Leadership and Business Growth

This is a famous adage in sports.

It’s true for leadership.

As a leader, you must put your team in a position to win.

If you cannot do this, you will not possess long-term influence which is the essence of leadership.

This is the bottom line.

The good news?

Winning is a mentality. 

With time, intentionality, and consistency, you can train yourself to compete.

You can train yourself to become a winner.

The best news?

In a time where society is softening, it’s more attainable than ever.

You just need to possess a little savage stacked with strong persistence and will. 

Now go forth and lead.

Just remember: Winners Win.

Leaders take the lead.

Sounds basic but is often overlooked in leadership.

When starting any new initiative, here’s the tough truth.

There is always resistance.

There are always unknowns and kinks to work through in anything new.

Always.

This is the reason why when a leader begins a new initiative, they must be the ones who lead it.

A leader must roll up his/her sleeves and get messy.

Why?

Even successful initiatives have roadblocks.

This is why your call to action is to lead the charge and smooth out the kinks.

Once the foundation is laid, then you delegate and get out of the way so your team can execute.

Then on to the next initiative.

Rinse and repeat.

Just remember: Leaders take the lead.

We learned last week that leaders connect.

A way to connect is through translation; which is today’s lesson.

You see, effective leaders translate.

In other words, they speak to their audience.

I was reminded of my recent trip to London for my friend Matt’s wedding.

Thankfully, we use the same English language. 

But there are still many things that are not American, especially in Dublin, Ireland where we finished up the trip.

Ireland and most of the world for that matter measure weight in grams, distance in kilometers, and temperature in centigrade.

In my younger days of travel, I would try to force pressure on the Imperial system in my exchanges.

This was a novice move and a major fail. 

It wasn’t until I realized that I needed to learn how to lift weights in kilograms, measure distances in kilometers, and communicate temperature in Celsius.

In essence, I learned how to translate.

Side note and fun fact, 28-30 degrees Celsius is my type of weather. 😎

Ok, I digress.

My point is that as a leader, it’s not about you. 

It never has been or will be.

Instead, it is about the people you serve.

And when you serve others, you need to translate to them.

You need to know your audience and speak to them in their language.

This is where the influence lies.

After all, leadership is influence.

So if you want to be a better leader, learn how to translate to your audience.

A big aspect of leadership is connection.

There are many ways to do this.

A big one is through language & culture.

Why?

These things are meaningful to people.

I was reminded of this on my recent trip to the UK for my friend Matt’s wedding.

While I met many Britts.

Being a first-world country with a high standard of living, I met many foreigners throughout Europe living there too.

One thing I learned in my travels years ago which is similar to learning someone’s name.

If you can speak 1 word of someone’s language or know a distinct fact about their culture. 

This provides an immediate connection point.

Upon this discovery, I’ve made a point to learn about 30+ words in various languages which acts as an immediate bridge to connect.

As a result, when I meet someone and learn where there from.

I greet them with my 1 word in their language OR ask them to teach me “thank you”.

Their reaction?

90% of the time their eyes light up, their guard goes down and they lean into the conversation.

This creates an instant connection which is a tool to help you lead.

As the headline states, the more perspective you gain, the better leader you can become.

There are many ways to gain perspective.

Today’s lesson is about travel.

I learned this lesson in May 2004 when I enrolled myself through a study abroad program entering my senior year of college.

I put myself on a plane to Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and never have been the same.

This week I am at it again in the United Kingdom.

Tatiana and I ventured out to London, England to attend my good friend Matt’s wedding on Saturday.

Matt’s an English bloke I met in 2007 in Orange County through a mutual friend on his world travels. 

We hit it off and have traveled the world together over the last 15+ years. 

We have journeyed from LA to New York, Brazil, Portugal, Croatia, Greece, and the list goes on.

It was extra special seeing him and his new bride Charlotte get married in England on his home turf.

It was a fantastic event although uncomfortable.

Travel always is.

The 11-hour flight, the 8-hour time difference, the hard jetlag, the small hotel living quarters, the confusion at the train station, the tough eating options, and the list goes on.

The truth is travel is hard, it’s uncomfortable and not easy.

In the moment, many times it’s not enjoyable.

But that’s where the value lies.

It pushes you, it stretches you.

It gives you new looks at people, human nature, and life.

The experience enriches your life with time.

It provides you with perspective.

And remember:

Perspective is leadership.

Leadership is perspective.

I just did a podcast swap with a new friend Ben Newman.

Ben and I were introduced through our mutual friend Amberly Lago.

We both come from the Midwest, from homes with abandoned fathers who were addicts, went to the same university, and have a passion for coaching, winning, and leading.

Kindred spirits.

Ben was just rated top 5 mindset coaches of the year by USA Today along with Tim Grover, Ed Mylett, Mel Robins, and Brendan Berchard.

He worked for the GOAT, Nick Saban for 5 years as a Peak Mindset Coach and won the 2020 National Championship with the University of Alabama. 

He also won 3 national championships at North Dakota State and a Big 12 Conference championship with Kansas State.

He’s a winner, a world-class leader, and his mantra is “Standard Over Feelings”.

On our podcast swap, which his episode drops on July 24, he shared the below leadership lesson. 

“Bryce, your ability to lead someone else is directly tied to the discipline in which you lead yourself.”

Mic Drop.

Breaking it down, discipline is a key ingredient in self-leadership and that of others.

Want to be a better leader?

Start with developing your discipline muscle.

I wear a necklace with the saying “Momento Mori”. 

It’s Latin and translates to “Remember your death”.

Sounds cold, but it’s true.

The truth is as a leader, the message gives perspective. 

The truth about life is this:

Everything is temporary.

To put a bow on the lesson today, I received the message below from my friend Joey from Few Will Hunt.

It provides the perspective you need to lead.

If you’re in the storm, you’ll be out of it soon. Think calm. Poise. 

If you’re in the sun, you’ll be out of it soon. Think chaos. Prepare.

There are many dichotomies in leadership.

I want to share 1 with you today.

As a leader.

In times of calm, you must create chaos.

In this sense I mean you need to create initiatives that are uncomfortable to push the mission & revenue forward.

However..

In times of chaos, you must create calmness.

Calmness will settle your team and provide them with reassurance on the path ahead.

Interesting huh?

Leadership is not for the faint of heart.

There are many more dichotomous and goodness ahead.

Stay along for the journey!

Yesterday here in the States, we observed Memorial Day.

It’s a day that we observe in honor of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

After all, freedom isn’t free.

Since the dawn of time, humans have tried to oppress others in the name of survival and power.

This is the nature of the world.

And to be a strong leader of humans. 

You need to be a student of human nature.

As humans, we default to the path of least resistance when given the opportunity.

We procrastinate which is a recipe for oppression.

This is part of our nature.

Instead, realize that discipline creates freedom.

Innately I knew this to be true at a young age.

But a mentor from afar by the name of Jocko Willink reinforced this in teaching.

This teaching is what I want to pass on to you today.

Well, in reality, you already know this to be true.

What I’ve learned about human nature, is most times we need to be reminded more than we need to be taught.

So in honor of Memorial Day and those fallen to protect our freedom.

I wanted to provide you with this leadership reminder.

Discipline = Freedom.

Leadership is about owning it.

Yes, the good, bad, and ugly.

Case in point, Tatiana and I received an apology letter from a former coach of ours this week.

He coached for us a few years ago as our Head Coach.

Good-hearted dude but made some poor choices, became negative, dropped some balls, and then had an adverse reaction to accountability.

It wasn’t a fun situation or ending to his employment. It created friction for the team and clients.

Sadly, sometimes it’s how these things go in working with young teammates.

To clear the air though.

Heaven knows I pulled a couple of not-so-smart moves in my mid-20s working on teams. So not here to cast stones.

In fact, here to do the opposite. 

It was refreshing for Tatiana to review the apology email.

It was simple but effective.

He owned his actions and apologized for them with sincerity.

While it was nice to receive for us, the big value was for him so hats off.

He just gained perspective, growth and credibility with himself which will serve him well in the future.

This is my leadership message today.

As a leader, you will make mistakes.

This is part of the journey.

But when you do and come to that realization, promptly admit, own it, and apologize.

When you do, you free yourself and others.

This is leadership.

Onward.