Session 3: How to Avoid Hell on Earth

Video

Worksheet

Outline

Let’s start with two leadership truths:

1. The number one thing your team want, is progression.
2. The number one thing you want as a leader, is momentum.

Let’s talk about progression.

In Greek mythology, King Sisyphus is placed in an eternal, dungeon of torment, where his task is to roll a massive boulder up a steep hill.  It’s an exhausting and onerous task that takes all his efforts.  At the end of the day, just at the point where the boulder is about to rest at the top, it rolls back all the way to the bottom.  (Ouchie….)

It’s a daily situation, consigning Sisyphus to an eternity of useless efforts and unending frustration.  (Ouchie for eternity….)

This is the exact situation you create as a leader if you don’t provide progression for your team. Progression is far more than personal development, increased responsibilities, titles or pay rises.  Progression is about moving things away from a mere Job Description and a To-Do list, to creating a system or a game where the players can ask questions of possibility to make things better.

Now clearly, there is a whole process to this.  It is something that we consistently coach and review with our clients.  To start, ask yourself if your team is simply task focussed, or if they have an opportunity to make things better in a clear, rhythmic, and measurable way.

Now on to the topic of leadership momentum.

A leader without momentum is like a circus performer who has to constantly spin multiple plates in order to avoid a disaster.

Things only work when the leader keeps spinning the plates.

Stop spinning and watch each plate fall to the ground with a crash!

This sort of leader is one who has all roads that lead to them in a centralised model.  If you find yourself in this leadership model where all roads lead to you, then you should call yourself “Rome” (Get it?!  How good are my Dad jokes??)

Now a leader who has all roads lead to them may feel important in the short term, but in the long run they will be exhausted and chained to their activities.

Without momentum and progression, you have friction, frustration, and misery!

Question and Actions

1. How do you provide your team (and the people around you) a systematic opportunity to progress and grow?  Adhoc doesn’t count!
2. As a leader, do you think that the organisation is too dependent on you?  Do you feel like you are a “Rome” leader?

If we want to create environments of progression and momentum, then instead of asking questions like “How do we move faster?” or “How do we get more done?” ask questions such as “How do I remove the friction points?” or  “How am I working against myself?”

When things are frictionless, they’re smooth.  We glide and remove the continual stop/starts.

One of the key understandings to create a “smooth” life is to understand that not every opportunity or every problem is created the same.

The Lifewheel Exercise

No-one has all the resources or time to do everything that they want to do, or want to avoid. If this is true, then we need to avoid trying to do every-thing and instead focus our attention on the right-next-thing.

(One quick caveat to this – the only person who has all the resources, time and money to do everything they want, is a person with no vision).

Think about it, vision is about the future.  If your vision matches your reality, then there can be no vision.

Something I say to my kids (and myself of course!): “You can do anything but you can’t do everything, so choose wisely!”

So how do we choose wisely?

A great exercise to help this is “The Life Wheel”

Exercise

• If the centre circle, represents 0, and the circumference represents 10.
• Reflecting back on the last two weeks:
• On a scale of 0-10, how would you rate each of the categories.  Below are some supporting comments to help you through this process.

1. Your relationship with God:  This is not a question of your activity, projects or volunteering.  It’s not about performance, rather relationship.
   1. Reflection Scripture: “I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our super-spiritual projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’”  Matthew 7: 22-23 MSG
2.  Your energy levels:  As a leader, you set the energy ceiling for your team.  If you are operating at energy level 7, then that will be the highest level of energy for your team (usually slightly lower).
3. Your health status and approach:  Is your approach to health taking you to where you want to go?  As an example, I am now a Dad.  One of my health goals is to be able to pick up my grandkids.  Therefore, low stress and agility is more important to me than a six-pack.  Are my current routines taking me to where I want to be?  What’s missing?
4. Your Personal Growth Status and Alignment:  Are you a lifelong learner?  Before the age of 18, you probably learned how to read, write, add, subtract, ride a bike, kick a ball, fall in love plus a whole bunch of other things!  When you write down what you have learned after 18, is the list equally impressive or inspiring?  How do you want to personally grow?
5. Your Work?  Having a job is different to building a career.  Running a business is different to growing a team or growing impact.  Does your work force you to be better or are you just busy?
6. Your Finances:  This is less about net worth and more about how you are managing and growing your finances.  Are you wasteful?  Are you stingy?  Do you have a budget?  Do you budget for generosity as well as saving and spending? Do you believe that you will never have wealth so you don’t even try?  A couple of little personal sayings I have about finances:
   1. “You can’t save your way to wealth.  You save your way to invest, and you invest your way to wealth.”
   2. “Time is like money.  Once you have spent it, its’ gone.  Also, If you invest your time or money it will one day work for you.
7. Your friends.  Note: as you get older, quality becomes far more important than quantity.  I’m personally at a stage where I want deep friendships over multiple associations.  Who are the friends in your life that Proverbs 18:24 refers to that stick closer than a brother?
8. Your Family.  Are you prioritising the right things?  If not for your immediate family, what of your extended or chosen family?  Does your personal life reflect the life you want for your family?  A helpful reminder for those with children.  “Your children will not listen to what you say as much as they will follow who you are.”  As an example, many parents encourage their children to be considerate of others and to possess an outward focus.  If the parents are inwardly focused on themselves, their families, personal goals etc. with little thought to anyone else, the children will copy the behaviour more than they will listen to the words.

You will see space to write some points under each category.

Under each category, you will see a dotted line.  This is to give you space as to what you want to see moving forward.

Finally!

Remember, don’t try to do it all.  Looking at your reflections, What are the 1 or 2 things that you need to let go/change when you look back or the top 1 or 2 things that you need to add moving forward.  (Write these in the bottom left boxes).

The simpler your approach to life, the more likely it will run smooth.  What are the domino habits that set everything else into motion?  For me, it’s exercise and journaling.  If I execute on these two habits, I find that everything else tends to fall into place.

Questions and Actions

As a result of this workshop, share one thing:

1. That has inspired you.
2. That you are going to immediately implement as a result.

(Record these as a group so you can reflect at your next gathering).

Here’s to the 100X life, a life well lived!