XLR8 The Passionate Leader: (G + L + F = JOY!!!)

Weekly Inspiration: You Can Do It! (click) Affirmation by Louise Hay from her 2010 calendar:

• “I drift off to sleep at night expressing appreciation and gratitude for my life.” Wayne Dyer referred to this as letting positive thoughts marinate all night long.
• We completed another XLR8 YOU!!! Leadership Excellence kick-off retreat last week at Bristol Harbour. Over the next month, each participant will be completing their “happiness list” which is read right before going to sleep. I mentioned this about a month ago and listed several of the items on my list.
• Where do the ideas for your list come from?
• From the everyday success exercise – focusing on “the present”
• One of your passions that you’d like more of in your life
• Positive behaviors you are trying to make a habit
• A leadership practice your people would like to see more of
• Behaviors supporting a value that is important to the leadership character you are trying to demonstrate
• Going over them each morning is a great way to set up your expectations for the day as well.

How do I do better?

Last week, we were reminded again on how hard it is to get ongoing feedback from the people around us. According to Chapter Three in A Leaders Legacy by Kouzes & Posner, the best-selling authors of The Leadership Challenge, “We all Need Loving Critics”. They found in their study of more than seventy thousand individuals who completed the Leadership Practices Inventory 360⁰ assessment, that the statement that ranks the lowest from the observers’ perspective is:

16. (He or she) asks for feedback on how his/her actions affect other people’s performance.

It is also our experience in nearly every leader we have worked with.

During our Leadership Challenge Jeopardy game, one of the answers developed referred to a once-a-month dialogue you could have with each of your direct reports. Have a two-way conversation answering these six key questions:

1. Where are we going?
2. Where are you going?
3. What are you doing well?
4. What suggestions do you have to do better?
5. How can I help you?
6. What suggestions do you have for me to do better?

The key is to exchange information about one another. Remember, coaching is not a once-a-year process. Do this at least every month, and you’ll be sure to notice continuous improvements as people become stronger and more capable as a result of being encouraged to learn from their experiences.

Next week: Using XLR8Forward