Welcome back brew nation! It’s the “Friday Coffee Guy” coming to you with The Champion’s Brew, a weekly assembly of material I am reading, listening to, watching, or thinking about that is designed to equip and call you to uncommon leadership. I often add my own little spin based on my takeaways and would love your input as well. Any of the points especially impact you? Drop me a note at [email protected], or comment on the blog to keep the conversation going! I believe you will discover that the format is not only useful, but also that you can consume it within the time it takes you to enjoy your daily ‘brew’! Become a member of the Champions Brew Nation by subscribing here!!
Here is your weekly sip of what I have been reading, listening to or watching to equip me to:
- Work Hard – Competence is defined in Webster’s as “having the necessary skill, knowledge or skill to do something successfully”. If you want to be ‘uncommonly competent’, though, you need to have a mindset that takes you beyond just ‘competent’. Here are a few of the attributes of a leader who is uncommonly competent:
1. Uncommonly competent people are committed to excellence. – John Johnson, in Christian Excellence writes, “Success bases our worth on a comparison with others, but excellence gauges our value by measuring us against our own potential.
2. They never settle for average – Highly competent people never settle for average. They RAISE THE AVERAGE!
3. They commit to a personal growth plan – Uncommonly competent people are lifelong learners who never believe that they ‘know it all’.
4. They show up every day – Uncommonly competent people perform with great consistency. They give their best all the time, not just some of the time, or when they feel like it.
- Network Well – I have a great opportunity early next year to give a 4-hour lecture on a topic that I am passionate about and have some pretty good experience with as well. The topic is “Lean Transformation in Healthcare”. I have invested hours into the material thus far and still have a way to go. I have had some good input from friends and mentors as well and I am both excited and, if I am being honest, a bit nervous about it! I was listening to a podcast recently and the guest being interviewed touched on three questions that need to be answered with ANY presentation you do, regardless of the topic, duration, or audience for the presentation. I thought they were simple and challenging:
- How do you want the audience to FEEL when the presentation is complete?
- What do you want them to DO?
- What do you want them to THINK about as they leave?
These are three questions that I will reflect on as I finalize the slide deck over the next couple weeks. Help me out here a bit… What other questions do you think I should be answering?
- Read More – I have committed to reviewing one law per week from John Maxwell’s 25th anniversary edition of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. This week’s law is one that is a heavy lift for me!
Law # 8 – The Law of Intuition
Leaders Evaluate Everything on a Leadership Bias
John Maxwell opens this chapter by stating that the Law of Intuition is the hardest law to teach. For me, I would not identify this as a strength. I need to work at it and I am glad that he shares a process that can help me to develop and use intuition more effectively. One of the main reasons that many leaders struggle with this law is that it is more abstract in nature. Leaders who are data driven desire to have ALL questions answered before making decisions. The good news is that you CAN improve your leadership intuition! John talks about four questions to ask yourself when attempting to trust your intuition:
1) What do I feel? He is not talking about an emotional feel, but what is your gut telling you? I have clients that I talk about the ‘gut-o-meter’. The measure of what you feel about the decision you need to make or how things are going.
2) What do I know? You don’t want to rely, though, on the gut-o-meter alone! The feeling needs to be tested with information and data, as well as past experience.
3) What do I think? This is where you start to put the decision together. Where does what you feel (#1) contradict and/or align with what you know (#2). I really like what John shares here and feel obligated to share verbatim because, again, this is not an area of my giftedness. He provides some good guidance about responding to these first 3 questions:
“I often teach that people are intuitive in their area of their natural gifting. Because I possess leadership gifting, I lean very heavily into how I feel (about 80 percent). I follow my leadership instincts as far as I can because I’ve learned that I can trust them. If YOU lack strong leadership gifting – and there’s no shame in lacking it, only in pretending you have it – then rely only 20 percent on how you feel and put 80 percent of your trust in what you know and think.”
4) What should I do? The final question is about action. Once you examine your feelings, your knowledge, and your thoughts, you need to make a decision, create an action plan, and follow through.
See, I told you that it wasn’t easy! You may have to read this over once or twice to get it to sink in. I know I had to really re-read the chapter to absorb it. The principles of leadership are constant, but the APPLICATION changes with every situation. That is why intuition is a LAW. Without it, leaders can get blindsided.
Quote – “If you want to create something but feel it has already been done 1000 times, remember: There is always room for quality.” – James Clear
What You Need to Do:
Call to Action: How do YOU prepare for a big presentation? How do YOU handle the nerves? I would love to hear from you in the blog comments, in the comments on the social media platform that you consume the Champions Brew, or drop me an email [email protected] . I would be happy to compile all the comments into another segment of the Brew in the future!! Maybe I will even make it a podcast topic!!
I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Champions Brew. If you did, I would appreciate it if you would share it with someone who might enjoy it as well and ask them to subscribe! I will make sure they automatically get this email every week.
Until next time work hard, network well, read more and Grow Champions!
P.S. – Are you a podcast fan? Maybe the Uncommon Leader podcast is for you. Are you interested in being a guest on the Uncommon Leader Podcast? Do you have a story to tell? Email me [email protected] and let’s have a chat and set something up!!
