The Journey to Elite Leadership with Mike Harbour

Unlock the secrets to elite leadership with insights from Mike Harbour and host Chris Comeaux in our latest episode, The Journey to Elite Leadership with Mike Harbour. 

In an era that seeks effective guidance, we explore what it truly means to lead with purpose and integrity.  From defining your unique leadership superpower to adopting the "Sapere Vedere" principles and overcoming generational biases, we delve into the vital traits that make an effective leader today.

We discuss the necessity of self-awareness and emotional intelligence as foundational pillars for any aspiring leader.  Mike shares his journey and the lessons learned from years of leadership development, emphasizing that leadership requires effort, intention, and a commitment to self-improvement. The episode challenges listeners to examine their approaches to leadership while encouraging generosity in empowering others. 

As we prepare for the Elite Leadership Summit, we provide details on how to participate in this transformative experience. This summit promises to teach leadership principles and create an environment where leaders can grow together, share experiences, and challenge each other to step outside their comfort zones.

Are you ready to elevate your leadership journey? Tune in, and let’s embark on this path of growth together. Remember to subscribe to our channel for more enlightening discussions and share your thoughts about the episode!

https://www.teleioscn.org/anatomy-of-leadership/the-journey-to-elite-leadership-with-mike-harbour

Guest:  Mike Harbour, President of Harbour Resources

Host:  Chris Comeux, President / CEO of TCN / TCG

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Leadership and Purpose
• 5:00 Mike Harbour Returns: A Leadership Journey
• 10:00 Defining Your Leadership Superpower
• 15:00 The Three Lenses of Leadership: Hindsight, Foresight, Insight
• 22:00 Building Elite Leadership Traits
• 30:00 The Importance of Self
• 40:00 Overcoming Leadership Bias and Generational Gaps
• 50:00 The Upcoming Elite Leadership Summit
• 1:00:00 Closing Thoughts on Leadership and Growth

Transcript

Melody King: 0:01

Everything rises and falls on leadership. The ability to lead well is fueled by living your cause and purpose. This podcast will equip you with the tools to do just that Live and lead with cause and purpose. And now author of the book The Anatomy of Leadership and our host, Chris Comeaux.

Chris Comeaux: 0:23

Hello and welcome to the Anatomy of Leadership. I'm excited. I'm excited because our guest today is a returning guest. You know you got a good one whenever they come back and we ask them to come back. And so Mike Harbour, who's the president of Harbour Resources, welcome, Mike.

Mike Harbour: 0:37

Hey Chris, thanks so much, man. I'm really honored to get to come back. Right, it is an honor. I've been on some and they're like man, we don't want you back, but I guess I'm getting a little bit better since you invited me back.

Chris Comeaux: 0:50

You'll actually really smile at this one the two returning guests from last year you and Quint Studer.

Mike Harbour: 0:57

Oh, I'm in high honor to do anything next to Quint.

Chris Comeaux: 1:01

Actually, Commander Mary Kelly and Meridith Elliot Powell. They're actually going to be together, which, holy moly, that's going to be an interesting one. It's going to be a lot of energy in one podcast, but it's great to have you back. So I'm going to read from Mike's bio real quick. So, Mike's a veteran. Thank you for your service, Mike, both as an enlisted soldier, Medical Service Corps officer in the US Army.

Chris Comeaux: 1:22

He's authored three books Power Principles, one of my favorites, Quit Losing Talent I've got right here those of you watching us on YouTube and then Quit Losing Talent, the expanded edition. He also has co-authored Breaking Average. Mike is a former John Maxwell team faculty member, former co-chair leader for the John Maxwell Leadership Award and also, a former co-host of the Maxwell Leadership Podcast. Mike currently hosts and publishes the Lead Up Podcast. He has probably what Mike probably well over 400 plus episodes at this point, I bet and counting. I love listening to Mike's podcast and so Mike's a coach, leadership advisor, just all around. Pretty amazing person, Mike. What did I leave out? You'd want the audience to know about you.

Mike Harbour: 2:02

Sounds like too much. You know, when you hear that Chris, it's like, wow, have I done all that? Yeah, I have. Thank you so much for that warm intro.

Chris Comeaux: 2:11

Yeah. So I asked you last year and you were so thoughtful In fact there was like a pregnant pause and I said, mike, what's your superpower? And, knowing you, you probably keep processing that question. I know it's a tough question to ask adults, but it's one of the ones I actually. I love it because I feel like I get like an insight into our guests at a deeper level and also the listeners have really loved it.

Mike Harbour: 2:35

So what's your superpower? Yeah, I think you know. When you asked me last year it did kind of take me back right. What is my superpower? And because I don't really look at myself as a superhero, just someone who continues to make progress Right, and that was kind of what I talked about last time that perseverance, being able to continue despite any challenges I faced in my life or in my business. Chris, as you know, being an entrepreneur, having your own businesses, faces it's a new challenge every day, new month and, as we record this, a new year, right. So it's looking forward and I actually write about in my book Quit Losing Talent that you mentioned, this practice of superi videre, and I talk about leading through these three lenses of hindsight, foresight and insight.

Mike Harbour: 3:27

And I think when I look at perseverance and then look at my life through those three lenses, I have the ability to kind of look back and evaluate. John Maxwell says experience is not the best teacher, but evaluated experience is. So I have this ability to kind of look back and evaluate why do I have this headache, right? Well, I didn't eat right and drink enough water but the ability to kind of evaluate my mistakes, my failures, my challenges, and then say, okay, instead of and here's what I've really had to learn, Chris instead of being a critic of self, be a coach of self.

Mike Harbour: 4:04

Right, be able to coach myself to do something better the next time, based on one of those lenses which is foresight, you know, kind of looking ahead, okay, here's where I'm at, here's where I want to be, and then using that as insight to do something different and then really take action on that. You know, I'm not I'm a great action taker, but sometimes I may get stuck in analysis, paralysis, so I'm constantly. My kind of word of the year this year is and it's kind of two words it's relentless execution, because I have a lot of big goals but I need to execute on those right. So it's that relentless execution, but I need to execute on those right. So it's that relentless execution. But when I think about that superpower and thinking about, yes, I'm persistent, I persevere, but I use that practice of sapere videre in my life to look forward and not keep making the same mistakes over and over in my life.

Chris Comeaux: 5:03

Man. There's so much packed in that answer. Mike. You know, first thing I never considered is just where you started is. I could see where the like, what's your superpower, depending on your interpretation. But the typical human reaction would be oh, I'm not a superhero, I'm not perfect. But you know, really it is about that every one of us is a work in progress. You and I are self-mastery. I'm all about self-mastery, the learning mode of life, and I love what Ed Mylett continually says in his podcast. I can't wait to meet myself 10 years from now, what you would call foresight, but then at least to kind of embrace. But I'm in a unique creation and I have cause and purpose. I will often say this here I am in my early 50s, now just celebrating my 54th birthday just a couple weeks back. I have a healthy dissatisfaction with where I am and I have a healthy satisfaction with where I am Again. To me it kind of it's that concept again of your how do you say the word again the hindsight insight and the foresight Sapere Videre, Sapere Videre.

Mike Harbour: 6:09

Yeah.

Chris Comeaux: 6:10

Videre that Cajun accent gets in the way when it comes to new words. That's right.

Mike Harbour: 6:14

It's just a Latin term that means learning how to see or knowing how to see, and most people don't really know how to see, Chris. I mean, here's the reality. Ninety-five percent of people just kind of wander aimlessly through life, right, they get up and repeat today as it was yesterday or we're in a new year, they repeat last year 75 times, yeah, and not really stepping in and learning how to see. Okay, I'm miserable and I love what you said.

Mike Harbour: 6:48

You know I tell people I'm allergic to the status quo, right, I don't want to be where I'm at tomorrow, where I am today. Right, I want to get a little bit better every day and I'm working really hard on some areas in my life to do that, both from a mental, spiritual and physical standpoint, but also financial and growth of my business. And so I'm constantly practicing this superi videri in my life and removing myself from the status quo, which drives me crazy at times because, as you said, I can't remember exactly how you said it, but this healthy dissatisfaction with where you are. But we have to be kind of content with where we are, not get complacent in that place.

Jeff Haffner: 7:26

Thank you to our Anatomy of Leadership sponsor, Dragonfly Health. Dragonfly Health is also the title sponsor for leadership immersion courses. Dragonfly Health is a at-home care data technology and service platform with a 20-year history. Dragonfly Health uses advanced technology and robust analytics to manage durable medical equipment and pharmaceutical services as part of a single, efficient solution for caregivers, patients, and their families. The company serves millions of patients annually across all 50 states. Thank you, Dragonfly Health, for all the great work that you do.

Chris Comeaux: 8:14

Yeah, it's a very paradoxical. I can't remember the author's name, but I'm reading a fascinating book about how to think like Socrates, and there's just, you know, the embracing paradox and being comfortable in the paradox of things is the sweet spot of wisdom, is kind of the gist of that. And, again, that all of this kind of feels like you know, I feel like Mike Carver, mike Carver as I say these things. Well, this will be a good segue, Mike, and so you know, I released my book in late 2023, the Anatomy of Leadership. The idea is it's a table of contents of leadership. I'm an accountant, I like to organize stuff, and so I'm crazy enough to think if you Google the word leadership, you get six billion hits. What's the table of contents? That was my offering to the world, and the original vision behind this podcast is let me just keep bringing incredible guests that just put meat on the bone of what is leadership.

Chris Comeaux: 9:06

And you are a guy who talks often. Our word is lexicon. Lexicon is the robust vocabulary like superi de veri, I'm getting closer Part of your lexicon. But you use the word elite leadership quite a bit, so let's talk about that. You've been talking about that for quite a while. My guess is, if they ask you one day hey, what do you want in your tombstone? My guess is you might tell them hey, the guy who was constantly aspiring to maybe paint the picture for that of people I don't know if you'd agree with that. So what do you mean by this term? Elite Leadership?

Mike Harbour: 9:41

Yeah, I'd like to hit on the tombstone thought for a minute, because I think that's important. You know my personal purpose statement, Chris, is kind of an old quote from Jack Welch. He says when I was made a leader, I wasn't given a crown, I was given the responsibility to bring out the best in others. So that's what I'd like my tombstone to say. He lived bringing out the best in others. Right, that's what that whether it's myself, my wife, my kids, the people that I touch you, you know my just people I want to interact with, right, Did I make someone better in that interaction or did I leave them where they were or make them feel worse? So, you know, that's really what I would love that tombstone piece to say.

Mike Harbour: 10:32

For me, this idea of Elite Leadership, really for me, Chris, is, as I've been doing, leadership, development and coaching now for really all of my life, but seriously since about 2010,. So about 15 years now. This year, I've noticed and I've been saying this for years the world is screaming for leadership. It's actually weeping for leadership right now. Right, we have major issues around our companies, around our communities, in our country, around the world, and I can't solve all of those, but I know who can, and it's the leader that says, hey, I want to do something about that. And I think that's kind of the first step in elite leadership. Right, it's just saying I want to do something about that, I want to silence the screams, I want to silence the weeping of leadership. I think that's really what we're called to do all of us in some way, and that Elite Leadership is just somebody that kind of steps into that, calling first of all, and accepts it and say, okay, yeah, put me in, coach, I'll do that, I'll step into that. The reality is, Chris, most people won't do that Like, ooh, that's a little too hard for me.

Mike Harbour: 11:53

Every time I'm coaching a leader or doing a leadership workshop, I just tell them the first thing you need to realize that as soon as you raise your hand to that title or that position of leadership, you put this big target on your back and you have to decide are you ready to take shots in the back in that target? And most people aren't. They want the title, they want the position, the power, the money. They don't really want to take the shots. And look, I don't like taking shots either. Right, I hate it when somebody doesn't like what I do and maybe says something about me, but at the end of the day, I'm called for something bigger than that and I've got to be willing to take those shots once in a while.

Mike Harbour: 12:35

So an elite leader is someone who first of all, just says, yeah, I'm raising my hand to be an elite leader and take the shots and, with integrity, I continue to move forward.

Mike Harbour: 12:45

I don't lose sight of that vision, that calling, that purpose that people have. And then I'm also called in Elite Leaders to make people better in every interaction, every day, because here's what we know more than anything the world is. You know, people are more depressed and anxious and overwhelmed than we've ever been in life. And so I think an elite leader it really says, yeah, I want to speak into that, I want to step into that, I want to help a leader grow. And we've got a huge gap in. There's no gap in knowledge right now. I mean, you can turn on a podcast and learn anything you want to learn, or YouTube or go the Internet, but what we have is a gap in wisdom and understanding and knowledge. And I think that's where elite leaders come in is help take, okay, the information that's out there and then bring it down to a grassroots level and help that person that's right in front of them become something they didn't think they could become or they want to become.

Chris Comeaux: 13:49

There's so much good stuff there, Mike. First thing you reminded me of I was 25 in my first major leadership position. Actually, it's where I met Quint. It was at a hospice in Pensacola and we had this female CEO I won't say the name of the healthcare system, but they're a publicly traded healthcare profit system so, as a female, to have made her way to the top as a CEO was a big deal and she was amazing and I was young and I just it was like a brain tattoo and she said it was just, it was just this little poignant quip and she said you know, Chris, if they're kicking you, that means they're behind. Poignant quip. And she said you know, Chris, if they're kicking you, that means they're behind. And it was just a great way to frame that. If you're going to step out and be a leader, you're going to get pot shots and it's okay. And actually, you know, I had these huge CEOs healthcare system CEOs on our board. I mean they would ask me such tough questions as a 25-year-old, you know, presenting financials and things like that, and I think she probably saw me wilt and then that's where she brought that piece of wisdom.

Chris Comeaux: 14:47

Second thing you remind me of my top five favorite Bible stories. The only person in the Bible that actually amazed Jesus was a centurion, and to me it's a leadership story and it's like you think about what was that about? And he, basically, he told Jesus, he said I get leadership, I understand how authority works. I tell a soldier go and at some level they trust me and they go Um, you are ultimately God and you say thy word and thy servant will be healed. To me it's a beautiful leadership lesson of will you step in, will you have faith, and it's the one person in the Bible that amazed Jesus, which is pretty cool if you think about it. It actually was a leadership conference Andy Stanley didn't quite say it that way, but it was kind of under a leadership lesson and I'm like I've heard that story a million times and never thought of it from that perspective.

Chris Comeaux: 15:38

And then the last thing just listening to how you talk about Elite Leadership, again, I'm loving this book about how to think like Socrates, and interestingly, during Socrates' time he had a lot of motivational speakers, a lot like today. I mean, you do not want for content in today's day and age, and so there are a lot of people out there parroting content, and what he would talk about is in the space of the paradox you could almost take two positions on. Anything is where wisdom really resides. It's like how do you bring that knowledge to bear in such a way where it sees maybe sometimes the third way? Or how do you help people become better? How is yourself becoming better? To me, it comes back to your word again. Again. I'm superi deveri. I'm going to keep working on it. I'm going to have you do me a phonetic saying and I'm going to play it on my computer every day.

Mike Harbour: 16:33

It's in the forward of my book, Chris, you can go look at it.

Chris Comeaux: 16:36

Actually I was trying to look at if I actually see it there, if it would actually help me. My wife actually jokes with me all the time she goes. Why do they leave you on air? You know you mispronounce words all the time. That's okay. It's like I grew up in Louisiana. The fact I can speak English is actually quite of a huge feat. Amen, so you were great a second ago. But maybe succinctly define Elite Leadership like in.

Mike Harbour: 17:01

maybe a succinct executive summary yeah, lead with integrity, inspire with vision, empower with impact. I mean that's just as succinct as I can get it. We have to have that integrity. It begins there. Without that, leadership is nothing right. I mean, we've often heard and Lencioni talks about this trust is the foundation of teamwork or leadership. That's what integrity is. If you don't have that integrity, you break that foundation. So it begins there. And then you've got to inspire with vision, not work. You know why? Why is the work important?

Mike Harbour: 17:42

When I think about Elite Leadership, a lot of guys, a lot of leaders, come in and just say, hey, we got to get this work done, we got to get this job done, we got to hit the revenue target. We, you know we're behind on our budget or whatever they're. They're trying to inspire with work or tasks. What? Why is that important? So that's where that vision comes in Elite leaders able to take the work, normal work that people do every day, and inspire them to do better, so it better that inspire with vision and empower with impact. And so empowering means I give my power to you, Chris. It's like Jesus. You brought up Jesus. Jesus gave my power to you, Chris. It's like Jesus. You brought up Jesus. Jesus gave his power to you and I. He gave his power to the disciples. He says you know, you have the same power within you. Go and heal. Right, how do we do that? You have me, you have my spirit, you have my same power, right.

Mike Harbour: 18:32

And so when we think about that from a leadership in our time, we have that same power, but we can't hang on to it. So we have to empower, like give our power away, die to self. That paradox right. Die to self, give our power away. And then we're behind, kicking people, right, we're the leader, but not really kicking, but cheering on and pushing. And hey, Chris, you can do it.

Mike Harbour: 18:56

And so that makes that impact. And then it creates that confidence right from our followers because we've empowered them, and they begin to see this impact. Now they start to lead when we're not there. That's the true essence of leadership is what happens when I'm not in the room. Right, leadership is what happens when I'm not there, not when I'm in the room. Happens when I'm not in the room. Right, leadership is what happens when I'm not there, not when I'm in the room. So, an elite leader is able to number one, have integrity, inspire I have trouble with words too, Chris, inspire with vision and empower with impact, so that the leader can be outside the room and know that someone else is going to do it.

Chris Comeaux: 19:33

That's really good If you kind of further break it down, like if I'm thinking okay, I hear what Mike's saying, but where I'm at today, what are some traits I can start building in myself that will put me on that journey towards being more of an elite leader?

Mike Harbour: 19:49

Yeah, I think the first thing is and again we've heard this a lot, again, we've heard this a lot mastery of mindset. You know, you and I have talked about that in the past. I think before I can be an elite leader, I've got to go to work on myself. And, Chris, I've shared my story with you a little bit. You know, I grew up in a dunghole. I'll try to clean my language up. I grew up in an abusive, alcoholic, very dysfunctional, violent environment and I had to go to work on myself because I brought chip on my shoulder self-esteem, self-worth issues, lack of belief. Even though on the outside I looked like I had this belief in myself, on the inside I didn't. So I doubted every decision. Even when I did something right, I doubted that. So again, in my work with leaders, what I've learned is I'm really no different than anybody else. I used to think, oh man, what makes them so good? I'm really not. Everybody has something they need to go to work on. And if we want to achieve that level of elite leadership and there's a lot more to it than just what we've already talked about but if we want to achieve that level of Elite Leadership, we've got to become elite ourself first, which means we got to go to work on some of the things that we have within us that prevent us from being elite. Right, that's that self-awareness, self-mastery, whatever you want to call it. You know, removing our self-doubts, removing our fears and I don't know that those ever go away, but they get easier, right and then removing our biases, like we have these biases within us also, that based on you know where we come from, the way we were raised, the church that we went to, the school we were educated in, the parents that we have the things that they said. We have these biases and an elite leader is able to kind of look through everything.

Mike Harbour: 21:53

The big topic in the world today is DEI, right, diversity, equity, inclusion. I don't like that term, honestly. I just think we're all humans. The big topic in the world today is DEI, right, diversity, equity, inclusion. I don't like that term, honestly. I just think we're all humans. See the other person as a human, see the value that they have in them, and it doesn't matter what they look like, where they come from, what's the value they have and what value do they bring to the team, and you could get rid of all the labels of things. That's what elite leaders do. They're able to remove the labels of things and work with anybody from where they're able to come. That's one of the traits, okay, just this self-mastery, self-work, self-awareness, emotional intelligence I mean it's kind of all wrapped up in that, right.

Mike Harbour: 22:33

And then I think I want to couple this. I think number one it's kind of a strong work ethic, but I want to couple professionalism with that, Chris. There's a lot of leaders today that are in leadership roles, but they're not a pro leader, and what I mean by that is if you go to the doctor, like if you go to a surgeon, Chris, that surgeon is a professional. They've worked on their craft. Hopefully they've worked on their craft. Hopefully they've worked on their craft. If they're going to do brain surgery on you, they're a pro, right. They didn't just go to the OR and say, well, I think I'll try this brain surgery out. No, they've worked on it.

Mike Harbour: 23:07

A lawyer they practice their craft, right, so they can be a better lawyer in the room. Professional athletes they practice the craft. I often think of Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer ever, right? I mean he just put hours and hours and hours. He was a professional, and so when we think about strong work ethic and professionalism, an elite leader, that's a trait they have to have.

Mike Harbour: 23:30

They have to have the work ethic to get better, to work on their craft as a leader, as a communicator, as a vision caster, as an empowerer, as someone who holds people accountable, as someone who hires great people. I mean there's a lot of things. You know what I write about in my book Quit Losing Talent. Those are kind of the how-tos of recruiting and hiring and keeping people. But to really make those work I need to be an elite leader. So the Quit Losing Talent is kind of the how-to. The Elite Leadership I'm talking about is how do I need to be, like, what kind of leader do I need to be to really make those tools work? Kind of just a couple things there.

Chris Comeaux: 24:13

Something that occurred to me when you were talking. Again what I love hanging around with wonderful leaders like you, thought leaders like you. You've heard me talk before about Dr Thayer. I talked quite a bit about him when you had me on your podcast. Amazing is, he read across the centuries and he was mining for timeless principles that applied to leadership, and so he would talk about any unexamined assumption is dogma. So what you're calling bias. He would challenge us like you know what, why do you believe that? And then he would just dismantle us. And at first, I felt like I was so spun around, like these foundational things I had in my life. I was questioning everything. But the cool thing is, through that questioning and wrestling I came to some foundational things to go hey, that's, this is why I know this is that thing. And now I'm scaffolding my life upon much, a much more solid foundation. Does that feel in the ballpark when you're pushing on bias to get down to that bedrock? Like I could build my house on this. I could build my elite leadership on this.

Mike Harbour: 25:24

Yes, yeah, I love that you brought that up and I'll just give the listeners a real-world example so that this makes sense to them. We live right now in a time where there's four, and in some places maybe five, generations in the workplace. I have a bias against each one of those generations. Chris, if I'm not careful, that can get in the way, right. The older generation they're too old, they can't keep up, they're stuck in their ways, right. Well, the younger generation they don't. Their work not as good, they don't care, they're not as tied to purpose and mission as we are. All of that is false. All of that is false. And what elite leaders are able to do is what you said.

Mike Harbour: 26:11

Question why I think that right. When you hear yourself as a leader say, well, the younger generation just doesn't want to work today, that's false. My 24-year-old son works for me, Chris. He works as hard as I do every day. My 20-year-old daughter she'll be 20 in a few weeks she works as hard as probably anybody. Where she works, she works hard. I've instilled that in them. Partly. That's my leadership. Hopefully I've done a good job there, but what I know is one. We've kind of done a good job of creating that work ethic in them and helping them understand why work is important, what their future vision is and where that comes from.

Mike Harbour: 26:56

But when leaders have a bias, let's just use the minding your generation, gen X generation and we're trying to lead millennials, or Gen-Zers, and we have this bias of they just don't want to work as hard. I lose all credibility as a leader when I have that bias or that mindset, right? Because what I now do is I give myself the excuse leaders and it's an excuse. I give myself the excuse not to lead them because if I think they don't want to work hard, I'm not going to have a strong work, I'm not going to lead them. Well, I'm not going to step into that. And so what we have to do as leaders and what I'm challenging leaders which is what you brought up I got to question that bias.

Mike Harbour: 27:33

Why do I believe that? Because I've seen one or two or I've heard somebody say that Well, are you saying you're not a good enough leader to get through that? That's my real question. Now, I know I just stepped on some toes when I said that, but in leadership that's the responsibility of leadership. I got to know, I got to believe that I'm good enough to get through that. Now that doesn't mean sometimes, Chris, I'm not going to fire somebody. I'm going to try to coach them up and get them to that level of potential that they have. But if they can't go there, I may have to find a replacement for that job. Right, I'm not saying we never have to get rid of an employee that doesn't want to go there, but 99 out of 100 people they will work hard if we inspire them to do that and lead them well to get them there, I don't know if

Chris Comeaux: 28:20

that kind of answers your question, but that's what came to mind it does, and you also make me self-reflect and maybe I'll share this as well in the spirit of helping our listeners. I was hardwired via the home that I grew up in so we'd wake up on Saturday mornings and dad had a to-do list for us or the kids are going off and playing. You know I was out in the farm working early on a Saturday morning, even after late night football games, so I am hardwired for very hard work ethic maybe good, but again, that is a part of my career where I started to question that and wrestle like where does that come from? Because there's, there's a side to it that was bondage. I didn't find the joy in it. It was one freaking task after another and so I started kind of questioning that bedrock and foundation and what I did is I rediscovered and rewrote the meaning of that story and put it in the foundation of my life in a much more efficacious, healthier way that I believe I could outwork most people around me. So it could be the potential of a superpower and I could bring it when I need to bring it and I love what I do, but then not forgetting the joy of it and then also kind of finding that I hate the term work-life balance, but it's more of a work-life blend. I found a rhythm, actually a work-life rhythm that, for better, empowers me and actually allows it to be more of a superpower, as opposed to bondage like something that, on one hand, unexamined Um, and I've got a couple of interesting stories I'll share with you sometime offline, when we're together.

Chris Comeaux: 29:51

We'll talk about a couple moments about your summit Um, god had a really cool wake up call and so I was working to get the accolade and someone else got the accolade and I was staying there just crushed going, whoa, and that was the beginning of going. I got to check under the hood Something right about this. So I love the way you kind of took it, because after you don't examine it, um, wherever that bias and some of it you may throw out and go, hey, let's throw that over the boat, we don't need that for the journey. Some of you are like, hey, I need to rediscover this and polish it off and, sharpening it up, put it back into the foundation in a much more efficacious way. Would you say that any differently?

Mike Harbour: 30:29

Yeah, no, I love what you brought up too. I think I do want to share this with your listeners Hopefully I didn't run any off yet with stepping on their toes. But we also need to examine why we work as hard as we do our generation too. Right, because it's not necessarily a good thing Like working 10, 12-hour days every day and, as a leader, expecting others to do that is not a healthy thing. If you want to do that as a leader, that's up to you, but I'd still question why you do that. Are you doing some self-care? So, Chris, I'm glad that you found that I don't think there's any such thing as work-life balance, because I'm going to always work more than I get to spend with my family or go to church or whatever. If I had true work-life balance, I would hike about half the time and work about half the time. I don't have time to do that, but there is that harmony or that rhythm that you talked about. So, as a leader, also being a lead is examining why you work as hard as you do. If you are that person that works that hard and are you expecting others to match you, that's not fair to them, because the reality is there's only 24 hours in a day. People are going to work at least eight of that. They need that other eight hours to have life, to have that life. That doesn't mean we don't ask them to work 10 hours sometimes when that need is there or whatever.

Mike Harbour: 31:57

And then the other thing I want to make sure I say is all the stuff I teach and Chris talks about and teaches, we're not perfect. We don't have it figured out. I fail at some of this stuff every single day, Chris. So, I want to make sure sometimes when you hear a speaker, podcaster, coach, trainer I'm an idealist and from an elite leadership standpoint, these things ideally every leader would be doing these things really well every day. I do not. Every day. I don't set the example of work-life balance right. I don't set the example of strong work ethics. Sometimes I'm worn out. I just got to go sit down and do nothing, right, and I'm expecting others to keep working, so, so anyway, I just want to make sure our listeners, your listeners, understand that it's not about perfection. It's about progress and knowing what, what it is that you're after, and making progress toward that.

Chris Comeaux: 32:54

Yeah, I love that term. That's when that Quint taught me progress, not perfection. In fact, one of our team members, mike we co-wrote a blog together. I originally had titled it the Prescription for Perfectionists, because I, like you, have a little bit more of that idealistic sense. She retitled it the Perfectly Imperfect Journey, and it really is kind of about what you're talking about. That we even rewrote our value of excellence for our organization to capture that essence of what you're talking about. That we're all this kind of work in progress. Perfection's not possible this side of eternity, but yet that's part of the beautiful journey of life is we're working towards that. And then we could hopefully look through the rear-view mirror and go, yeah, I'm a much better version of where I was. And then look out of the windshield and have this vision of where I'm going to be 10 years from now and go, as Mylett would say I can't wait to meet myself 10 years from now.

Mike Harbour: 33:43

Yeah, yeah, that's so good. Yeah Me either. I hope I've hope I've achieved at least half of what I think I want to Right.

Chris Comeaux: 33:51

Well, another I heard. I don't know if Mylett does this continually, but just recently it just was like a brain tattoo. He said you know, when you graduate and get to heaven, like the version of you that shows up in heaven. And here's that perfect version. And how close do they generally match? Not that it would be perfect, but I like the framing of that. Whether you know. Is that the real reality? I don't know, but I think it's a pretty efficacious way to kind of frame it, that you know just this continual journey. Well, maybe succinctly and I want you to talk about your summit, mike, I feel like we've been poking on it but how does one become an elite leader?

Mike Harbour: 34:28

Yeah, I think you have to have a desire for that. You know, Chris, as we talked about a little bit I think it's part of what you just hit on like when you meet yourself in heaven. Again, we're going to do some of this at the summit, by the way. What do you want your life to stand for? What do you want your leadership to stand for? What do you want people to say about you as a leader? What's the mark that you want to leave on people? You know?

Mike Harbour: 35:07

I think about when people ask me who was the greatest leader in my life? I've been around a lot of good leaders. Look, I spent time with Quint Studer, who I love. I've spent time with John Maxwell, who I love. My grandmother's the greatest leader ever in my life. You know, she passed away in 98, like literally just a few weeks after I got home from the Army and, man, it broke my heart because she was the steady in my life. She was the one. She's the reason I'm here, where I'm at today. I mean she was always challenging me to be, you know, be better, and so I think an elite leader first, someone who wants to be an elite leader. They need to look out into the future and ask the question what do I want my leadership to stand for? What do I want the people that I run across to say about me when I'm gone?

Mike Harbour: 35:59

I heard John Maxwell say one time, Chris, he said you know you can do a lot of things right, but at the funeral the most important thing, you know all these people come to see you go by, but all the most important thing to the people that come to your funeral is when do we get to have the potato salad right? So there's something like that. I mean, it's true, right Shortly after we're gone. We're often forgotten, unless we've really made an impact on people's life. Now, I don't do what I do. It goes back to what you said about a minute ago. I don't do what I do for the accolades, Chris. I'm not really doing this for that, but I still have to have that vision in my life to make me a better person or a better leader. Because, Chris, at the end of the day, I'm not.

Mike Harbour: 36:42

I have a tendency to be pretty lazy and I'm a high D on a disc. I'm type A, very aggressive and assertive. I have a tendency to maybe hurt people's feelings and leave them thinking I don't like them because I'm real direct and forceful and that's not the leader I want. To be right, that's not the impact I want to leave on people. Yes, I want to push people and challenge people, but I don't want them to think, when I walk away, like thank God, he's gone. I don't want them to think that I want people to think, wow, I appreciate Mike. He challenged me to do something I didn't think I could do and he got in a ditch with me to do it too, if I need to do that as well.

Mike Harbour: 37:31

So I think again, you asked me for a succinct answer and I'm taking it a long way. I mean, the first step is just like asking yourself, what do you want to be known for? And kind of painting that picture. Brian Tracy, years and years ago, taught me to write my own eulogy, and so it's kind of thinking about life like that and then, beginning with the end in mind, how do I get there? Walk back and say, okay, what are the steps I've got to go forward? That's kind of the. There's obviously lots more in between those two bookends, but that would be kind of the quick answer to your question.

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Chris Comeaux: 38:40

Well, we've been talking we've been like leaving listeners on a cliffhanger. Employer's bottom line, well, we've been talking. We've been like leaving listeners on a cliffhanger. We've been talking about this, or alluding to this Elite Leadership Summit. It's actually going to be in April 2025. Tell us about it.

Mike Harbour: 38:55

Yeah, I'm really excited, Chris. I've had this vision right. So when you think about leadership or foresight, you know that's a pair of a dairy, Chris, that we're talking about. We talk about foresight, like, what do you want to do? And you know, you kind of. You kind of throw an idea out there once in a while, and some people are afraid to throw their dreams and goals and desires out there. But I had this dream to to have a leadership retreat in the mountains, to to have a leadership retreat in the mountains. Number one I love the mountains. I feel there's no place on earth I feel closer to my creator than in the mountains. I you know that's so selfishly I wanted to do a leadership event in the mountains and, uh, we're going to do that in April 21st is you know the day. We fly into Denver, then we'll kind of carpool from there down to Buena Vista, Colorado, right in the middle of what's known as the Collegiate Peaks, the Collegiate Mountains there in Buena Vista, Colorado. So, 14,000-foot mountains all around us. We'll be sleeping at about 9,000 feet at Spring Canyon Retreat Center.

Mike Harbour: 40:01

It's not going to be your typical leadership conference, Chris. This is not one of those where you come in a hotel and you go to all these breakout sessions, those kinds of things. We are going to have some breakout sessions. We're going to talk about being elite in your business, in your community, in your home, in your family and really craft that vision that we just kind of talked about. You know what does that look like? What do I have to do to be a lead in that? And we'll have some morning sessions and then in the afternoon we'll do some elite leadership challenges where we might go out and do a little hike.

Mike Harbour: 40:36

We're setting it up, Chris, where we'll have green, blues and blacks. So you know, if you're just for a green slope, you can go drink coffee downtown. If you're just for a green slope, you can go drink coffee downtown. If you're up for a black slope, we might go hike. You know, depending on the weather, in Colorado we might not be able to climb.

Mike Harbour: 40:49

But you know, the event is really, if you're in, like a senior leadership role. When I say senior leadership, you're a leader of leaders, like you've got other people that you're leading, this events for you. It's an all-male event this year, Chris. At some point we may incorporate men and women leaders, but the way we're set up this year and the accommodations. It's an all-male event and not that we want to exclude our female counterparts. It's just we're not set up for that this year, since it's our first one, and next year we may have some accommodations where we can do that. So if you're a leader of leaders and you want to get around other leaders of leaders where you can lock arms with them, learn from them, network with them and be inspired to challenge yourself outside of your comfort zone around the obstacles that we all face as leaders, that's what the Elite Leadership Summit is going to be all about this year.

Chris Comeaux: 41:46

That's awesome, Mike, I'm just thinking of. Quite often, the most impactful experiences in my life involved some kind of way going into the wilderness, and that's actually biblical as well. So, I'm looking forward to this A little nervous, a little excited, all at the same time. So, if folks want to learn more, can we go ahead and put a link, and if they want to reach out, yeah, so you can visit www.eliteleadership.us.

Mike Harbour: 42:18

Okay, that's the web page for some information about the summit eliteleadership.us. Or, you know, they can connect with me directly Chris, at mike@harborresources. com. H-a-r-b-o-u-r resources. com. Mike@harborresources. com. That's my email. Just shoot me an email and say hey, heard you on Chris's podcast and want to know more about the event. We've got room for 32 leaders this year. As of this recording, Chris, I think we've got eight or nine spots left, so don't hesitate to reach out.

Mike Harbour: 42:56

We still have time, but we're filling up pretty quick Just because of where we're going. It's going to be small and intimate where we're at, and we're doing that on purpose.

Chris Comeaux: 43:06

Good deal. Yeah, I'm looking. Luckily, I'm one of those folks, and so, if you want to hang out with me and Mike, check it out. Mike, we'll put links to your email as well as the website that you mentioned. So, Mike, final thoughts.

Mike Harbour: 43:16

Yeah, Chris. First of all, thanks again for inviting me back to your podcast. I love talking to you every time that we get together. We've had a few conversations. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with you and getting to know you more at the retreat, because we've never physically met and shook hands. We've done a lot of these virtual meetings, which I love right that we can do that nowadays, but it's also not as genuine and authentic as being able to, you know, to shake hands, press flashes, as I say. So, I'm looking forward to that, and you know, what you do continues to inspire me just helping the world be a better place from a healthcare standpoint. You meet a need in that hospice arena that is so much needed. You're helping people at the kind of one of the toughest challenge times of their lives, so I really appreciate what you and your team do.

Chris Comeaux: 44:07

Yeah, thank you for what you do, Mike, and again I'm looking forward to it. It's amazing since COVID I mean, I meet people four and five years that I've only interacted virtually, and we will call it like. We have a relationship, we have a friendship, but then you get that personal connection and then there's a whole nother level of connection. So, thank you, thanks for being with us, Mike, and thanks for getting all the work that you're doing to our listeners. At the end of each episode, we always want to share a quote, a visual.

Chris Comeaux: 44:33

The idea is creating a brain bookmark, a thought prodder about our podcast subject, so it further your learning and your growth and thereby your leadership. And what we're looking for is it stick, it's a brain tattoo. Be sure to subscribe to our so it further your learning and your growth and thereby your leadership. And what we're looking for is it stick, it's a brain tattoo. Be sure to subscribe to our channel, the Anatomy of Leadership. We don't want you to miss an episode. We're also going to include the link to Mike's lead up podcast as well. If you're interested in Mike's books, we're going to have links to those. We'll also have a link to my book, the Anatomy of Leadership. You know it's easy for us to rail against the world and be frustrated by things. Let's be the change that we wish to see in the world. So thanks for listening to the Anatomy of Leadership, and here's our brain bookmark to close today's show.

Jeff Haffner: 45:14

"Elite leadership takes someone willing to step into the calling.  It should be "put me in coach” mentality.” by Mike Harbour.