who is your advisory board? Who, what's surrounding you? Do you have, do I have the team now? Do I have the council? Do I have the advisors? Do I have the, who's? who can help me see past the horizon, recognize what, to also help us or help me get there. And that's a real question. I don't know if individuals, even if you're a small business, how significant that is. Like if you don't have one or you need one, and it doesn't have to be formal, but that information is invaluable. I like to describe it this way. to be able to have individuals and people on your advisory team or on your board. And I keep using board, we're using the word board, but please people understand we mean it in a formal way, as well, who can share with you, like lower your tuition costs because of the experiences they've already had. Help. their ability to help you see beyond what's going on right now. Right. And that is so powerful. And if you don't have that, or more importantly, you have ones whose vision isn't any further than the leader themselves, that can be a problem. Right. So when Ray said that, he goes, for if I got to ask myself, do I have the team? And that is an honest assessment. And again, this has nothing to do with are they good people? This has nothing to do with are they full of character? I said many times, I can trust in your character. Doesn't mean I trust in your competency, right? Like I, okay, I want to trust both. But then the third question that is asked, Dale, which I thought is just phenomenal, he says, And the last question I have to ask honestly is, am I the leader to take us there? And that is a real question as well. And if I can't immediately say yes, I ask then what am I missing or where do I need to grow or what do I need to take hold of? Or in a much deeper way, then there's some more honest conversations I gotta have because the vision and the place we're going is bigger than me. I can't be. the bottleneck. I can't be what, uh, Maxwell, uh, never forget when John Mackerel, he wrote about it, but I got a chance to hear him. Uh, and I brought him into a client we were working with years ago. And so to spend a lot of time with them one on one was great, but he would always talk about that story of the lead, the leadership lead. You know, he goes, man, Eric, anytime if you're, if, if your goal is significant enough and it requires everybody to perform on a scale of one to ten, two and eight or nine at least, and you're only a six in your leadership, I'm sorry, that's incongruent, right? That, yeah, because a leader who's only a six will only be comfortable with people who are fours and fives. And so I'll never forget that. So those are the three questions. Do I have the team? Do I have the board, advisor, winner? And more importantly, am I that person to get to that goal? Great

Dale:
Those

eric boles:
three

Dale:
are

eric boles:
questions, profound.

Dale:
those. Those are powerful. And then is before we hit the record button, you were also giving the sports analogy side of this to go a little deeper on the three questions, specifically around the team.

eric boles:
Yes. Yeah. So,

Dale:
So let's

eric boles:
so

Dale:
work through that.

eric boles:
yes,

Dale:
So

eric boles:
we'll see.

Dale:
we're gonna dissect now, we're gonna go into those team questions and think even beyond the, do I have the right team? But now let's break that down. What does

eric boles:
Yeah,

Dale:
that look like?

eric boles:
so when it comes to just the, think about, we talk about the three questions, but those are the three big questions. But each one of those questions is like a column to itself. Like, I mean, you can go down deep into it, and you should. So when it comes to the team conversation, do have the team to get us there. Now, even when you say you have the team to get us there, it's very easy, and I want everybody hearing me on this. This is... It's crazy simple, but this is what we always have to fight against, which is generalizing. So when I talk about do I have a team to get me there, what I'm doing is kind of creating strengths and weaknesses and I fall onto an average somewhere. And rarely do big goals and being on the average work. And so I have to have obvious strengths. Not just... You know, sometimes we have people on our teams, not because they have obvious strengths, just because they don't have any glaring weaknesses. And it's hard to win championships just because you have a team full of players who have no glaring weaknesses. Well, the reason they may not have any glaring weaknesses, they don't take any chances, right? They play it safe. And so to dig deeper, I had this experience visiting University of Alabama, which I'm just a big believer in. big fan of Nick Saven, and especially knowing so many of the players and gotten to see some of these young men who come out of that program and how solid they are, if that makes sense. And so, but there's something he does even after they win championships. I mean, these have championships here, Bill. One of the questions they ask is like three questions. Who do we build around? So when they're talking about who do we build around for the future of next year, whatever, they're talking about what are those players, what are those game changes, who's our top 5%, who's our top 10% by which the rest of the program is built around, right? What a great compliment. The next question is who do we keep developing, nurturing? That's everybody else, right? Like that's that middle ground, I would like to say the silent majority that... that middle tier that, you know, we spend so much time talking about our high performers that we sometimes forget how significant the middle is and we need them, right? But then the other question he asks every time is, who do we need to get rid of? Who do we need to let go? And that is such a, I mean, think about winning a championship and you still are disciplined enough to keep asking that question. Because there is some truth, as crazy as this sounds, but if we had this conversation deal without being honest about this, then we wouldn't be being realistic, right? I mean, we're in the performance business. We wanna do well while, we wanna do well by people while doing well in business, right? Like we, the goal is winning is fun, but winning's work, right? But when you ask that question and you lean into it, that means it's gonna be some multiplication through subtraction. Some people may not be able to stay, and some people who go might be good people. But where we're going demands improvement. Where we're going demands a certain skill set or ability that some people may not have. And because... And I just want to lean into that a little bit. I say this as I'm coaching and this was a hard moment for me too because I had to learn this from a mentor. I didn't really want to hear it. I didn't because I wanted just commitment and loyalty to always be rewarded, right? I'm loyal, I'm committed, I've been doing the same job for a long time. I've been here for a long time so promotion should be dictated. by the job I've done and how I've done. Well, no, a major variable in promotion is also, where are we going in the future? And sometimes you will promote someone who's incongruent with where we're going in the future. That is a tough thing to have to discuss or describe or talk about. Like the way you played, if it was sports, the way you played in the style we played was great when we played that way. But the game has changed, the environment has changed. We have to do it differently. We're watching it now in football and the NFL. There's been a complaint about the value of running backs has gone down. So not the value of the person, but the value in the position. And whether or not anybody likes to hear it or not, it's true. You know what I'm saying? It's true. We throw the ball so much, there's so many things that are being done, the game's way more spread out. There was a day when it was all about running the football. Now we run the football to set up the pass, you know, more than anything else, just to keep the defense honest. Not to make it about football, but for every situation that people are looking at right now, has the marketplace of the industry or whatever, start to shift in a way that the same things that allowed us to be successful for, or individuals successful for, Is it still the same today? And if not, and if we have a speed by which we need to make this adjustment, sometimes it requires us to make some tough calls when it comes to the very people that we're leading or who are on our team.

Dale:
So I'm thinking now as a team player, anticipating those questions coming at me, how do I prepare myself to be on the positive side with the answer to those questions? And two questions come to mind. Number one, well, I'm sorry, one statement to keep me honest, and then a question. So the statement to keep me honest is, what got us here won't get us there. And then the question to keep me honest through this process is what am I doing for myself to prevent the company to keep the company from outgrowing me? So how

eric boles:
Yeah.

Dale:
am I growing? How am

eric boles:
We'll

Dale:
I

eric boles:
finish.

Dale:
increasing my value so that the company doesn't outgrow me? And I think as a team player, it's important to keep that in mind. Otherwise, if you think, well, I keep doing this good job that you talked about, and it's just, it'll keep me in my spot. That's not the case.

eric boles:
Not at all, not at all. I remember years ago, my mentor, or my mini-mentor, Bob Mowat, used to say it so good, so well. He said, the evolving, the effective, the elite companies realize that the key to their successful future is not just technical expertise or being highly good in your... your competency that you're in right now. But it more so is in your ability to grow. I know we know Carol Dweck and all the works she did with Growth Mindset. But it's also the ability to shift or to change entrenched behaviors. And that is such a big deal because behaviors lead to the results. So we want to change results without changing behaviors. And if those behaviors are It could be the best person in the world, but I'm sorry, that's just not what I do or that's not what we do. You know, and there was a time and age even in football where fullbacks were invaluable. Now most teams don't even carry a fullback on the team. So, you know, I know one guy who's a fullback, one of the best in the league, and they were like, why is he so valuable? Because he does so many things. Because he worked on catching the ball. He worked on You know, sometimes I have to line up on the edge. So when I tell people within a business, you know, what's gonna allow your value to keep going is when you're ensuring you're changing faster on the inside than changes happening to your organization on the outside. The best way to create an immune system is to be in the process of continual growth. And so anytime somebody sits back and goes, do we have the team? Do we have the team to get there? Well, many times if I have a team and people are just willing and hungry to keep learning and keep growing, our ability to learn new things, take on new tasks, be open to bringing in outside expertise when necessary. My ability to not resist change but embrace change, all those are major variables. So it's just not on my team. When I think of my team, I was asked once, Eric, is the most valuable? of members of your team, the ones who make all the plays. No, many times that some, you can have members on your team, their value is the fact that they create such an incredible environment, helps facilitate great performance by some of your great players. So you have to know that. Like you gotta, you can't just be in general, I got a good team. No, go player by player, go individual by individual. What are they bringing to the table? What are their strengths? Where are there opportunities to get better? I mean, they need to know that, but you need to know that. So when you ask, do I have the team to get us there? Don't just quickly say yes. Validate that, verify that, you know? And the process we're talking about doing it with team, and I brought up Nick Saban from University of Alabama. Remember, he did this after every season. So even after championship seasons, the growth, the goal is continuous because that was last year's championship, right? Even... even if it was great, my previous successes give me confidence, but they don't win today's games. You know what I'm saying? Like, what I scored yesterday doesn't add to the scoreboard today, you know? And so it was nice to be able to view that. But I think that same level of detail needs to happen in those other three areas when I think about my team. Then when I think about my board, now some of the criteria's a little different, right? sitting there wondering are they making day in and day out plays. But in terms of vision, the kind of questions they can ask, you've got to have some advisors or board members where they're tough. Like everybody, I mean, if you, if you have meetings or board meetings and advisory meetings and they're always comfortable, that is a problem. I have yet to see growth happen inside comfort zones. I mean, there, if, There has to be, you have to have the kind of advisory board who brings you in. It should feel like whatever idea we have or goal we have or dream, we should feel vetted in that experience, far more than having to learn the hard way outside. This is why in sports we have to say, practice should always be harder than the games. Why did we make practice so hard? Because it'd make the games easier. I believe when it comes to boards, boards should make. not rude. I mean it this way where I can mean what I say without saying it means. We're not doing. But the questions and the challenges that you receive from your board, it should feel like a really good workout. It would feel like you went to the gym and got something done. It should, they should not easily be influenced just because something sounded good. Like they should really lean in and be so curious and questioning it, where I am not questioning your character, I'm not questioning what you're saying, but I am testing it by these challenging, by this board challenging it. Why? It's better to have a challenge in that setting than to not have a challenge, and then the marketplace challenges it, or the marketplace leads you to a place that they could have asked already. And I think too often, people treat like, Did we just get through the board meeting? Don't just try to get through it. Like, get through that workout so it makes us stronger when we deal with the actual marketplace. Not just because we dealt with a tough board. No, the tough board made us tougher so we can be more successful in the marketplace. So if I got a bunch of advisors who would just basically tell me what I want to hear, and that's not an advisory board, that's just a hype crew, right? Right? Everybody tell me what I want to know and what I want to do.

Dale:
Hmm. All right, third pillar, let's go a little deeper than on am I the leader who can take us where we need to go? How

eric boles:
Okay.

Dale:
do we I'm fascinated? How do you overcome just the internal bias that rears its head?

eric boles:
That is such a great question. The internal bias. But here's what's funny. Most of the time, if we're honest, and most of you are, the internal bias actually leads not to the place of, oh yeah I am the one to do it. It usually leads to the other direction. Right? And so the reason why this question is so powerful is we don't typically answer it for ourselves. We usually base it on how our team looks at us or how the board might look at us. And some of that is accurate and some of that is posing a little bit. Some of that is, you know, and I'm not talking about having an imposter. I am talking about an honest conversation with yourself. Am I the one to lead us to wherever we wanna go? and where we want to go. First of all, am I crystal clear on where we want to go in the first place? Have I been honest about the work that is going to require to do it? Can I see us there with me in charge? I mean go through the whole thing as honest as you possibly can. It's like having a meeting with yourself. It was once said, the most encouragement, the greatest counsel we can give ourselves. is to have objective conversation with ourselves, like we're outside of ourselves. Like there's times Eric needs to sit Eric down and have a real one. You know, I need to ask the same questions I would ask somebody if I was coaching them. Like, do you really want this stuff? Do you know the work that's going on? Are you committed to that? Are you committed enough to this goal that this is what you really want? Because if it requires some changes, this is big now. where we want to go are going to require some big changes, especially when it comes to the previous two areas, which are the team and the board. Am I the person who wants to go through that? Am I the person who wants to experience that? Well, either two things have to happen. Either I need to remove myself from either being in that position, or I need to grow myself to a point to be able to do it. But one of the things that's going to matter is, Either the goal's gonna have to change or I'm gonna have to change, right? Either I better bring the goal down to the level of my comfort or I'm gonna have to grow to the level of meet net goal. And these are the kind of honest conversations, Dale, that has to take place that do not happen enough, right? Like I, it even, it's true personally. Like I think about it for my family. When I say, this is what I want for my family and this is where I want us to be and this is where I want us to go. Well, I know for a fact now, I looked at it closely and I got the family to get there. There's no question. When I think of my advisory and those around me, I'm telling you right now, I have individuals in my life, mentors from a personal standpoint in my life, who will call it like it is. I mean, see it like I have that. I got that. Now it really comes down to what do I actually want that? Am I the leader to get my family where I'm going? Because what makes that so challenging is, I thought you've heard me say this before, but all the accountability in the world won't cover up a lie. So

Dale:
Mm.

eric boles:
I can, man, I can fake it like the best of them to everybody outside. But when I'm alone, what do I do when no one's looking? How am I growing? alignment to where I'm trying to go? What am I doing with that time? You know, am I finishing a day knowing that I've actually moved in the direction of where I want to go? I've gotten closer. I've grown. Nobody can answer that but me. You know, nobody can answer that but me. So, when we talk about that part of, am I the leader to get me there? Am I the person? Those are those continual conversations I have on myself because it's not a one-time That's a decision you make and you keep making, right? Versus a one-time decision.

Dale:
Preach it, brother. Yeah, that is it. That's a sobering question. I think that's a perfect way just to wrap this up is we need to, we need some quiet time alone to work through that on the personal basis. Um, and be a hundred percent honest and brutal with yourself through that process. So

eric boles:
That's it my man. That's it brother.

Dale:
that is it. Thank you so much for the three questions and a deep dive into each of those areas. I'll ask folks if to do us a huge favor. Number one, think about your favorite podcast listening app. That's where you're at right now. If you have not subscribed to this podcast already, please do so. While you're there if you would rate and review. So the rating is hopefully we've earned five stars from you. The review is just a sentence on how you're putting this information into play in your life. And then if you would share this podcast, I know Eric, you say you've got build a weekly meeting around this podcast. Play it and then discuss it.

eric boles:
Right? Yep. Yeah. We use the principle learn, practice, apply, learn, practice, teach, you know, and so that's how they use it. They listen,

Dale:
So it would be us.

eric boles:
practice it, and then share it with others.

Dale:
share it with anybody that you think would be helpful. And then if you would like to connect with us, we're definitely open to that you can find Eric at the game changers inc.com and find him also he's active on LinkedIn. So you can always look him up there and connect. We'd love to hear from you if you've got some ideas on future podcast episodes would like to ask a question that we can dive into love to hear that as well. Eric, thanks so much for your time today and diving into those three questions that we get to spend the week working on. This is the game changers. We're here to unleash your best in life and work.

eric boles:
Thank you, my friend.