I wanted to share several thoughts that I recently learned from my coach / mentor, John Maxwell during a special presentation that he did for the certified members of the John Maxwell Team .

I am a life-long learner and have read and / or listened to hundreds of hours of leadership-oriented books, webinars, etc. One of the reasons that I love and respect John Maxwell is that he has a way of putting so much meaning into a few simple words.

There are actually 10 different contrasting points on the spectrum of taking forward vs. leaving behind. On the surface, these will sound so simple. However, as you read these, stop and think about the deeper meaning of each word , and then contemplate the enormous change, effort and commitment that is typically involved in moving from one “state” to another.

Take forward: what I can do / leave behind: what I can’t do

Take forward: adding value to others / leave behind: I must make the sale

Take forward: reflections on lessons learned / leave behind: reactions to my circumstances

Take forward: opportunities / leave behind: difficulties

Take forward: people benefits / leave behind: personal gain

Take forward: responsibilities / leave behind : rewards

Take forward: values / leave behind: emotions

Take forward: today / leave behind: yesterday and tomorrow

Take forward: gratitude / leave behind: complaining

Take forward: who I can become / leave behind: who I was

Please let me know if we might help you in making these changes in your life, and in the life of your organization.

John Gardner, your leadership TEAM COACH

818-292-7156

Isn’t hindsight grand? How many times over the past couple of months have you said “I wish I would have done this or that?”

While some might speculate regarding the source of this crisis looking for blame, it really doesn’t matter. It came “out of the blue,” it is dangerous, and people unfortunately are dying from contracting it. The fact is, that no matter where it came from, or how it got here – it is here NOW, and we must deal with it NOW.

Part of my healthcare background has been in behavioral health where Freud followers would suggest that every problem was ” your mother’s fault.”  Then, William Glasser came out with reality therapy which said “too bad about your mom, here is where you are today and what are you going to do about it?”

So, what most folks are doing now, is mitigation. Crises reveal what’s already in place;  whether poor processes, untrained workers, or untested leaders. When you are in the crisis, its too late to prepare.  We are all playing catch-up, doing our best to ensure the least harm is done in terms of lives lost, people suffering with poor health, disrupted lives, economic ruin, etc. We all wish now that we had been more prepared – all of us.  There is plenty of fault and blame to go around, but that really accomplishes nothing good.

BUT, what we can do, is get ready for the next one. Yes, there will be a next crisis perhaps even more dangerous, expensive, wide-spread, long-lasting, etc. In the midst of crisis, rather than wring our hands, it is important to act our way out of this one, and plan to avoid / minimize the impact of the next one.

As learning organisms, I pray that we all will assess NOW what we must change going forward  with regard to our ineffective plans, processes and people. As a former SNF operator I recall the big deal we would make about having our 3 day food supply ready for survey. Was it current, did we have the right amounts? Also, I remember, sometimes begrudgingly, having fire and disaster drills in order to get our check off for the month.

Going forward, how far outside of the box do we need to think? Do we need to ensure a 30+ day supply of PPE for all employees and residents using 10 sets per day per resident? Do we stockpile and maintain oxygen concentrators and ventilators? How many are enough?

  What processes are in desperate need of revision, what training needs to be done, how is your leadership bench?

My encouragement is to start NOW, making your list of things you will do to get ready for the next one based on the problems you face because you did not get ready for this one.

John Gardner, Senior Advisor

John.Gardner@TriadLeadershipGroup.com // 818-292-7156

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-you-do-after-crisis-wish-had-done-before-john-gardner

First, I want pay huge respect and great appreciation to all of the healthcare workers who every day, are working incredible hours and taking serious risks in their efforts to save lives. We typically think of doctors and nurses, but there are a whole bunch of support folks in provider operations and supply chains that are significant as well. My “hat is off” to all of you / them.

This crisis will subside at some point and then, it will be back to “business as usual” – working long hours to save lives. However, we will never return to normal as we knew it.

Think of the countless hospitals, nursing homes, physician practices, supply chain vendors, manufacturers, etc. who have been made painfully aware of failed and failing systems and managers that need to be revised, retrained or replaced with new ways of doing perhaps, most everything. The healthcare system has been front and center during this crisis, and under the most stress and strain of its systems and its people.

I had a great conversation with a long-time friend, now business associate, the other day who happens to be a Six Sigma Blackbelt AND a Lean expert at the KAIZEN Award level. He and I both have a long history in the healthcare industry and we discussed the huge impact this COVID-19 crisis is having on the healthcare industry not just today, but for years to come.

Six Sigma and Lean strategies and methodologies were (before COVID) slowly being adopted by the healthcare industry although lagging other industries by years. These proven processes for change in fact, work. Sometimes they are difficult to understand and implement, but it’s part of the process to help the entire organization understand not just the how, but the why.

I respect my smart KAIZEN friend, but also know that we need to simultaneously focus our efforts on the “soft side” which is equally important – leadership. Just like with the clinical folks, I’m sure healthcare organization’s leadership and management teams have had their worlds rocked as well, during this unprecedented time in our history / in our industry.

In John Maxwell’s recent book entitled LeaderShift , he points out that “ you cannot be the same , think the same, and act the same if you hope to be successful in a world that does not remain the same.”

In the midst of crisis, its too late to build your team . Crisis reveals what values and abilities your team , and its members already have.   So, when this crisis inevitably subsides, it is time to quickly get ready for the next crisis or challenge by investing in proven change processes, and investing in developing your leadership teams – you will need to do both in order to succeed.

When the time is right for you, please let us know how we can help you change.

John.Gardner@TriadLeadershipGroup.com - - 818-292-7156

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-ready-massive-change-john-gardner-healthcare-industry-advisor

I just spent several days in a virtual summit with the John Maxwell Team. Normally, these summits are held twice per year in Florida with approximately 3,000 attending each summit. This year something amazing happened in the virtual mode. John Maxwell, who is recognized as one of the world experts on leadership development with over 100 books, made the decision to cancel the in-person event and hold the summit virtually.

Normally, the summit would be for the certified members of the John Maxwell Team, but this year, in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis, they decided to invite the public  to hear John’s three main presentations. In doing so, he was able to positively impact an estimated 1,000,000 people  with his practical and inspirational messages – way beyond the 3,000 that would have attended in person – an amazing example of turning adversity into advantage.

One the first day, he spoke on Leading through Crisis . In his message, he focused on four major points: defining the crisis, battling distractions during a crisis, being aware that your character will be revealed in a crisis, and defining real leadership through crisis to include  showing up early, showing up with clarity, and showing up with hope.

 On the next two days, his topic was Turning Adversity into Advantage  with an acknowledgement that adversity is not unusual but in fact, should be expected. His challenge was to expect it and be ready for it, not only to provide sound leadership and direction in the midst of crisis, but perhaps more importantly, learn from it  so as to possibly avoid or better handle inevitable crises in the future.

We all likely have some sense deep in our spirit that our lives will never be the same  after living through this crisis. To see that, we only have to look at crises of the past that we all lived through, triumphed over, and went on to create a successful “new normal.” Crises always resolve and life goes on, but not as before.  So, our challenge is to learn from the past and envision a bright future. Our bright future is based on prayerful and thoughtful insights and innovations that we deploy to triumph over the current crisis, that will serve us well going into our successful “new normal” future.

I am pleased to offer you the link to Maxwell’s three, one hour presentations: https://bit.ly/33JLpzk

As certified John Maxwell Team members, we now have all of his outlines, notes and related training and coaching modules that can help leadership teams  as we get back to work. We will have to fix what’s broken, and recover what we can. But, we need to make certain that we turn our adversity into our advantage to prosper and thrive in our “new normal” world.

Contact   john.gardner@TriadLeadershipGroup.com  or call 818-292-7156  

I recently made a new friend, a master in the field of executive health and wellness. As we discussed executive vitality, I begin to think beyond physical fitness about what all does it mean to be fit for leading ?  

In addition to vitality, I believe there are three other critical elements for being fit for leading that include: character, personal growth and performance skills.  One of the elements of character is integrity which in my opinion, is the non-negotiable cornerstone that holds all of the rest of the elements of leadership in place. No matter how physically fit you might be, or what skill sets you have, it doesn’t matter if we can’t trust you.

Personal growth encompasses the development of character and a multitude of other leadership traits based on things like awareness, intentionality, consistency, discipline, curiosity, dependability, and contribution.

John Maxwell frequently teaches about the Law of the Lid which states that an organization can never grow beyond the character and capacities of its leaders. He states that if you want to grow your company, you must grow your leaders.  

Finally, if we are physically fit, have great character, and are wonderful people and team players, we must also make certain that we have the crucial performance skills needed for successful achievement of our personal and business goals. Our ever-changing society and business environment force us into a constant state of learning new skills and adapting.  

Everyday, we must work on becoming fit for leading by building our character, our skills, who we are, and our vitality.   At Triad, we know how important each of these “stool legs” are to success and also know that if we don’t pay equal attention to each, that our leadership stool will be crooked or worse, fall over.

Most of us know how important it is to "develop" our people but we frequently don't know where to start. Perhaps even more frequently, we never seem to find the right time, or the right subjects or the right people to start and sustain a carefully thought out Team Building or Leadership Development plan. Our hesitations lead to missed opportunities and repeated management mistakes.

In fact, there is a direct correlation between improving your people then reaping as the benefit, improved outcomes for your business. John Maxwell, in one of his classic books, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership describes the Law of the Lid which states that "an organization can never grow beyond the character and capacity of its leaders". So if you want to grow your organization and achieve better outcomes and higher profits, you have to lift the lids that are holding you and your organization back from growth and increased success.

As happens every year - we make more and more resolutions - all well intended. Perhaps even more than well-intended, our resolutions are frequently things that we know we need to do and they are things that we know that if we would do them, our lives and our businesses would be better for the effort. Resolutions are personal things and we don't usually hear about many businesses making resolutions.

However, as business leaders, we certainly set goals and establish various plans for marketing, product development, investor relations, and of course training and developing our people. That's why in 2020, we at Triad have made a resolution to help our clients achieve improved outcomes by helping them lift lids while focusing on Leadership Development and Team Building as the basis for meeting and exceeding business goals and objectives.

Please feel free to contact me on my cell at 818-292-7156 to discuss how we can help you "lift lids" in your organization in 2020.

John Gardner, Senior Advisor

Triad Leadership Group

john.gardner@TriadLeadershipGroup.com

818-292-7156

One of John Maxwell’s 100 plus books is entitled JumpStart Your Leadership in 90 days. Some of you may be new in a leadership role while others may want to fine-tune your existing leadership style and results. No matter where you are in your leadership journey, learning to lead better will help you make a difference and a positive impact on the world. Leadership doesn’t have to be confusing; after all, leadership is influence – nothing more / nothing less. The sign of good leadership isn’t personal advancement, it’s the advancement of your team. Take your focus off of your job title and focus on earning the respect and trust of your team. Jack Welch, the amazing leader of GE, said “that before you are a leader, success if about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” 

Getting a leadership position does not make you a leader, it is merely an invitation to grow yourself and your influence with others. The key is to be a life-time learner. List out your strengths and weaknesses. Focus on enhancing your strengths and partner with other like-minded and like-valued team members whose strengths cover your weaknesses and visa versa. No one is a superstar in all areas of leadership but creating leadership teams that have all of the bases covered by covering each other creates winning teams and winning organizations.

Please email me with your suggestions for blog posts or questions at: john.gardner@yourleadershipTEAMCOACH or call me at:       800-295-1750

Over the past few weeks we have reviewed each of the Pillars of Leadership Success that we at Triad Leadership Group consider to be the fundamental building blocks for creating successful leaders. As a Certified John Maxwell Team member, I am committed to these five pillars, which are directly tied to John Maxwell books and workshop resources. Of course, there are hundreds of great authors writing thousands of books on leadership. If one were to try to read all that’s available on leadership philosophies, strategies and tactics, there were scarcely be any time to start or run your business. Our approach, using Maxwell resources is simple, easy to understand and fully synergistic – each pillar with the other – each a building block to grow you to the next level.

The fifth and final pillar is focused on DEVELOPING LEADERS AROUND YOU. As a leader, it is virtually impossible to accomplish anything of greatness or significance by yourself. In order to create growing and evolving organizations it takes a cadre of constantly growing, securely connected and effective influencers who can create their own internal teams to power organic growth, and create leaders for subsidiaries, and spawn spin-offs, etc.

In Maxwell’s classic early book, the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, he refers to the Law of Explosive Growth which states “to add growth, add followers; to multiple growth, lead leaders.

Going forward in our next blog, we will begin to drill down on strategies and techniques that have proven to be effective in creating great leaders, great organizations, and great results that change lives and add value to our communities.

Please email me with your suggestions for blog posts or questions at: john.gardner@yourleadershipTEAMCOACH or call me at:     800-295-1750

Sometimes we think that if we are going to teach leadership that we would just go to the book or training module that jumps right in to the various leadership traits and skills that ultimately help us become leaders. However, the reason that this is the fourth pillar and not the first is that no matter how much we know about leadership, we really can’t be effective unless we are constantly growing ourselves so that when we get to lead that we actually have something worthwhile to share. As you recall, the first pillar is personal growth which is the foundational building block of leadership success. Also, remember that each pillar must be built on a firm foundation in order to stand firmly in place as the other pillars are built. Then as we grow, we must learn how to effectively connect with others (second pillar) so that we can influence them (third pillar) which is the essence of leadership. 

Once we know how to influence, then we need to focus on the content, character, examples and experiences that we use to influence others as their leaders. There are numerous myths about leadership including the one that suggests leaders are born and that if you are not a born leader, then you can’t ever be one. Most leadership skills are in fact learned. As we coach and train, we define the traits and roles of leaders and recognize the great opportunities that exist for leaders as well as the great responsibilities. In fact, the further up the leadership ladder we go, the more responsibility we have to help others be their best and the less freedom and privileges we have as their coach, mentor and role model. There are thousands of books and training programs all about become a leader but the essence of leadership can be as simple as these three questions: do they respect you, do they care about you, and can you trust them?  

Watch for our next blog post where we will discuss the importance of the FIFTH PILLAR for achieving leadership success – DEVELOPING LEADERS AROUND YOU. Please email me with your suggestions for blog posts or questions at: john.gardner@yourleadershipTEAMCOACH or call me at:     800-295-1750