LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

“To get real diversity of thought, you need to find the people who genuinely hold different views and invite them into the conversation." Adam Grant

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

This is the last quote from Adam Grant and it's a good one! You can see past posts HERE.

I don't know about you, but I am learning to be quiet.

I cautiously share my views with friends, colleagues or people I don't know that well because I'm afraid to offend someone or I don't want to engage in a debate. I just want a conversation!

I don't post online much anymore, especially anything personal because I've been called names, critiqued, challenged and flatly told I'm wrong.

When I meet someone new, I dance around the edges of controversy, trying to determine where someone stands without just asking them.

At times I feel paralyzed, and I wonder how we got to this place.

I don't know if you feel the same way, but when I'm able to have honest discussion, when I'm able to disagree and have an intelligent conversation, it's like a breath of fresh air.

I long to be honest, to discuss things that matter, to be challenged, to re-consider my position based on what I'm learning, and I want the security of a real relationship to be the most important thing, not the topic of the conversation.

I've always disagreed with things close friends of mine believe, and they've disagreed with me too, but we are still close friends. This actually makes us better friends because it tests our relationship.

Adam Grant's quote above speaks to this, and I long for diversity of opinion, position and perspective. This is what makes us better!

How do you respond when your views or perspective is not received well? How does this make you feel?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

“No-one wants to hear everything that's in your head. They just want you to live up to what comes out of your mouth." Adam Grant

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We'll look at a couple more quotes from organizational psychologist and bestselling author, Adam Grant. You can see past posts HERE.

I traveled a little bit last week and as I caught up on the news, listened to a couple of podcasts and watched a couple of documentaries, this idea just kept coming up.

There is so much noise in the world.

People talking, saying whatever we want to, whether it be on social media or in interviews, yet I'm learning that what people say really doesn't have to correlate to what we do.

We can say anything we want to in order to appease you, to attract you or to offend you.

Words don't really matter much anymore, and I hate that.

The power of words are so important. We use words to encourage, to affirm, to direct, to honor and celebrate, to rebuke. We use words for everything, and when words become meaningless, it affects all of us.

However, words and actions, that's the goal.

Grant reminds us that these need to stay connected for us to have any lasting impact.

Do the words that come out of your mouth line-up with the actions that come out of your life?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

“A good debate is not a war. It's not even a tug-of-war... it's more like a dance that hasn't been choreographed." Adam Grant

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

This month we'll continue to look at some quotes from organizational psychologist and bestselling author, Adam Grant. You can see the past posts HERE.

Looking at the quote above might spark some emotion in you.

I believe that we are losing the ability to disagree with people. We're not understanding that healthy conflict is a good thing, and we live in fear of sharing our true opinions.

If you can identify with any of these things, today I want to challenge you.

There are times that I simply choose to close my mouth because I don't want to derail a conversation or I know what peoples triggers are. Sometimes this is being sensitive to others, but other times this is compromising my perspective which might be helpful to others.

I like that word DANCE.

If you've seen me dance, this will make more sense.

I see a debate, a tug-of-war, or a conflict as a journey. It's an ongoing conversation, and I need to sometimes be open to going in a different direction. I need to be a learner. I need to listen. I need to share my perspective with humility and sensitivity, but I also need to be honest.

It's a dance sometimes, but it's worth the effort!

When you hear those words: "debate" "tug-of-war" "conflict"... do you want to run and hide? Why are those triggers to you?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

“Changing your mind doesn't make you a flip-flopper or a hypocrite. It means you were open to learning." Adam Grant

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

This month I'm going to look at some quotes from organizational psychologist and bestselling author, Adam Grant.

Adam Grant has done a lot of writing, so I see quotes from him all over the place. I learned about him first when I read his book, "Think Again" and was challenged as a leader to understand my self-awareness. The quote above goes along with this because for me, part of being more self-aware is simply my ability to recognize that I'm not always right and that I need to be continuing to learn and adapt in my leadership development.

I remember a time when I thought I had accomplished it all and knew it all. I was confident, I had risen to an area of leadership, and people looked up to me. The problem was that I was 20 years old, and while I thought I had arrived, I soon realized that I was just beginning to learn some of life and leaderships toughest lessons.

Over the past 39 years, I have learned, failed, started over, corrected, fell down, jumped back up, moved forward, moved backwards, and been on one of the most incredible rides of all time!

And yes, I've changed my mind, my position, my opinion, my strategy, my approach and my vision over and over again.

The world is constantly changing, and so am I.

Don't be afraid to change your mind.

Think about one of the greatest examples in your life when you changed your mind about something. What was the catalyst for that to happen?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

“Ideas in secret die. They need light and air or they starve to death." Seth Godin

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

This is the last Seth Godin quote we'll explore as we come to the end of the month. We've had some great thoughts over the past 4 weeks. You can see them all HERE.

This quote is a great reminder to us to ACT on some of the ideas we might have, instead of leaving them locked away.

This is so true...

I'll wake up in the morning and have a couple a great ideas bouncing around in my head. If I don't write them down, they usually just disappear.

When I write them down, I am then reminded of them when I scroll through my notepad, and once in a while that idea will just jump off the page to me, and I'm then forced to do something with it. My options are:

• I share the idea with someone who could benefit from it or be a part of it. I'm looking for feedback.

• I test it a little bit by working on some of the details and stages of development needed. Sometimes this process brings me back to reality and I delete the idea, but sometimes it warrants more thought.

• I give the idea to someone else who I think might benefit from it, or someone who could put their own spin on it.

• I leave it alone. It's not time to take this thing for a ride. It's OK to just leave it sit for a while, but this is an intentional decision.

• Sometimes, I might even just delete the idea completely and move on with something else.

My point in sharing a little of my process is that it's really what Godin is saying.... You have to do something with the idea, you need to be intentional about some action step.

How do you process ideas? How do you determine if an idea should take a step forward, intentionally?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

“You don't need more time in your day. You need to decide." Seth Godin

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're continuing with Seth Godin quotes for a two more weeks.

Last week I shared a quote, then I found out there's a second part to it. I shared:

"If failure isn't an option, then success isn't either."

The second part of that says:

"Success is just failure repeated until it works."

That puts some things in perspective! I wanted to share that nugget I found this past week.

This quote today was just a blatant reminder in my face. TODAY, I'm running from meeting to meeting, call to call, my list of things to do is long, and I feel like I'm not getting done the things I need to get done. Then I find this reminder from Godin.

SMACK!

I can't blame anyone for my schedule, for my feeling pressured or for my state of exhaustion.

I make the choice every day, and obviously I've chosen wrong. Not just once, but over and over again.

That challenge: "You need to decide" is all about priorities, is all about purpose and I need to be reminded of what I'm here to do and get rid of all of the noise around me that pulls me and distracts me from my mission.

It's my choice... everyday.

What choice do you need to make today?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

“If failure is not an option, then neither is success." Seth Godin

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're continuing with Seth Godin quotes for a couple more weeks and these words from him pack a punch.

Why are we so afraid of failure? Why does it often paralyze our actions, our momentum and our dreams?

Everyone fails.

This is what Walt Disney said about failure:

"I think it's important to have a good hard failure when you're young... because it makes you kind of aware of what can happen to you. Because of it I've never had any fear in my whole life when we've been near collapse and all of that. I've never been afraid."

Many icons in our culture have failed, from Steven Spielberg to J.K. Rowling to Jerry Seinfeld to Abraham Lincoln, and the list continues.

I've failed, and sometimes I just laugh at my past failures and sometimes they still sting a bit.

Godins reminder here is simply that if we're going to succeed, we have to risk failing.

What are you afraid of? What paralyzes you and keeps you from taking a risk on an idea, a dream, a vision?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

“If you can't state your position in eight words, you don't have a position." Seth Godin

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I'm exploring Seth Godin quotes this month, and there are some great ones, in fact I'm challenged to just pick a few, but this one has challenged me in the past, and again today as I think about it.

Godin sometimes pushes an extreme view, but in this case, I'm encouraged by it.

The challenge is to simplify our messaging so that people can remember it.

Many times I rely on the the power and plethora of words to make a point or to sustain an argument. Instead, I need to simply state my point and then be quiet.

That's the issue isn't it? Being quiet. When I talk, I'm working out my position, I'm trying to defend my position, I'm reminding myself and others about my position. I have learned to talk so much that I forget to listen.

Have you ever tried to articulate your position, a vision, a mission in just 8 words? Try it.