LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"The key to successful leadership in influence, not authority." Ken H. Blanchard

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

The summer is over and I want to dive back into some quotes that follow a theme. This month, the theme is INFLUENCE.

I'll start with this great quote from Ken Blanchard on influence, and while I've shared it before, it's a great reminder of the posture each of us in leadership needs to take.

This quote is really the foundation of Blanchards perspective on leadership. He believes that leaders must use influence instead of their position and authority to "effectively" lead others. Notice the word: EFFECTIVE.

You can lead from a position of authority, but it doesn't build trust and team the way leading from a position of influence does.

There's an article from Indeed.com that shares "7 Characteristics of Effective Leadership Influence". In summary...

Here are seven characteristics of effective leadership influence you can use in your management:

1) ATTITUDE: Your attitude has the potential to affect how others around you feel about someone or something.

2) VALUE: It's helpful to incorporate your values into your words and actions.

3) LISTENING: When you listen to others, it can allow you to hear what people desire and value.

4) PASSION: A passion in life may motivate people to work towards their personal and work goals.

5) OPENNESS: It's important for you to show and encourage openness because it allows others to share their ideas with you.

6) TIME MANAGEMENT: A leader desiring to influence their teams can encourage members to focus on the things they can complete today.

7) KNOWLEDGE: Share your knowledge as a leader and commit to continuing their education.

Which one of these characteristics stands out to you? Which one do you need to work on with your leadership?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take at all." Simone Biles, Olympic Gold, Silver & Bronze Medalist

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

This is the last quote I'll share from one of our Olympic Athletes. Simone Biles needs no introduction. She is considered one of the greatest gymnasts and Olympians of all time, and this year in Paris she shined.

The quote from her above is a little obvious.

As a gymnast, she chose to take risks every time she approached a competition, and there were times that the risk paid off, and there were times I'm sure that taking those risks cost her a victory.

Imagine the training, the discipline, the failure, the pain, the pressure.

Biles has also become an advocate for mental health, and she made some really tough decisions to pay attention to her state of anxiety and choose health over competition. This was also a risk that she took.

I think there are 2 basic approaches to risk: either we EMBRACE IT or we AVOID IT. With both of these approaches, we need to manage the risk.

Biles approach is to EMBRACE IT, and the result of that for her has been medals, recognition and great success. As she shares in her quote, she wants to live with no regrets when it comes to risk.

How do you manage risk in your life or leadership?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"I can hold my head high...I did my best out there today and fought hard." Scottie Scheffler, PGA Golfer & Olympic Gold Medalist

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

After watching the Olympics this past month, I'm pulling some quotes from a couple of the athletes, just to see more about what helps them perform at such a high, global level.

I'm a fan of Scottie Scheffler, and enjoy watching his golf and career whenever I get a chance. It's reported that he's a really nice guy, he loves the Lord and his family, and he's a humble golfer.

I'm not sure how he keeps all this together. He's #1 on the PGA tour and he just won a gold medal for the United States. He's had a huge couple of years, and he's just 28 years old with a broad future in front of him.

This past weekend, he didn't win, but he made a charge on Sunday and finished way back in 4th place.

I believe, based on what I've read, watched and heard, that his philosophy is summed up in this quote above... "I did my best".

There have been times that I can honestly say that, but there are many times that I don't do my best and I don't try hard enough.

Two questions for you today: When was the last time you did your best? and What does it take for you to do your best?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"If you don't fall, how are you going to know what getting up is like?" Steph Curry, NBA & Olympic Athlete

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I've been captivated by the Olympics this past week, and just enjoy the competition, the global stage and the strength of so many athletes. This month, I'm just going to share some quotes from some of the Olympic athletes that I find inspiring.

I enjoyed watching some of the basketball games and highlights from the Olympics over the past weeks, and enjoyed a number of teams who made the games exciting and really competitive.

In the end, the USA won the gold medal, but every game was really good basketball.

One of my favorite players to watch is Steph Curry. He plays for the Warriors and was a leader on the Olympic team this year. He's an amazing ball handler and shooter, and he brings excitement every time he's on the floor.

While he's a great ball player, he's also a great person. Curry and his wife Ayesha are both philanthropic with their time and resources, and they look for ways to impact both the community where they live and the world. Curry talks about his love for God as his motivation in serving others.

The words from Curry above are just a good reminder. We look at someone that is very successful today, and we forget about the journey they've been on to get here. It didn't happen overnight, and it wasn't all easy.

This can be true of everyone obstacle Olympic athletes have faced and every obstacle you and I have faced.

Curry is just reminding us that "falling" and "getting back up" go hand in hand, and it's something that ALL of us have to experience.

What have you learned from "falls" in your life and how has that helped you today?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"I would encourage you to set really high goals. Set goals that, when you set them, you think they're impossible. But then every day you can work towards them, and anything is possible, so keep working hard and follow your dreams." Katie Ledecky, USA Swimmer

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I've been captivated by the Olympics this past week, and just enjoy the competition, the global stage and the strength of so many athletes. This month, I'm just going to share some quotes from some of the Olympic athletes that I find inspiring.

I'll start with this from Katie Ledecky, one of the worlds most decorated Olympians. Watching her swim is impressive, so when you hear her talk about "impossible goals", you know that she has set her sights high and is achieving those goals.

I often wonder why the goals I set don't see to be very impossible. They are often very safe, very real, and often pretty boring.

We've been taught to define goals as SMART Goals:

• SPECIFIC: clear outcomes

• MEASURABLE: quantifiable

• ACHIEVABLE: realistic

• RELEVANT: aligned with my reality

• TIME-BOUND: deadline

For a goal to be a "real" goal, it has to be a SMART goal.

Does having SMART Goals limit us to what is truly possible?

I wonder if Ledecky, when she won her first gold medal at the age of 15 in London, had declared this as one of her SMART Goals?

Are your goals "too possible"? Are they not stretching you at all?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"You have to be really loyal to the people that supported you when you were coming up." Sylvester Stallone

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

This is the last quote from Sylvester Stallone that I'll share for July. I hope you've enjoyed these this month. You can read them all HERE.

I found this last quote a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be a great one to share.

With Stallone's story, he talks a lot about people that took a chance on him, people who invested in him and people who never left him. He's very grateful to people who walked with him, and this quote is just something that I think he lives out in his life. I don't know him or know his "people", but he appears to be thankful.

It's kind of obvious, but I think it is something that is easily forgotten.

In my life, sometimes I "forget" because...

• I spend more time looking forward than looking back

• An event or season was difficult, I often try to forget about it or I don't spend time dwelling on it.

• I'm just busy

• I'm self-centered and often am thinking only about myself

These aren't excuses, it's just reality.

What about you? What keeps you from remembering people who "showed up" for you again and again?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"I succeed because I keep going and going and going." Sylvester Stallone

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

It's summer and I thought I would go a little "lighter" with some quotes over the next few months, and I'll continue with some thoughts from Rocky Balboa aka Sylvester Stallone this month. I have 2 more quotes to share then we'll move on to something else in August.

This week I read a couple of articles on habits, and when I saw these words from Stallone I connected the dots.

Stallone often talks about the discipline of hard work, his ability to learn from failure and to keep going, and then there are all the boxing metaphors of getting up when you're knocked down, "going the distance" and learning to hit hard.

There's even a story of he and his wife filing for divorce after being married for 25 years, then they decide to call off the divorce and address the issues in their marriage.

I'm not trying to validate all of Stallone's life choices and career, but the idea of "I keep going and going and going" is something to think about.

In a recent podcast that I listen to, the hosts talk about "mid-year resolutions" and they talked about how it's not good to just make resolutions at the beginning of the year, because once you've given up, you have to wait until the following year to try again. They were encouraging people to continually be identifying things they want to work on and address in their lives.

I guess the question I am asking myself is this: "What keeps me going?" Is it motivation, is it discipline, is it habit, is it pressure? What is it that keeps me going and going and going?

So I'll turn that question to you? What is it that keeps you going?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Success is usually the culmination of controlling failure" Sylvester Stallone

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

It's summer and I thought I would go a little "lighter" with some quotes over the next few months, and I'll continue with some thoughts from Rocky Balboa aka Sylvester Stallone this month.

The Sylvester Stallone story and the Rocky Balboa have some similarities in that both people didn't believe that either of these "characters" would succeed. People told Stallone for years that he would never make it as an actor, and the character of Balboa was a "down and out" fighter who no one believed in.

The story for both of them is a story of failure after failure that eventually leads to success, however that story isn't a simple story.

For Stallone, even after his break-out role as writer, director and lead actor in the film Rocky, he continued to have things fail and then he'd find success.

This quote is a really good reminder that most of us won't have a couple of failing moments followed by great success. Our story is usually a lot messier and we will continue to fail at things along the way, and that is OK.

The word Stallone uses in this quote it "controlling failure". I interpret that as "managing failure". We can't control everything that comes at us but we can manage our response, our attitude and how we allow these things to affect us.

Here's the truth: We will fail at times. All of us. This is how we learn, how we grow, how we adapt and how we move towards success.

Every once in a while there's the success story that comes out of nowhere when someone happens upon a crazy product or opportunity and it's a life-altering success story, but this isn't normal life for most of us.

For most of us, it's a journey of small success, repeated failure, and constant and steady growth that redefines how we define success.

What failure have you experienced in life and leadership that helped to shape you for success? Describe that...