Orchestrating Success

Brainpower with Nina Sunday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to marry creativity and business acumen and turn them into superpowers We creatives often get in our own way because of the stories we tell ourselves So our creative juices sometimes can become our worst nightmares that lead to overwhelm, burnout, and jeopardize our well-being and relationships But it doesn't have to be that way. Let me show you how. Yiqing (yee-ching) is an award-winning actor/filmmaker and a creativity coach for artists and entrepreneurs.  She is the CEO of Fearless Cutie Pie Productions - an all-female production company dedicated to telling cathartic stories with strong Asian female leads. She found her calling in helping people with their minds and souls through storytelling, after a miserable failure in a depression study when she was a medical student in China.  She helps heart-driven multi-hyphenates get unstuck, overcome burnout, and create more balanced, meaningful, and fulfilling lives.  She can be found here https://linktr.ee/yiqingzhao Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OS 122 Super Charge Your Profits with No Bid Federal Contracts! Federal Contracts are not just for the BIG COMPANIES, federal contracting is for small companies. Small Businesses are leaving SO MUCH money on the table. If you've never thought about federal contracting because there's too much red tape, no-bid contracts will open up this door of opportunity for you. Ron Imbach is the president of the Center for Business Innovation and the Executive Director of the International Association of US Government Contractors.  He and his partner, Chip Ellis, lead a talented team that provides coaching, consulting, and training to small businesses that want to thrive with federal contracts. Ron has spent the past 30+ years assisting small businesses, high-net-worth individuals, non-profits, and large companies.  With an undergraduate degree in accounting and economics and an MBA in marketing and public policy, Ron is very comfortable with the numbers, but thrives the most in relationship-building, including assisting his clients now in building relationships with federal government decision-makers. Since 2008, the IAUSGC has assisted over 2000 clients to secure federal no-bid contracts with the federal government, millions of dollars for their clients, without any of the mind-numbing red tape, complicated contracts, and expensive consultants.  CBI and IAUSGC serve clients in their Top 40 Industries.  Those industries are in the greatest demand for federal government contracts for goods and services.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OS 121: Scale Your Business by Following Evan’s C.A.S.T.LE. Methodology   Evan Tzivanakis is an Accredited Executive Coach (www.ExecutiveCoachAsia.com) and a Ph.D. candidate in Organizational Behaviour. Throughout his career, has managed more than 500 employees across 8 countries and led companies to expand across the Asia Pacific region by successfully crafting the right company culture and leading people from the front. With that experience, he helps executive leaders and organizations to enhance their leadership presence, have more engaged teams, increase profits, and live happier. He does that by offering some of the most educational, transformational, and impactful coaching & training solutions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OS 120: Ed Krow on Leadership With a proven track record in HR, Ed Krow is a people expert who uses his unique talent transformation process to leverage existing talent and align employees with organizational strategy to create change, drive sustainable growth, and maintain overall happiness. “I help solve people's problems and I write books about solving people's problems, but I’m also a business owner. It’s not only experience, it’s living with the same problems my clients do and sharing how to overcome them that people value the most.”     Ed Krow. Ed Krow is ambitious, educated, and dedicated when it comes to getting everyone on the same page. He values people at the heart of everything, so he became a talent transformation expert. As a regular contributor to Forbes.com, Ed Krow is a sought-after, down-to-earth leader in his field. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OS 119: Know, Like and Trust and Other Sales Lies with Sara Phillips Website: superiorperformancecoaching.biz Free Ebook for listeners:  https://www.hotsalestips.com/habitsofsuccessfulsalespeople Sign Up for a Free 30 Minute Consultation to get personal tips to up your sales game:  https://calendly.com/saraphillipssolutions/complimentary-30-minute-advisory-session Bio: Sara Phillips is a person who has sales running through her veins. She paid her way through college by buying candy and reselling it to other kids beginning in elementary school. She has spent a lifetime building a highly successful sales career. Now living in Clayton, NC, she is single and has one four-legged fur baby named Coby. From her home there she continues to grow her health insurance business but is now using her additional career as a school teacher to help others learn a different way to view sales. As a sales coach, she frames sales in a different light that allows the sales professional to build a predictable stream of high income while, at the same time, removing the stress from the process. In short, she helps sales professionals put the life back in their life.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 Leadership Myths That Kill Entrepreneurial Ventures Hugh Ballou The Law of the Lid Your leadership is like a lid or a ceiling on your organization. Your church or business will not rise beyond the level your leadership allows. That’s why, when a corporation or team needs to be fixed, they fire the leader. - John Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Starting and maintaining a profitable enterprise as an entrepreneur is very difficult, at best. However, research shows that 90% of businesses that fail do so because of a lack of leadership skills. Fortunately, leadership is a skill many people can learn. In my opinion, however, learning great leadership means that many of us must unlearn most of what we’ve previously been taught or observed. Best practice for building and sustaining a profitable business is often a reverse paradigm from the things business schools and prevailing leadership experts teach. Leadership best practice, from my perspective, requires the same skills a conductor uses to build the high-performance cultures we call “ensembles” in the musical world. “Ensembles,” in the non-music context, are high-synergy teams. These teams develop only with the intentionality of the leader. The entrepreneur who operates as a “solopreneur” might not perceive that synergistic teams are important. Wrong! If you are talking to at least one other person, such as a salesperson, consultant, alliance or venture partner, advisor or board member, then you have a team. It is important for entrepreneurs to surround themselves with capable people. It is also important to learn from other businesses you admire. Being an entrepreneur is a choice to stay out of corporate systems, so why do things in the same way as a company you don’t want to work for? Team effectiveness starts with the leader and branches from there. First, you equip yourself, then you empower others. With this in mind, here are the 5 top leadership myths that kill entrepreneurial ventures: 1.     I Must Be in Command 2.     Always be Right 3.     Improper Language or Behavior 4.     Pretend to Know What You are Doing Even If You Don’t Know 5.     Delegation is a Weakness of Leadership Are you ready to go to the next step? As you study these myths, I suggest you share your personal and organizational goals with at least three people you respect and with whom you have a valued connection. Check with them every 30 days to let them know how things are progressing. Being accountable to others is frightening at first until you realize that the people you are accountable to are the people who will bring the highest value to you because they understand where you’re going. But most important of all, for your venture’s success, when you hit the leadership lid, raise the ceiling! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top Challenges for Today’s Leader Leadership is a general topic that people understand in different ways; in fact people have contrasting and conflicting perceptions of how leaders should behave and what leaders should do. Therefore, there are many gaps between theory and effective performance for leaders. Over the past 31 years in working with leadership in many types of organizations doing different kinds of work and leading different sizes of groups, I have observed these 5 things that are my vision of why many leaders don't make the progress that they are capable of and don't’ get into a stride of continuous improvement that propels them into the place they deserve. So, consequently leaders are over stressed with too many demands on their time, have lower performing teams than expected, and earn less income than possible. Here are my thoughts as to why these leadership gaps and ways to address each one: 1) Not Understanding True Leadership: We have had leadership bad models and have been taught things that aren’t working today, and may have never worked. The “Boss” or autocratic leader is a thing of the past. Many people in positions of authority use power of position as the leverage to get people to perform. If we truly have a team of competent people, then it’s crucial to let them perform, as they are capable. Telling people what to do isn’t the answer to getting the best results, unless the leader only wants to be around to boss people all the time and do nothing else. This doesn’t develop capacity for anyone and wastes the energy, time and talent of the leader. True leadership in my world is Transformational Leadership where the leader is the influencer, visionary, and empowering agent for others to perform. Leaders lead. Others do. Whoever taught us that we should be willing to do anything we ask others do to most likely didn’t mean that we had to actually do it. If so, why have others anyway? 2) Not Being Vulnerable: Fear of being wrong comes from the misconception that leaders must have all the right answers. It’s more important for leaders to ask good questions and empower others to have the right answers. Saying, “I don’t have the answer” is a true way of being vulnerable. One strength of leadership is being vulnerable by letting other know we don’t have the answers and that we don’t have all the skills. We lead by example and not by bluffing. When we bluff, then people intuitively know it, so we lose credibility. Being authentic is a top trait of the Transformational Leader. In face, we should have a team of people with contrasting skills to ours and people who fill in the gaps of our competencies. What a novel thought, eh? 3) Not Understanding the Value of Relationships: Leadership is based on relationship. Always work on relationships with those in your charge. This is misunderstood by many as having to be “friends” with employees. No, that not the only choice. And it does not mean that the leader must make decisions so that people will like them. The inverse is true. Make principle based decisions so people will respect you. Value and respect people over results, then they become more focused on results along with you. Leadership is relationships. Communication is also enhanced through good relationships. 4) Not Understanding How to Manage Self: Writer Richard Rohr says that, “Transformed people transform people.” He also says, “Wounded people wound people.” Not managing self is a start of building a dysfunctional team. If the leader is anxious, then the team is anxious. If the leader is dishonest, then the team is dishonest. You get the idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler.- Albert Einstein There are at least 200 working days a year. If you commit to doing a simple marketing item just once each day, at the end of the year you've built a mountain.- Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/09/the-simple-power-of-one-a-day.html)* Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.- Steve Jobs Complexity to Simplicity: The Transformational Leader Creates Clarity Our world already has too many choices. I can remember when we only had the telephone to contact people. In fact, when we needed to call long distance, we needed to have the operator place the call. It was a big deal when we could dial 1 to make a long distance call. Then we got FAX machines. We could send documents over phone lines. This saved sending packages by special delivery mail. Then, the next big deal was email! This was an amazing breakthrough allowing us to communicate with people around the globe. Then came pagers. Then we got cell phones. Then came texting. We kept adding things and not taking away anything. More is not better. We are bombarded each day with so many messages that it's difficult to discern what's important. We live in a mostly over-stimulated world. In music masterworks, some of the most profound moments are those with complete silence or a passage that's pianissimo, following a loud, dramatic passage. There's unique power in the quiet times and the times of silence. It's in silent, quiet times that the presence of God is most felt, not in noisy praise sessions. It’s the leader’s duty and delight to pay attention to what’s happening and how it happens and separate the noise from the essential messages. It’s the leader's job to make the complex simple. This is not a simple task. Cutting through the noise and confusion takes focus, concentration, and a lot of effort. Like the Jobs quote above points out, it’s hard work making things simple. When I was a young piano student, I heard Van Cliburn play a solo concert in Atlanta, Georgia. I was so impressed that he made playing the piano seem easy. It appeared easy because he had practiced. He had done the hard work. He had prepared in order to release his creative energy in performance. Mozart’s music is seemly simple, however it’s so transparent that every note is exposed. It’s delicacy in motion. It’s difficult, not in playing lots of notes, but in precision. Paderewski was known to have said that playing Mozart was simple for the student and very difficult for the teacher. In other words, the simple is difficult. We want to hide behind complexity as leaders to protect our deficiencies, our insecurities, and our lack of knowledge. Leadership is identifying our gaps. Leadership is asking questions and not knowing all the answers. Leadership is about integrity, honesty, and open communications. We get things done and we know how things get done. If we don’t know, we find out how. When the musical conductor prepares for a rehearsal, they spend 2 to 3 hours preparing for each hour of rehearsal. There’s no substitute for preparation. To get to simple takes work. It takes lots of work. The complexity of leadership is in being able to make things simple so others can follow. We want stimulation. * http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/09/the-simple-power-of-one-a-day.html (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/09/the-simple-power-of-one-a-day.html) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” ― Robert Frost Choices are very important in leadership. Making the wrong choice costs money and potentially damages the organization. The burden is on the leader for making effective and wise choices. Not making a decision is a choice. Sometimes, paralyzed by the gravity of the choice, leaders stall and can’t decide. Not making a choice is certainly a choice. What’s the impact of the decision on the organization? What’s the impact of the decision on relationships? What’s the impact of the decision on revenue…customer satisfaction…client engagement…stakeholder involvement…? Asking these questions before making a decision helps leaders recognize the consequences of the decision. Maybe asking those questions before not making a choice would be good, as well. Making wise, informed choices is the duty and delight of the leader. Making poor choices can cost a lot more and, certainly, waiting to make a decision increases the cost or impact of the problem to the culture or to profit as the situation gets worse. The most difficult of choices typically centers on people issues, such as when to terminate the employee, when to give a salary increase, when to correct their behavior, when to challenge a nonparticipating board member, etc. Each of these scenarios causes leaders to shy away from confronting controversial issues. Pay the upfront cost and deal with the situation as soon as practical. That might be before you get the chance to confront someone on an issue. Waiting only complicates things and provides an opportunity for the conflict, if that’s the issue, to get worse. A small matter becomes nuclear over time. Delegate action items so you can free up your schedule and your mind to think effectively about complex leadership decisions. To decide or not…that’s the question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The point is not to take the world's opinion as a guiding star but to go one's way in life and working unerringly, neither depressed by failure nor seduced by applause. - Gustav Mahler   Thinking versus Feeling is Transformational Leadership Leaders lead. The question is…do we lead with our brains or with our hearts? In my studies in Bowen Family Systems, a profound paradigm for leadership by managing and differentiating self, I have discovered a better way to make difficult decisions. The way is to define guiding principles for self and for the organization we lead, and utilize those principles for making good decisions. This leadership perspective is crucial. Bowen defines “Basic Self” as following those principles. When the leader makes decisions for other reasons, like to please others, Bowen defines that as “Pseudo Self.” The bottom line for me is that when I make a decision to please someone else, I’m not serving myself or my vision. Ultimately, the person whom we attempt to please will lose respect for us and completely negate the reason we thought was good for making that decision in the first place. Many leaders lead with their heart and are considered compassionate and caring. Principled leaders who utilize rational thinking and think in systems, are sometimes regarded by feelers as uncaring and insensitive. The latter is not generally true. Making effective decisions in line with principles brings value to everyone and, ultimately, those critics will respect the leader once the results are self-evident. Leadership perspective is the key. To counter the feelings of being uncaring and insensitive and maybe inflexible, here are some tactics to consider that are Transformational Leadership basics: * Define Your Ultimate Vision: Know exactly where you want to end up, and write it in compelling language expressed in present tense. Define it as having already happened. Share the vision with anyone in your space who cares about you or your organization, and with those who will benefit from accomplishing that vision. Check for alignment with the vision with key stakeholders and collaborators. * Write Down Core Values: Yes, I have blogged about values being useless. That’s true if the values are the final product. Values are the first step in defining the cultural norms. Values are static statements. That’s fine. Just don’t think that these static statements are going to create value just because they have been created. Moving forward, use these values to create Guiding Principles, and build out the goals without violating those values. * Create Guiding Principles: Guiding Principles are statements that provide guidelines for making effective decisions, both for the leader individually and for the organization as a culture. When you go to a Disney park, it’s very clear that each employee you come across is operating within the company principles…you are the guest and they entertain you. Write separate principles for yourself on how to manage self and how to make thinking decisions. Create a separate, but compatible, set of principles for the organization in collaboration with those in the organization who will support, protect, and teach them to others. Check my post on Guiding Principles (http://transformationalstrategist.com/principles/)for more information. * Review and Update Principles Regularly: Once written, the principles must then be activated and applied in every decision. To ensure that this happens, develop a routine for evaluating the principles and revising them as necessary. If you hold weekly meetings, review one principle each week and evaluate how effectively the group is following that principle, and review if the principle still reflects the culture, values, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. - Steve Jobs As a musical conductor, I... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.” ― Mahatma Gandhi We hear lots of noise in conversations and in the media about striving for equality of gender, nationality, and race - equal opportunity - equal rights - equal pay, etc. Recently in Blacksburg, Virginia, in a session called “Dialogue on Race,” a young African-American presenter used the phrase “Diversity of Excellence” in his presentation. That phrase made so much sense to me. I have adopted the idea and reversed the words to get “Excellence of Diversity.” The media make up sound bites and promote phrases to get attention and ultimately to get ratings and make money. We all get sucked into this diatribe of mediocrity. We are driven to the bottom…the lowest common denominator…the drivel of sameness. I say to women leaders, “Why do you want to be equal with men when, in fact, you are better? You offer a different paradigm for leadership and a fresh perspective. You have a skill set that is different. Why not claim your excellence and move to the top rather than attempting to be equal?” Most agree and react as if they feel empowered. I repeat this question to minority groups and get the same response. In a society where we have dumbed down our educational system with standardized testing and set the bar to the lowest point in striving for equality, we are teaching each other that mediocrity is the norm. In an address to educators, I heard Alfie Kohn* describe standardized testing as an “Ethnic cleansing of the society.” In Marva Dawn’s book, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802841023/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0802841023&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwhughba-20&linkId=FTVFVKIOCLKQCDWR), the first chapter is the history of how education has been dumbed down over the years. She then describes how churches have dumbed down to attract new members when, in fact, the mainline denominations are now losing members at an alarming rate. We have clergy working as consultants, teaching pastors what to do as a simple formula for success, rather than reaching out of the broken paradigm and getting wisdom from a different source. We have no clearly written guiding principles for personal empowerment in leadership for our organizations. My guiding principle is to strive for excellence through diversity and let the best people do the best work. Do we get stuck because we are threatened by the excellence of someone who doesn’t look like us? What’s your opinion? * The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0325003254/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0325003254&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwhughba-20&linkId=UVVENYOII2WVRAVC), Alfie Kohn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leaders, Set Your Standard of Excellence You must have control of the authorship of your own destiny. The pen that writes your life story must be held in your own hand. - Irene C. Kassorla One of the most common problems I encounter, when working with leaders to build results and create effective teams, is described in the statement, "My people just don't do what I need them to do." I suggest that this problem comes from the leader, not from the team. Leadership is defining the desired outcomes, and then making those outcomes become reality. Leadership is a skill and a system. When a leader defines the vision and then sets specific goals to achieve that vision, it's important to leave a place for team members to create their strategies for their work. It is limiting for team members when a leader not only defines the outcomes, but also defines all the steps to get there. You have a worthy vision and have created powerful goals that will drive processes toward achieving that vision. Create systems where team members can create the steps to success - the action plan. Once each team member can contribute a process step, they move from being interested in the vision to owning the vision. When developing the action plan, encourage the team to define the standards of excellence - the critical success factors. Define what success looks like and how it will be measured. If you create a sloppy procedure for this process, then you are creating a less-than-excellent organization. Inspire excellence. Define the goal, move forward by creating a process to define all the steps to achieve that goal, put the steps into a sequence, and then let the team members divide up the responsibility for managing those process steps. Be focused in your process. Allow each member to contribute. Assign responsibilities and deadlines. Shift the accountability from you, the leader, to the team, in a culture of peer-to-peer accountability. The biggest killer of excellence is the boring, unproductive meeting! Rehearse excellence by creating effective systems. Effective meetings empower and encourage high functioning in team performance. The finest musical ensembles rehearse for every performance. Change the misquoted phrase, "Practice makes perfect," to the correct quote, "Perfect practice makes perfect performance." Rehearse for success. Build the DNA of high performance into every system in the organization you lead. TIP: Plan the outcomes at the planning meeting. Plan the process to get to the outcomes. Define the process and outcomes at the beginning of the meeting. Keep the group on task. Excellence in planning leads to excellent results. Hugh BallouThe Transformational Leadership Strategist Subscribe to The Transformational Leadership Strategist by Email (http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheTransformationalStrategist&loc=en_US) (c) 2018 Hugh Ballou. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hidden Goals Don't Work 5th of 5 (http://transformationalstrategist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Running-400.jpg) Set your goal.   Share your goal.   Accountability is energy. We think that being accountable to someone might bring us criticism if we fail. We don't want to look bad. We don't want anyone to judge us poorly. When we set a goal and share that goal with someone, it might be frightening. What if the person laughs at our goal? This is a statement of our intentions. This is typically a bold statement of accomplishment. How will we feel if we get push-back from someone we respect and someone we want to see us in a favorable light? There are two sides to accountability: * We commit to someone and become vulnerable to that person. If we fall short of our stated goal, then we risk criticism. This is the risk side of accountability that motivates us to succeed. * We commit to someone and they become our partner in accomplishing our plan. We don't need to ask. We can't expect this cooperation. They know what we intend, so they know how to provide support. Accountability is a major component to leadership success. Accountability is a major component to running success. No person can help me reach my running goals. Everyone can help me reach my business and life goals. Write your goals. Share your goals. Start taking action immediately. Keep a journal. Share your success. Let the world bring you energy. Celebrate! (My running goal for this month is 40 miles - posted on my social sites.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Focus on the Outcome 4th of 5 Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. - Thomas Edison     You want to quit. Focus on success. Do not quit. This simple concept is very difficult. Along the trail, there are many opportunities to quit - don't quit. On the pathway to success, there are many opportunities to quit - don't quit. Focus on the benefit, and not on the problem.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If I miss a day of practice, I know it. If I miss two days, my manager knows it. If I miss three days, my audience knows it. - André Previn   Running to Be Fit 3rd of 5   The first rule is to set your goal. Then begin at once preparing for success. Rehearse for success in everything you do - you are forming good habits that will influence your success and your life. I set my goal on finishing a half marathon. My mind believes it. My body is not capable of achieving it, so I must train daily to be able to succeed. Goals are worthless without an plan of action. Actions are consistent activities moving toward your goal. Fitness happens one day at a time over time. Start now. Don't give up until you succeed. What you become on the way to achieving the goal is better than the goal itself. Start now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Setting Goals is the Key to Success 2nd of 5 (https://hughballou.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Running-360-Goals-300x180.jpeg) At the root of all success is a vision and intention. We must learn to set achievable goals. I lead teams. I lead meetings. I teach leaders to lead. I can see the end result, because I have defined it clearly. I set a goal to be in shape. I have expressed the goal in terms of running a certain distance in a certain amount of time. I can't accomplish that goal without the following: * The belief that I will succeed... * A description of what it looks like when I have succeeded... * A long-term vision... * Short-term goals... * A weekly schedule... * A daily plan of action... That works for my work, as well as for my running. What about your work? What about your life? Goals are SMART! S = Specific M = Measurable A = Accountable R = Realistic T = Timed Note to the frantic and weary: The "A" for accountable provides the traction that makes goals work. Check out my Podcast 32: Setting Powerful Goals That Work (https://hughballou.com/podcast-32-leadership-skills-setting-powerful-goals-that-work/) Hugh Ballou The Transformational Leadership Strategist TM Subscribe to The Transformational Leadership Strategist by Email (http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheTransformationalStrategist&loc=en_US) (c) 2018 Hugh Ballou. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Commitment is everything. I decided to begin training for a 5K road race when I was 48 years old. I had trouble running from one driveway to the next one. This was a major change in my life, however, I was committed to succeed. Two years later, I had finished over 50 5K races and was training for a half marathon. My commitment was to, #1 not finish last, and #2 to finish without stopping. I accomplished that goal with every race. I am really bad at this, however, running is a discipline in my life that is important. When I run, I feel better, have more energy, and get more accomplished each day. Running is also my quiet time when I can think and work out problems. Yesterday, while running, I decided to relaunch this series about the connection between running and leadership. For the next 5 days, I will post 5 blogs with ideas for leadership. First, you do not need to have a big team to feel that you are a leader. My simple qualifying points to be considered a leader are as follows: You are a leader if... * ...you get things done * ...you know how things get done * ...you influence other people Here are some thoughts that work for running (or any type of exercise) and leadership. * Commit to a goal, make a schedule and follow it * Follow the plan, even on days when you don't want to * Starting is the key to finishing, but not the whole answer - you have to finish * Don't quit - you can make it * You don't have to be first * If you keep it up, eventually you will get a second wind and finish with a flare * When you finish, the sense of accomplishment will empower your day * Set your own pace and don't let others tell you that it's not good When I ran my last half marathon, I was almost 65, so I came up with the list below about being an older runner. Being older is no longer an excuse to not try. You can tell that you are an older runner when: * In the first mile, your body tells you that you should be home in bed. * Your excuse for not being in the lead of the race is that being behind the pace car will make you feel “exhausted.” * In the second mile, your body tells you that you should be home in bed. * You think you won the race, because you ran longer than anyone else. * In the sixth mile, your body tells you that you should be home in bed. * The race walkers pass you by, saying “Good job, sir.” (sir is the clue) * A runner passes by, saying that he would be running faster, except for the knee transplants. * In the eighth mile, your body tells you that you should be home in bed. * Your running doesn’t really make you live longer – it just makes life seem longer. * Everyone shouts your name, cheering you on, and you think it’s because you are famous in your old age – until you realize that your name is printed on your racing bib. * It’s the cheapest form of entertainment you can think of. * You run because it’s your only chance to hear heavy breathing again. * In the last mile of the race, your body tells you that you should be home in bed. Many of the excuses I hear for not trying are dumber than the list above, but people tell them to me as if the reasons make good sense. What's your reason for not trying? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I have been traveling around the country presenting Nonprofit Leadership Excellence Workshops (http://synervisionfoundation.org/summit/workshop/). In many instances, I’m asked what to do when a board, or members in general, are resistant to change. The phrase, “We’ve never done it that way before!” is often repeated. Change is a fearful thought if other changes in life are too stressful. Change is not an option when there is no understanding of the value of the change. Change for the sake of change is a generator of confusion. However, the only constant in life is that there is change. We are all getting older every day. We change without even trying. Having said those things about change, let me point out that understanding history and tradition are important to the continuity of work within any organization. When working with lay leaders in the church, I find that many of them are not aware of the denominational traditions and theology that have shaped our worship, our programs, and our work in the community. We are informed by learning about the past. We don’t, however, need to live in the past. It is the leader’s duty and delight to observe what’s happening and how it happens, and to respond in a thoughtful way by engaging members in conversation about desired results. Have we defined the desired outcomes from our work and programs, or are we just running on autopilot without thinking about what or why? In Seth Godin's blog post, “Because it has always been this way, (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/07/because-it-has-always-been-this-way.html)" he points out that making a change means that we are responsible for the results. I’d like to point out that if we don’t make a change, we are likewise responsible for the results as the leader. Not making a decision is a choice. Leaders ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers. Here are some to ask yourself and your team: * Are we (Am I) bound by tradition? * What are the consequences of staying with the status quo? * What are the different results we desire and what changes will lead us in the appropriate direction? * What are the risks on both sides - making a change and not making any change? Sleep on the answers. Hugh Ballou The Transformational Leadership Strategist TM Subscribe to The Transformational Leadership Strategist by Email (http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheTransformationalStrategist&loc=en_US) (c) 2018 Hugh Ballou. All rights reserved.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices