Dr. Krish Kandiah, a foster care advocate, encourages you to recognize that all human beings are more than the worst thing they have ever done.
Inclusive Leaders See Past Brokenness
Month: March 2020
Staying Emotionally Healthy as a Leader
Jo Saxton explains the key aspects of your life that you need to monitor to stay emotionally healthy in your leadership.
You Need Three Kinds of Mentors
Business owner and social entrepreneur Pete Ochs describes three types of leadership mentors you need and the insights each of them can provide.
Harnessing the Power of Motivation
Take a moment to consider some of the most satisfying accomplishments in your life.
- Maybe it was the time when you won a new account for your company, and it changed the course of your career.
- Maybe it was the time when you gave the best speech of your life, and even though there were only thirty people in the room, you were on a high for a week afterward just knowing that you had done your best.
- Maybe it was when your team won an important game, and even though you didn’t score the winning goal or even play much, you felt deeply gratified just being a part of something great.
We routinely experience these kinds of wins in life, but my research shows most people rarely stop to consider why those moments were so deeply gratifying.
For example, why was winning that account so important to you? Maybe it was because you are wired to want to achieve big wins, and this was a really important one. Or, maybe it was because of the external validation that the ensuing promotion gave you. Or, maybe it was because you’d been working on this account for two years and you had finally overcome a big challenge.
Your achievements are important to you because of some unique mix of drivers that create meaning and satisfaction in your life.
Every human is motivated by a unique motivational core…
Here’s the odd thing: each of us would find the exact same accomplishment gratifying, but for very different reasons. Every human is motivated by a unique motivational core, which means we each derive our motivational energy in very different ways.
This brings me to leadership.
Many managers attempt to motivate their team by using “blunt force,” one-size-fits-all approaches. They give bonuses, promotions, titles and raises. They give increased flexibility in work schedules, days off and encouragement—and they use any number of other blunt-force methods to try to motivate deeper engagement.
The problem is, none of these methods work effectively for very long because they don’t speak directly to the unique motivation of each team member.
Even more disturbing, the research of Edward Deci and colleagues shows that when managers rely upon external motivators, the team’s performance becomes propped up by these external stimuli. Thus, engagement and productivity begin to fail once the motivators are removed.
Instead of these blunt-force methods, managers must strive to discover the core motivation of each person on their team, then lead them accordingly. This is not a one-time, set it and forget it thing. Rather, it’s an ongoing conversation.
To get a handle on your team’s internal motivators, take time to debrief after individual and team successes. Take time to dissect wins with your direct reports and identify what went right.
Here are a few questions to ask a team member in the wake of a big accomplishment:
1. Was this success personally gratifying to you? If so, why? If not, can you identify a reason?
A team member might respond, “Not really, because I really like working with a team and this was mostly a solo effort.”
Or they might say, “Yes! I really enjoyed getting to present the final results to the group.”
Encourage your team members to reflect not just on what happened but also on what it meant to them on a personal level. We so often just move on to the next project without any consideration of what we just experienced. But by paying attention to patterns of engagement, over time it’s possible to begin to identify patterns of engagement and deep motivation within their role.
2. What specific role did you play in this success? Did you enjoy the role you played?
Because team members often touch only one small part of a project, and rarely get to see the work through from beginning to end, it’s helpful to reflect on how they contributed to the project and how it was different because of their involvement. Challenge your team members to consider what they specifically did to contribute to the success.
3. Can you think of another time when you experienced this kind of gratification? Are there any commonalities with the project you just completed?
You want to encourage your team members to consider any motivational patterns in their life. Are there other moments when they felt deeply engaged and gratified at the end of a successful project? How were the activities, the team or the setting similar to the one they just completed? Is there anything that can be learned about personal motivation from the patterns?
If you want your team to be deeply engaged…you must begin by learning what makes them tick.
If you want your team to be deeply engaged, to spend discretionary energy pushing projects to be as excellent as possible and to be effective collaborators, you must begin by learning what makes them tick.
We’re all busy, but if you make the time to ask about what drives your team’s engagement, then manage them according to their personal motivation, they will reward you with the best work of their life.
Volunteers in Prison Give Back, Pack 191,160 Meals For Children in Need
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It all started with The Global Leadership Summit
On October 2, 2019, Feed My Starving Children went into Southeast Correctional Center (SECC) in Charleston to work with a group of 282 volunteers to assemble meals for children in need. This was the first time Feed My Starving Children hosted a mobile pack inside a maximum-security prison in the state of Missouri!
But how did this meal packing event in a prison come to be? It all started with The Global Leadership Summit.
As a premier host of The Global Leadership Summit for a number of years, La Croix Church in Cape Girardeu, decided to bring this event into their local prison. With the support of Dr. John Wade, La Croix member, longtime Summit attendee, and retired Professor of Criminology, as well as Allen Hughes, Corrections Training Officer at SECC, La Croix was one of the first sites to bring the Summit into prison in 2015 and has been hosting it at SECC ever since.
The compounding effect of leadership on prison culture
The impact of the Summit in prison has had a compounding effect on the prison culture, which then resulted in a partnership with Feed My Starving Children to allow the incarcerated men to have an opportunity to give back. “We have them for a short period of time,” said Allen Hughes. “And it’s important that we do all that we can do to help them feel change, help them embrace change. And La Croix leads the way in helping us help these guys, taking them in and teaching them what they need to know before they go home.
“It started when we introduced The Global Leadership Summit to the prison at the end of 2015. And from that day forward, it has compounded a little bit better. We’re seeing huge reductions in our use of force to gain compliance from offenders, huge reductions in offender altercations, and huge reductions in conduct violation issues—grievances filed by offenders. The statistics are showing that the overall culture here at SECC is changing. The justice system doesn’t say that just because you failed once means the rest of your life is a failure.
“They’re seeing that we really care about them being successful when they re-enter society, and they’re seeing it through programs like Feed My Starving Children. These programs are introducing that thought process to them. To me, that is why I do what I do.”
I had an offender come up and say that this was the first good thing he’d ever done.
“We’re so grateful to how La Croix approaches the idea of service, being able to do as much as they can,” said Danny Pyne, Senior Event Supervisor at Feed My Starving Children. “We’re so grateful that they are able to be our entry point into this facility. And to already be packing 200,000 meals after the first event is so huge!”
Danny explained that the volunteers in prison tend to pack faster than the average volunteer. “A good shift packs a box per volunteer,” said Danny. “And with 500 volunteers, we’ll pack about 500 boxes of food. But during the first shift, we had about 143 volunteers, and they packed 497 boxes!”
“I had an offender come up and say that this was the first good thing he’d ever done,” said Danny. “And through this event, he experienced the value of what doing good actually was. This is what redemption looks like.”
The men are moved by the opportunity to give back
The response from the men is heartwarming and moving. “The energy—they hyped. I’m surprised you didn’t hear them!” said one of the men. “All of these different mindsets together—that’s a good thing.”
“It’s fun. It’s like a family. It’s like a barbeque in the backyard. It feels good,” said another. “At that point, titles went out the window. It was all about feeding the kids. We all need to get on the same page and help one another out. We’re here to do God’s work, whatever that may be, whatever he wants to use you for—let him use you and it’s going to be good.”
“We love to have the chance to put our faith, our change and our recovery into action,” said another. “A huge heartfelt thank you for all the funding and motivation and the chance to work through the church and the ministry. It’s surprising where you might be able to find help, even from prisons, but it means a lot.”
We love to have the chance to put our faith, our change and our recovery into action.
“It’s almost mind blowing to know that here I sit in this small town in Missouri, and I’m helping somebody overseas,” said Jones, one of the men. “I don’t know them, and they don’t know me, but I can see the impact we’re making and it’s just something you can’t explain. You feel it deep inside all in your core. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It brings humanity to the surface. It makes us feel like we are not forgotten, and we are not thought of us the scum of the earth. We are people still. We’ve made mistakes. A lot of the stuff we do is a way for us to atone for our mistakes. To be able to feed those kids over there who are so less fortunate than us, even us in prison, is a wonderful thing. I guarantee you if you do it once, you’ll want to do it again.”
“We can all work together to make this place better,” said Delvin, one of the men. “I love the people at La Croix, they are my family. They guys come in for Men’s Fraternity (one of the prison programs) and the GLS, so we’ve built up a relationship with them that’s been conducive to my growth. And I look forward to continuing to work with them while I’m here and on the outside.”
It brings humanity to the surface. It makes us feel like we are not forgotten, and we are not thought of us the scum of the earth.
“We’re doing something for the good of the community and society,” said Donna Wigfall, unit manager at SECC. “So, it brings you all together as one to work for a common goal.”
We are thankful for La Croix Church, who stepped up to serve the incarcerated and remind them that they still have a calling and a purpose, even within the prison walls. We’re thankful for Feed My Starving Children for giving these men an opportunity to give back. And we’re thankful for our donors who have supported the growth of bringing The Global Leadership Summit into prisons in the United States. The impact is not only felt on those who are incarcerated, but their families and their communities when they return to them.
282 Total volunteers
885 Total boxes packed
191,160 Total meals packed,
523 kids fed for a year
Why Feedback Fails
This article is a part of The Global Leadership Summit Faculty Spotlight series where we feature content from the upcoming #GLS20 speakers. This is a great opportunity to get a taste of what to expect from these amazing leaders!
We are thrilled to have our friend Marcus Buckingham return to the stage for #GLS20. A Summit favorite, Marcus will unpack his counterintuitive new book Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World. Watch this video to learn his surprising critique of the feedback culture and why he says feedback doesn’t work 🤯.
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The belief in the necessity of feedback is based on three beliefs—all of which are wrong.
There’s an insidious practice that’s been snaking its way through organizations in the past years; and it’s called Feedback. We’ve all been told we need to get better at delivering feedback, accepting feedback and improving ourselves because of it. We’ve even been told that feedback is the best—sometimes the only—way to improve ourselves and grow.
But if you’ve read my article with Ashley Goodall in Harvard Business Review, you know that’s a myth. Feedback might stop you from making mistakes, but it will never help you excel. And it is high time we stopped pretending that it does.
This video originally appeared on marcusbuckingham.com.
Join Marcus Buckingham and others for The Global Leadership Summit on Thursday and Friday, August 6-7, 2020. Get ready for your two-day infusion of fresh ideas, actionable concepts, leadership principles and heartfelt inspiration from a world-class faculty at a location near you!
Servant Leadership Leads to a Flourishing Workplace Culture
The next time I talk to Patrick Lencioni, I’m going to thank him for what he shared at the 2019 Global Leadership Summit.
He named the either-or choice that motivates and defines every leader: the choice to be a rewards-centered leader vs. a servant leader.
- Rewards-centered leaders are motivated by what they can get out of leadership.
- Servant leaders are motivated to serve the people they lead.
Which of us would choose to lead because of what’s in it for us? Why even raise the question?
Your motivation will leak into your culture.
Because sooner or later, we need to ask ourselves, “What’s truly motivating me to lead in this role? When adversity mounts and the pressure rises, what’s my default? At the end of the day, am I motivated to look out for #1, or to serve others before myself?”
Your motivation will leak into your culture.
How you treat people becomes a gravitational force of character, competence and chemistry that can tilt the health of your culture in one of two directions—toxic or flourishing.
As the leader goes, so goes the culture. And as the culture goes, so goes the organization.
What’s a leader to do?
Patrick Lencioni pointed to three ways leaders can serve others effectively:
1. Rewards-centered leaders don’t like to have uncomfortable conversations.
Servant leadership, on the other hand, practices healthy communication—one of the eight drivers of a flourishing workplace culture. When conflict arises, servant leaders address it quickly. They focus on the problem or issue, not on the individuals or personalities. If conflict becomes too emotional, they take time to pause to let things cool down. Then, they ask good questions, listen to answers and seek solutions that are a win-win for everyone involved.
I like what bestselling author and respected negotiator Sheila Heen says: “Navigating difficult conversations has to do more with reflecting on your story first, and then changing the purpose of your conversation.”
2. Rewards-centered leaders do not like to do teambuilding.
Servant leaders accurately see fantastic teams as exemplifying a spirit of partnership and collaboration—not “me” but “we” —to achieve shared goals and objectives within a department, across departments or organization wide. Fantastic teams create consensus, direction and momentum to establish, grow and sustain a flourishing culture.
Flourishing cultures cultivate and demonstrate cohesive teams that effectively engage in passionate, open dialogue. Teams that function well can accomplish more than what any one individual can do on his/her own.
3. Rewards-centered leaders don’t like repeating themselves.
We’ve all heard, vision leaks. We also know that culture drifts.
How do servant leaders keep vision from leaking and culture from drifting? Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. Effective CEOs are also Chief Reminding Officers.
If your WHY is off, then the HOW won’t matter.
I have a mentor that describes the importance of repeating the vision, mission and values of an organization often. He describes it like speaking to a group in a parade. New people are joining in the middle, some are leaving along the way, and many are getting weary or changing their minds as they are marching. Thus, it is critically important to keep communicating the same important messages over again.
While leaders might be concerned they are disrespecting the audience by repeating a message multiple times, our advice is, “when you feel that way, you are about half done!” Building and maintaining a flourishing workplace culture requires regular communication.
Finally, here’s one more Lencioni gem, to think about:
“If your WHY is off, then the HOW won’t matter.”
Your workplace culture can flourish and be synonymous with effectiveness, unity and trust of people who want to serve alongside you.
The Bible says, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve.” (1 Peter 5:2, NIV)
I’ll take these words to heart (and to work) every day from here on. How about you?
Episode 067: Chris Voss and Paula Faris on Negotiation
Get free, instant access to GLS Podcast Episode Show Notes. Leverage episode summaries, key takeaways, reflection questions, resources mentioned, related links and applicable downloads.
SUMMARY:
As former lead kidnapping negotiator for the FBI, master negotiator Chris Voss trains and advises leaders on complex mediations. In this engaging interview, Paula Faris draws out stories from bank robbery and kidnapping negotiations–drawing out transferrable learnings along the way. Learn how Chris uses the specific techniques of mirroring, positive endings and identifying fear to build the tactical empathy that leads to positive outcomes.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Anytime a sentence starts with “I want,” “I need” or “I’d like,” you’re in a negotiation.
- As you begin a negotiation, the other side needs to know that you see things from their point of view.
- Let the other person know you see it from their perspective right away and you’ll get them talking.
- Don’t say, “I understand.” Show them you understand. “I understand,” is shorthand for, “I want you to stop talking.”
- Everyone can learn the skills in negotiation.
- When in a negotiation, lean into your team. Your team will hear things that you don’t hear.
- Mirroring is repeating 1-3 words that they just said. That will entice them to give you more information.
- The last impression is the lasting impression. Positive calm endings will sway conversations in your direction.
- In every negotiation, the person on the other side is asking, “How are you going to help me?” and, “Do you understand?”
- I know the market and human nature.
- Identifying negatives diffuses negatives.
- Our greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. Injecting predictability into the situation, diffuses fear. Predictability builds trust.
- “What’s the next step?” is a question designed to make you feel like you’re in control. You feel safer when you are in control.
- Brain science tells us that the brain is largely negative. Fear of loss fuels our decision-making. The two-millimeter shift is to diffuse fear of loss by simply calling it out.
- When communicating difficult information, use curiosity instead of accusation. This allows your statement to get past the other person’s defenses so they can consider it.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
- Chris Voss says that whenever you begin a sentence with “I want,” “I need,” or “I’d like,” you are in a negotiation. Think about an area in your life where you have recently used one of those phrases. For what are you negotiating? Who are the parties in that negotiation?
- Take a look at the list of tactics that Chris unpacked in this podcast below. How might you use each of the tactics in the negotiation you identified above?
-
- Understanding the other person’s perspective
- Mirroring
- Positive calm endings
- Identifying negatives
- Creating predictability
- Diffusing fear of loss
- Curiosity
- What is one thing you could do today to move your negotiation forward?
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
RELATED LINKS:
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
Group of Incarcerated Men Form “The Pluckies Book Club”
A group of super volunteers in Florida are working hard in the prison system to bring The Global Leadership Summit to every prison in the Region 1 area of the Florida panhandle. Two of these volunteers, Libby Fisher and Erica Averion, strive to serve their prison sites with a high level of excellence.
In fact, Erica single handedly helped the Global Leadership Network to scale the Summit from 3 to 12 sites in the Florida prison system in 2019. Libby runs a book club at Walton Correctional. Libby decided to make The Global Leadership Summit faculty books a part of her club, and as a result, this group of incarcerated men are now making their way through this incredible leadership content to dive deeper into everything they learned during the Summit.
When Liz Bohannon learned about this initiative from Erica, she helped provide soft cover books of her newly released, Beginner’s Pluck. (Hardcover books are typically not allowed within correctional facilities.)
After reading her book, this incredible band of security level four incarcerated men have self-titled themselves as the “Pluckies”.
Recently, I received a letter from a gentleman in Walton Correctional nicknamed “Corn Dog”. Corn Dog lives in the Faith and Character dorm where he teaches leadership development to other incarcerated men. He uses the life lesson he learned from The Pluckies Book Club to change the lives of those he encounters in prison.
Here is his story in his own words:
My name is Corn Dog, but outside this place, people call me Sean. I wanted to share with you and the whole GLN how they are influencing the lives here in the Walton’s Faith & Character Based Program.
After attending the Summit and grasping the fact that everyone has influence, I asked, what does this really mean for those of us who feel as if we are helpless or have no influence? The answer is simple. This is your superpower. The power of a person is the influence they have and how they apply it.
For better or worse, we all have influence. How we use that influence matters. It changes lives.
I take the men in the class I teach through the seven types of influence using something most people are familiar with—super heroes. I also take the class through what I borrowed from Liz Bohannon and her circle of learning, but I turn it into the circle of influence. I am personally big on definitions so that people get the full understanding of what is being discussed. Starting with the word influence… By us living our lives and being ourselves, we all have influence and that will create an effect, like it or not.
How do we take hold of this power that we have and use it? How do we move from an unconscious state to a conscious state? We start by identifying the type of influence that we are dealing with. This is how we complete the circle—moving from unconscious influence to conscious influence and unconscious effect to conscious effect. Once we have the wheel in motion, we now lay out the types of influence we have in our day to day lives.
I ask questions designed to influence the way they think: How do you view people in power? How does this effect you? What are you afraid of? How do you overcome fear? What to you is a compelling force? Can you handle pressure? If we are obligated to follow things we don’t agree with, how can we use that obligation in a positive way for those around us? What keeps you asking why? How has adversity shaped where you are? In what clever or skillful way do you use your life experience in a positive way?
Inspire those around you to be more, reach for new heights they never thought they could reach.
For better or worse, we all have influence. How we use that influence matters. It changes lives. It will shape us into better people, husbands, wives, men, women and leaders. By using the one power we have we can be the grain of rice that tips the scale. We can better consciously shape the road that stretches out in front of us. Together as one body, we can use what’s taught and what we learn at the Summit with our friends, families and businesses. We can use our influence to build a brand-new world. Now you will see with new eyes how influence shapes the world around you. When you combine a hero—a person of distinguished courage, nobility and character—with influence, you get nothing less than an unstoppable force. One that can shake the very foundation of the world. The influence you have will become the legacy you leave. Inspire those around you to be more, reach for new heights they never thought they could reach. Lead yourself and others with the influence you have. As Captain Planet used to say, “the power is yours.”
-Corn Dog
If you have given in support of expanding The Global Leadership Summit in prisons across the United States, thank you. You are a part of these stories. You are a part of changing lives and telling those who are incarcerated that they have value and can have a positive influence.
44,000+ People Attending the Summit Internationally in March
Every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 8:30 am CST, our staff gathers together to pray for our partners across the globe.
Please join us in prayer as we lift up the international Summit events happening this month. Pray for God’s anointing on every detail and that those who attend would leave feeling equipped, inspired and encouraged to lead the change they long for in their communities.
And if you have a prayer request, please share it with us in the comments. We would be honored to pray with you!
March 3
Bengaluru, India
March 4
Isabela, Puerto Rico
March 5
Vitaria da Conquista, Brazil
Campinas, Brazil
Itu, Brazil
March 6
Paramaribo, Suriname
Malaysia
Lagos, Nigeria
Okitipupa, Nigeria
Las Pinas City, Philippines
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Bridgetown, Barbados
San Miguel, El Salvador
San Miguel, Peru
Cochabamba, Bolivia
Tarija, Bolivia
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Sucre, Bolivia
Camaguey, Cuba
Guanta¡namo, Cuba
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Monclova, Mexico
Reynosa, Mexico
Villahermosa, Mexico
Santiago, Dominican Republic
Nassau, Bahamas
OSLO, Norway
Rosario, Argentina
March 7
Tuguegarao XP, Philippines
Bengaluru, India
Ondo, Nigeria
March 10
Imphal, India
March 12
Varzea Grande, Brazil
Curitiba, Brazil
Granja Vianna, Brazil
Blumenau, Brazil
Feira de Santana, Brazil
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
March 13
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Madrid, Spain
Odessa, Ukraine
Lagos, Nigeria
Cipolletti, Argentina
Adrogua, Argentina
Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
Balneario Camburiu, Brazil
Liberia, Costa Rica
Limon, Costa Rica
Escuintla, Guatemala
Florianopolis, Brazil
Guarulhos, Brazil
Presidente Prudente, Brazil
Vitoria, Brazil
Bogota, Colombia
Montevideo, Uruguay
Moa Centro, Cuba
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Bistirta, Romania
Grand Bahama, Bahamas
Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain
March 14
Kohima, India
Mysore, India
Tiruvalla, India
Delhi, India
Jodhpur, India
Bluefields, Nicaragua
Thessaloniki, Greece
Belgrade, Serbia
Vizag, India
Uppsala, Sweden
Haugesund, Norway
March 15
Imphal, India
March 18
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
March 19
Sorocaba, Brazil
Fortaleza, Brazil
Londrina, Brazil
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
Ribeiraeo Preto, Brazil
March 20
Lagos, Nigeria
Novo Friburgo, Brazil
Region Brunca, Costa Rica
Quezada, Costa Rica
Jakarta, Indonesia
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Philadelphia, United States
March 21
Ciudad Autanoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tarlac, Philippines
Vizag, India
Trivandrum, India
Imphal, India
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Asuncian, Paraguay
March 24
Gaborone, Botswana
March 26
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Governador Valadares, Brazil
Porto Alegre, Brazil
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Recife, Brazil
Salvador, Brazil
Dorado, Puerto Rico
Campinas, Brazil
Chapeca, Brazil
Porto Seguro, Brazil
Cap Haitian, Haiti
Coto Brus, Costa Rica
March 27
David, Panama
Lagos, Nigeria
Budapest, Hungary
General Santos, Philippines
Vizag, India
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Ji-Parana, Brazil
Maringa, Brazil
Sao Fidalis, Brazil
Bucaramanga, Colombia
Cuenca, Ecuador
Oaxaca, Mexico
Bayamo, Cuba
March 28
Santiago, Chile
Concepcian, Chile
Linares, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Resistencia, Argentina
Kolar Gold Fields, India
Somotillo, Nicaragua
Trinidad, Bolivia
La Havana, Cuba
Malmo, Sweden
Rawson, Argentina
Beirut, Lebanon
Staten Island, United States
Chillan, Chile
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