Moving the Needle with Robb Holman

Robb Holman is a thought-provoking global keynote speaker, and the founder and CEO of Holman International, a global leadership consultancy. In 2022, he was named as one of the Top 30 World’s Leadership Gurus. He is also the founder of Meeting House Ministries, and a best-selling author whose work has been featured in Inc, Forbes, and Fast Company. Robb’s most recent book, Move the Needle: How Inside Out Leaders Influence Organizational Culture, takes a deep dive into why we must prioritize people over procedures to get better results. He is Marcel Schwantes’ guest this week on Love In Action.Though many of us have lived through some kind of trauma, many of us don’t have the mindset or awareness to work on healing the hurt that came from these traumatic events, Robb claims. “The trauma manifests itself in things like fear, shame, guilt, or grief that we haven't dealt with, and we carry that through our lives, [which] impacts how we lead people and our relationships with others.” [8:35]“The greatest dreams, accomplishments, and goals come out of [a] place of genuine community; we have to get past the [notion] that asking for help is weak,” Robb advises. “Asking for help is an act of vulnerability that some people can’t [bring themselves to do],” Marcel adds. “[In a previous episode], Ken Blanchard said that people aren’t willing to be vulnerable leaders because of ego; if it’s not your true self, you are leading through arrogance and not authenticity.” [11:09]“We’ve been given our gifts, our skill sets, our personality, and our life experience as a gift to be used to benefit other people,” Robb says. “We [need] to get out of our own way and channel our significance and uniqueness to serve other people.” [15:02]There are many ways to serve, but whichever path you choose, make sure that you serve your team members personally and professionally. Are you spending time on a consistent and intentional basis with your team members? Do you know what makes them come alive? Do you know their hobbies, interests, and life milestones? You must commit to the process of learning these things, Robb shares. [19:01]Leaders often make decisions based on their gut, Robb claims. Undoubtedly, having the facts and the truth is important, but how do you make the right choice when the facts are pointing in one direction and your gut is leading you to the other? “The accuracy of going with your gut goes up drastically when your team members [focus] on their areas of expertise,” he comments. He explains why. [24:54]“Servant leadership is about getting under a team member only to elevate them above you… In my estimation, the greatest and most effective leaders are ones that get out of the way [of recognition]; they’re looking to serve faithfully through guidance, encouragement, correction, and love,” Robb remarks. [35:46]Marcel asks Robb why leaders prioritize processes, procedures, and policies over people. “We want quick fixes,” Robb replies. “We want to reach the goals yesterday ... But I believe that slow is the new fast. With anything [that’s] great and long-lasting, we need to slow down in order to learn what speeding up is all about.” [39:13]Robb talks about leaving a legacy. “When we start with the end in mind and re-engineer this thing, we could be much more intentional about the people we spend time with, and the reasons behind that. In the first place, I think we give too much attention to things that don’t matter.” [46:50]The more we practice servant leadership in and out of the home, the smoother we will lead in service within our sphere of influence in the workplace, our culture, and society, Robb affirms. [52:01]ResourcesRobb Holman on LinkedIn | TwitterRobbHolman.comMove the Needle: How Inside Out Leaders Influence Organizational Culture

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