Dr. Nate Salah:
[00:00:00]
Don't shy away when you want to aim for greatness in your own life from asking those who have reached that and achieved it to share a bit of their story on how they've done that. Hello, my friend and welcome to this second episode of call to leadership. I'm Dr. Nate Salah your host and we're covering six essentials of leadership.
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The first was what is leadership and why your leadership matters. So, if you haven't listened to that episode, go back after you've listened to this, or even stop here and go back and listen to that fundamental foundational episode. And as we progress, each episode will build upon another. So, this second episode is about Aiming for Greatness.
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Why should we be compelled? And so I'll lay out an argument and some steps to Aim for Greatness because there's so much potential to your leadership. One of the reasons why you're listening to this podcast is because you realize that there's more potential for your leadership. Then you want to tap into that potential. You don't want mediocre, you don't want status quo.
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You want to aim for your best possible life and if that's not you, then this may not be the show for you. But if it is you, continue to stay in the trenches with me, because I will encourage you, I will engage you, I will challenge you and myself to reach far beyond we ever thought or dreamed was possible.
[00:01:36]
And the beauty of that is, as we begin to challenge ourselves. We can then set a model, an example to challenge others, because if you aren't aiming for greatness in your own life, how could you ever expect anyone who follows you to aim for greatness in theirs, or to support you as we aim for greatness together in our shared cause, but for you'll be different because you will reject the status quo.
[00:02:05]
You'll not focus on mediocre. You'll not focus on just the minimum, but you'll focus on aiming for greatness. And so let's unpack that, what is Aiming for Greatness? Well, I would look at it from the difference of what is my vision for the future, is my vision so easy to achieve that it requires very little effort, or does it stretch me to really consider how I can grow tremendously and explore all of the possibilities in how I can lead?
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I'll give you an example. When I was young, I was a. Avid athlete. And I thought, well, I wanna do a 5k. 5k should be pretty easy. And so, I trained for that a mile, two miles, three miles, and 0.1 miles. So, it's 3.1 miles and I achieved that 5k, and I thought, okay, well I did it. It's good. I did the 5k, but what is something that is a total stretch for me?
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And that was a marathon. So I thought, I'm gonna do a marathon. And so, I started training for the marathon and when I started training for the marathon, guess how fast that 5k came, it came and went so quickly, and then, because I had my site said higher. The 3.1 miles came quickly and then the six and then in 10, and then the 15 and 20, eventually it was 26.2 miles.
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Same thing with triathlon. I wanted to train for a sprint distance triathlon, which is not easy by any stretch of the word because it's a, it's a four-mile run at the end, and then, before that, it's a 12-mile ride. And then before that, it's a quarter-mile swim and of course, it varies, but that was this particular event.
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And I practiced and I practiced and I trained and I trained and I was able to reach that. But then I thought, wow, what about an Ironman? That's a long way from there and I was able to eventually participate in what we called a half Ironman or an Ironman 70.3 before I had a major back injury. I blew my back out.
[00:04:11]
I had a double herniation and that slowed me down a bit. And then, I decided to aim for my very best, right? That doesn't mean that you don't have milestones along the way. They're so important to have individual milestones because small victories build courage, but aim for your very best what's possible and even stretch further than that.
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So, in order for you to Aim for Greatness, you'll have to surround yourself with people who will support you and encourage you, challenge you as well. But not the naysayers necessarily who say it can't be done, now they're okay to have around, but not too much because they'll drag you down because naysayers are not only pessimistic, but they will zap your positive energy.
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And I've had 'em around me. I know you've had 'em around you. You've been in a conversation where you were excited about something and then somebody, what we call poo-poo the idea that's okay if someone is trying to help you to achieve greater by showing you potential roadblocks, but not someone who says, ‘Well, you know, why would you ever wanna do that?’, that's just too lofty or too great.
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No, aim for your very best and find people around you who will not just be ‘yes’ people, but who will help you to understand how it's possible to achieve that greater vision. That's one, two, surround yourself with people who are, ones that achieved that level of greatness. So, mentors who have been down that road and made it. In fact, I just had a call yesterday with a colleague of mine who wanted to consider aiming for greatness in his educational plight, and he's considering pursuing a PhD and so, he asked me what you experienced in your PhD journey?
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So, I spent about an hour with him and I shared the pitfalls, the challenges, the rewards, the requirements, what I would encourage him to do and seek and pray about as he embarked on that journey. And then, I connected him with others who can also help him along that journey and create the right kind of timelines and stretch goals to reach it and achieve it.
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And so that was a mentorship moment that I got to experience and I really enjoy it and here's the thing about mentors, friend, if someone who has achieved something and desires to pour into others is asked by someone who wants and has the aptitude to achieve it. Generally, they'll just say, yes, they'll freely donate and charitably give their time to help someone who is desiring to follow in that same amazing journey.
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So, don't shy away when you wanna Aim for Greatness in your own life from asking those who have reached that and achieved it to share a bit of their story on how they've done that. And you'll be surprised on how many people will stand alongside of you and give you real high-value content on how to make that vision real.
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And also that content will not pull punches either. I'll tell you the struggles they've had the challenges, but also the triumphs, the next part of this course. That I want to cover here. It's very important, is what is happening inside. When we're talking about aiming for greatness, we're not talking about negative self-talk.
[00:08:12]
I've seen it so much. We're talking about positive self-talk, negative self-talk and I used to teach a public speaking class and negative self-talk is, ‘oh, I can't do this’ Or, ‘oh, everything's gonna go wrong’ Or, ‘oh, I'm not worthy, I'm not capable, the circumstances will impede my progress’ That's all negative self-talk.
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Don't speak that into existence. Speak into existence, the possibilities, no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles I face, no matter what challenges I face, I will find a way to overcome. Even if I don't have resources, I will be resourceful. I will call on those who can help strengthen me when I need strength.
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And I will retreat when I'm weary and take time to rest and pray and rejuvenate so that I can rise another day because it's not over until I give up. In fact, no matter how many times I fail, failure is not final it's feedback. It's only final when I give up. So, don't give up. That is such an important piece to positive self-talk versus negative self-talk and negative self-talk can take you right out of the game.
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So, when you start to feel that way, remind yourself. That's not me. That's not the approach. That's most effective in aiming and reaching greatness. So, sometimes maybe you need to go exercise. You know, if it's a release for you to release those endorphins, to reframe your thinking. I dunno how many times I've been down about what's possible.
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And then I go exercise or I go for a walk or I just go pray or I talk with somebody who is going to breathe new life into me and it reframes how I view the challenge I'm facing in the current moment. I also take lots of notes and those notes and those notes, I revisit them when I'm feeling down or when I feel like I can't aim for greatness.
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Now, the next part is what is Aiming for Greatness? What does that mean? What does it look like? And I wanna tell you a quick story about how I envision what Aiming for Greatness looks like. As far as our podcast and great summit as a whole, our leadership club, and our leadership elite mastermind. This is what Aiming for Greatness looks like.
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It looks like a picture of two men who wanted to be great and they approached their teacher who was preparing to come into his kingdom and for some of you you'll know what this story is about and I'll reveal it at the end. And so they come and ask and petition the teacher. “Can we sit at your right and left hand when you enter your kingdom to be crown king?”
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And the teacher says that, you know, I'm paraphrasing. The view you have on greatness is lording over others. It's about power, prestige, position, it's about self-preservation, not self-sacrifice. He said my view of true greatness isn't being served, but serving others and he says the one who is greatest among you is your servant.
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If anyone wants to be great, learn to serve. That's the heart of aiming for greatness. Incidentally, the teacher doesn't say don't aim for greatness. Doesn't rebuke or reject or admonish for the desire, Aim for Greatness. He just provides a different path. Now, what is self-sacrifice? It means to give something up to renounce, to deny the notion that we are to be served as leaders.
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No, the course is to serve the cause, the worthy cause. And what is your worthy cause? Cause that's something we'll be discussing as we move forward. So to Aim for Greatness, my friend is to truly serve others. That's leadership at its finest. It's not serving ourselves and you say, well, don't I need don't I have needs to absolutely you have needs.
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But the focus changes on what is the greater cause that is greater than myself and others that we can share in reaching. And then, I decrease the cause increases and I get to serve others in reaching that worthy goal. And we'll talk a lot about this when we embark on our servant leadership discussions. In fact, there's an entire series, you'll get to participate in on servant leadership.
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And so it sounds like an oxymoron to be serving and a leader, but is really the pinnacle of leadership and I'll explain how we can get amazing outstanding results. Phenomenal outcomes by having a servant's heart as leaders. So, to aim for greatness, to aim for greatness, is to aim for helping others to be wiser, freer, more autonomous, healthier more likely themselves become servants as Robert Greenleaf said when he talked about servant leadership. So, I encourage you. I encourage you in this moment to set aside doubt set aside disbelief, set aside your own limited perspective on what's possible, and dig into your potential as a leader, right now.
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Right now, ask yourself the question. What is it that I believe stands in my way as reaching a greater future state and ask yourself how not, how can I have misery, but how can I have mastery? Not how can I burn out, but how can I engage and begin to think about these tools and implement these tools of who I have around me?
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What am I saying to myself who I am following in mentorship, who has reached that great pinnacle, maybe it's in your business, maybe right now your business is struggling or maybe you haven't, maybe you're thinking about what's the next step for me in business. And I have no idea where I want to go through this pandemic that we've had, and I wanna do something amazing, but I'm just getting started.
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Well, that's. That's totally fine. Start to follow mentors who have great ideas about business and again, they could be mentors from afar. They don't have to be someone necessarily that's in your immediate community, hopefully, and wonderfully. If that's possible, have a cup of tea or a coffee or a zoom call with someone, if not mentors from afar.
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Another podcast, someone who can help you will be going through business, vision, mission, values, culture, all of these aspects on this show, in episodes to come, but as we lay this foundation, I want you to embrace the idea of Aiming for Greatness. Why? Because it's the high call of leadership and when you Aim for Greatness, you get everything along the way.
[00:15:46]
Well, my friend, I am so thrilled that you join me on this episode of A Call to Leadership. And before you go to the next episode, especially if you're binge listing, take a moment. I would love to get your honest review, right here on your screen, your feedback is so important. It helps the podcast, it encourages me and it helps me.
[00:16:09]
It helps me to give you more and more and more value. So, I can't wait to read your review. I can't wait to be with you on the next episode. I'm Dr. Nate Salah. This is a Call to Leadership.
