Did you ever notice how many Olympic gymnasts prior to performing one of their routives are on the sidelines with their eyes closed and seem to be going through the routine in their head? It looks like that because that is exactly what they’re doing. The mind needs to be trained just as much as the body does and both need to work in concert to reach top level performance. Visualizing what a perfect routine looks like and going through each motion in their minds is just as powerful as physically practicing the routine. Seeing the way the routine is supposed to be performed visually or seeing the perfect golf swing and the ball landing in the middle of the fairway prior to actually performing the task is a simple yet powerful way to improve performance. The great news is that this performance improvement technique also works for improving discussions or making better presentations and any other myriad of ‘soft skills’ that need to be performed at work. Increasing your work performance can be as easy as taking a few moments prior to making that critical presentation, to visual the perfect presentation in your mind before delivering it to the intended audience.

That is a quote from a Simon Sinek video about the central point of his book Leaders Eat Last. His point is that true leadership is not about having a certain position or rank. It is about making the choice of creating an environment that is safe for people to be innovative, honest and take risks because they know leadership has created an environment where it is safe to behave that way. When ‘leaders eat first’, they are sending a clear signal that they consider themselves more important than anyone else and they will sacrifice others well-being for their own good. That is the basis for toxic work environments that excel at low productivity, innovation and creativity. A work environment where everyone looks out for their own best interest first. What type of leader are you? Have you decided to take care of others first and eat last or do you eat first and let others fend for themselves? Leadership is a choice! 

Numerous studies and research papers recently have come to the same conclusion that sympathy may be the most important leadership skill especially since the beginning of the pandemic. Empathy had long been confused with sympathy and underappreciated as a critical skill. But new research from Catalyst demonstrates that empathy has numerous positive effects such as increasing innovation, retention, engagement, inclusivity, and work-life balance. There are two ways leaders can exercise their empathy muscles. One method is to consider what the other person is thinking (“If I were in his/her position, what would I be thinking right now?”). The other method for empathizing is to consider what the other person is feeling (“If I were in his/her position, what would I be feeling right now?”). Just considering the other person is thinking or feeling is not enough for leaders. To be fully empathic as a leader, leaders must also be willing to share their own thoughts/feelings, ask questions about the other person’s challenges and actively listen to the person’s responses. Often, just listening is all that other people need from leaders when they’re struggling at work.

Most people know and believe that a key strategy to realizing more success in their lives is to have goals and work towards accomplishing them. What many people don’t know are the simple steps they can take to ‘turbo charge’ their results. Many people write down their goals especially at the start of the new year and then don’t review them periodically and eventually forget about them. Dr. Gail Matthews from Dominican University did a study with 267 participants across four different continents to see what affect writing down, sharing with a friend and reviewing progress weekly had on accomplishing one’s goals. The data showed after the four-week study, a 33% increase in the accomplishment of their goals by taking three simple steps: (1) writing down your goals; (2) making a public declaration of those goals with a friend or trusted colleague; and (3) being accountable to another person such as an accountability partner or coach are the three simple steps to turbo charge accomplishing your goals. 

The good news is that you can start using these three steps at any time so don’t worry if you’ve already forgotten your goals or didn’t write any down to start with because you can start these three simple steps today.

This quote is most often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, but no one is quite sure where it originated. Despite that, it is as true today as it was the first time I heard it more than twenty-five years ago. I remember sharing that quote with one of my former bosses, who was known as ‘The General’, when I was a young human resources manager for Harley-Davidson. I was reminded of it recently when talking to a fellow H-D retiree and she told me a story of how The General stopped by her office one day shortly after a very tough meeting and asked the simple question, ‘Are you okay?’. She shared with me how surprised she was and how much it meant to her that the The General had made it a point to stop by her office and check on her. The General was known as a very smart, tough-minded, and no-nonsense leader but not very caring or people oriented. He would often say things like ‘their reward is they get to come back to work the next day’ when the leadership team was discussing ways to reward our employees for accomplishing a particular goal. I was heartened to hear my colleague’s story about how much it meant to her that he stopped by and asked that simple question. I had previously shared with him the quote because of previous discussions I had with him that I knew he cared about his employees and fellow leaders, but they didn’t know it because he didn’t show it. 

It is particularly important in the chaotic, turbulent work environment we are working in these days to make sure we take the time to share genuine concern for the people we lead and the other leaders we work with. That simple question, ‘Are you okay’, can go a long way to helping someone that is struggling.

Image: Two people having a discussion with smiles or positive expressions on their faces