Thank you for the eight years of readership.

As we wrap things up, this article will serve two purposes:

  1. Share critical leader insights I hope you’ll tuck away and consider for the future.
  2. Invite you into a next step of engagement with me through my non-profit, Promised Land Living where you will be invited to put into practice so many of the concepts we explored together over the years.

With a heartfelt appreciation for the years of our journey together, the referrals in business, the changes you have made to be a better leader to your teams, my final gift to you is sharing 12 Critical Leader Insights that have resonated strongly and are frequently revisited by my clients. These insights did not originate from me but were gleaned from 20 years and 20,000 hours working with folks like you!

Timeless Guiding Principles

Like the 12 Steps and Traditions of AA and Al Anon, these insights are exquisitely simple, timeless and profoundly deep. I believe they are worth revisiting repeatedly, whenever you feel stuck, lacking creativity or dangerously revved, and driving too fast for your team.

Here we go:

  1. Apologize: Memorize and say often “I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me” with sincerity of heart. Receive correction and feedback. Humility can build bridges and make a new way forward. Combining verbal amends with ongoing living amends (changing the behavior consistently and positively) can help heal and repair the relationship in healthly and new ways.
  2. Listen More: Set the agenda but become aware of your listening to talking ratio. The wiser the leader, the less words are used.
  3. Stay Curious: Think back to a time when someone asked you a question that made you stop and think differently. What made that question powerful for you?  Make your questions powerful rather than pointed for your team.
  4. Know Thyself: Pay attention to your feelings and take time to process. If you bury them, you bury them alive. They can eventually and negatively impact you and others.
  5. Breathe: By the time something hits your desk, it’s an emergency for someone. Don’t make it an emergency for you or you’ll stop thinking clearly and move into damaging reactive mode.
  6. Think Ahead: Look at every conversation as a negotiation. If you over leverage your role as boss you will quickly shift your business into a command and control leadership approach, squelching the creativity of your team and reduce productivity – substantially.
  7. Explore Together: When an employee says “I don’t know” or “I’m confused” take that as a cue to invite more personal ownership from the employee. Pause rather than explaining too quickly. Invite exploration instead. Exploration leads to empowerment.
  8. Big Picture: If you’ve lost perspective, take a step back and view the big picture. No one can identify their own palm when it’s right up against their nose. It’s not that you can’t see. It’s that you’re too close to the situation.
  9. Go Slow to Go Fast: Your team needs to be in step with you, or you’ll put a lot of drag on the organization. Make time for them to ask their questions or figure out how to integrate your latest and greatest idea into their already full workflow. They are not being resistant. They are being responsible.
  10. Update Processes: Your business will continually outgrow its processes. Periodically look for ways to reduce process interference in the organization by implementing company wide, “stop, start, keep, change.” This allows everyone to self-audit simultaneously and encourages introspection at an individual level and as a whole while noticing patterns or issues that may arise for needed changes or solutions.
  11. One Thing: Dive into at least two leadership or business development books per year. Have the courage to implement only ONE thing from the book. And when you find the one thing, stop reading and start working on implementing. It’s not about finishing a book but refining your leadership and business skills.
  12. Self-care: Take time for you. Calendar planning begins with your vacation(s) and time with family and friends. Incorporate activities that will help you keep perspective on your work. You will outlive your job, I hope. Make sure you don’t make your job your life.

Curious – what would have been on your list of Leader Insights that isn’t on this list?

Well… I am feeling quite sentimental as we wrap up. I am still coaching, but I’m on the back nine of my career. Happy to have conversations with any referrals you would like to make.

We Invite you to Stay Connected

In the meantime, please consider subscribing to the newsletter for Promised Land Living and discover more by joining this new journey with us. These insights will be far more personal and focus on what I’m learning as a leader as I continue to serve our nonprofit, Promised Land Living, as both Founder and Executive Director. The good Lord is teaching me much. I’m entitling it “Facetime with the Founder: Reflections on Faith and Leadership”.

Next Steps to Join and Stay Connected

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