It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

I want to be a REAL leader.

I'm not saying that I'm not a leader, I just want to be REAL. In a world where leadership is being challenged, where sincerity is being questioned and where power and control is something to achieve, I don't want that. I want to be real.

We're talking about ONE THING that we're learning from some books, and today I want to share TWO THINGS, but they're connected. The two books I'm talking about are below:

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

I found this book years ago while browsing through a bookstore in an airport and I really enjoyed reading it. I recently pulled it off my shelf to look at again, and decided to use the title to inspire us to share some things we're learning.

Many times, we read a book and there are so many great ideas and concepts, that when we are finished, we are simply overwhelmed, so we don't act on any of them.

This book is a challenge to identify the ONE activity, the ONE idea, the ONE task, the ONE THING that leads to your greatest productivity and do that.

I'm going to gather a couple of my favorite books, and over the next few weeks I want to share THE ONE THING that stood out to me that I was actually able to process, apply and develop to affect my leadership.

I'd like to ask you to share some of yours. Do it simply:

• What's the book?

• What's The One Thing that stands out to you (we all see different things)?

• How has it made a difference?

Send it to me HERE and I'll share it with others reading this weekly post.

Here's my ONE THING from The One Thing:

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

I don't know about you, but I need to be inspired!

I look for inspiration all around me.

I look to many of you for that inspiration as you lead in so many different settings, cultures, locations and organizations.

During this crazy "season" that we've all been in that has been full of unexpected challenges, regular changes and a blend of fear and discouragement, I found a source of inspiration when a friend recommended it and I began to listen to a podcast on my daily walks.

Today's note might sound like a commercial, but I wanted to share with you the source of some of my inspiration over the past number of months.

Guy Raz has a podcast called "How I Built This" on NPR (National Public Radio) here in the U.S.A. In each episode, he tells a story about some of the worlds "best know companies and the innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists and the movements they built."

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

There's a TV show in the US called, "What Would You Do" hosted by John Quiñones. The premise is simple: "When you think no one is watching, what would you do?" They create scenarios with actors to see how people respond to injustice, discrimination, and a number of other situations. They film the action, and the idea is that when people are given the opportunity to do the right thing, or the wrong thing, what will they do?

People can either surprise us with the quality of their character, or they disappoint us through the depth of their failure.

Does anybody know the "real you"?

This is a loaded question for those of us in leadership. We're often leading a group, a meeting, a team. People follow our vision. They follow our leadership. Our life work involves PEOPLE. We're surrounded by people.

But, do they know the "real me".

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

I don't know about you, but sometimes we make things way to complicated. In our desire to be more effective and professional, we sometimes create systems that just don't work.

I remember early in my career when I was asked to fill out a weekly report. I would take time each week to account for my time, tell stories, and basically justify my job, and I would get it turned in before Friday at 5:00pm (usually this meant I was working on it at 4:30pm on Friday), but I got it in.

I realized very quickly that my supervisor wasn't reading my reports. He would ask me questions the following week that I had answered in my report, so I began to mess with him a little bit and make stuff up and write crazy things in the report just to see if he was ever reading them. He never called me on it, even when I told him that I had slept through a meeting that week.

As a result of that experience, I always pushed back on weekly reports, and then I realized that at one point in my leadership I was having people complete reports that I didn't have time to actually read.

I'm sure I'm the only one that has done this.

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

Today we're talking about DAILY RHYTHMS.

I tend to come back to this topic so much because:

1) It's really important in my life, and I know it!

2) It's so easy to mess this up and forget how important it is!

Last December I wrote about RHYTHM and then spent much of the "Covid Season" learning about SLOWING DOWN, REPLENISHMENT and PRIORITIES. You'll find this as a theme because it's something I continue to learn about, and something I work hard to have in my life. Maybe it's easier for you, but this is a daily challenge for me.

Today, I want to share a short conversation I had with my friend Jim Olsen. Jim is the Director of Hacienda El Refugio, a retreat and training center nestled in the mountains outside of Quito, Ecuador. You can find out more about El Refugio HERE.

As I've been asking leaders that read this Tuesday Note to share some of their "tips, tricks, habits and hacks", Jim shared the following with me.

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

We learn by watching others.

I remember when I was learning how to play the drums as a kid, I would watch people play and I would try to mimic them. I wanted to look like them, sound like them, and play like them. I spent hours watching and listening to others, and some of that rubbed off on my drum playing. I got better!

Yesterday, I watched my 82-year old father preach at his church. I watched virtually, but Gina and I commented about how many messages we've watched him give over our years. I have shaped my style of communication from watching my dad and doing many of the things I think he has done and continues to do with his communication.

We learn by watching others.

It's because of this that I've asked you to share some things that have helped you along your leadership journey. Today, I have a conversation with Ty who I've had the privilege to journey with over the years in a couple of different locations and events.

Here's an 11-minute conversation with Ty:

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

There are things that we all do that help us be the BEST we can be. We might call this our "secret sauce" or our own "personal habits", but whatever we call them, they are things that help us as leaders to the be the best we can be.

I've been sharing with you over the past 12 weeks some of the things that continue to help me as a leader. You can find my list HERE.

Last week in the Tuesday at 2:00pm note, I challenged you to share with me some things that you do that help you lead and perform at a higher level. I've received a number of notes that I'm excited to follow-up on, but today I wanted to share this first one.

Ryan Daffron is a good friend and someone I've had the privilege of knowing for a long time. I asked him this question, "When you think about your leadership, what is something you have learned or done that has made you a more effective leader?"