#89 Business as UnUsual with Rick Yvanovich

"you always have choice - choose to be an agent of change in your life, to build your own castle, to devise your own methods, and to think intentionally about your legacy..."

Rick and I have a fun conversation that takes us through English castles, into manufacturing and lean methodologies and circling back through our inner game as leaders in a Business as UnUsual world.

What do we need to navigate this complex world and motivate our people ? What tools and approaches work for you as a leader ? how do you ensure that you remain an agent of change in creating your future ?

Rick shares his insight and experience as well as the main concepts in his new book on leadership, culture and business in the post COVID world.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       UnUsual is to be understood as the ‘new normal’ post-pandemic and stems from the author’s belief that everyone has the potential to be an architect of change, a catalyst in an ever-changing world.

-       Eclectic leadership blends various theories, styles and approaches with multiple perspectives from different industries; eclectic leaders are not bound by one model and can adapt to different strategies, demonstrate flexibility, and leverage the strengths of different types of leadership by choosing the most effective tool from a large toolbox.

-       The book uses a castle as a metaphor as it is a structure that everyone can imagine, but differently. The British take of ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ stands for home, safety, refuge, strong foundations, nobility, worthiness, honour, respect, legacy, community and impact.

-       The book talks about 8 structures within the castle: the stronghold/inner keep, which has 4 towers that support each other: the tower of purpose (values, legacy, life goals, north star); the tower of life force (how you manage your HERBS – health, energy, rest, balance and stress); the tower of mind (how you show up, habits, behaviours, kaizen); and the tower of self (self-confidence, self-efficacy, self-worth, self-motivation).

-       The dungeon of the castle represents coaching, which often inflicts pain to bring about growth and is about stretching and going beyond our comfort zone, being on the rack – and this requires trust.

-       The bailey is expandable and consists of 3 buildings: the great hall (community, culture, leadership); the stables (looking forward, searching for satisfaction, transforming); and the treasury (finances, income, net worth).

-       The inner keep formula is ‘the know and the go’. The know relates to self-confidence (knowing and trusting in yourself), self-efficacy (believing in your own ability to succeed) and self-worth (believing you are worthy of success and bring value to the world). The go relates to self-motivation, as motivation is the reason humans do things.

-       Kaizen in the tower of the mind is about lifelong learning and a growth mindset. Nothing is perfect so we must embrace never-ending improvement of ourselves and all we do - be curious, ask why and reflect to reconsider, thereby embracing an infinite mindset.

-       Life is about thinking well, feeling well and doing well. Life force is not in endless supply, and it requires a holistic approach to keep the different elements in balance to prevent stress. A good place to start is with tower of life force to find habits to strengthen and improve it.

-       The notion of pivoting in uncertain times requires ‘alternative’ VUCA leadership: overcoming volatility by inspiring Vision; overcoming uncertainty by creating Understanding; overcoming complexity by driving Clarity; and overcoming ambiguity by using Agility. Using different, positive words gives cause to pause and think and provides a good framework for leaders.

-       We are not just participants in the world, but architects shaping its course – we must embrace and define change and transformation starts with you.

Find out more about Rick and his work here : www.rickyvanovich.com