Monthly Archives: February 2016

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5 Leadership Lessons Learned From Ice Climbing

The last 4 years have seen me attempting to conquer a major fear of mine: Heights… Yeah, the man who has jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet and climbs frozen waterfalls is petrified by heights.

That’s one of the reasons for my many crazy adventures. Especially ice climbing along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

leadership lessons learned from ice climbing

Through these climbs, I’ve seen many leadership principles carried out. And I want to share them with you today.

Leadership Lessons From Ice Climbing

1. Offer encouragement: Four years ago, I was a newbie to the ice climbing world. All I’d ever seen were pictures and videos of other ice climbers.

While it looked awe-inspiring, it also looked dangerous and scary. Especially for someone scared of heights.

This year, we had 5 new climbers on our trip and I was reminded of this.  Read more...

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We Can’t Go Back And Get A Do-Over

When you were a kid, did you ever get a mulligan? Mulligans are do-overs.

You struck out but call a mulligan on that final swing. Something wasn’t right. Or during a disc golf game. You released too early and the disc flopped 2 feet in front of you.

At those moments, we all want a do-over. We want to go back in time to change what happened.

So we call a mulligan. We say, “Let me try again.”

They’re the same thing.

Getting a do-over doesn’t change the past. We can’t go back to before we swung the bat or threw the frisbee disc.

It’s just not possible…

Why We Want Do-Overs

Do-overs help us mentally correct what went wrong in the past. We think by doing something NOW, it can overcome what happened in the past.  Read more...

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Finding And Being A Mentor With Richard McLemore – The Answers From Leadership Podcast Episode 6

The Answers From Leadership Podcast Episode 6

Today’s guest on The Answers From Leadership Podcast is Richard McLemore. He was the Canada BDC Regional Manager for Oracle. His specialties include coaching hiring/interviewing, revenue attainment, and career development.

Leadership expert Richard McLemore

Show Notes:

What do we need to know about you?

Played football at the University of Oklahoma
Served in the Special Forces where he was deployed to Vietnam and Los
Found he had a knack for sales and focused in that arena for 35 years

What does mentoring look like?

It looks different to different people
Having an expertise or showing extra care in working with others
Creating good relationships

He was taught 9 requirements for being a mentor
Starts with being able to inspire and motivate people
Have a high degree of collaboration
Have courage
Be able to build relationships with people
Develop and support others
Needs to be trusted at all times
Able to walk the talk
Have a strategic posture and perspective
Drive for results  Read more...

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4 Actions You Can Take To Become A Better Leader

No leader will ever be perfect. There’s always room for improvement.

And any wise leader will tell you they’re always looking for ways to improve.

Be a better leader

Image via JD Hancock

Those same wise leaders will also tell you there are actions they take on a daily basis that makes them lead better.

They nice thing about these actions, they’re simple things you can do. You just have to implement them.

4 Actions To Lead Better

  1. Listen: Great leaders know there is power in listening to others. Shutting your mouth and opening your ears can pay great dividends.

    When you listen, you’ll hear your team tell you what’s not working in the organization or areas that can be improved. When you listen to your customers, you’ll hear new product ideas and pain points you can attend to.

    Listening opens up new possibilities to your leadership. Open your ears and hear the difference.

    2.  Read more...

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Why We All Need Time To Recover

One of the greatest travesties of the modern world is our incessant need to always be on. We’re told that we must work hard and work often.

Most of the time, we’re chided for taking time off, going on vacation, or spending time with family.

You’ll hear the screams of the uninformed telling you that you’re wasting your time. That you could be more productive.

Yeah, sure… That’s great.

But I’m here to tell you something. Something very few people are willing to admit.

We need time to restore ourselves. We need time to rest. We need time to recover.

And the items listed above are all ways to recover. Don’t feel guilty about doing something that brings you back to full strength.  Read more...