Are you All-In or not?

One of the keynotes I share is The All-In Way: 5 Strategies to High Performance in Life and Leadership. The presentation includes the five strategies, along with lots of stories and examples of companies and people who are All-In or out.

One of the All-In examples is Dr. Michael Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D., Pediatric Cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. If you’ve been part of The All-In Way, you may remember Dr. Ackerman’s story and his treatment of my nieces and nephews.

Early in his career, he was preparing an eight-year old girl from Michigan for a heart transplant, and she questioned him about surviving the surgery. He said she would survive and he would dance with her at her high school prom. Ten years later, her mother got in touch with Dr. Ackerman when it was time for her daughter’s prom.

Ten years later?! Don’t you think the mother would have understood if he explained his busy schedule? After all, by then, he was a well-known cardiologist with a schedule full of patients, transplants, teaching, and speaking events.

Dr. Ackerman remembered the promise he made to the little girl, and he made the trip to Michigan for the prom. The healthy patient and her cardiologist shared a dance to Rascal Flatts' Bless the Broken Road. After the dance, the young lady’s father drove the doctor five hours to the Detroit airport so he could catch a flight to Florida where he had a speaking engagement the next day.

Dr. Ackerman showed up.

He kept his word.

He lives and leads All-In, and he has the reputation to match.

Last month, LeBron James’s son, a freshman at USC, had a cardiac arrest during a basketball workout. Bronny was taken care of by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and recovered. The family released an update saying Bronny has a treatable congenital heart defect just this past weekend.

The statement said Bronny had follow-up evaluations at the Mayo Clinic led by Dr. Ackerman and at the Atlantic Health/Morristown Medical Center. (Source: Sports Illustrated)

LeBron James could take his son to any cardiologist anywhere in the whole world.

He took his son to Dr. Ackerman.

💥 It’s not about dancing at the prom. It’s about keeping your word. Even when you’re busy.

💥 It’s not about platitudes like, “Let me know if you need anything.” It’s about showing up with spaghetti dinner the fifth week after the funeral when the freezer is empty of casseroles. It’s about showing up for collaborations and commitments because you said you would.

💥 It’s not about what everyone else does. It’s about your standard of excellence.

A high standard of excellence for skill and care is ideal for a cardiologist, right?

Is less acceptable in your job?

It’s not about the job, it’s about you. It’s about what you choose as your own standard. You set the standard of excellence high because that’s who you are, not because that’s what you get paid or that’s what the boss requires. Because who you are.

Do not lower your standard for your own behavior because people around you have low standards. Or because some out-of-touch geezer boss gets a bonus off your work. Keep your standards where you want them to be because that is who you are.

You’re All-In or not.

Choose what All-In means based on who you are.

Live and lead accordingly, and you will have a more fulfilling life.

3 lessons learned from McDonald’s Kiosk Training Level 1 (that I made up for my Dad)

My dad has been quite a trailblazer throughout his career. He had an office in our home long before WFH was the hot demand. He created new models for sports management and auto financing, among other things that became commonplace years later. In recent years, he has worked to become as tech savvy as he needs to be—no less, no more.

Last week, was a big one: Dad wanted to learn how to use the kiosk at McDonald’s.

He goes to the same McDonald’s every morning and called upon me as the family leadership development expert to teach him how to order from the kiosk. Here are the three key lessons I learned throughout this ordeal, I mean, wonderful experience😊:

Lesson #1: Put others at ease by linking the new experience to a familiar one. In advance of the training he asked of me, we spoke about similar experiences he had. For example, he had ordered from Amazon online. He described the steps he took during that process, and I said it would be similar on the kiosk. He had seen the kiosk, so we also talked about how it might differ. The discussion gave him comfort and calmed any internal anxiety he may have had. We all have some anxiety when tackling something new, right? Putting him at ease in advance was helpful because he was less anxious when we arrived at the kiosk training.

Lesson #2: Confirm the intention and purpose. Repeat the purpose to ensure clarity, and listen to the other person. We had some confusion about this one. I thought the purpose was to learn to order on the kiosk, but the very specific purpose Dad had was to get coffee for $.99 using the kiosk.

In my excitement for him to learn something new, I did not listen well, and it impacted the training.

Once the lesson began, Dad was rolling along pressing dine in, coffee café, regular coffee, and hold up! The price was $1.39. The kiosk did not say anything about $.99 coffee. He realized an ad he saw for the app promised the lower price for coffee. I offered to download the app on my phone right then, but he was frustrated already. He could not accomplish his purpose, so he was finished with the lesson.

I was frustrated because he still wanted the coffee—and so did I!—but he did not finish the order. He walked away from the kiosk to use his gift card at the counter instead.

I was bummed because he did not finish learning how to use the kiosk. He was bummed because coffee would not be $.99. There would have been less frustration if we had been perfectly clear about the intention ahead of time.

(For the record, the frustration level was like a two out of ten. We were laughing, not angry. We realized the moment and were not taking it seriously.)

Lesson #3: Be clear about the measure of success. Clarity of purpose impacts measure of performance. Since he did not complete the training, the special pretend Certificate of Achievement made especially for him on Canva sat secretly in my handbag. He was not going to get the certificate because he did not complete the order via the kiosk.

He did learn some of the steps, and that was a big deal for him. He got far enough to view the menu, select his preferred item, and place the order. Upon further consideration, he did earn the certificate for McDonald’s Kiosk Training Level 1!

Acknowledging progress was important. Look how proud he is! (He was being extra corny, but still!) There was no need to hold back the fake certificate just because the training did not go as planned.

Lighten up and look for opportunities to praise progress. Don’t be stingy with praise when it has been earned.

The praise, along with clarifying the purpose and connecting the training to something familiar, will help when we return in a few days for McDonald’s Kiosk Training Level 2!

Are there situations you’re facing when the same three lessons would be useful:

1. Put the other person at ease by linking the new thing with something familiar. This could be if you are asking for a budget increase for new staff or to improve a product feature.

2. Clarify the purpose of meetings. Wow, this is an enormous time-saver. I bet it would reduce the need for half of the meetings on our calendars! If the purpose is to give information, send an email instead. If the purpose is to gain support, do the topics and timing align with that purpose?

3. Link purpose to metrics to performance. Be clear with everyone about what success looks like. This can save time also because people will be working together to accomplish one thing instead of having different goals.

 A little reflection about those in advance can save time, build relationships, and speed progress. Every leader can use those now, including trailblazers learning new things.

How a mid-year strategic review can help you sprint ahead of your competition

Have you reached the mid-point of your 2022 destination yet? We end the first six months of the year this week. Is the progress toward your goals aligned with the timing of the calendar?

Did you just gulp at the realization that half of 2022 has flown by?!

It seems like 2022 is flying by. Maybe it's because the two prior years were so odd and isolated. Perhaps it's because the VUCA'ness will continue going forward.

Whatever the reason, now is time to get a grip on 2022 and give it a boost.

Do a mid-year strategic review to check your progress and plan for the rest of the year.

Understanding the current picture provides many benefits for you. It enables you to…

• Adjust for changes to your stakeholders' needs and expectations.

• Leap ahead of competitors who are waiting for year-end to adjust anything.

• Reallocate resources to current priorities.

• Align culture for what's ahead instead of behind.

• Builds resilience, especially if the first six months weren't your favorite.

You can do more than the commonly used strategy of cross-your-fingers-and-hope. While your competitors remain flummoxed by the complexity of the year, you can assess quickly then propel your company forward. Assess now to understand what's going on so you can empower and arm your team with the view and vision.

The basic review should include a summary of where you are now, where you want to be in six months, and what you will do to get there.

Voyage VIP Members get access to a newly designed, more robust, mid-year strategic review. If you would like it too, you are invited to become a member.

3 Ways to improve how your culture drives performance

Your company’s culture is driving performance or departures right now. Every day, the words and actions taken throughout your organization impact whether people bring their A game to their work or whether they return recruiters’ phone calls. As a leader, you can influence how your culture impacts the organization, but you have to be intentional about it these days.

Long gone are the days of letting the culture take care of itself.

It’s just not that simple when times are tough and changing. Your culture will be challenged, and you will have to decide whether your culture is what you say it is or not.

For example, you may lead the HR team when a colleague in Accounting confides about another colleague who has repeatedly lied on expense reports. Your company declares integrity as one of its core values. What would you do? It’s not about the words on the core values list or in the Mission Statement.

Another example was shared recently by the head of sales. The top salesperson is not a great teammate. Extra effort is required to work around the salesperson to complete the client work. Morale is low too, as the rest of the team is discouraged by how poorly they are allowed to be treated. While the person brings in a lot of revenue, they also cost more to get the work done. The sales leader has worked with the salesperson for several months to improve the interaction within the team, yet nothing has helped. The salesperson is not interested in being the teammate needed or the one the rest of the sales people are. Should the salesperson remain on the team?

What does keeping the person say about the culture? What does a respectful termination say? (Yes, terminations can be respectful and agreed upon.)

It’s all about the actions.

People decide how to treat their jobs based on the actions of their leaders and others around them.

Here are three ways culture drives performance of people and companies:

#1 Respect. Culture decides what/who is respected.  One potential client I visited years ago had a customer respect problem. Customer service people hollered to each other over cubical walls rude things about customers after their calls ended. That was allowed to continue, so disrespecting customers became part of the culture. The same thing happens with coworkers, managers, leaders, and suppliers too. How are you influencing what/who is respected?

#2 Decisions. When decisions are made out of alignment with espoused core values, people lose trust in the decision makers. For example, when an employee asks their operations leader about the frequent practice of under-bidding to win work then over-billing clients, and the leader admonishes them for the question, trust dissipates. How can the employee trust the leader to be truthful about anything else? How do you ensure your decisions align with core values of the company and yourself?

#3 Vision. Leaders need to have a vision for the company. They need to picture it in five, ten, even twenty or thirty years or more. Give people something to rally around and work toward together. Without a commonly shared vision, people become self-centered. They will make decisions accordingly. For example, without something bigger to rally a team around, the leader might just be working toward their bonus. People have no interest in working hard so someone else can get big bucks off their backs. How are you sharing a vision for the future to give your people hope and something to work toward together?

Respect, decisions, and vision impact retention and attraction of top talent. You can impact those three drivers. You can drive the culture. Be a responsible driver and take care of yourself and others.

The 5 Ways to build momentum for yourself and your team

In January, we encouraged you to reflect on 2021. How did that go for you? The reflection should help set the stage for the new year and begin building momentum for you.

Today begins the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese New Year. The tiger is courageous, competitive, and ready for any challenge. Sounds like an ideal representation for leaders ready to build momentum for themselves and their team after the last two pandemic-filled years.

It's a perfect time to discern how you are building momentum for a successful 2022. Here are five things to do to build momentum.

FIRST: Momentum in 2022 start with your vision. Here is a tool from the workbook called My Fulfilling Life to help you visualize what you want your life to be this year and in the future. Going forward, choose work and life goals, decisions, and behaviors that align with your vision. Once you know what success looks like, you can share it to inspire others.

SECOND: Anticipate and eliminate obstacles that sabotage your vision. Whether it is people who zap your energy or outdated systems that stymie results, take care of it. Right now, outline the steps needed to handle one or two things that could get in you and your team’s way. and don’t let those things drag on this year.

THIRD: Commit to your top three big goals for the year. Use your vision to discern three goals that would position you and your team closer to your mission this year, then outline the steps, resources, and timing. Block time on your schedule to work on and assess progress toward the big three goals for the year. The deeper you commit to yourself and your team, the better you will be at inspiring others to commit too.

FOURTH: Build in inspiration. Today, identify three things you can do to stay energized and motivated toward the big three goals. And, mark your calendar for every seven weeks to assess whether those three actions need updated. They will get stale and need to be updated throughout the year. Don’t wait until you get burned out to recognize it. Instead, seek inspiration on purpose regularly.

FIFTH: Be courageous by thinking big and by starting over if/when you need to. The three goals might need to change as other elements in life change throughout the year. Be ready and open to changes. Pivot and keep moving forward. There’s no glory in being stuck. Keep going forward.

Define your vision for the year to have any chance of momentum for yourself and your team. Be deliberate, and you can make it happen way better than if you just wait and hope. That cross-your-fingers-and-hope method of success doesn't really work out well anyway.

Approach 2022 like a tiger: courageous, competitive, and ready for any challenge.