As we continue on the path to leadership, we will address how we carry out our leadership objectives and actions to become better leaders. Stay tuned for exciting tips to achieve excellent leadership strategies and approaches!
Key Takeaways To Listen For
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Connect With Us
Master your context with real results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate on His Social Media
As we continue on the path to leadership, we will address how we carry out our leadership objectives and actions to become better leaders. Stay tuned for exciting tips to achieve excellent leadership strategies and approaches!
Key Takeaways To Listen For
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Connect With Us
Master your context with real results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate on His Social Media
Dr. Nate Salah:
[00:00:00]
Your leadership journey is a story. That's why we want to aim for greatness because a story that aims for greatness is possibly a story worth following and being a part of. Hello, my friend, welcome to episode four of a call to leadership as we progress through our course on leadership. So the first episode, if you haven't listened to it, go back, check it out because it's all about laying a foundation for leadership and defining it, understanding what leadership is and why your role is important.
[00:00:33]
And then moving through, we went to episode two about Aiming for Greatestness, episode three was all about Power turning to Influence and this is episode four. And in episode four, we're gonna talk about the relationship between Leadership and Execution.
[00:00:51]
So we talked a little bit about influence, and if you remember our definition, Leadership is about discovery, and if you'll notice the first step of discovery is discovering, what's possible. Right? And that's why we started out with this idea of Aiming for Greatness and not that greatness has to be over-committing.
[00:01:09]
I wouldn't even suggest that as we get to know each other, you'll learn more about me is that I will encourage you to focus and to say no to things that are outside of your vision, so you can do less and give more your best. So, the idea then is to aim for greatness and work at it incrementally and with judiciously and with integrity so that you can achieve your goal.
[00:01:34]
Well, it doesn't always work that way, sometimes we're overwhelmed, sometimes we're stressed. There'll be episodes about that. We'll be able to cover all that, but that's the discovery piece discovering what is the best possible future. One is so attractive, creating an irresistible offer for my life and for those around me as I lead exceptionally well.
[00:01:57]
So then, we talked about Power turning to Influence. So, discovery then influence and today we're gonna talk about Achievement. Effective leaders are achievers. They're not just dreamers, they don't set out goals and then they never reach them. You know, people like that, I know people like that, we've possibly been those people in the past as well.
[00:02:18]
You can recognize folks who say, oh yeah, I've got this idea and that idea and that idea, and it sounds great and they begin to have some level of traction and influence and it all fizzles out. There's no real outcomes that are worthy to be called achievement that you reach that end goal and leadership's about achievement.
[00:02:38]
If you have a Leadership. Okay. A Leadership, say you're gonna go on an excursion and the captain is stating that we can go to this destination and you desire to go there and you search out the captain. The captain seems like there's credibility and that the crew is solid and that the ship itself is seaworthy and the whole has integrity.
[00:03:03]
And you begin to go on that journey, but then, the captain fizzles out says, well, you know, I'm not sure I really want to go there. Or perhaps there's roadblocks along the way and the captain has a discouragement and decides the captain wants to turn around or fill in the blank, any number of reasons.
[00:03:22]
Well, that wouldn't be what we would call effective leadership. Effective leadership has the courage and the resolve to finish and hopefully finish strong. So, leadership execution is a huge part of the leadership journey. In fact, vision, long-range vision is I would argue a very small part. It's an essential part because vision is the fuel that leaders run on as has been said by Hybels and it's indispensable.
[00:03:53]
But it's not, what is the day-to-day grind? And the day-to-day grind is incremental achievement of the vision. So we're gonna talk about leadership execution strategies on this episode. So let's get started, first of all, execution, execution, execution. You don't wanna be the kind of person who simply has endless conversations, endless meetings, and doesn't ever achieve.
[00:04:20]
And we know how meetings can be so arduous and we know about how endless conversations can be so arduous, but we want to see execution because execution hopefully means progress and your leadership journey. Effective leadership involves progress improvement. Right? And so what are we gonna do? We're going to take the plan.
[00:04:44]
We're gonna start out with a plan and then we're going to actually put it in motion and sometimes if you're a visionary leader, you might spend a whole lot of time with new ideas. And that can be really frustrating to your people because they say, well, which one of your new great ideas are we gonna prioritize first?
[00:05:04]
And so one of the most important aspects of leadership execution for visionaries, especially people that have great vision is to surround myself with people who are called implementers or integrators. Now an implementer or an integrator is someone who is in the details of getting things done and you usually know who an integrator is because they like to put timelines and time bind activities so that they are locked in and understand what type of restrictions and deadlines we have. So, an integrator is gonna say, when you say, well, I wanna come up with this new plan for our organization. I want to have, you know, Tuesdays to have a free day to where people can go and get massages because they're all stressed out. Okay.
[00:06:00]
When do you wanna implement that, when that's the key? Well, I need to think about it. Well, okay. Then you're not really committed to it because if you haven't put a date on it, then you're not committed. So, the first step in leadership execution strategies is to make it timebound. And so, when you put a time stamp on it, that will organize behavior to reach that milestone.
[00:06:25]
In fact, it was Steve Jobs, when he was working on the Mac project, he was all about artistry, right? It was all about the creativity side and his vision began to change as they got closer to the deadline of shipping out the product. And so this is, it was a huge strain in stress. So, he changed his board from about artistry and creativity to really three words, real artist's ship because he knew he had deadlines.
[00:07:00]
He had to execute on that plan. The first rule, at least the first suggestion in leadership execution strategies is always put a time-bound measurement on the idea and it may be difficult for some, for someone listening today. So for example, say you want to, you have this idea and it surround your family and you want to have your children to where they are more invested in learning from you as a parent and spending time with you. So what do you do? Put it on a time-bound situation. Here's what you do. One of the aspects of spending more time is to say to your children every evening, I'm going to give each one of you if it's one child or two, three or 10, 15 minutes of 100% committed my full attention time.
[00:07:53]
Maybe it's 30 minutes, thirty's even better. And every evening by nine o'clock you pick the time between this hour and this hour and I will commit that to you for 30 minutes. So that lays it out very clear and what it does is it commits you and it's time-bound and then what happens then? The strategy, the leadership, the vision gets executed because the kids are like, oh wow.
[00:08:20]
At eight 30 every night, I get mom, I get dad, I get my caregiver, I get my guardian to just spend time with me and do whatever you want, whatever it is that you want to do, not what I wanna do, but you wanna do, and we'll do that. And I've actually had some of my mastermind students in my leadership elite group do just that.
[00:08:42]
And it's been life-changing for them because we put a timebound leadership execution strategy on investing in family. Not only has it strengthened the relationship in family with the children, but it's also created a stress reliever for the individual leader because they know I'm just gonna get to relax with my child, whether it's playing a video game, whether it's having a cup of, make believe tea, or if it's out in the yard or if it's throwing a ball or if it's reading a book or if it's watching a little television, whatever it might be, it's their time.
[00:09:20]
So, I implore you to commend to timebound. Now, you may say, Nate. Okay. You've got me there. Okay. Great. Second leadership execution strategy. Well, actually that's the third, the second, the first one was having an integrator or an implementer around you as a visionary. The second one was making things timebound. The third leadership execution strategy is to not wait ‘til everything is perfect. Oftentimes leaders who are, even for excellence or perfectionist, if you will, will continue to improve, improve, improve, and never get the workout and so they missed their window. So, it's been said a finished product or I'm sorry a ship product is a finished product or is a good product.
[00:10:10]
When I was working on my dissertation. A finished dissertation was a good dissertation. When I was working on different aspects of development in my organizations, whether it's a new product launch, that one is still okay. It may not be perfect, but it's out. If you wait too long, you will be waiting forever.
[00:10:29]
Right? Set the right expectation for whatever it is, your product or your service, that if it's new, that there's gonna be some kinks we're working out and we'll work it out together and I would even make a suggestion that if you're going to execute on that, make sure that it's made available to those who will give you grace initially.
[00:10:48]
Right? When I was starting to do my podcast, I initially sent it to folks who I knew would give me some constructive criticism, but would also do it without having a great degree of. Well, let's just say there was decorum and they cared about me and they wanted to see the best for me and over time with the right suggestions, I was able to improve my delivery, my interview skills and the like, and I'm still improving, but I didn't wait till it was perfect before I shared it with some kind of an audience.
[00:11:25]
It's okay if it improves later, that's the whole idea. But if you set the right expectation as a leader, by communicating it, then you'll be able to actually execute and improve upon the product. Now, of course, what you don't wanna do is release a product. That's not ready. In whatever shape and form, and you're gonna have to discern what that looks like.
[00:11:45]
So it's, if it's a product or a service, or if it's executing a family event, or if it's executing, going to the gym or whatever, it might look like. Start by setting the right expectations and just release what you can and set the expectation of this is what we're releasing, this is why it's being released in the way it is.
[00:12:07]
But your third execution strategy is not to wait till it's a perfect product. Honestly, friend, I don't know that there is a perfect product. I think we can strive for excellence, I think it's important. I tend to fall on the perfection side and I'm speaking to myself because I'll spend so many iterations revising, revising, revising, and at some point, I've gotta release it, let go. I've gotta let go and then I can improve upon that product. Number five, Leadership. Are we number five? The next leadership execution strategy is all about feedback execution, isn't just execution. Execution is also identifying what is working and what isn't. So, once something is released, then we get feedback because sometimes it doesn't work.
[00:13:05]
It's a failure and as I said before, failure's not final it's feedback. So, the feedback loop helps us to improve on our leadership. Where do we miss it? Where do we miss it with our process? Where do we miss it with our people? Where do we miss it with our sense of purpose and so on. So, don't look at feedback as debilitating, especially when it's feedback that is criticism, that criticism hopefully, as long as it's well, meaning and it's supportive and productive will help us to improve. So be prepared for that. And so also be prepared in the execution model that the feedback I get to know how to respond to that feedback. So, my response for feedback is at least my attempt is humility.
[00:13:58]
Thank you for sharing, thank you for helping me to understand how we can better serve and sometimes feedback happens in the way in business terms where a client will cancel the services. And years ago I would lament that I would say, oh my goodness, I lost a client, I lost a customer, but the flaw in my wasn't that I lost a customer or didn't lose a customer.
[00:14:28]
It was my response to it because they were never my customer in the first place. They were on loan to me. So, me as a steward, as someone who is a caretaker for this client, I get the blessing and the benefit of walking alongside of them and helping them solve their problems and meet their needs for whatever duration of time that we're together.
[00:14:50]
And at some point it may not be the best fit, there may be a better fit for them and if they're not new to the business, then when they left their last person or support company, they were a better fit with us. So, and this just happened today. Actually, I had a client who sent an email, we've been working with our firm for three years and just asked that we cancel billing. So I responded and I said, absolutely and we're so thankful and that we've had our time together and be blessed and I wish you all the best in your future as you move forward. And the response was, thank you so much you and your team has been such an amazing support and help for me.
[00:15:32]
Now, I could say, oh my goodness, there's revenue lost. Oh my goodness, there's this loss, that loss, you know what? I don't hold on tightly to those kind of things, because I know in the execution model and an effective execution strategy that I'm thankful that one of my colleagues now gets to have a blessing with another individual, obviously that if they are still working in that industry and looking for a new relationship. And then, the other factor is that there's more people who are a better fit that are coming to us and so part of that leadership execution strategy is being able to execute an effective onboarding and welcome for that next batch of clients.
[00:16:11]
Of course, do I want to know why it wasn't a fit? Yes. In this particular case, I already knew it. I knew what was happening and I was part of all of the email chains and I understood that it wasn't a best fit for our organization. But in other circumstances, I will ask, Hey, is there any way that we could have served you better and asked that question?
[00:16:33]
Inevitably, I'll get responses like, yeah, this, this, and this, and then what does that do? That adds to the playbook on how we can better serve. At least if we decide we wanna continue to serve that particular type of client, if it's our best client fit as the best client avatar. We'll talk about that in another episode.
[00:16:50]
Is your ideal client avatar? And it's really important to be able to identify that as a leader in an organization, but as a leader in a family, as a leader, in a community, as a leader, in any context, in any circumstances, that feedback is essential. Now you might say, well, what about political leadership?
[00:17:11]
Well, that's a whole nother animal. It's a completely different type of animal because in general, especially in a pluralistic society, such as the United States, your execution will generally be unfavorable for about 50% of your constituents or your population, which again, political leadership is a whole nother realm, but when we're talking about business, family life, we're talking about the realm of this podcast.
[00:17:37]
We know that when we have effective feedback that we have the humility to accept and then interpret and synthesize, we grow. So, one last important aspect of leadership execution, a strategy for is taking feedback and applying it. Now I'm gonna give you a bonus. I'll give you a bonus and I love this execution strategy because I need it just as well as anyone else is when we're executing a strategy, always, always, always have a conversation and not only with those within our organizations, but on the outside of our organizations, and ask questions on what are the holes in my strategy. In fact, I heard it said like this, I was talking with a group and there was a developer who was working on an app for the group that I was consulting one of our students in our leadership elite program.
[00:18:37]
And the developer said, I want you to test the app and I want you to tell me everything you hate about it and I said, wow, I've never heard that before, as I'm executing my strategy as a leader in this app, I'm asking you to tell me everything you hate about my app and what does that do?
[00:18:58]
Now, would I word it differently? Possibly, but what he was doing was he was giving complete license to those he trusted to test this app and allow them to give him unfettered, transparent, complete feedback that helps to improve that experience. How often do we say that? Hey, this is a product launcher, this is a service launcher.
[00:19:25]
This is what I'm doing in my leadership, or even at home, Hey, this is what I did to lead our family in this way and you say, tell me everything you hate about the execution of my leadership in this area. Of course you may not say it that way, but what you can say is, what you can say is tell me everything that you think can be better about your experience.
[00:19:49]
Now you say, well, that's just more feedback, but it's just another way to describe the feedback loop. And again, it's an invitation, so you don't wait for the responses that come in, you invite people to participate and the invitation to participate is critically important because what you do then is that you create advocacy because they're part of your journey, your story.
[00:20:15]
And that's what really leadership is a story. If you'll remember if you listen to the very first episode, we talked about leadership being the first part is discovery and the blank canvas that's ahead of us, and what we do is we paint a picture, which is really a story. Remember, you've heard the saying a picture is worth a thousand words, right?
[00:20:37]
Because a thousand words tell a story. And so, your leadership journey is a story, that's why we want to aim for greatness because a story that aims for greatness is possibly a story worth following and being a part of, and again, that greatness doesn't have to be something lofty. It can be right there, right there where you are right now.
[00:20:57]
And just approaching the very highest possibility of your potential as a leader to serve and serve well. Well my friend, wow. 22 minutes in we've already covered so much and I'm so thankful for you. You've got some talking points, but you also have some homework when you're talking about leadership.
[00:21:18]
Remember to ask your question, where am I right now? Am I specifically fixing time-bound goals to set in my leadership? And are those goals, are they reachable? Are they stretch goals? And do I have the right people around me to make those goals real? And then once I've executed those, Am I really getting the kind of feedback that helps me to improve this experience and ultimately steer this leadership to a better future state? Well, my friend, we did it.
[00:21:49]
I'm so honored you were able to join me on this episode of a call to leadership. Now, this might not be for everyone because you really have to be in a certain place in order to take the kind of steps to level up your leadership and I want you to be taking steps. And for those of you who feel like you're ready for something like this.
[00:22:11]
There's a place you can go. You can go to our website, greatsummit.com. I'll make sure that's in the show notes, but here's the cool thing that we have. We've got a masterclass, we have all different kinds of events, we even have our leadership club where you can meet other people, just like you to go deeper in your leadership journey.
[00:22:31]
You and I will get to spend some time together and really focus on aiming for greatness. I can't wait to see you there. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is A Call to Leadership.