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THE Leadership Event You Need to Attend

by Adam Lehman on October 30, 2011 in Lead with 8 Comments

I spent a solid chunk of last week at the best leadership experience I’ve ever come across.

It wasn’t hyped. You didn’t see an advertisement for it on that blog you love. You didn’t see it’s hashtag trending on Twitter.

Peak Performance Retreats are the product of years of exploration of Chris McAlister.

The work done there is so personal, so perfectly individualized that I can’t easily put into words what you’ll take away. But I’ll try:

You’ll be put in perfect position to have God speak to the core of your being.
You’ll have the opportunity to identify some of the key fears that are blocking your creativity, communication & leadership.
You’ll learn simple practices that will allow you lead at a high level with longevity.
You will have a breakthrough.

Those are big promises, but I’d guarantee them.

If you’re struggling, stuck in an addiction, losing relationships or hurting others in your leadership; you NEED to go. You NEED to sign-up as soon as you can.

If you’re serious about changing – about growing , I can’t imagine an excuse not to sign-up.

Case Study in Trust: Chipotle

by Adam Lehman on August 10, 2011 in Lead with 5 Comments

I eat at Chipotle. Too Much.

One time, I ordered 2 burritos for my wife and I. I was standing at the check out and realized that I had left my debit card at home.

Now know this … I’m a regular. I’m the mayor of my local chipotle on Foursqure and I’m the Duke on Yelp. I write gushing reviews for every Chipotle I go to.

Now back to my moment at the cash register….

The teenager rocking the cash register tells his manager. The manager looks at me and uses his magical manager key and comps the food & drinks. 14 bucks they lose (they were gonna throw it away anyways).

I was floored. I felt like giving the manager a hug. He just got back to work.

A few weeks later, I ordered using the Chipotle iPhone app and Chipotle screwed up my order. I didn’t catch it until I was home.

What did I do? Shrug it off.

I will continue to frequent Chipotle. They will continue to hook me up. There is a trust developed between Chipotle’s brand and myself.

Benefits of Trust for Chipotle

They’re not perfect. If they screw up, I won’t care. If I have to wait in line for 27 minutes, I’m not gonna complain. In fact, I’m likely to say a kind word to the workers there in hopes that I can brighten their day.

Speed of Business. It takes Chipotle a WHOLE LOT less time to make me happy. Less work. Less attention from the staff.

Increased ROI. My trust of Chipotle is a multiplier on their marketing efforts. A Chipotle billboard makes me smile. Their bag stories get a read from me each time. An app developed by Chipotle is DEFINITELY on my phone. Each of these efforts cost time & money. The ROI for these efforts is dramatically increased because of trust.

Word of Mouth. I try to talk everyone into Chipotle. Nearly each day at work, I’ll comment, “Some Chipotle sounds GREAT right now.” Most days I don’t each Chipotle, but I spread the word. I argue with Chipotle haters. I push for people to see Chipotle as a healthy diet option. I even write blog articles about Chipotle….

Benefits of Trust for Me

Foregiveness. They comp my meal when I forget my card. Saves me money, time & energy of getting different food.

Enjoyment. My trust of Chioptle makes me enjoy my experience so much more. Appreciation for the speed, atmosphere and attitude of Chipotle increases exponentially.

Invites. So many folks know that I’m a Chipotle nut. I get invited to Chipotle a ton. I get Chipotle gift cards. My wife “treats me” by suggestion Chipotle for lunch on the weekend.

Building Trust Increases the Speed of Business

Building Trust Decreases Cost

Building Trust Multiplies Happiness

Trustworthy Behavior: Demonstrate Respect

by Adam Lehman on August 5, 2011 in Lead with No comments

In college I was on a men’s ministry leadership team. Historically, that team had primarily focused on hosting a conference for men. That conference was the primary use of our budget.

The year I was on the team, we wanted to do something different. We wanted men’s ministry on campus to infuse the lives of students, not pull them into something else (a conference).

So we started a campus-wide campaign. I wanted to title it “give a damn” encouraging men to care about their brothers, to get out of alpha-male competitions (girls, pranks, sports) and get into respecting and caring for others.

Unfortunately, the campaign ended up being title “give a rip.” I think it was a fine alternative….

Lots of folks are fighting for our attention with words, shiny objects and sexy models. Our society has developed a pretty strong radar for detecting whether or not someone cares about us or if they’re just after our wallets.

You can’t fake caring. You can’t fake respect. You can try, but it won’t last very long. Giving a rip about your customers is the hard work that’ll set you apart from the competition. It’ll cause you to work long and hard on their problems. You’ll go above and beyond because you sincerely respect them.

Want to build trust? Care. Give a rip.

Want a prospect to trust you? Care!
Want your boss to trust you? Show Respect
Want your coworkers to trust you? Respect their time
Want your clients to trust you? Show genuine interest in their business

The World Thrives When the “Makers” Lead

by Adam Lehman on August 4, 2011 in Culture, Lead with No comments

At one point, the automobile industry – and her largest companies – was run by engineers who built the cars. At this time, the industry exploded. Companies grew & grew & grew.

At some point in the 70s, engineers were replaced by MBAs. A bunch of finance guys took over and started running companies out of a passion for numbers rather than a passion for car-making. For several decades, America experienced a steady decline in car quality.

Right now, the tech industry is run by engineers. The “makers” of the product are leading the companies. Zuckerberg is driving Facebook, Jobs in Apple, Crabb at Google, Gates in Microsoft.

What industry is growing by leaps at bounds? Tech. What industry has the most “makers” leading its companies? Tech.

The world thrives when the “makers” aren’t content in sitting behind a computer program to design or engineer a product.

If you’re making something, step out and lead. If you’re leading without making, best stay close to the makers and keep an open-channel for feedback.

Trustworthy Behavior: Straight Talk

by Adam Lehman on August 3, 2011 in Lead with No comments

Want to build trust? Talk straight.

Paying lip service to “straight talk” is easy. So easy. Living it is hard, real hard.

Want to lead your organization into trust? You’ve gotta talk straight!

3 Myths of Straight Talk

Be Brutally Honest – I want honesty, but not brutal honesty. When someone shares that they’ve been brutally honest, I cringe. Simple honesty will suffice. When someone asks you for feedback, be honest instead of brutal.

It will hurt the relationship – Often, honest, clear communication can feel like you’ll ruin the relationship you’ve developed. In reality, there is an assumption, behavior or attitude that will harm the relationship and your honesty is going to bring it to light. Dragging issues into the open can hurt for a bit, but it’s a relational surgery that’ll give your relationship potential to grow.

You’ll Bore Your Audience – Straight talk isn’t just about truth vs lies, it’s about simply, clearly communication. This mean NO embellishment, exaggeration or fluff in your messaging. You may feel like you’re going to bore your audience if you don’t take some artistic liberties with your speech, but quite the opposite. Simply describe the reality of your message using simple, clear wording and your idea, product or service will shine through.

A Solid Core: Gotta Have It

by Adam Lehman on August 2, 2011 in Lead with 2 Comments

If you’ve got a weak core, it’s gonna show. If the soil of your identity is filled with poison, fruit isn’t going to take root. You’ll have no growth and no harvest. You could try to develop an organization of trust, but your core will shine through, sabbatoging your efforts to have a solid organization.

4 Pieces to Your Core you GOTTA HAVE:

Integrity – are you fake?
Intent – are your motives pure?
Capability – do you have the talents?
Results – are you producing tangible change?

3 questions that HAVE TO be answered to have a solid core:

Who am I?
Why do I live?
How do I live?

The Importance of Trust in Your Organization

by Adam Lehman on August 1, 2011 in Lead with 3 Comments

Lack of trust costs your organization. Big time. If you’ve got a lack of trust, you’re paying taxes. You won’t see these taxes on the books, but they’re hitting you big time:

The 7 Taxes of Low Trust Organizations

Redundancy
Bureaucracy
Politics
Disengagement
Turnover
Churn
Fraud

No one wants to work in a organization with a low-trust culture (except politicians).

But don’t worry, if you’ve got a high-trust organization, not only do you avoid the above taxes, you get paid back in dividends. Just like the taxes above, these dividends don’t show up in your books, but they’re real none-the-less.

The 7 Dividends of High Trust Organizations

Increased Value
Accelerated Growth
Enhanced Innovation
Improved Collaboration
Stronger Partnering
Better Execution
Heightened Loyalty

No brainstorming session is needed to realize that a high-trust culture makes the workplace more profitable AND enjoyable.

(for more on taxes and dividends based on trust, check out pages 236 – 260 of “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey)

An Individual Who Does Not Know or Understand Himself

by Adam Lehman on July 5, 2011 in Lead with 7 Comments

When I think about the kind of person I’m supposed to be, I get depressed. Here’s a few reasons:

I make less money than I potentially could.
I weigh more than I potentially should.
I have less friends than I could.
My clothes aren’t as cool as they should be.
I have less twitter/google+/facebook connections than I’d like to.
I have less blog visitors than others.
I could be a better husband/son/brother/friend/etc.
I read less books than I ought.

Get the picture. No matter who you are, you’re not enough of something. You’re not who you’re supposed to be. The chasm between who we are and who we’re supposed to be can be depressing. Acknowledging this chasm is the start of growth. If you don’t know yourself, you have no paradigm for acknowledging this chasm. If the core of your identity is shaky or frail, this chasm will destroy you.

In related news, I found this treasure chest of a quote nestled within the first few chapters of a book I’ve been reading:

“Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth.” ~ Erich Fromm ~

*Quote found in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” on page 36

Tweet or Be Tweetable

by Adam Lehman on June 18, 2011 in Culture, Lead with 1 Comment

I love twitter. I get loads and loads of value from it. More than half of my friends in Columbus are people I started interacting with on Twitter. I’ve met loads of church leaders in real life whom I’d been speaking with via twitter. It’s awesome. I don’t believe there is a better way to move to a new city and meet people.

When I think about the people who dominate on twitter, two types of users stick out as using twitter best:

1. Tweetable People

This first category contains the big guns of twitter. These folks post remarkably funny, informative, inspirational or hilarious tweets all day, every day. These folks travel the globe, post pictures and leave the rest of us jealous. Celebrities, comedians, news networks etc.

The criteria for being in this category: have a life worth tweeting. When I upload pictures to twitter, it’s usually my dog, some food I’m about to eat, or a myspace-style picture of myself. Not interesting. When Scott Belsky shares a picture on twitter, I get jealous. Almost everything Tim Ferris writes or posts fits into this category as well.

The rule to get into this category: be interesting.

2. Connectors

Habit #5 of Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is this: seek first to understand, then to be understood. Most people communicate in the exact opposite way as this principle. Twitter is no exception.

Read the twitter timeline of Gary Vaynerchuck. He responds to tweets about 10 times more than he posts about himself. He’s using twitter to talk to real people, not show folks how sweet he is.

The criteria for being in this category: give a rip about others. Anyone can play in this game, just talk to others. You’ll soon find that some people on twitter are jerks and won’t reply to your conversations. Who cares!?!? There are about a bizillion other people on twitter to chat with.

(This is what I did when I moved to Columbus, OH. I created a twitter account that was dedicated to following and connecting with people in this city. I explain all that in this post.)

The rule to get into this category: be interested.

*note: sadly, most twitter users are in neither of these categories….

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THE Leadership Event You Need to Attend