Blanchard LeaderChat

In this exciting episode, you’ll hear how aviation pioneer Carey D. Lohrenz learned what Fearless Leadership means in two of the most demanding and extreme environments imaginable: the cockpit of an F-14 and the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Through her experiences, Lohrenz identified a fundamental truth: high performing teams require fearless leaders. “Fearless leadership isn’t about not feeling fear. It’s having the ability to feel uncomfortable and to move through it and show up to be the best you can be,” explains Lohrenz. Hear her describe the fundamentals of Fearless Leadership: Courage: If you cultivate courage in yourself, you’ll have what it takes to see limitless possibilities for yourself as a leader. Tenacity: Embracing the persistence it takes to keep going after a goal—even when it becomes difficult or risky—and continuing to take action. Integrity: Do the right thing, be honest, be trustworthy, and lead by example. Lohrenz also describes how to put Fearless Leadership into action by first setting a clear vision, then being the catalyst for moving your team toward that vision by creating the culture to support it. She also illustrates the importance of being resilient as a leader and describes the seven steps you can take to become more resilient: Reject victimhood Embrace change Focus on what matters Find a wingman Know what you can control Learn from adversity Take action “Above all, Fearless Leadership is the difference between having the life, team, culture, and organization that you want, and settling,” says Lohrenz. So risk more, worry less, and take action—because bold, fearless action drives success. For more information about Carey Lohrenz, visit www.careylohrenz.com

A finite game has known players, fixed rules, and a clear end point, like baseball. But with infinite games such as business or politics, the players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no defined end point. There are no winners or losers in an infinite game—there is only ahead or behind.

In this episode, hear virtual training pioneer Cindy Huggett share information from her book Virtual Training Tools and Templates: An Action Guide to Live Online Learning. She offers tips to ensure your virtual training is successful by meeting the specific needs of your organization. The first step is to define what virtual training means for your company. For example, if you are trying to replicate an in-person experience for a small audience, your design will have different requirements than it would if you were trying to reach a large audience. When creating a virtual program, the three most important things to consider are an engaging facilitator, an interactive design, and prepared participants. Preparation is a key to success. Virtual facilitators must understand the specific features of the technology they are using and have backups in place. Huggett’s book offers a virtual trainer checklist to help. Most of all, facilitators need to realize that delivering in the virtual arena involves much more than simply making a presentation. Facilitators must make learners the focus—and think of the training as a conversation. To help the learning come alive, make use of the time together in the virtual setting exactly as you would in a face-to-face session. About Cindy Huggett:   To learn more about Cindy Huggett, go to www.cindyhuggett.com, or find her on Twitter: @cindyhugg.

Alexa Shoen, author of #EntryLevelBoss, shares secrets for finding your dream job. She challenges the beliefs that hinder job search efforts, like the need for the right degrees. Shoen advises answering three key questions before starting the search. She reveals creative methods for making connections and emphasizes the importance of being interested rather than looking interesting to potential employers.

In this week’s podcast, you’ll hear Brendon Burchard explain why and how some people perform at a higher level than others. He identifies six habits successful people practice to sustain long-term achievement in their personal and professional lives. Seek clarity. Successful people continually seek clarity. They are curious and ask questions. They are intentional about understanding how they are perceived by others and about the specific differences they want to make. Generate energy. So much mental, emotional, and spiritual fatigue exist today that we all must take control of our own energy. High performers develop routines such as meditation or other wellness practices to increase their energy throughout the day. They practice the exercise of releasing tension and they set their intentions before starting a project or activity. They create transitional moments to refuel their bodies and minds, and to increase creativity and focus. Raise necessity. High performers amp themselves up to do a good job. Before any situation, they define why it is important to excel, and they increase the psychological stress on themselves. They understand who and what they are performing for, and strive to be their best. Increase productivity. Focus is the key to increasing productivity. High performers don’t do something just so they can cross it off their list. They continuously determine the most important work they should be doing—and then they intentionally block out time for that work in order to achieve their most critical goals. Develop influence. High performers influence others by asking them to think about things differently and to challenge themselves. When you think about someone who influenced you, you’ll realize they probably challenged you in the same way. Demonstrate courage. Demonstrating courage doesn’t have to be a Herculean feat. Practical things done on a daily basis help people perform at higher levels. Speaking up for yourself, sharing your truth, and speaking up for others are all acts of courage. As Burchard explains, “The things that matter most to your performance might seem like common sense, but they are not common practice. You must identify the things that make you extraordinary and align the right habits to help yourself become a higher achiever.” About Brendon Burchard For more information on Brendon Burchard, visit www.brendon.com

In this episode, hear Keith Ferrazzi explain the new rules for work presented in his latest book, Leading Without Authority. The days of authoritative command and control are gone. “Work doesn’t happen in organization charts anymore. Leaders need to learn the power of co-elevation to bring collaboration to a higher level of effectiveness,” says Ferrazzi. When a leader thinks of themselves as a servant, host, or Sherpa, their role changes to one that focuses on working hard to get the most out of a group of individuals. If the whole team is committed to the mission and to each other, extraordinary and transformative things happen. A team isn’t necessarily a group of people in the same department reporting to the same person. Today’s teams are made up of peers working together across functions to achieve results. Co-elevation requires a shift in mindset and behaviors. Ferrazzi shares how to re-contract with colleagues to define new ways to work together collaboratively and offers bold solutions you can put into practice tomorrow. Now more than ever before, it is critical for individuals to step up and lead even if they don’t have the title, the authority, or the position. It might not be comfortable at first, because it will be disruptive. But disruption drives innovation. The true power behind co-elevation breaks down silos and gets people focused on crossing the finish line together. For more information about Keith Ferrazzi, go to www.keithferrazzi.com. To access the handout mentioned in the podcast, go to www.keithferrazzi.com/leaderchat.

In this episode, hear leadership expert Dave McKeown challenge leaders to break the cycle of mediocrity and take responsibility for their own development. In his latest book, The Self-Evolved Leader, McKeown acknowledges that it is easy for leaders to get stuck in the busyness of the day-to-day and allow themselves to be disrupted at any time. Leaders need to spend less time taking care of every little detail and more time developing, inspiring, and encouraging their staff.

In this compelling episode, you’ll hear La’Wana Harris share timely thoughts about her new book, Diversity Beyond Lip Service. She explains how she works with leaders to help them become aware of their own biases and how to make conscious choices that mitigate bias in order to embrace diversity. Harris defines diversity as the full spectrum of human indifference including race, gender, and sexual orientation. But she also points out other differentiators such as cultural elements, position or role status, privilege, and physical abilities that limit inclusion. La’Wana’s executive coach experience has provided many opportunities for her to work with people to first build their awareness of biases, then do the self-work to move forward with actions that have a positive impact. She encourages us to commit to courageous actions and speak up when we see someone being marginalized. The action is to not ignore what you are observing; instead, practice awareness, point out the discrepancy, and be part of the solution. This is the only way to move beyond supporting diversity only through lip service. It takes a long-term commitment to action. Diversity is an issue that must be addressed, and now is the time. “There are no extra people—every single person has inherent value and it is a huge disservice to ourselves and others not to mine for the greatness in everyone. We must help others become their best selves and fully appreciate the beauty in our diversity,” explains Harris. For more information on La’Wana Harris, go to lawanaharris.com or find her on LinkedIn.

In this episode, Mark Johnson describes a method for putting visionary thinking and processes into place so that any organization can take advantage of disruptive innovation. As business models change at an ever-increasing rate and the world becomes noisier, the tendency for most organizations is to hunker down and deal with the here and now. But it is important to get past the pull of the present and plan for five to ten years in the future.

In this episode you’ll hear Joel Peterson, chairman of JetBlue Airways, discuss the difference between an entrepreneur and an entrepreneurial leader. In his latest book, Entrepreneurial Leadership: The Art of Launching New Ventures, Inspiring Others, and Running Stuff, Peterson explains that leaders who want to make a lasting impact must learn to launch new initiatives, inspire others, and champion innovative approaches. In short, these leaders require a new set of skills.