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<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

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<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajving. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul

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<v Speaker 1>fella Aledo. Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute

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<v Speaker 1>Leadership Podcast. It's episode four seventy three, and today I

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<v Speaker 1>want to share with you a story that's been floating

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<v Speaker 1>around classrooms, boardrooms, coffee shops and social media. It's simple,

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<v Speaker 1>it's powerful, and it will change how you think about leadership.

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<v Speaker 1>A professor once asked his student a question. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>if you're walking into school with a cup of coffee

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<v Speaker 1>and someone bumps into you, what happens? And the student said, well,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd spill my coffee. The professor nodded and asked, why

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<v Speaker 1>did you spill the coffee. The student replied, because someone

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<v Speaker 1>bumped into me. The professor shook his head. No, you

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<v Speaker 1>spilled coffee because coffee was what was in your cup.

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<v Speaker 1>If your cup had been full of water, you would

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<v Speaker 1>have spilled water. If it had been full of orange juice,

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<v Speaker 1>you would have spilled orange juice. What's inside of you

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<v Speaker 1>always spills out when life shakes you, and there it

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<v Speaker 1>is the leadership lesson every one of us is carrying

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<v Speaker 1>a cup. Most of the time we can control it,

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<v Speaker 1>but life has a way of bumping into us. An

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<v Speaker 1>angry customer amidst deadline, a staffing shortage, a board member

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<v Speaker 1>who blindsides you in a meeting, or even something as

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<v Speaker 1>small as traffic on the way to work. The bump

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<v Speaker 1>isn't the real issue. The real question is what's in

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<v Speaker 1>your cup. Because when life shakes you, whatever you're carrying

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<v Speaker 1>inside is going to spill out onto your people. If

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<v Speaker 1>you're carrying anger, anger spills. If you're carrying stress, stress spills.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're carrying insecurity, then insecurity will spill. But if

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<v Speaker 1>you're carrying patients calm, gratitude, or confidence, then that's what spills.

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<v Speaker 1>Leaders often make the mistake of blaming the bump. I

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<v Speaker 1>snapped at my team because they dropped the ball. I

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<v Speaker 1>yelled in the meeting because they weren't prepared. But just

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<v Speaker 1>like the coffee example of the truth is you didn't

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<v Speaker 1>spill because of the bump. You spilled what was already

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<v Speaker 1>inside of you. Now here's the hard truth. You don't

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<v Speaker 1>get to choose when you get bumped, but you do

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<v Speaker 1>get to choose what fills your cup. This is why

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<v Speaker 1>emotional control and self awareness are not optional skills in leadership,

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<v Speaker 1>their survival skills. If you want to know the real

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<v Speaker 1>health of your leadership, don't look at how you behave

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<v Speaker 1>when everything is smooth. Look at what spills out whenever

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<v Speaker 1>you get shaken. So how do you change what's inside

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<v Speaker 1>of your cup? There's three quick moves that I want

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<v Speaker 1>you to remember. Number One, start every day by filling

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<v Speaker 1>it intentionally. Don't just wake up and let the world

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<v Speaker 1>decide your mood. Put gratitude, patience, in perspective in your

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<v Speaker 1>cup before you even walk into the office. That means

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<v Speaker 1>your morning routine matters more than you think. Number two,

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<v Speaker 1>check your cup throughout the day. Ask yourself, am I

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<v Speaker 1>running on empty? Am I filling up with stress or

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<v Speaker 1>even negativity? If you don't check, you'll miss the slow

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<v Speaker 1>leaks that drain you. And number three, take responsibility for

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<v Speaker 1>your spills when you mess up, and you will own it.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell your team that was me spilling the wrong thing.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll do better. This honesty doesn't weaken your leadership and

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<v Speaker 1>actually strengthens it. Because here's the deal. Leadership isn't about

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<v Speaker 1>avoiding bumps It's about making sure that when you do

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<v Speaker 1>get bumped, what spills out helps your people instead of

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<v Speaker 1>hurting them. So I'll leave you with this challenge today,

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<v Speaker 1>before the world bumps into you, ask yourself, what's in

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<v Speaker 1>my cup? And if the answer isn't something you'd want

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<v Speaker 1>to spill on the people you lead, then it's time

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<v Speaker 1>to pour it out and refill. This story might seem simple,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's one of the most viral leadership lessons I've

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<v Speaker 1>ever come across. Share it with your team, share it

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<v Speaker 1>with your family, Share it with anyone who needs to

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<v Speaker 1>understand that what's inside them is what the world sees

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<v Speaker 1>when things get tough. This has been the seven Minute

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<v Speaker 1>Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening. For more

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.