Leadership Rises and Falls on Credibility

Both managers and leaders are charged with getting things done. How they get things done is one of the key contrasts between managing and leading.

Managers always occupy some slot in the organizational chart. As a result, they have what I call positional authority that allows them to compel compliance with what they want done.

Leaders, however, do not always have positional authority. It’s common to find people within an organization who hold no managerial title, but whose judgment and expertise are so respected that a following gathers around them. They man be described in a variety of ways. As opinion leaders. As thought leaders. As subject matter experts.

Whatever our name for them, they have the ability to make a telling impact on how the organization functions and the kind of culture it spawns. And they exert this influence, not because they have any power to compel, but because they have telling influence.

The source of this influence is credibility. Without it, no one can lead. And credibility, in turn, rests on three considerations: the leader’s character, the leader’s competence, and the leader’s ability to achieve desired concrete results.

This podcast takes up these three considerations and examines how they contribute to optimizing a leader’s credibility.

A transcript of the program is available through the index at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes.

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In this week’s podcast, I interview Jeremy Ryan Slate about his recent book From Unremarkable to Extraordinary.

One of the nation’s preeminent podcast hosts, Jeremy has interviewed hundreds of highly successful men and women, many of them internationally renowned for their influence and accomplishments. From these 1200 or so interviews, he has gleaned a dozen traits which all of these successful people have in common.

These traits form the framework for his book. In this episode he shares the thought process that went into choosing these traits and his aspirations for how the book can be most beneficial for ordinary people who choose to become extraordinary in their life pursuits.

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Values, Beliefs, Principles

How They Interact to Shape Your Life

Even though I’ve taught principles of values-centered leadership for decades, I was well into that process before I recognized the complex conceptual framework within which values function. And each of our values has its own unique framework.

For reasons which I outline in this podcast, I began referring to this framework 20 years ago as a molecule. At the center of the molecule is a value. Surrounding this nucleus are our beliefs which we hold about the value. Then, attached to each belief are principles which we derive from that belief — principles which dictate how we should implement that value in our approach to life.

I refer to this construct as a VBP molecule. Values, Beliefs, Principles. I first introduced it in 2006 in my book Leadership and the Power of Trust. Since then I’ve fleshed it out extensively in keynotes and trainings. It helps me provide clients with a more comprehensive understanding of motivation.

We’ve long recognized that all motivation is based on values. That is, we are not motivated to pursue anything which has no value to us. This would imply that behavior (which is prompted by motivation) is the product of the values which we cherish.

In reality, however, behavior is not the direct by-product of a value or particular set of values. Behavior is a by-product of what we believe about those virtues. And the pattern of our behavior stems from the principles which we deduce from those beliefs.

Therefore, we do not change behavior by changing people’s values. We change behavior by helping them change what they believe about their values. When beliefs change, principles change. And when principles change, behavior changes.

A transcript of this podcast is available for download at UpsizeYourLeadership.com. That same link will give you access to a downloadable graphic which provides a visual depiction of the VBP molecule.

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Life-Shaping Advice from Two Major Mentors

What My Two Most Important Mentors Taught Me

Over the course of my life, I’ve had a variety of mentors in a number of different ventures. Two stand out as having had a particularly telling impact on my career and on me as a person.

In this episode I relate two maxims which they instilled in me and describe how these maxims have shaped my life immensely.

One has made me far more effective at building strong teams in organizations which I’ve led. And it has contributed in large measure to the success of these endeavors.

The second has expanded my grasp of the world around me, so that I can make better decisions and offer clients wiser counsel.

Both of these maxims are just as valuable for anyone else as they have been for me. And they are especially valuable for those in leadership.

The first maxim is this: We all have a flat side on our wheel someplace. The sooner we can identify that flat side and build people and systems around us to compensate for it, the sooner we will be successful and the more successful we will be.

The second is: Read wisely. Read widely. Read well.

The podcast shows how both of these maxims have empowered my work as an executive leadership coach, keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, not to mention my effectiveness in a variety of high-demand leadership posts.

A transcript of the episode is available at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes.

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The Most Neglected Aspect of Change Management

We’ve all heard the adage, “People don’t like change.” What I’ve found is that people don’t dislike change so much as they dislike the way it is often implemented.

It’s easy to confuse their discontent with the implementation process as resistance to change itself. No one can survive in today’s world without accommodating change. But accommodating it and accepting it are two different matters.

While we have a vast array of books, seminars, workshops, and podcasts on managing change, there is one aspect of change which these programs rarely address. And it’s a major contributor, I’ve found, to people’s discontent with change initiatives.

Thomas Sowell famously noted that there are no solutions, only tradeoffs. That’s particularly true with major change. Something must be given up in order to take advantage of the benefits of the change.

But if what must be given up is something treasured or enjoyed, the tradeoff brings sadness. And if leadership fails to take that sadness into consideration, they are likely to misread a worker’s reaction as opposition to change, when in reality, it’s mere hesitancy to embrace something new until there has been time to process the loss of something they value.

This episode explores the “sad” side of change. It looks at a classic example of a company which failed to do so, and the dysfunction which resulted put them out of business.

A transcript of this program is available for download at https://www.upsizeyourleadership/transcripts/2315-sad-truth-about-change.pdf.

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What Makes Freedom Vulnerable

Historically, mankind has been more inclined toward political leaders who are autocratic than those who protect liberty and freedom for their people.

The fact that America has kept the idea of personal freedom alive for 12 generations is an unprecedented human event. Yet freedom always hangs by a precarious thread, even after enduring for nearly two-and-a-half centuries.

It is forever threatened by what I call the deceptive allure of authoritarianism. As Erich Fromm explained so powerfully in his book Escape from Freedom, maintaining a society based on genuine principles of liberty is a daunting task.

Freedom mandates personal autonomy and self-responsibility. And being responsible for self often brings more anxiety that some people can bear. They are therefore forever susceptible to the enticing claim of authoritarian leaders that they can eliminate whatever gives rise to the anxiety.

This promise inevitably proves false, because autocratic leaders cope with their own anxiety by imposing repressive and intrusive regimes. More than one electorate, however, has been seduced by the the illusory promise of authoritarian movements.

Today’s episode delves into the intrapersonal dynamics which bring such leaders to power. It highlights why the greatest threat to democratic governments is not a takeover by an external enemy, but by the internal threat of citizens quietly acquiescing to authoritarianism.

A transcript of this episode is available at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2314–allure-of-authoritarianism.htm

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Capture the Full Potential of Delegation

The Secret Is in the Preparation

Done properly, delegation is one of the most powerful weapons in the manager’s arsenal. Done poorly, it results in untold problems later on and no small amount of lost productivity, momentum, and effectiveness.

When delegation is unsuccessful, it’s usually before insufficient care was given to the preparation phase of delegation. Indeed, I’m struck by how many online guides on effective delegation don’t even mention a preparation process.

In my judgment, however, the preparation phase is even more important than the execution phase. When preparation is done properly, making the actual delegation is teed up for success. Without that preparation, delegation is typically performed in a “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants”fashion. And that approach is fraught with endless possibilities for miscommunication or confusion about expectations.

Therefore, in this episode I offer an eight-point checklist for making proper preparation for delegation. The checklist is workable in any delegation situation and in any type of organization.

A transcript of today’s podcast can be downloaded at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes.

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Bring Out the Best Thinking in Problem-Solving

Wherever you exercise your leadership, one of the highest expectations of you is that you will be an effective problem-solver.

As leaders, much of our problem solving is in group-settings, where controlling the process can be a challenge. Strong personalities and opinionated voices frequently exert themselves so forcibly that they take over the discussion and drive the solution which they want, not necessarily what the group wants.

In today’s episode I examine a six-phase problem-solving structure which minimizes the opportunity for problem-solving exercises to be derailed by personalities or lack of an orchestrating focus. This structure assures that every aspect of a problem-solving endeavor is given due time in a setting where everyone can be heard.

The structure I describe is adapted from Edward de Bono’s book 6 Thinking Hats, an approach that has been used globally to tackle thorny geopolitical issues. If it is helpful in problem-solving scenarios such as that, it’s certain a technique that can benefit any of us in problem-solving roles.

A transcript of today’s podcast can be downloaded at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2312-imaginative-problem-solving.pdf.

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Use the Problem Solving Technique of a Creative Genius

No one questions the creative genius of Walt Disney. What most people don’t know, however, is that he developed a three-phase process to maximize the creativity which he brought to decision-making. It was the process his studios used for decades to make some of the greatest innovative breakthroughs in the early history of the film industry.

In this episode I explain his method in detail and examine the neuroscience which explains why his techniques were so effective. His problem solving approach is simple to understand and easy to implement. And it’s equally effective for both group and individual decision-making.

A transcript of the show is available at https://www.upsize-your-leadershipcom/episodes.

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Leadership Succeeds by Getting These V’s Right

As a youngster, I stared many a time at flocks of geese flying high overhead during migration season. Every goose was committed for the long haul.

Later in life, I came to see leadership — particularly strategic leadership — as a long-haul enterprise. That reminded me of those geese and their characteristic V-formation.

As I toyed with the idea of flying in V-formation, I came to realize that effectiveness at long-haul leadership depends on how well you utilize a cluster of priorities whose names all begin with the letter V. Names like Vision and Values. But other less obvious ones, as well.

I take up some of those words in this podcast, which encapsulates ideas which I have shared in keynotes and trainings for over 20 years. Vision and values, as you might expect, are pivotal elements of this presentation. But so are some other “V” words you might not have thought of. This episode is sure to give you new perspectives on your leadership role.

A PDF transcript of this program is available at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2310-fly-in-v-formation.htm.

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