Leadership Archives - Jeff Cassman

From Boss to Leader: How Perspective Taking Energizes People

Taking perspective is more important than giving perspective when leading. Gain influence by learning how others see the world before explaining your way of seeing.

Perspective taking is at the heart of servant leadership.

Positive influence:

A person’s perspective is the right perspective from their point of view.

In one way or another we long to be seen. When we feel understood we feel…

Energized.
Respected.
Grateful.
Connected.
Empowered.
Motivated.
Willing to listen.

Leaders have thin influence when they give perspective but don’t take it. Perspective giving apart from perspective taking is command and control. Servant leaders help people flourish by seeking to understand how others see the world.

Influence demands perspective taking.

How to practice perspective taking:

#1. Stop fixing.

The #1 behavior that prevents leaders from coaching people is fixing. You rush to give your perspective on someone’s situation. You disempower people when you jump to advise before taking perspective.

Practice taking their perspective before giving yours.

#2. Indicate interest.

People are fascinating.

Perspective taking begins when you ask, “What’s going on for you?”

Express interest by saying…

What are you trying to accomplish when you…?
Would you help me understand how you feel about…?
What do you want me to understand?
Could you tell me more about…?

You know someone when you understand their perspective.

#3. Learn stories.

The way people see the world is best understood through their stories.

Explore another person’s…

Experiences.
Upbringing.
Values.
Influential friends.
Cultural surroundings.
Personal goals and priorities.
Faith/religion.
Education.
Current needs.
Priorities.

Which perspective taking approach could you practice today? (Stop fixing, indicate interest, learn stories?)

What would you like to add to this post?

Still curious:

A New Question That Invites a Story

The Power of Perspective Taking

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7 Questions to Declutter Your Day

The unexamined life collapses into trivialities.

Declutter your day before distraction defines you.

Every sunrise is your opportunity to declutter and begin again.

7 questions to declutter your day:

What matters most today?
Record one meaningful thing you will do today – beyond pressing issues and deadlines.
What will you not do today so you can do what matters most?
Look for something ‘less good’ to take out of your basket. You are busy doing ‘good’ things. When a good thing blocks what matters most, it’s a bad thing.
What could you do today that gives you a sense of personal satisfaction?
Imagine saying, “I feel really good that I did ___________ today.” Go do that.
How will you energize others?
Low energy people drain your vitality. Don’t do their work. Energize them to do their own.
How are you sabotaging your fulfillment, progress, or success?
Reflect on destructive attitudes that might pop your balloon. The way you see life determines the way you feel about life.
What behaviors reflect the life you admire?
Do things you admire. Think about a person you admire. Don’t think about what they have. Think about what they did. What’s one thing you can do today that bolsters your self-respect?
How will you start fresh with people and projects?
People fail until they begin again.

Clear endings enable new beginnings. Work on a project until you reach a good stopping point. Set it aside. Take a quick walk. Get coffee. Do something that signals an ending. Now go begin the next thing.

Tip: Several of the above questions stand alone. Questions one and two go hand in hand. Question three, for example, can stand on its own.

Which of the above question(s) will help you declutter your day today?

What suggestions do you have for eliminating clutter in your day?

Still curious:

7 Ways to Break Destructive Patterns

How the Power of Focus Protects You

The Focused Leader (hbr.org)

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Imagination – Not Logic – Drives Leadership

Willy Wonka built a land of pure imagination and so do you. It’s destructive to think you make logical decisions. Decisions are shaped by imagination.

You make decisions to create the future and the future is a land of pure imagination.

Logic:

A list of pros and cons is based on imagined eventualities. Should you quit your job and start a business? When you imagine success the answer tips toward yes, but you reconsider when you imagine failure.

Imagination shapes the way you interact with others. When you imagine someone succeeding, you’re supportive. But imagine future failure and you’re corrective.

Imagination enables you to lead.

Imagination shapes decisions.

Live for the imagined future.

Who ever said, “Live FOR the moment,” was shortsighted. Living IN the moment is mindfulness. Living for the moment is frivolous.

The present matters less than you think when it comes to decisions. The remembered past and imagined future teach us how to live in the present.

Life without a past has no anchor. Life without a future has ended.

Live in the moment. Reflect on the past. Aim at the future.

Your view of the future explains how you live today.

Imagination, feelings, and goals:

Emotions reflect your view of the future. Worry, anxiety, confidence, fear, and grit are fed by the way you see things to come.

Goals express the future you aspire to create. Aspiration begins in your imagination. You dream of something you don’t have but want. Anyone who aspires to lead is building a land of pure imagination.

Leaders imagine the future and then work to create it.

What future are you working to create? Paint it with bright colors and get busy now.

What kind of leader do you imagine yourself becoming today?

Still curious:

How to Use Imagination Today

How to Leverage the Power of Imagination to Develop Leaders

Our book, “The Vagrant,” teaches people how to engage in structured self-reflection. I encourage you to get your copy today. The story is compelling and the exercises at the end set readers on a life-changing journey. Click here to purchase, The Vagrant, on Amazon.

Everything changes when we change the way we think about ourselves.

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The 10 Simplest Ways to Turn Challenges into Opportunities

Even optimists know sunny skies grow dark quickly.

Plans derail. Teams implode. Results disappoint. Talent moves on. Mistakes escalate. Crisis erupts. Skillful leaders turn challenges into opportunities.

The 10 simplest ways to turn challenges into opportunities

#1. Recall.

Find confidence by looking back. Think about times your team turned challenges to opportunities in the past.

#2. Reflect.

Big obstacles are accusers. “You can’t do it.”

What did you do well when you turned challenges into opportunities? Who rose to help? Name one thing you want to stop doing. One thing you want to begin.

#3. Reduce.

Shrink challenges into near-term goals. Forget about next month. What can you do today?

Reject “nice to do”. Focus on “must do”.

Action answers anxiety.

Inaction amplifies anxiety.

#4. Realign.

Crisis clarifies what matters. What matters now?

#5. Reconnect.

Strengthen relationships within the team and with external partners.

Who has wisdom you need?
Who has encouraged you in the past?
Who has experience that applies to your current situation?

#6. Rethink.

Big challenges call for new strategies. Old ways of doing don’t work when tornadoes show up.

#7. Reassign.

People take on new responsibilities when teams turn challenges into opportunities. Temporary shifts may stabilize into permanent roles that provide greater fulfillment.

#8. Recruit.

Seek new talent, both internal and external. Who is waiting for the opportunity to make a difference?

Turn challenges to opportunities by turning toward them, not away.

#9. Reassure.

Let people know they matter and that you believe in them.

#10. Reassess.

Evaluate methods frequently. Focus on what’s working. Acknowledge what didn’t work and let it go.

Bonus:

What resources are available now? Forget about finances and people you wish you had. What’s available now?

What’s one thing from the above list that applies to you today?

What can you add to the above list?

Still curious:

How to Reinvent Your Relationship with Problems and Opportunities

4 Ways to Turn Problems into Opportunities

How to Change Your Mindset to See Problems as Opportunities

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The Fundamentals Make You Great

Today is the saddest day of the year. March Madness is over. My wife and I gobbled up many of the girls’ and boys’ basketball games. Last night the finals were on. (Don’t tell me who won. I recorded it because bedtime is 9:00 p.m., 10 at the latest. The game didn’t start till 9.)

We’ll start watching it during breakfast today. It’s better than the news.

The fundamentals:

Athletes who excel practice the fundamentals – the things you do so you can be great at something else.

The “box out” commercial for Buffalo Wild Wings capitalizes on the fundamentals.

In the commercial, a buffalo with wings stands at the bar complaining about young players. “Oh! Come on! You gotta box out. That’s the problem with kids these days, no fundamentals.”

Getting rebounds in basketball is about getting in front of your opponent. Success is more about position than jumping (usually). The fundamentals hold for bowling too.

I subscribe to my friend Bob Burb’s Daily Impact email (click to subscribe). The other day he shared a delightful story from his youth. I share it with his permission.

I (Bob) was about 12 years old, watching 16-year-old Greg nail strike after strike at the local ten-pin bowling alley.

“Wow!” said very-impressed young Bob. “You must really practice getting those strikes!”

“Not at all,” said the Zen-like teen. “I don’t concern myself with the strikes. I practice nailing those spares. When I do that, the strikes come by themselves.”

12-year-old mind…blown…!

Makes total sense though, doesn’t it?

Fundamentals are so key to success.

Key Point: Master the spares…and the strikes will come by themselves.

What are some of the fundamentals – the skill behind the skill – of leadership? For example, pausing before speaking or succuss is about solutions, not problems.

Still curious:

The Principle of the Rope

Four Essentials For Developing Your Leadership

Five Heart Habits of Uncommon Leaders

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Good Stupid or Bad Stupid You Choose

“Momma always said, ‘Stupid is as stupid does.’” Forrest Gump

I’ve always had trouble understanding what momma meant, but my wife tells me it means stupid is about what you do. Smart people do stupid things. Stupid is defined by actions.

There are two kinds of stupid, bad stupid and good stupid.

Bad stupid:

Bad stupid is thinking you know when you don’t. The Dunning Kruger Effect explains that people with limited knowledge think they know when they don’t. (You always have limited knowledge.)

Good stupid:

Good stupid is showing up curious even when you think you know, and you usually overestimate what you know.

The cure for bad stupid is humility. The practical expression of humility is asking open questions. Closed questions protect your power because they control responses. For example, “Don’t you think…?” holds power with the questioner. Asking, “What do you think?” gives power to the responder when it’s spoken sincerely.

Closed questions:

Yes or no.
Factual questions.
Have an ‘or’. Do you prefer x or y?
Have one correct answer.

You retain power when you ask closed questions because you judge the answer.

Note: Some closed questions are useful.

Open questions:

#1. Explore:

How do you feel?
What’s going on for you?
What are your thoughts?

#2. Cause reflection:

What makes that important to you?
What would you do differently next time?
What’s working?
When are you at your best?
What gives you energy?

#3. Generate solutions:

What are some options?
What else comes to mind?
What contributed to this issue?
What would you like to try?

Application:

Assume you don’t know as much as you think. Ask questions especially when you think you understand something or someone. Practice saying, “Tell me more,” or “And what else?”.

How can you practice “good stupid” today?

Still curious:

How Solutions Make Leaders Stupid

If You Aren’t Dumb You’re Stupid

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When SMART goals are Dumb

I wonder if SMART goals are dumb when working to change your life. Goal setting requires history.

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound. Last year you went to the gym zero times.

It’s not smart to set a yearlong goal for something you’ve never done.

SMART goals and experience:

Experience informs goal setting. When you don’t have experience, long-term personal goals are a shot in the dark. If you don’t read books, forget about reading a book a month. Read one book and see how it goes.

Over the years I’ve worked with leaders at inflection points. They say they want to work less and spend more time with family. I challenge them to define “less” and “more”. How many hours a week do you want to work? How much time do you aspire to have with family? Be specific.

Set short-term goals and see how it goes. Reflect and set another short-term goal.

Targets create clarity and define the win. Goals enable you to track progress. Give yourself grace when you’re doing things you’ve never done. Get some experience. It’s dumb when smart goals defeat you.

SMART goals – when changing your life – should be short-term. Try things and learn. Learn and adapt.

Life changes in iterations, not giant leaps. SMART goals reflect reality and aspiration.

You think you know what you want, but you can’t know until after you’ve done it.

I still plan to press leaders to be SMART when setting goals. I also plan to include large doses of learning and flexibility in the short term when people step into uncharted waters.

How can people avoid being dumb when setting goals?

What are some important practices when making life change?

Still curious:

Beyond S.M.A.R.T Goals

Why Goals are Dangerous and How to Make them Work

SMART: an Acronym for Success (indeed.com)

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Culture Building Demands Little Energy

Imagine energy is an ax. You get 100 energy swings every day. If you make two chops on 50 trees you ruin the forest. If you make 20 chops on five trees, one tree might fall. If you make 50 swings on two trees two medium size trees will fall.

Culture Building Demands Little Energy:

Culture building doesn’t take much energy. You build culture while you work, not in place of work. (The exemption to this is the training people might need to thrive within your culture.)

Suppose you aspire to a culture of service. When one lumberjane goes to get a drink she asks, “Would anyone like me to bring some water when I come back?”

A culture of ownership:

Suppose you aspire to a culture where every leader adopts a whole forest point of view. Tree harvesters think “our” success even while they work on their own team’s success.

When a tree starts to fall a lumberjack yells, “Timber,” to alert everyone else. All the leaders feel responsible for the success of all the teams. It’s “we” not “me”.

Lumberpeople ask “whole forest” questions. “I wonder how my work impacts your work?” Or “How can I help you swing your ax more effectively?” Or “Did you know we’re chopping down trees right behind your team?”

Application:

Ask the leadership team to determine five behaviors that express one aspect of the culture you aspire to build. Commit to live those behaviors every day for a month. After you live your culture for a month roll it out to middle-managers. In the third month roll it out to front line supervisors. After three months, choose another aspect of your culture and repeat the process.

Questions:

I suggest that culture building is done primarily while we work. What do you think?

What behaviors build the culture you aspire to create?

Still curious:

Yesterday’s post: Culture Building in the Real World

5 Essentials of Culture Building

The 8 Elements of Great Company Culture | Great Place To Work®

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Culture Building in the Real World

Culture is mortar, not bricks. Culture building is laying a bed of mortar on bricks. Culture binds people together. Culture is expressed by the way people treat each other while they do the work.

Culture building is about people. Rules and regulations express culture, but culture is built with the tools of influence, not coercion.

Four channels of personal influence:

Attitudes.
Words.
Actions.
Responses.

Attitude is your habitual disposition. For example, are you primarily disposed to complain or celebrate?

Words influence behaviors. If this isn’t true, why are you talking so much? You invite people to take initiative when you ask, “What are you learning,” after responsible failure.

Consistent actions shape culture. You can tell people to take initiative but when leaders avoid making decisions, initiative goes out the door.

Responses express values and shape culture. Leaders who quickly spout answers without asking questions, put an end to collaboration, for example.

Culture building questions:

Suppose you desire a culture where people love coming to work. Here are some questions to ask top leaders.

How much do you love coming to work on a scale of 1 to 10?
How would strangers know you love work if they heard you talking?
What are you doing that gives you energy? What makes that energizing for you?
What is the most meaningful thing you can do today? Or you did yesterday?
Brag to me. Tell me something you got done that makes you proud.
What’s your latest happy customer story?
How much enjoyment do you see on faces around you?

I plan to explore a simple plan to scale culture building any organization can adopt.

I define culture as the way we treat each other. It’s mortar. How do you define culture?

I believe culture building is a top-down and middle-out activity. What are your thoughts?

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Have an Aliveness Mindset by Reframing Your Negative Thoughts

It’s another great book giveaway.

20 copies available!!

Leave a comment on this guest post by Jack Craven to become eligible for one of 20 complimentary copies of his new book, Aliveness Mindset: Lead and Live with More Passion, Purpose, and Joy.

Deadline for eligibility is 04/07/2024. International winners will receive electronic version.

What we tell ourselves becomes our reality.

When I’m coaching a client, I pay close attention to the words they use. How are they describing a situation? Here are some recent examples:

“Work’s a grind.”
“I’ve never done this before.”
“I have to do this.”
“That would be egotistical.”

How we relate to the experience is the experience.

Work IS a grind.
They approach work with fear and caution.
They act from obligation.
They are timid.

When we are feeling fear or reactivity, we are likely in a fixed mindset and feeling disempowered. We are not at our best.

4 steps to an aliveness mindset:

Awareness is the first step.
Notice when you are in a fixed mindset. Pay attention to the words you are using. Remind yourself to approach it with a growth mindset.
Take responsibility for your experience.
Your reaction is a choice. Ask, how do you want to feel and approach the situation? What do you need to do differently?
Reframe what you are telling yourself.
If a thought isn’t helpful, replace it with a more helpful thought.

I like using this quote by James Clear to help clients and teams reframe. “Without altering the facts of the situation you are facing and without ignoring the reality of what must be done, what is the most useful and empowering story you can tell yourself about what is happening and what you need to do next?”

These are real examples from my clients:

Work is challenging, and I love challenges.
I’ve thrived taking on new roles and responsibilities.
I choose to do this.
I embrace owning the value that I bring at work.

Appreciate yourself.
When you change your pattern from reactivity to an empowering thought, appreciate yourself for about 15-30 seconds. It helps rewire your brain and create new neural pathways for healthier, more productive thoughts.

How can you shape your mindset today?

How might leaders influence the mindset of others?

Jack Craven has always shaped his professional journey around his passions. He’s been a trial lawyer with the Chicago State’s Attorney’s office, a CEO for nearly two decades, and an executive coach the past decade. He helps leaders feel more empowered to discover deeper purpose, joy, and happiness in their lives. His debut book,…