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Hey there everybody.
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And welcome to Fearless Thinking, a
podcast designed to help you navigate
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authentic leadership and the
entrepreneurial journey.
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I'm your host, Michael Devous,
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And these are my thoughts, lessons and
insights from my entrepreneurial
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journey into coaching workshops,
motivational speaking.
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And of course, what I picked up from
interviews with inspiring leaders and
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entrepreneurs along the way.
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My mission is to help people unlock
their untapped potential by using fear
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as a catalyst for powerful change
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and growth,
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so they can step into the greatest
version of their most authentic selves.
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All right, let's get into some fearless
thinking.
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Hey, fearless thinkers, welcome back to
the Fearless Thinking podcast.
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I'm your host Michael Devous
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Today.
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Episode 49, we're talking about Humble
Leadership,
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The Unexpected
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Key To Entrepreneurial Success.
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Yeah, humility.
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You know, we're going to talk about
that special leadership trait that you
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might surprise you.
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We're not talking about flash egos or
dominating personalities, which that's
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not what I consider good leadership.
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We're talking about quiet
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strength of humble
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leadership.
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So what is humble leadership?
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Now, before you roll your eyes, and
start thinking, you know, gahd not this
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touchy, feeling stuff we're going to
talk about.
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But you know me, I get into the
vulnerable shit all the time.
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Sorry.
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Part of my French,
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humble leadership, isn't just about
being
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not a push over,
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it's about recognizing the value
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of others before
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your own.
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Understanding that in terms of
leadership, you foster collaboration
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with other people, with your team.
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Empowering them,
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recognizing the value in others
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is a powerful skill set.
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And I will tell you, in the work that I
have done in the past, I have had
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Numbers of different teams,
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which I love,
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love, working with teams and
discovering the power and the talent
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hidden in each individual
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and bringing that talent forward, and
helping them
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how
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their talent helps the rest of us rise.
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And having a skill set, being able to
see
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in others what really
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makes them valuable, and then applying
that to the team,
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I think, is a wonderful thing.
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And being humble enough to recognize
that you're as good as your team
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that's it,
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as a leader, you're as good as your
team.
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And you need a good team.
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You cannot be the one who knows
everything, and you cannot be berating
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them for not knowing enough.
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That's not what leadership is.
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You want to be a good leader, find an
incredible team.
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Then you know what that feels like?
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Um,
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you can do it like a sports metaphor.
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It's like hogging the ball, when a
player hogs the ball and never passes,
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but ends up trying to take all the
credit.
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Yeah, you might have a few wins.
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I mean, it might be a great player,
maybe you're the best on the team,
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you know, but
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you never really reach your full
potential.
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The team never really reaches their
full potential if somebody's always
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hogging a
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ball.
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But a team with a humble leader,
someone who actually trusts
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their team and their teammates and
shares that spotlight, no, just cast
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the spotlight on others,
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and celebrates their wins and their
contributions.
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That's powerful leadership.
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That's a team that can win
championships.
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And the benefits
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of humble leadership
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is that you build
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stronger, more resilient teams
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when you create a culture of trust and
respect,
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where everyone feels like they've been
valued and heard, and
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you're sharing the spotlight, you're
shining the spotlight on others,
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you're putting them up, raising them up.
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So that they can be seen in their best
light.
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That kind of leadership leads to better
decision making, more innovation
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from your team members, a happier and
more engaged workforce, because they
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feel rewarded just by being seen and
heard by you, and celebrate it
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as well.
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There's a leader I once worked with who
embodied
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humility.
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And
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I was really shocked
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at the quiet
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power behind
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her presence.
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It was like she was always standing
beside you and behind you, nodding
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in affirmative ways
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at the work you were doing, not just
giving you credit for it,
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but in a really, really interesting
physical presence way
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of noticing you.
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Right?
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Everyone had such mad respect for her.
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And when she approached you in the work
that you were doing and made a comment
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about it, it was done with such quiet
deference and such
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humble appeal
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that
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you really felt recognized and
appreciated and valued.
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And she did it interestingly enough, in
front
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of other people,
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in a way that wasn't
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calling you out and calling you forward.
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It was just nice and gentle and
understanding.
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And that was a really cool skill that I
thought,
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gosh, I really want to know how you do
that.
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Like, how do you be?
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How are you so subtle with it?
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But then so powerful at the same time.
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And it's kind of like that, it's kind
of that secret sauce,
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when your teachers used to, instead of
yelling at the class to be quiet, used
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to whisper
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you to whisper,
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so that, you know, if they whispered,
you'd lean in to pay attention.
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It's that lean in moment, that lean in
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skill set,
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which I thought
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was really cool,
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and I wanted to learn how to do that.
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So one of the ways you do that is
listen actively,
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truly listening to your team's ideas
and their concerns.
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Active listening is a practice
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that it's not just about
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hearing what they say, but it is really
about,
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it's about hearing what they have to
say, but then also repeating it back to them,
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clarifying
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back to the individuals about what was
said.
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By doing that, and taking a moment to
reiterate, or speak what, I don't know
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why it's escaping me,
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repeating what they've
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said back to them, allows them the
moment of
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either clarifying what they said
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or be
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recognizing they've been heard.
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And I think there's value in that.
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Also, I think the act of actually doing
it helps you remember better what was
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being talked about what was being said
and shared,
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to admit your mistakes.
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You know, it's so much... if you want to
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role model
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leadership,
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if you want to build a team, that's
capable of recognizing their own
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mistakes, bringing their mistakes
forward, and then finding solutions to
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resolve those mistakes,
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admitting your own in front of them,
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showing them how to admit a mistake,
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explaining and role modeling, how to
share a trip-up
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a vulnerable moment, really opens the
door
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for them
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to share theirs.
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We all mess up.
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We all trip and stumble.
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This is human error.
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It happens.
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But this...there's always going to be
some.
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On every journey, no matter what it is
you're building, no matter whether it's
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a service or a product or a message,
whatever it is, there's always going to
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be that.
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And those are opportunity for you to
share with your team, ways to bring it
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to light so you can solve it together.
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And I think that's powerful.
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The other one, on the other side of
admitting mistakes, is also giving credit
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where credit is due,
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celebrating your team's wins
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and acknowledging their contributions,
both individually and collectively.
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That's part of your job
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as a leader.
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That's really part of what you need to
be doing.
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You don't need to lather it on, and you
don't need to sugarcoat it.
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But you do need to recognize
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when rewards
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are necessary,
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and
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someone who's struggling, someone who
is to have a hard time, just might need
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that pat on the back.
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They just might need that one to get
them over that hump, to get them past
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that obstacle, whatever it is.
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And just recognizing that they did
something well in some other area,
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recognizing a specific talent or skill
set that they bring to the table that
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is different than anybody else's,
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maybe the thing that they need that
unlocks that momentum for them and get
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them past
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whatever stumbling block that they have,
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and finding a way to give them a little
bit of credit,
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I think, be powerful and motivating.
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And then focus on service,
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service leadership,
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leading with a servant's heart,
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as they say,
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by prioritizing the needs of your team
and others.
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I think
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that is a practice,
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and that's something you're going to
have to look at
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how to perform and do differently and
do better
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through active listening admitting
mistakes.
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And giving credit where credit is due.
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But being of service to others
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in a number of different ways.
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Just ask, how can I serve you?
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How can I better serve you today with
where you are?
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Pull someone aside and say, listen, I
see you.
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I recognize you you're doing great work
and you're struggling right now in this particular
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area.
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Or you've got this obstacle that seems
to be really dodging you.
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How can I help you?
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How can I be of service to you today to
get you further along?
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Ask them what they need, because
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they are better able to tell you
exactly what they need.
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Then you assuming that you know.
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And somebody might surprise you with a
request
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that is so simple for you to deliver,
but you had no idea
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that's what they needed.
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That really could be a nice surprise.
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So
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if you're ready to really
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unlock
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the power of humble leadership,
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step fully into the role
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of building your team.
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If you're not there yet, and you want
to build the team, and you're looking
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to do that, and you're getting ready to
launch, and you want to build your
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team, join the Asend Hub.
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We are fostering a community of humble
leaders and ambitious leaders, but we
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do have
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workshops and things in there to help
guide you on how to build your team and
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how to be a leader
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through the practice of
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active listening,
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presentation, professional and personal
growth,
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mindset
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all of the different things that you're
going to need.
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We can do that, and we can do it
together, over at the Ascend Hub, where
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leaders will be committed to helping
all of us create a more positive impact together.
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The power, the power of togetherness.
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Me To The Power Of We
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know
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that we'll reiterate together.
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We can build businesses and
organizations that are not just
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successful, but truly meaningful.
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And I think that
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building humble leaders,
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will you want to be a part of that,
create that impact, that next generation?
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Let's do that together.
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Let's do it together at the Ascend Hub
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So.
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Anyway, yeah, that's all I got to say
today about all of that.
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Episode
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49,
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humble leadership.
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Yeah, do some fearless thinking this
week.
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Go over to TheAscendHub.com.
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Check that out.
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Do.. you know, leave a review?
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00:12:18,505 --> 00:12:19,72
If you would?
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00:12:19,139 --> 00:12:20,974
You know, I haven't had very many of
those.
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I think on this
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show, I would love a review.
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Some feedback would be great.
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Hello.
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Everyone needs feedback.
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00:12:31,851 --> 00:12:33,53
So, yeah, do a little bit of that.
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Give me some feedback.
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Do some fearless thinking and having an
incredible rest
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00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:37,323
of your day.
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00:12:37,390 --> 00:12:40,493
Thank you for joining me and sharing
your time and your space and your ears
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with me.
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And yeah,
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I'll catch your grass on the other side.
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All right
be well. Bye.
