This could not be truer than in today’s VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous) world. Work environments are a perfect example of recent and constant change. Now, most of the workforce is working remotely or a hybrid of remote and in-person, demanding flexible schedules and a shift in the traditional business environment.

With change comes uncertainty, and fear, influenced by the noise that is all around us. For example:

1. The impact of the US Election
2. COVID-19 cases on the rise
3. Downsizing and layoffs happening
4. Work schedules overlapping personal schedules
5. Disrupted sleep due to the worry, stress and overwhelm

This fear and uncertainty results in background conversations. These conversations can show up as complaints, worry, resistance, vague speaking, or avoidance, as people try to figure things out alone. Background conversations are absent of action and can prohibit action from occurring in your organization.

Today’s leaders are coming to realize that; if they do not design a series of intentional conversations to support their staff with change, their people will continue to struggle to deal with change negatively impacting morale and productivity.

As leaders, are you present to the background conversations that are occurring in your organization? These background conversations damage trust, generative communication, accountability, and performance. These conversations distract action from occurring in your organization. We suggest the following steps to shift the conversations in your organization:

Step 1:

Listen for the background conversations that are occurring in your organization. Listen for complaints, worry, resistance, vague speaking, avoidance, and fear.

Step 2:

Deal with these background conversations! Acknowledge people’s concerns and create dialogue to deal with them, allowing negative emotions to be expressed in healthy ways and support generating action. Leverage your professional resources to support these conversations, i.e. your coach, HR Department, or Employee Assistance Programs.

Challenge – What can you as a leader do to change the narrative from “fear” to “possibilities” in your organization?

If you have ever seen an episode of the legal drama “Suits”, you have met the “Donna”.

The “Donna” is the true superpower behind the high-powered lawyer Harvey.

Donna takes being an Executive Assistant (EA) to a new level – a strategic level.

After she books the meetings, gets the coffee, and finished the filing, she runs the office and makes deals happen. She anticipates needs before they are requested, takes action to satisfy client needs, goes above and beyond to show care and thoughtfulness, remembers everything, and she makes everyone around her look like superhero’s.

Harvey cannot live without her!

Every C-Suite leader does not necessarily need a “Donna”, but imagine what could get accomplished if your Executive Assistant was fully leveraged? By leveraged, I mean, utilized to their fullest extent.

Executive Assistants are powerful people and big organizational assets because they know the organization well, they are in contact with lots of people, and they see and hear everything.

Many C-Suite leaders speak to a scarcity of time. What would your day look like if your EA was fully leveraged?

Take Anna.

Anna is an ambitious and energetic Executive Assistant that has been with Candace (Executive VP) for 5 years, and she has great knowledge of the organization.

Anna begins her day by setting up the conference room for the morning breakfast meeting. She lays out the food, sets up the technology, places all the materials, and makes sure to place a birthday card for one of the client’s birthdays (she had a reminder on her calendar). She has brought in a special cupcake to give to the client as Candace mentioned they would not have time for cake after the meeting.

With the conference room up and ready, Anna reviews her and Candace’s emails and tags any important emails for Candace, and triages the remaining ones to bring up in their daily meeting. While reviewing emails, Anna notices a request for Candace to speak at a conference. Candace loves speaking opportunities and is always open to engaging them, so Anna reviews some literature on the topic and determines that this conference would be a great opportunity for Candace and sees that the location would work well based on her schedule. Anna goes ahead and replies a level of interest and requests more details on what would be needed from Candace.

Anna then reviews Candace’s files for the day and notices that an important email came through that morning regarding one of the files, so she includes it. She also notices an error on one of the forms, so she makes the change and reprints the form.

While placing the files on Candace’s desk, Anna notices that Candace’s side cooler is getting empty, so she makes a note to order more bottled water for Candace to offer clients.

Upon completion of the morning routine, Anna gets a text from Candice stating that she is running 10 minutes late. Realizing that they will now miss their 10 – minute pre-meeting briefing, Anna sends Candace the names of the people in the meeting she has not met before, and some details to engage in some small talk.

Anna then prepares to welcome the guests and keep them happy until Candice arrives.

Anna is a fully leveraged EA! She is thinking and acting like the vital organ she is for the organization. She is responding to the moment and preparing for the future.

Many organizations only think of their assets in terms of capital, equipment, technology, etc., so they often overlook and undervalue the true capacity and abilities of their most important asset – people, and specifically their support team. Imagine the possibilities if your EA was fully utilized!

Leadership Challenge:

Write out 10 things your EA could take off your desk today that would create space in your world and fully utilize your EA. Implement as soon as possible!

Great leaders see the future as opportunities and possibilities – even when the future is unknown and uncertain. This is what makes a great leader great.

Most leaders view the unknown with a sense of fear and apprehension because the unknown is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). There are no straight lines or guarantees on the path to the future. Most leaders want a level of certainty in decision making to minimize the level of risk to the organization. In “Leaders Make the Future”, Bob Johansen speaks to VUCA and what future forces will affect the leaders of tomorrow in 1, 5 and 10 years.

Great leaders prepare for risk by asking the question, “What competencies are needed to embrace the unknown with clarity vs fear?”

Here are 4 key components great leaders use to support themselves and their Executive Leadership Team when stepping into the Unknown:

1. Strategic Thinking

Making time and space for thinking and having good quality information at your fingertips to understand your market, industry, ideal client, and the future of your business.

It is important to make space for research and development about future possibilities (i.e. how could Artificial Intelligence support our business?), time to study and ponder key trends that will impact the future of your business, and the ability to ask disruptive questions about the information you are receiving to create future possibilities.

In “BOLD”, Peter Diamandis writes about how to strategically build wealth and make a big impact while creating the future.

2. Trusting Your Intuition

Great leaders often speak about making big decisions based on their “gut” – that inner knowing no one can explain, but is used time and time again to guide leaders through tumultuous or uncertain times to help them move their ideas forward.

Intuition is not just pure luck or guessing. Strong intuition comes from being a “Quality Observer” of your life experiences – meaning to master the art of looking, listening and sensing (feeling) what your experiences are trying to show you by taking the time to “Self-Reflect” from experiences that you reacted to (inspired you, moved you, engaged you, frustrated you).

“InnSaei – The Power of Intuition” on Netflix

3. Build a Support Network with Future-Thinking People

Did you know that you are the product of the top 5 people you interact with the most in your life?  The way you think, how you act and what you believe is directly related to the people (influencers) you have surrounding you on a daily basis. Great leaders surround themselves with quality people who are focused on building the future.

4. Practice Being Courageous

If you want to get more confident about stepping into the unknown and knowing you can handle it, start practicing by making “Unreasonable Requests” to yourself once/week.

An unreasonable request is a request that scares you or make yourself uncomfortable because it takes you out of your comfort zone.

For example: a client is currently paying less than your full rate due to a discount put in place under old circumstances. Asking this client for a raise in rate would be an act that many leaders would find uncomfortable due to the potential consequences of what the client could say or do. This is an unreasonable request that requires courage to take action

Check out “Noika’s Transformation” after being a world leader in cellular technology.

History of Great Leaders:

Abraham Lincoln, United States of America 16^th President, had 10 significant failures in life and business before he was elected President of the US in 1860.

Founder and past CEO of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford was instrumental in getting people to buy a car when there were no roads to drive the car on, no gas stations to fill the car up and no repair stations.

Thomas Edison, the inventor of the Lightbulb, experimented 5,000 times before he got light.

Steve Jobs, Founder and Past CEO of Apple Inc, revolutionized the computer industry and pioneered technologies such as the iPhone and iPad.

Jeff Bezos, current CEO of Amazon.com, revolutionizing the online retail experience.

Risto Sillasmaa, current CEO of Nokia and their extraordinary transformation after being a world leader in cellular technology

Weekly Leadership Challenge:

When was the last time you did something that made you feel uncomfortable and required you to step into the unknown? Make an unreasonable request of yourself this week, step into the unknown and be a fearless leader!

Over the past month, I have been reading a great book entitled, “Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in The Age of Accelerations” by Thomas L. Friedman. The book is about “Embracing the Future” that is coming at us very fast due to the planet’s three largest forces:

1. Moore’s Law (technology)
2. The Market (globalization)
3. Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss)

What I have found fascinating about Thomas’s intense research, is that I can react negatively or positively to the impact of these transformational changes in my business and life. I can choose to be inspired by the incredible new possibilities that await us, or fearful of what could be.

For example, Artificial Intelligence is coming full force into the world. I can be fearful that Artificial Intelligence is going to create massive job losses, and begin to dominate mankind, or I can see that Artificial Intelligence will be a great tool to support me in being a great CEO and Executive Leadership Coach by turning Artificial Intelligence into Intelligent Assistance. In his book, Thomas is asking each of us to embrace Artificial Intelligence as a tool for Intelligent Assistance to support you in being a continuous learner.

For example, you could tell your Intelligent Assistant to read 50 books/articles/YouTube videos in two days on key topics you want to understand, and then ask for a two-page summary on the material so you can speak to the topics at an important client meeting in a week.

The ability to adapt to the pace of change in the world requires the following competencies:

1. Creativity
2. Collaboration
3. Communication
4. Courage

Thomas’s book has really caused me to pause and ask myself, “am I open to embracing the future?” Over the last two years, I have really learned that being creative, collaborative, communicative and courageous will support me and my team in seeing the future as exciting vs scary and overwhelming.

So, the answer is yes, I am open and ready to embrace the future!

Your Leadership Challenge:

Pick up a copy of Thomas L. Friedman’s book, read it, and send me a note about your thoughts.

Effective Leaders generate ACTION. You can measure effective leadership by the quality of action generated to produce specific results. So, when a company, team or organization is not achieving its goals, fulfilling its promises or producing results, I assert that it’s a lack of leadership due to its inability to generate ACTION! Absent conscious action, we find leaders reacting, or engaged in a analyzing why there’s not action: lots of activity but no action and few results. Indeed, most find themselves stuck and do not know it.

What causes Leaders to be stuck?

Leaders get stuck when they move from being empowered to being entitled. In fact, we say they’ve become a VERB. Listen carefully; it is easy to hear a VERB.

Example:

I arrive for a client meeting and I am told that they have mis-scheduled my appointment. I leave upset so I call my assistant and blame her for not confirming the appointment and wasting my time.

A VERB is an acronym – a way of Being.  It is who we become when we get stuck.

A VERB is an acronym for:

V = Victim – (This is a persistent complaint: no one appreciates me)

E = Entitlement  – (I deserve ___________.)

R = Rescue Me  – (Someone needs to get me out of this mess)

B = Blame  – (It’s not my fault, something’s wrong with you, them or it.)

VERBS are enforced by your perceptions of how things “should” be. That little voice in your head that says: “There is a way things should be, and when they are, things are right. When they are not that way, something is wrong with you, them or it!”

A VERB finds you STUCK in this reinforcing thought:

Why did this happen to me? – What’s wrong? – Who’s to blame(someone else or circumstances)?

Breaking free of your VERB mindset requires transforming your reinforcing thoughts with a new ACTION language:

What happened? – What’s missing? – What’s next?

What Happened? – If you are committed to action, observe only what  was said or what was done. Notice if you begin to ask “why” something happened. That leads to an interpretation, not a fact. Focus again on just “What Happened?” Be aware of your interpretations. They move you into a story “about the facts”. Remember, your story will keep you stuck. To generate action, focus only on what was observable. Stop, pause, and declare: What happened, then look at the facts and what was actually said.

Example:

You are excited to share an idea with your boss. You stop by her office to share your cool idea and she says, “Not now, I am too busy to talk, get back to me later!”  You leave dejected. Immediately you begin to think: “She rejected me, or I feel lack of appreciation.”  You might also think: “Why bother, my ideas are not important to my boss.”

Notice that you are now thinking about “what this means.” Stop, pause and return to “what happened?” In this example, what happened is what was said: “My boss said she was busy and to get back to her.”

What is Missing? – Here you are concerned not with what is wrong, which is where most leaders go when a problem or failure occurs. You are focused on discovering what’s missing which has something to do with a key conversation. Yes, fundamentally, a conversation for action is missing. Key conversations for action include a Request, a Promise or an Offer.

Example:

So instead of getting wrapped up in your own story, you simply make a clear request to your busy boss and ask, “When would be a better time for you and I to discuss my cool idea about marketing to new potential clients?”  And your boss comes back with a promise to meet you at 3pm this afternoon. You walk away feeling engaged to share your cool idea with your boss at 3pm. You are excited.

What’s Next? – Again, what’s next is always a conversation that will forward action. Email a clear request to ask your busy boss for a time to meet to discuss your idea,“When can we meet this week to discuss my idea?”

Your leadership depends on your capacity to communicate action and creating conversations that move things forward. Here, you are focused on creating action rather than focusing on your story about your boss. Remember, your story constitutes you as a VERB. Instead, a conversation for action generates results. Practicing the script, What happened, What’s missing and What’s Next, will find you becoming decisive, proactive and able to transform stuck into ACTION!

How self-aware are you when you are STUCK?

Homework: For the next day count how many times you get “Emotionally Triggered” during the day. This is a key indicator of being STUCK.

Over the last year, many Leaders have dealt with massive change and disruption to their businesses. Whether it was the drop in oil price from $120/barrel to $30/barrel, or new competitors in the marketplace disrupting with innovative technology, cutting into your profit margins – all these changes require Powerful Leaders to find their Courageous Voice to communicate to staff, boards and clients how they plan to move their business forward in times of VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous).

Some real examples of ways that C-Suite Leaders need to express their Courageous Voices with more clarity are:

1. Making clear requests to their Board and Executive Leadership Team for support to find strategic ideas to move their business forward.
2. Embracing conflict with colleagues. With a courageous voice they see conflict as an opportunity to find the hidden requests of others.
3. Challenging the status quo of current business practices to find new ways to move their business forward.

A Courageous Voice will be expressed when a Powerful Leader learns to “BE” intentional about Being Courageous:

1. CARE

The first step that will allow you to express your Courageous Voice is to develop clarity as to what you deeply CARE about.

Question: What did Martin Luther King CARE about so much that allowed him to express his ideas with such Courage and Passion?

Martin Luther King cared about Racial Equality for all!

What do you deeply care about as a Leader?

2. Be Prepared

Once you have clarity as to what you CARE about in your role as a leader, the next step is to be intentional about quality preparation. A key component of quality preparation is knowing the risks that you are taking and the potential payoffs and impacts to the team and company.

Another aspect of being prepared so that others can hear your Courageous Voice is knowing how much support you have around you, so when it comes time to express your Courageous Voice, you do not feel alone.

Question: Where do you need to do better quality preparation so that others can hear your Courageous Voice about what you deeply CARE about?

3. Visualize A Positive Outcome

The final step to being able to express your Courageous Voice to others is to Visualize the Outcome! When you can envision what you deeply care about being successfully completed, you will take the necessary steps to make it real.

Challenge: Who do you need to express your Courageous Voice to and what is the conversation about?

Take a few minutes and visualize yourself having that conversation with your Courageous Voice and creating the positive outcome you desire.

One of the qualities that separate “Powerful Leaders” from the pack is the questions they ask.

At IKEA they ask, “What is our prospective client trying to have done?”  Their prospective client is a person who is living on a budget and needs usable space now! A new apartment they just moved into, a home office they need set up, a new kitchen that is easily installed so they can get their home on the real estate market quickly.

IKEA doesn’t focus on selling a particular type of furniture to a specific demographics. IKEA focuses on making it easy and affordable for people to furnish a space quickly.

IKEA then built a complete business model around answering one simple question, “How can we differentiate ourselves such that we make it easy for our prospective clients to have furniture set up and usable in their living space quickly?”

1. Design a showroom to display our products in typical living spaces so our clients can easily envision our furniture in their living space.
2. Make it easy for our prospective clients to buy from us – kids play zone so parents are able to shop without kids distracting them, lots of free parking, inexpensive dining, etc.
3. Supply a large inventory for our clients to select from.
4. Provide flat packaging to make it easy for our clients to get our products out of the warehouse and take their purchases home without assistance.

“What products and services do your clients and prospective clients need you provide to make their lives easier?”

The last time I checked, IKEA still does not have a direct competitor to their business!

At Awesome Journey we see a common theme between leaders like Elon Musk (Tesla), Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com), Suzanne West (Imaginea Energy) and Uber (Travis Kalanick). They are all disrupting their industry by finding ways to innovate their “Business Model”.

At Awesome Journey we see that the four key building blocks of a successful “Business Model” are:

1. Client Value Proposition
   1. Who is your key target client?
   2. What is the job that the target client needs done?
   3. What is your product and service offering?
   4. What is your distribution model to reach your key target client?
2. Profit Formula
   1. What is your revenue stream?
   2. What is your pricing model?
   3. What are your cost structures?
3. Key Resources
   1. What are your key resources you will need to support your product and service offering (physical, intellectual, people & financial)?
4. Key Processes
   1. What are your company’s key processes that will allow your organization to deliver product/service offering in a way that you can be consistent, reliable and scalable to grow?

Example: What is allowing Uber to take market share away from traditional Taxi companies worldwide?

They have changed the “Business Model”. Two key changes are:

1. Their distribution model – web based via an app to connect with client vs a call centre
2. Their pricing model – 75% goes to the Uber driver and 25% goes to Uber

Challenge: Where can you and your leadership team begin to challenge your existing “Business Model” so you are able to grow in the Digital World?

Powerful Leaders “Take Time to Ponder” their performance on a regular basis.

The question that I spent time pondering this week was,

“What inspired me, moved me or energized me to take action?

My answer – this quote by Margaret Mead:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Pondering this quote lead me to explore how to leverage the “Gifts of Greatness” of each of my team members to create a High Performance Team that provides WOW!! Service to Awesome Journey clients. From there I thought about how to design more intentional conversations to inspire and empower each of my team mates and awaken them to their greatness.

Challenge:

For the next three days, pay attention to things, people, and experiences that inspire you and energize you to take action and write them down.  Book an hour in your calendar at the end of the week to sit in an inspiring space with no distractions to ponder your list and design conversations to inspire your team.

Ask yourself this question at the end of the hour…

“What is this experience asking me to look at, discover or see that will allow me to grow and transform as a Powerful Leader?”

Powerful leaders have clarity between the distinction of “Being a Leader” and “Being a Manager” that enables them to design and build a Powerful Leaderful Culture.

Being a Leader – Being a Manager

• Listens for future – Manages a process
• Authority is declared – Authority is given
• Inspires and empowers others – Tells others what to do
• Uses generative language – Uses descriptive language
• Challenges the Status Quo – Obedient to the Status Quo
• Is a Possibility Thinker – Is a Scarcity Thinker

Why is it so important to have an organization of Leaders at all levels?

It becomes too overwhelming for the CEO of an organization to process the plethora of data that comes from employees, clients, suppliers, competitors, subject matter experts, publications, media, and conversations they engage in to envision the future direction of the company.

However, when a CEO is intentional about designing and building a powerful leadership culture, Leaders at all levels of the organization process information they are exposed to with the intent to share and develop opportunities to advance the organization.

Challenge: Be intentional about Being a Leader vs. Being a Manager and observe the affect it has on your organization’s Leadership Culture.