Leadership and Business Growth

Justice is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as: the quality of being impartial, or fair.

Justice is an incredibly valuable virtue especially since life is not fair. In fact, anyone telling you otherwise, should not be trusted. 

As a leader you have to strive for justice in order to support your team, clients and following. 

Although as a leader, you also have to understand the concept that fair is not equal and equal is not fair. This is true justice and why it can be so difficult which takes wisdom to decipher.

By now you can see the virtues compound.

Your focus as a leader?

Create value and justice for your following in every opportunity possible. You will need courage and wisdom by your side to aid you in this pursuit..

• Courage
• Wisdom
• Justice
• Moderation

“The More I Learn The Less I Know.” – Tony Bennett 

This quote perfectly describes the 2nd stoic virtue of wisdom. 

As the sober reality is that attaining wisdom is a lifetime pursuit. Something that you can acquire more of, but will always be elusive to some degree.

Although the journey of its pursuit is certainly a valuable one and one worth traveling…

“OK, Bryce, there’s value in gaining wisdom but how do I attain it?!” you might be asking..

Many ways although the truth is that most times wisdom can only truly be derived by life experience.  Although the closest life hack I learned at a young age was to develop relationships with your elders. 

They possess it due to their vast life experience..And if you listen well; you can unlock a world of wisdom, growth, and leadership. 

Looking forward to covering Justice next week!

1. Courage
2. Wisdom
3. Justice
4. Moderation

I listed the 4 Stoic Virtues last week below..

They are in no specific order according to the Stoics. But the best way I digest them specific to leadership is attacking COURAGE as number 1.

The fact is that strong Leadership often times means going against the grain. It means taking action not that is NOT part of the status quo. Many times, this action ruffles feathers. 

And sometimes a strong leader even has to make decisions that hurt some of the followers to protect the whole tribe.

You need COURAGE to lead this way. 

In fact, here’s one of my favorite leadership quotes by the late Steve Jobs of Apple, Inc. 

“If you want to make everyone happy, Don’t be a leader – Sell ice cream.”

And while you need all 4 other virtues to lead, without COURAGE to execute, nothing else matters.

This is the hard part of leadership. But why it’s so valuable. 

The good news is that COURAGE is a just muscle that you can improve. The more you flex it, the stronger it becomes.

I look forward to diving into Wisdom next week. 

• Courage
• Wisdom
• Justice
• Moderation

A philosophy called Stoicim emerged thousands of years ago in the ancient world by a man named Zeno who was a successful sea merchant and died in Athens, 236 BC. 

Stoicism was created as a framework on how to live a better life and to cope with its challenges being Zeno lost everything in a bad shipwreck.  As ultimately, life is challenge & suffering. So stoicim provides a framework on how to lead oneself and others despite these challenges. 

Thus, leadership and stoicism are intertwined. In fact, I refer to Stoicism as the philosophy of successful leaders.

The Stoics elaborated a detailed taxonomy of virtue, dividing virtue into four main types:

• Wisdom
• Justice
• Courage
• Moderation

We will spend the next 4 weeks diving into each of them to provide you with a stronger framework on how to lead yourself and others through the 4 stoic virtues. 

Happy Monday Mindset!🙌

As we kick off our New Year “10Lbs Challenge” brand-wide, I wanted to strengthen your mindset for the road ahead! As yes, there will be A LOT of success, but also A LOT of challenges!

And no better way than to provide some perspective from some challenges our ancestors faced. As I read this article recently, I was humbled and inspired, so I wanted to share it with you.👇

“For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900. When you are 14, World War I starts and ends on your 18th birthday with 22 million people killed. 

Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until you are 20 years old. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million from the pandemic. 

When you’re 29, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, and global GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. 

You aren’t even over the hill yet.

When you’re 41, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war and the Holocaust kills twelve million. At 52, the Korean War starts, and 5 million perish.

At 64 the Vietnam War begins, and it doesn’t end for many years. 4 million people died in that conflict. Approaching your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could well have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening.

As you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? 

A kid in 1985 didn’t think their 85-year-old grandparent understood how hard school was. Yet those grandparents (and now great grandparents) survived through everything listed above.”

Perspective is an amazing art. 🎯

As this year begins, let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, help each other out, and we will get through all of this. In the history of the world, there has never been a storm that lasted!💥

Head up and onward, as with any challenge in your way, this too, shall pass.🔥

PS. TODAY is your LAST CALL  to join our upcoming 10lb Fitness Challenge which starts TODAY, click HERE! 

Leadership is a verb.

It requires action.

The lowest level of it, is simply telling a subordinate what action to take. 

The highest level of it, is modeling the desired action. 

Today’s lesson?

Whatever your desired action is, lead by taking that action as an example to yourself & team. 

This is true leadership.

I once heard a podcast with John Maxwell and he was asked how you can identity the leader in the room?

His answer was simple:

“The person who has the highest standards & expectations……of him/herself.”

This is very true. 

Strong leadership first requires a higher expectation of yourself, long before you can lead others.

Want to increase your leadership?

Raise your own personal standards and expectation of yourself. Then watch your leadership & life grow.

Nick Saban’s Leadership Final Recap

Team, I trust you have enjoyed the leadership lessons from one of the all time best leaders in sports history. Since repetition is the mother of skill, here is a recap of what we have learned over the last 11 weeks.

And remember, you are a leader in our organization so please apply these principles in your role to better your leadership skills. And most importantly, so we can continue to win as an organization which positively impacts the world as our desired outcome. 

1. There is no I in team but there is an I in win.  Coach Saban preaches individual responsibility.  His teams perform their best when individuals put the group first and do what is best for the team.
2. Everything you do, you do to the team.  This speaks to personal responsibility and accountability.
3. Get out of yourself and into the team.  Coach Saban wants his players to rise above their own selfishness and ambitions and dissolve themselves into the team.
4. Don’t forget the fundamentals.  This can be lost in the rush to prepare.
5. You can have no flickering lights.  The torch must be fully lit when passed from the upperclassmen to the underclassmen.
6. Do not allow mistakes to go uncorrected.  You must evaluate the previous game and ensure mistakes are corrected for the upcoming game.
7. Having skill is not having talent.  Brilliant!  Coach Saban says, “Skill alone does not equate to talent.  Talent is putting skills into productive use.”
8. You must trust, not just believe.  Belief is trust that is firm.  Are you willing to put your success in someone else’s hands?
9. Sometimes what is best for the individual is not what is best for the team.  Winning is not the only thing.  How you win matters just as much.
10. Teams must take ownership of themselves and their personalities.  The most successful teams have a culture where all the members have a say.
11. Teams that play together often end up lucky.  Coach Saban firmly believes in luck but you must put yourself in position to be lucky.  The luckiest teams are the teams that play well together.

This week is Nick Saban’s Leadership Lesson #11

Teams that play together often end up lucky. Coach Saban firmly believes in luck but you must put yourself in position to be lucky.  The luckiest teams are the teams that play well together.

Extremely well said. 

The bottom line, team?

The harder we work, the luckier we get. 

This is the universe’s way of rewarding massive action.

This week is Nick Saban’s Leadership Lesson #10

Teams must take ownership of themselves and their personalities.  The most successful teams have a culture where all the members have a say.

Team – this is why I teach leadership to empower YOUR leadership! 

Humbling myself as your CEO, the success we have seen in the last 3+ years is not because of me. Instead, it’s because of YOU and your leadership development. 

Situational authority is at the foundation of this philosophy.

Meaning many times “boots on the ground” teammates have the best insight to make decisions. And/or at the very least need to have space to provide feedback. 

Therefore, as an organization, we need to continue promoting a feedback culture so everyone feels empowered to lead.

That’s my vision and focus and appreciate your massive help in continuing this culture!