Intentional Leader with Cal Walters

As long as we live a life focused on ourselves, we will never be truly fulfilled.  It is counter intuitive, but the more we give of ourselves, the more we get.  As we seek to live a more intentional live, living a life that matters and contributes to the world and others is fundamental.   On this episode, Cal shares his own story of service, some anecdotal and empirical examples of service leading to a more fulfilled life, and some key principles to shifting our focus from ourselves to other people.   Life is short, let's make it count!

We all fail; we all fail often; and we all will continue to fail for the rest of our life.  Yet, many of us tip toe through life trying to avoid failure at all costs.  On this episode, Cal offers 4 principles to maintaining a healthy view of failure and using the gift of failure to propel us forward towards achieving success and maximizing our potential. Focus on success instead of "not failing" View failure as a gift Separate your failures from your identity Keep going -- you may be right on the other side of a breakthrough!

The mind is a powerful thing.  To accomplish something, we have to first believe it can be done.   To maintain a healthy self-identity, we have to be careful about the words we tell ourselves and the people we allow to speak into our life.   On this episode, Cal discusses the power of self-belief and provides 3 key principles to maintaining a healthy self-identity.   Who do you say that you are? Who do you believe that you can become? The answers to these two questions is critical to us maximizing our potential!

If we want to reach our full potential and make a significant contribution to the world, we have to move beyond good intentions and begin to live intentionally.   On this episode, Cal explores two keys to intentional living:  1. Making a life mission; and 2. Developing a plan for personal growth.  

On this episode, Cal continues a two-part discussion on the importance of courageous leadership.  Cal builds on the leadership principles discussed in Episode 8 by sharing three principles of courageous leadership: 1.  Courageous leadership intentionally confront current reality, even when it's ugly; 2.  Courageous leaders confront their own blind spots; and 3.  Courageous leaders set clear expectations and provide honest feedback.   Our leadership and influence with either shrink or grow in direct proportion to the amount of courage we choose to have.  

Acts of courage are often what makes a leader a leader.  We know this instinctively, yet courage is easier to talk about than it is to put into practice.   On this episode, Cal begins the first part of a two-part discussion about courageous leadership and shares his first two principles of courageous leadership: 1.  Courageous leaders champion change; and 2.  Courageous leaders take action and are decisive. By the end of this episode, Cal hopes to convince you that you are a leader and that your leadership will shrink or expand in proportion to the amount of courage you choose to have.   

When we think of courage, we often think of giant figures that have changed the world -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Soldiers on the battlefield -- but courage is required of all of us if we want to achieve our potential and live the life we are called to live.   In this episode, Cal passionately discusses 5 principles to live a life of courage and to overcome the fear that so often paralyzes us from walking into a more abundant and fulfilled life.   Life is short, let's make it count!

On this Episode, Cal discusses the power of kindness to have a positive impact on our sphere of influence.   A small act of kindness can change the course of someone's day, pull someone out of a difficult place, change someone's view of themselves, and has the potential to alter someone's life for the better.   After reflecting on the power of kindness, Cal reflects on his observations of kindness in action and shares a story of a couple that showed kindness to him and his family as they confront the challenges of military life.  

We all want to be happy, yet we engage in behavior that undermines our own happiness.  One of the biggest ways we do this is by comparing ourselves to others.   In this episode, Cal explores the dangers of unhealthy comparison and shares a mental "battle drill" for dealing with our tendency to engage in comparison.  By applying this mental battle drill, we can protect our happiness, celebrate the successes of others, and live more focused on achieving our dreams!  

When we listen well, we meet a fundamental need in people to feel understood and affirmed.  Yet, so often we don't focus on being good listeners and forget the principle of seeking first to understand before we seek to be understood. In this episode, Cal focuses on two key principles to being a great listener, and he asks listeners to commit to being better listeners.  Let's commit to this principle and believe that it can change our relationships and maybe even our world.