Social media is flooded with inspiration for us to consume. Whether it’s a memorable clip from a TED Talk or a quote from some anonymous philosopher, people share what moves them, and often, it seems profound. But lately, I’ve struggled with a lot of these messages. In fact, when I stop to think about them, I’ve started to ask myself, “Does this just sound good, or is it actually true?”
I think a healthy dose of skepticism can be a good thing. We should audit quotations or catchy phrases about faith, family, friendship, or business to see that not everything that sounds good is always honest, or even helpful. On the other hand, sometimes we can dig deeper and find the opposite is true. Sometimes a statement that, on the surface, seems too good to be true actually contains deep, applicable wisdom.
One of these quotes that falls into the latter category is one by Zig Ziglar: “You will never consistently perform in a manner that’s inconsistent with the way you see yourself.”
“You will never consistently perform in a manner that’s inconsistent with the way you see yourself.” -Zig Ziglar
It feels fluffy and self-centered, doesn’t it?
“You just need to see yourself better, so you’ll act better.” “You can’t be different until you see different."
But if you dig deeper, you’ll find that Zig Ziglar was right. His simple statement is even backed up by deeper truth found in the Bible. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, KJV). In other words, how you think in your heart determines who you become.
Life-change really does start with a change in our minds. So if we want to be different, we need to start thinking about things differently.
I will not be able to consistently perform well if I don’t see myself correctly. If I don’t believe my actions have an impact on my children, I won’t be intentional in my parenting.
If I don’t see money and possessions in the right perspective, I won’t be generous.
If I don’t see myself as a leader, I won’t lead others well.
If my co-workers aren’t important to me, I won’t show them that they are valuable.
If I am not convinced my faith will transform others’ lives, I won’t consistently share it with my neighbors.
If I don’t see myself as someone created in the image of God, I will allow my worth to be dictated by the opinion of others.
The way we see ourselves and think about ourselves matters. As I’ve said many times, how we view things really does change how we do things.
So this week, don’t focus on doing anything differently. Instead, just think about your thoughts. (That seems weird, doesn’t it?)
Simply make a conscious effort to be aware of what’s on your mind. If you can change your thinking, you will most certainly change your life.
Each of us have goals, dreams, and aspirations. We have people we want to become and things we want to achieve. In addition to these goals, we also have habits, activities, and routines that dominate our daily lives. Unfortunately, those habits don’t always help us pursue our goals—and this is a big problem.
Newsflash: If your daily activities don’t line up with your goals, you either need to change your activities, or you need to change your goals.
If your goals and activities aren’t in alignment, you simply won’t succeed. I have clear goals and benchmarks of what I want to achieve, but often the things I do in my daily life don’t help me grow closer to these goals. Two weeks ago, I explained leading and lagging indicators in a blog. This same concept applies to our personal goals. Our daily activities (leading indicators) will help us achieve our desired goals in the future (lagging indicators). So the real questions is, if your activities are not lining up with your goals, are you willing to make changes?
Our habits matter. What activity do you need to change in your life? Do any of these resonate?
changing the time you wake up in the morning
deciding to go to the gym more
changing your diet
reading more books
investing in your own leadership skills
taking a class
going back to school
attending a seminar
having tough conversations with people
meeting regularly with a business mentor
getting constant feedback on your most important project
reaching out about potential promotions in your company
reading your Bible everyday
committing to attending church each week
The possibilities are endless and diverse, just like our goals and aspirations. Maybe you resonated with one of the examples above, or maybe you need to change a different activity. But here’s the truth: If you’re not willing to make necessary tough changes, you need to give up on your goal. You’ll never achieve your goals without an alignment of your daily activities. If you aren’t willing to get to the gym or change your diet, you won’t live a healthier lifestyle.
If you aren’t willing to invest in your professional growth through reading books, attending seminars, taking classes, or meeting with a mentor, you’ll stagnate in your current position.
If you aren’t willing to have difficult conversations with the people that matter most to you, your relationships won’t go beyond the surface.
If you aren’t willing to receive and learn from constructive feedback about your work, you won’t grow in your field.
If you aren’t willing to spend more time reading Scripture and praying, you won’t grow in your faith.
This week, make a list of your goals, dreams, or aspirations and figure out what you need to do every day to eventually achieve each one. Don’t allow the comfort of a routine keep you from reaching your full potential.
I was recently having a conversation with a friend that’s in the community affairs department of an organization. This person feels discouraged and disillusioned because they accepted their current position with a desire to make a difference. They now find themselves in a role that’s less focused on impacting people and obsessed with telling their organization’s story in the most compelling way. How do we get the right photo at the event, find the right student with the sad story, or talk about the project in a way that we get the most credit for what we’re doing?
This is not the first time I’ve had a conversation like this. In fact, this is the classic battle of cause-related marketing. If you’re new to this term, let me explain. Cause marketing, or cause-related marketing, is when a business or organization puts resources into charitable projects and then tells that story to consumers. This is important because individuals are drawn to companies, brands, and organizations that stand for things that are bigger than themselves. However, within each of those organizations, there’s this constant struggle to focus on making a difference while also telling the story of impact without being disingenuous, manipulative, or self-serving. This is not an easy thing to do.
At its core, cause marketing is meant to promote your brand, and that is not a bad thing. But within organizations, there are those who simply want to help others but can’t always articulate the value of their business. On the other hand, there are people who only care about their business message and story, and they miss an opportunity to make a tangible difference in somebody’s life.
I believe our organization, ADDO, has found an honorable and strategic way to do both—make a difference and tell our story effectively. One of my favorite ways we’ve done it most recently is with the Atlanta Braves.
Any time we design a program, project, or initiative that is meant to make a difference in other people’s lives and build a brand, we take these three steps in this order:
1) Impact.
The first thing we think about is how we are going to impact the person we’re trying to help. For the Atlanta Braves Leadership Institute, we first considered how to equip student leaders to live and lead at a higher level.
2) Integration.
Next, we determine how to integrate the brand (or brands) in an authentic way. If a bank is a sponsor, how do we discuss the importance of finances in leadership? For the Atlanta Braves Leadership Institute, we wanted to integrate professional athletes, but we needed it to have broad application to all students. We decided to focus on “Leading Yourself” and asked professional ballplayers to talk about the discipline it takes to play baseball at the major league level. We then applied those principles to other lines of work.
3) Influence.
Once we have carefully considered the impact we want to make and integrated the brand in an authentic way, we work to articulate the influence that this program is making to the broader community. Then, and only then, do we work on public relations, storytelling, and how to measure impressions of the program or product we’ve put in place.
Cause marketing might seem simple, but if you don’t follow these steps in this order, it won’t work.
The cause marketing initiatives that focus first on impact, have authentic brand integration, and share their influence in the community are the ones that are most effective.
Working on a cause marketing play? Try these steps. Need some help doing it? Reach out to us at ADDO.
Our communities need you to make a difference, and we also need you to tell the story effectively, so there are more businesses like yours where we work, play, and live.
At ADDO, we believe one of the most important aspects of teaching leadership is creating a common language for corporations, teams, and students. In this blog, I simply want to make a couple of business terms accessible to everyone so that you can use them on your team. When we put words around concepts, we are able to communicate them more clearly and act on them more appropriately. Today, I want to talk about leading vs. lagging indicators.
When we put words around concepts, we are able to communicate them more clearly and act on them more appropriately.
Most people focus on lagging indicators. A lagging indicator is not the thing that shows us where we’re going; it’s the thing that shows us where we have arrived. Here’s an example that we can all relate to—when you’re trying to lose weight, this is the number that appears on the scale. If I want to lose 20 pounds, I’m going to eat healthier and exercise, but every single day, I will measure my success by standing on the scale to see how much weight I’ve lost. If this is your strategy, you’re focused on lagging indicators.
However, if I plan to focus on leading indicators, I’m less concerned with the number that appears on scale every day. In this example, leading indicators are the elements that go into losing weight, so I’m going to eat fewer calories each day and complete 30 minutes of cardio six times a week. When you focus on the leading indicators, the lagging indicators almost always have a better result. So if I focus on living a healthy lifestyle rather than changing the numbers on a scale, I’ll be more likely to lose weight and make changes that have a positive lasting impact on my life.
This principle of leading vs. lagging indicators applies to our personal and professional lives.
It’s baseball season. A lagging indicator is a player’s average. A leading indicator is how many first-pitch fastballs they do not swing at. A lagging indicator is a student’s grade on an exam. A leading indicator is how many hours they prepared for the test or how many classes they attended. A lagging indicator is a customer’s Google review of your restaurant. A leading indicator is the time you spend training your team on effective customer service strategies.
A lagging indicator is your company’s revenue growth. A leading indicator is the three new products your company added to its portfolio this year.
A lagging indicator is the number of friends that call you on your birthday. A leading indicator is the time you spend investing in your friendships.
A lagging indicator is your adult child’s tendency to come to you for wisdom and encouragement. A leading indicator is the years you spend fostering a culture of open communication and acceptance in your home.
A lagging indicator is your perception of your faith walk. A leading indicator is the amount of time you dedicate to spiritual disciplines—praying, reading your Bible, and regularly worshipping with a local body of believers.
I think that understanding these terms is important. There isn’t magic in terminology, but terminology allows us to communicate more clearly and to change our actions more effectively.
There isn’t always a one-to-one ratio between leading and lagging indicators. But I want to challenge you to think of what you’re doing on the front-end (leading) to achieve your desired results on the back-end (lagging).
In other words, what are the leading indicators that you can focus on to gain the lagging indicators you desire? Stop dwelling solely on the results, and start focusing on the things you can do to improve them.
A few weeks ago, I walked into a meeting with someone in a corporation who is interested in our company and what we do. I know one of the most important things I can do in any meeting, especially a sales meeting, is listen. Listening helps me learn more about the person across the table from me—their passions and desires, the struggles they face in their business, and the opportunities we have to serve them effectively. And even though everything within me knows that I need to sit there and listen, I can’t help myself—I want to talk.
Inevitably, a few minutes into the meeting, I jump into the conversation to offer an idea or give an example. One of the worst things we can do is interject and interrupt someone before they are finished talking. We might be stepping in to try to solve a problem, but we’ve only heard one piece of it. If we are patient enough to sit and listen for a few more minutes, we have an opportunity to hear the second, third, and fourth problems which might be bigger issues that we are more suited to solve.
Interrupting and interjecting doesn’t just happen in the business world, it happens all the time. In fact, a recent study showed that when a patient is in a doctor’s office explaining their ailments and symptoms, the average amount of time a doctor waits before interrupting is 18 seconds (The Health Care Blog). I get it. These doctors are smart. They listen to patients day after day and are used to diagnosing, prescribing, and moving onto the next person. They want to solve the problem quickly and efficiently, but when they don’t hear the full range of symptoms, they sometimes risk losing an opportunity to solve a major, even life-threatening, issue.
This blog is not meant to just criticize salespeople and doctors. It’s meant to expose an innate flaw in all of us. Social scientists say that while this tendency to interrupt is true for doctors, it’s also true for most people. Though opinions vary about the exact time we will listen to another person without interrupting, most agree that it’s well under 30 seconds.
Today, this blog is as much for me as it is for you. It’s a simple but very strong reminder to shut up and listen. It might be the most important thing we do today.
Shut up and listen. It might be the most important thing we do today.
Try it when you sit in your next meeting. Don’t focus on formulating a response. Listen to understand. When you walk in the door this evening, listen to your spouse. Be curious, and ask questions. Instead of cutting your daughter off mid-sentence, listen to why she got in trouble at school today. Hear the full story before you dive into a corrective response.
When you ask somehow how they are doing, don’t ask out of obligation or with the hope that they’ll ask you in return. Listen because you care about them.
As Ernest Hemingway put it, “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” So, this week, shut up and listen. You’ll stand out among your friends, colleagues, and peers, you’ll probably become the most effective problem-solver in the room, and you’ll definitely learn more about the people around you.
I have a new book out called The Lens of Leadership. It's all about perspective because I believe the way we view things changes how we do things.
Culture might be the business buzzword of recent years. It’s not a new concept, but it certainly seems to be in vogue to design, discuss, and debate your company or corporate culture. So it’s no surprise that these conversations are spreading to our personal lives, and now, we’re spending more time talking about the cultures of our churches, schools, and even our families.
Obviously, culture in these environments is not more important than it used to be, but it is certainly getting more attention. Even before culture conversations were as prevalent, this concept was discussed using other terms. You might recall people talking about thermostats and thermometers. People shape environments, so we were told that each of us can either be a thermometer or a thermostat. The thermometers read the temperature of the room and react to it, and the thermostats set the temperature. As leaders, we need to know and respond to these two types of people on our teams. I’ll use these terms to describe them—culture carriers and culture creators.
Culture carriers are the people in your organization that embrace its values and live them out in their daily work and interactions. Once culture has been established, these are the culture ambassadors. They carry both the good and the bad, so it’s important to invest in them, spend time with them, acknowledge what they are doing. When they’re spreading positive things, we need consciously encourage more of it. Whether you’re in a corporate or cause-driven environment, these are the people that live out the brand and the mission of your company.
Culture creators are the people that set the temperature—positive or negative—in the room. They are not just simply an embodiment of what they see. Instead, they are powerful forces that shape the culture of your organization. People observe them, see what they do, and respond to the way they act. If you have a negative culture creator on your team, get rid of them immediately. But if you have a positive culture creator, you’ve struck gold. Figure out how to keep this person, engage this person, and encourage this person as they lead and influence the culture of your team.
We all have culture carriers and culture creators on every team. Identify them, and respond to these people in a way that promotes the kind of culture you’re working to achieve.
Acknowledge your culture carriers. Recognize the ways they’ve embraced your organization, and celebrate their excitement for what you’re all working together to accomplish.
Pinpoint your positive culture creators. Celebrate their leadership, and come alongside them as they breathe life into your team’s culture.
I have a new book out called The Lens of Leadership. It's all about perspective because I believe the way we view things changes how we do things.
Laura and I recently welcomed our first baby into the world. We are sleep-deprived but couldn’t be more excited!
Looking back on our time before our son arrived, we found no shortage of experts eager to tell us everything they thought we needed to know. Whether it was what we should name our son, if he should be on a schedule or not on a schedule, how often we should hold him, where he should sleep, whether or not to give him a pacifier, or when to start solid foods—there were so many opinions (often contradictory) from great parents whom we respect.
Some of their advice will work for us, and some of it won’t. But in the midst of the books we’re reading, blogs we’re following, apps that tell us what we should be doing at different times, and friends who give their unsolicited advice, there are a few things I know I want to do. I want to replicate some of the most simple but important lessons I learned from my parents. Just like your parents, my parents aren’t perfect and didn’t do everything right, but here are a few things they did that shaped the way I see the world. (By the way, these are not only good ideas for parenthood, these are good ideas for life.)
Be generous.
My whole life, I’ve watched my parents model generosity. They are generous with their time, resources, and energy—even when it’s limited—to serve and love the people around them. Aside from me and my sister, at least 6 different kids (not related to us) have lived with my parents at one time or another. From kids whose parents have passed away to kids experiencing unique and challenging circumstances, my parents always opened their home to whoever needed one. I never remember my parents specifically talking to me about the concept of generosity, because they didn’t need to—I watched them model it with their lives.
Be consistent.
From taking us to church whenever the doors were open to giving us instruction that was always supported by their actions, my parents lived, led, and taught us consistency. For me, consistency is one of the most important and also one of the most daunting principles I want to impart to my kids. Will they see the character modeled in me that I want them to exhibit?
Celebrate.
This year, I turned 34. Thirty-four is not a remarkable birthday; there’s nothing special to celebrate. But my parents got us all together anyway. They invited us, and we all piled into my sister and her family’s home where they showered me with gifts and cake. My parents are excellent at finding reasons to celebrate and gather together. Generosity, consistency, and celebration are three things I want to integrate into the culture of my family, but these things work in other aspects of my life. Even in my business, I want our organization to be known for its generosity, consistency, and eagerness to celebrate our clients and team members. In our small group at church, I want us to be generous to the members of our group that have a need, to be consistent in our attendance, diligence, and involvement, and to celebrate others when they experience exciting milestones and their lives.
Being generous, consistent, and eager to celebrate enhances every phase and stage of your life as you grow your family, shape the culture of your company, and live life with your community of friends.
Being generous, consistent, and eager to celebrate enhances every phase and stage of your life.
Take these lessons from my parents, and seek to live them out in your daily life. I have a new book out called The Lens of Leadership. It's all about perspective because I believe the way we view things changes how we do things.
This week, I want to briefly unpack a topic I address in my new book The Lens of Leadership. The longer I’m in the working world, the more passionate I am about sharing this idea because I see it play out in every single organization. The basic principle is this: there are four stages that professionals go through in their working environment.
And I believe that understanding these stages can change the atmosphere, increase productivity, and positively impact the overall success of your organization.
Each individual in your company (business, school, non-profit organization) falls into one of the four quadrants pictured below. I’ll discuss each one, the natural progression of the professional, and why you need to change it.
Stage 1: Passionate but not prepared.
This is the person in the first few weeks of a new job. She shows up and is excited for her role, but she isn’t prepared to contribute. That’s not her fault—she can’t be equipped until she understands the organization and her role. This is the natural first step in everyone’s journey within an organization, or even a new role within an organization. We all have to be trained to learn a new trade or skill.
Stage 2: Passionate and prepared.
This is where you want every individual in your organization to be. This person is passionate, engaged, enjoys his job, and he’s equipped to do it well. Stage two is the sweet spot.
Stage 3: Prepared but no longer passionate.
Unfortunately, this is a stage familiar to most of us. In fact, we might be here right now. In stage 3, an individual knows how to do her job, but she’s no longer as engaged as she used to be. Whether it’s a lack of excitement or just less commitment, this person isn’t as engaged. However, there’s hope. We can get back to stage 2 from here, but a lot of times, people hang out here far too long. Negativity and discontent increases, and they are strong recruiters of people in stage 2. The person in stage 3 is always luring others to join them. Misery loves company, doesn’t it?
Stage 4: Not passionate and no longer prepared.
This individual has been disengaged for so long that he’s stopped investing in his work. Not only is he disengaged, but he also isn’t even functionally good at his job anymore. There’s a tendency for some professionals to think discussions about engagement, or employee passion, are fluffy or unimportant. However, there is a real (and very high) cost to having people in stages 3 and 4 in your organization. A recent Gallup poll shows that 32% of employees are “engaged” (that is, in stages 1 and 2), 51% are “not engaged” (stage 3), and 17% are “actively disengaged” (stage 4).
Consider an average-sized company with 100 people. Gallup’s poll would say that 68% are disengaged, but we’re going to give this particular company a lot more credit. This is a highly-engaged company and only has 20 people in stage 3, and none in stage 4—20 people that are prepared but no longer passionate. If there are 20 disengaged people in this company and the average person makes $20 an hour, that’s 20 people X $20 an hour X 40 hours in a week X 52 weeks in a year = $832,000. Are you reading that correctly? $832,000.00. That’s a lot of money!
Now, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they aren’t wasting all of their time, but they aren’t quite as productive as they used to be. Let’s say a fourth of their hours aren’t as productive—that’s still $208,000 in lost productivity.
Do you know an organization that could benefit from an additional $200,000+ dollars?
It doesn’t matter what type of organization you’re in, there is a very high cost to low engagement. If you’re in a position to help engage people, make that your focus this week!
It doesn’t matter what type of organization you’re in, there is a very high cost to low engagement.
If you aren’t, perform an audit of your own engagement. If you aren’t in stage 2, either find a way to get there or find another place where you can be prepared and passionate!
I have a new book out called The Lens of Leadership. It's all about perspective because I believe the way we view things changes how we do things.
I recently wrote a book called The Lens of Leadership. The book is all about having the right perspective, because how we view things has a profound effect on how we do things. Throughout the book, I address different topics and challenge readers to look through the correct lens when viewing various things, like the people in their lives, their perspective on profit, and how they measure progress. My desire is to challenge people to look at something in a new way or from a different angle.
I believe this is so important (that’s why I wrote a book about it), but in this discussion of perspective, one area we often miss is where we should place our focus and where we shouldn’t. Corrie Ten Boom explained this in simple terms: “Child, you have to learn to see things in the right proportions. Learn to see great things great and small things small.”
When we think about our perspective on life and leadership, our particular views on a certain topic or strategy are not nearly as important as our ability to see things in the right proportion. Knowing and devoting time to tackling the things that matter most and resisting the temptation to dwell on the things that don’t makes us more productive, focused, and satisfied in our personal and professional lives.
I once witnessed a speaker give a powerful illustration about a healthy perspective of profit. At first, he held up two quarters directly in front of this eyes—that’s all he could see. He explained that this overwhelming view of money prevented him from seeing anything else. But he gradually pushed the quarters further away from his eyes. Finally, with his arms fully extended, he could still see the money, but he had a proper perspective of its importance. With that view, he could also see everything else. Money isn’t everything, and it’s also not completely insignificant either. Money is one of many things that require attention in our organizations and in our lives (The Lens of Leadership, 115).
Think about how this principle applies to other areas of your life.
At home, are you more focused on keeping a pristine house or on taking the time to sit and invest in your child?
At work, are you more focused on constantly pleasing people or on taking the time to lead your team to create and deliver the best product for your company? In class, are you more focused on impressing your peers, or are you dedicating more time to learning the material necessary to jumpstart your career?
At your nonprofit, are you more focused on the minutiae of service project details, or are you giving more time to train volunteers to make fruitful connections with the people you’re serving?
The most effective leaders know where to spend their time and energy.
The most effective leaders know where to spend their time and energy.
Misjudging the importance of tasks in your personal and professional life can lead you down a frustratingly unproductive path. So, look at what you’re doing right now, and figure out if there are small things you’re seeing as great or great things you’re seeing as small. Put things in the proper perspective, and plan your days accordingly.
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