Leadership and Business Growth

On a recent podcast of ours, Bedros asked me 5 leadership questions.  In the spirit of serving you, I thought it would be of value to break each question and answer down in the next 5 weeks!

Here is the first week’s question and answer.

1.) Bryce, the term leadership is a vague term often thrown around to indicate achievement, growth, status, etc. It’s something we know we need but not easily defined. What does leadership mean to you?

Leadership is influence, nothing more or less. 

If you can influence others, you can lead. 

Please note, most young leaders overlook that the first step of leadership is an “inside job”.

To influence others, you must first influence yourself through discipline and persistence. 

Therefore, my outlook on leadership is a focus on setting the standard and then being the standard through discipline and persistence.

No one has any factory-installed magical powers as a leader. 

However, the 1 thing I’ve learned is if I lead my life in a way that’s standard in all aspects of life.

This influences others to do the same.

The great John Maxwell calls this leading life with “Morale Authority”.

In leadership, it’s a useful tool to influence.

Simple, not easy!

Most leadership skills are developed.

A rare few are factory-installed.

One of my rare superpowers as a leader is my curiosity about people.

I feel lucky because, for me, it’s factory-installed.

I find humans fascinating and am curious almost to a fault. 

But when you lead people, curiosity is a good thing.

Why?

Well, the truth is that people want to be valued.

They want to share and feel appreciated.

This is ingrained in human nature.

So when you get into a state of curiosity and ask questions about them.

It connects with people and makes them feel valued.

The best part?

You learn not only about a person, but it gives you an incredible life perspective. 

2 important things to lead.

My message is today is if you want to a better leader.

Ask questions, learn about people’s upbringing, childhood, background, family, and beliefs.

Be more curious!

When you do, watch your leadership explode.

As a leader, you will encounter problems.

Lots of them.

In fact, the stronger the problem solver, the stronger the leader.

This a simple truth that’s many times overlooked.

The very reason a leader is in place is to be the solution to the onslaught of problems your team or organization faces.

If there are no problems, there’s no need to lead.

So today’s message is this.

Next time you get overwhelmed or frustrated with professional problems.

Remember the very reason you get paid is to solve them.

This is your value.

Now go be the solution.

This is leadership.

I was reminded of this over the weekend at our biggest World Conference event in Franchise history.

We had north of 500+ owners and coaches in attendance who were on fire!

Our team CRUSHED the execution.

We delivered strong training from top to bottom to level up our owners, coaches, and brand.

While that was important and valuable.

The biggest sense of value was in the connections made with our people.

After all, leaders connect and build relationships.

In fact, this is the foundation of influence, otherwise known as leadership.

Today’s message?

If you want to have more influence on others, be proactive and intentional in building connections and deepening your relationships. When you do, watch your leadership explode.

I was chatting with Bedros a few weeks ago and he shared a leadership framework from the great Robert Green, author of 48 Law of Power.

If you develop these 3 qualities, you will have influence with others which is the foundation of leadership.

The message resonated and hope it does with you which is this week’s leadership lesson.

• Be comfortable in your skin

• Be headed in an intentional direction

• Enjoy the ride

The stress mounts, emotions get high, and bad news is prevalent.

Welcome to leadership, my friend.

Why?

As a leader, the buck stops with you.

Get used to it.

Now while these can be stressful situations you encounter, a leader must keep their composure.

I was reminded of this last week on a call where things got heated.

As a result, the “gentleman” on the other line lost his composure and threw a few F-bombs directed at me.

Good times. 

Truth be told, my primal instinct wanted to return the favor with 10x the intensity.

Yes, I am capable of this.

However, that would have been Bryce 1.0.

Instead, I took a deep breath, lowered my voice, kept my composure, and responded calmly with confidence and persistence.

After a couple of minutes had passed, while he didnt apologize, he said he needed to regain his composure which he did.

The problem?

The damage was done.

He lost my respect.

The worst part?

2 of his teammates were there to listen to his rant.

Whether they will ever approach him or not, he let his emotions get the best of him and broke trust with his team and I.

The lesson?

You can and should get fired up and passionate toward your cause.

That can be a good thing!

But never lose your cool.

If you lose your composure, you cannot lead yourself.

And if you cannot lead yourself, then how can you lead others?

So remember: Leaders Keep Their Composure

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.