WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:04.040 Welcome to Hacking your Leadership. I'm Chris, I'm Lorenzo, and welcome to 2 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:07.519 this week's Thoughtful Thursday. Don't forget to follow us on YouTube at Hacking your 3 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:11.080 Leadership and leave us a review on iTunes. On this leful Thursday, I 4 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:14.519 want to stop by playing a clip that I saw on LinkedIn of a person 5 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:18.000 talking. This is Brian Fretwell. He's a keynote speaker and author and a 6 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:22.160 consultant, and he says something that was kind of profound and kind of stuck 7 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:23.960 out with me. So I want to play that real quick and then we 8 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.079 can discuss it. Sounds good, let's do it. So I just talked 9 00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:31.239 to a leader who said his team is much more successful working together since they 10 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.679 switched from talking about goals to talking about impact. He said, whenever they 11 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:39.159 would talk about goals, he noticed that less than half of the group was 12 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:43.079 engaged in the conversation, and he started to worry that some of the people 13 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:47.719 didn't understand how important they were to the organization. So he began by asking 14 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:52.439 questions like who made your job easier this week? And whose job did you 15 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.960 make easier this week? Then he would change it up by asking who helped 16 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.439 you this week, or who did you help this week? Who motivated you 17 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.000 this week, who did you motivate? Who made you happy? And who 18 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:07.439 did you make happy? And initially people would only talk about who impacted them, 19 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:11.879 but over time they learned to look for opportunities to impact others. And 20 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.239 we're proud about making people happier or their job being easier, he said. 21 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:19.519 Talking about goals is important, but the more people understand own and take pride 22 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:23.599 in their impact, the more goals everyone has to celebrate. Okay, so 23 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:27.239 the first thing I think when I hear this is, you know, about 24 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:33.040 maybe three or four years ago, I started hearing something from people that was 25 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:34.959 a little bit of a change, and it was kind of rare at first, 26 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:38.799 but now it's really ubiquitous. And this is if I do something for 27 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:45.480 someone, whether it's big or small, someone who used to say thanks, 28 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:49.840 I appreciate it, and now they say thanks, I appreciate you. But 29 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:55.799 appreciating what somebody does and appreciating them they are very different things. And so 30 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:57.840 you know, if you're going to use one or the other, make sure 31 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.000 you mean whatever it is that you that you're saying. Don't overdo it. 32 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:05.239 Of course. But but what he says when it comes to impact versus goals, 33 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.479 it makes a lot of sense. Goals are are really impersonal, and 34 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:15.560 how you impact somebody or how you were impacted positively, that that's a really 35 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:19.319 big thing. I would I would go as far as to say that the 36 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:23.800 more positively you impact people you work alongside, and the more you can speak 37 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:28.120 to how positive they impact you, even though those aren't the necessary the goals 38 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:31.639 themselves, You're more likely to accomplish your goals if you have really great instances 39 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:34.800 of all of that, you know, throughout the week or throughout the month. 40 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.639 Yeah. Absolutely. I mean we talk a ton about just high performing 41 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:39.759 teams and teamwork and culture and that type of thing. And I think that 42 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:46.560 when there's a genuine appreciation for each other, you know, and again it's 43 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:50.800 a you can be appreciative of a task and you can thank somebody for doing 44 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:53.439 a thing for you. I think it to your point, if it's just 45 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:57.479 the words, if you say, I'm going to change my vernacular instead of 46 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.360 saying, man I appreciate it, I'm say man I appreciate you. Is 47 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:04.400 that real? Is that authentic? Is that it doesn't feel like it's it's 48 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:08.400 like it's genuine. Now it could be, but over time, the interactions 49 00:03:08.439 --> 00:03:10.800 that we have, how we treat one another, when I show you my 50 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:16.680 appreciation not just by saying it, but by by by you know, providing 51 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:23.319 space for us to have dialogue, by supporting you on a decision, by 52 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:27.159 taking on something to help with something that you're working on. Like now all 53 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:30.360 of this sudden those words have real meaning to them and say, hey, 54 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.360 I know I appreciate you and and we have this this kind of like our 55 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.960 brain works and pulling up all the things that you know that we've done and 56 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.199 that that maybe they've done for us. So again, I like the idea 57 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:47.039 quite a bit. And I appreciate you, Chris. I appreciate the change 58 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:53.439 or the perspective here in regards to thinking about how do you do things and 59 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:57.879 say things that can have, uh, you know, a much larger impact 60 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.080 on the environments that we want to create a work, right, And I 61 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.919 don't want to you know, don't don't you misunderstand us here? This doesn't 62 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:08.240 take the place of goals, right, like, like you still have to 63 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:14.639 have goals, but but it is shortsighted to have goals that you just focus 64 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:17.199 on the goal itself. A lot of times they can be partmentalized. You 65 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.240 can have a goal that impacts one person, you talk about what what goal 66 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:28.439 you're trying to achieve. Whether or not I'm able to positively impact that goal 67 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.480 for you is another question. But you are definitely more likely to accomplish it 68 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:35.800 if you are working towards it with others working on your behalf to help you 69 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:40.920 accomplish those goals. And they're more likely to accomplish their goals if they know 70 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.560 that you're, you know, working on behalf of their goals as well. 71 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:46.879 And so you know, not only does it kind of allow for relationships to 72 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:51.680 happen when they may not have happened, relationships that are based on that positive 73 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:57.160 impact are ones that are they're lasting. They're not just based on whatever the 74 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.439 business moment is or the business need is of the moment, you know, 75 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.839 saying that someone, it's like, you know, I've been an organizations where 76 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.279 recognition is a big thing, and so you know, you you know, 77 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:10.120 each day or each week, you know, you're you're sitting at a meeting 78 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:13.240 with people and and and you start out by saying, Hey, who do 79 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:15.720 you want to recognize it's like, well, sometimes you hear those things and 80 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:21.040 the recognition that is being called out, the undertone or kind of read between 81 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:28.560 the lines here is the person saying it wants to get recognition for giving recognition, 82 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:32.839 Right, you know what I'm talking about. So saying how somebody positively 83 00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:40.399 impacted you is very different than trying to recognize them, because it is it 84 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:45.360 clearly isn't about trying to get recognition for giving recognition. It's truly giving it 85 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:47.279 for what it is is in service of what they did for you, how 86 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:53.480 they positively impacted your life and those It can be difficult, I think to 87 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:56.319 start a culture of that if you don't have it, but if you work 88 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:58.560 at it, I think it can happen. And so what I'll ask you, 89 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.279 Lorenzo, is I want to about a time when you were leading a 90 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:05.519 team and there were goals, but you knew for a fact that the goals 91 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:11.920 would be more likely to be achieved if people were focusing on how they could 92 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.439 positively impact each other versus just trying to accomplish those goals. So I want 93 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:16.319 I ask you that, but first I want to give up to word from 94 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.240 one of our sponsors. All Right, Lorenzo, one of you had to 95 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:21.839 do this. One of you had to kind of get your team to focus 96 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:27.560 more about how they were positively impacting each other because it was in spirit of 97 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:31.160 goals, but you knew that just focusing on the goals themselves wouldn't necessarily get 98 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:34.199 you the best outcomes. I think overall, the first thing that pops into 99 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:38.800 my mind is not an actual like like a business metric per se, because 100 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.759 I think that those there are things that tind of takes everybody to work together 101 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.240 to get them. But when I think about the goal specifically around like developing 102 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:50.040 leaders. When you lead teams and you have leaders of leaders where you're looking 103 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:58.040 to create some impact and consistency across the experience that leaders have when it comes 104 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:00.480 to their own development, and then you have kind of leaders that have to 105 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:06.480 be responsible for that. That's when I've found the time that those leaders understanding 106 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:11.519 the impact that they have on one another, having conversations and dialogue around things 107 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.800 like personality types, about what do they see as each other's strengths, what 108 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:18.879 are the things that they can help with one another as they are responsible for 109 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:25.879 developing these leaders. Because in spaces like retail and industries like that, you 110 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:30.399 know, you have leaders that have the job of maybe like having a direct 111 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:35.079 team or direct individuals that are responsible for working with and training and developing, 112 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:39.279 But then you have the day to day business that requires kind of all leaders 113 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:43.279 to work together in this space and be conscious of what is somebody else working 114 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:46.800 on or what's their goal that they're trying to achieve. And if you only 115 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.319 operate with an a silo and you only have the goal specific to that leader, 116 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:55.800 it becomes difficult because you miss out on a lot of opportunities and you 117 00:07:55.879 --> 00:08:01.720 have people that need different things from different leaders. So I find myself really 118 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:07.040 spending more time with impact when the goal is something like development or leadership development, 119 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:13.199 where I really have to make sure that the leaders that are responsible for 120 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:16.959 this collectively, you know, understand the impact that each other has, both 121 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.759 both positively and potentially negatively, if there's gaps in their behaviors, if they're 122 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:28.839 not aligned, if they're not approaching this development the same kind of way from 123 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.600 a you know, from a documentation standpoint, like there's just a lot of 124 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:37.000 things in there where the goal is we want to develop people, but the 125 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.799 impact that we have with one another if it's a positive impact that we're doing 126 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:45.159 well together that will move the larger team collectively faster. If we have opportunities 127 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.480 amongst ourselves, it's going to slow everything down. Yeah, that's I think 128 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:54.559 got spot on. I think anytime you can impress upon people that they don't 129 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:58.000 exist in a vacuum and whatever their role is, any time that you can 130 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:03.360 you can show them that what they do every day has a larger and broader 131 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:07.039 impact, that it's not just their personal goals, which can be difficult sometimes 132 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:13.879 if you're in a team where where the individual goals of the people kind of 133 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:18.919 make up the collective goal and there's not a lot that is expected of each 134 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:22.480 person every day in spirit of helping each other out, it's more about what 135 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:26.799 can you do individually and then together we look at what the team did. 136 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:31.279 That's very different than how you can say what are your what are you doing 137 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.840 to pick up the slack where someone else isn't you know, maybe as good 138 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:39.919 as you are at something, and where are you asking for help or or 139 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:45.360 receiving help from somebody when they are better at something than you are, And 140 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:50.200 hopefully there's enough kind of give and take on the team where you have a 141 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:54.960 kind of a mix of skills and abilities and strategies that come into play here, 142 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.240 and everybody can help out each other, so it doesn't just feel like 143 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:01.480 there's one person kind of carrying every But if you can get that right, 144 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:07.720 if you can make people understand that what they do in terms of positively impacting 145 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:11.639 others sometimes matters more to the team outcomes than just what they do as an 146 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:15.799 individual contributor, that's when I think you get, you know, kind of 147 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.559 this team cohesion that is, I think really hard to get in a lot 148 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:22.080 of organizations unless you start out with something like this, like how are you 149 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:26.720 impacting others? Not how are you accomplishing goals? Absolutely, and with that 150 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.559 it brings us to the end of this episode. This is hacking your leadership. 151 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.840 I'm Lorenzo and I'm Chris, and have a great day.