Mel Barry’s Post

I'm often reminded of how the principles of leadership show up in my life outside of work, particularly as it relates to parenting my children. I traveled to NYC last week for a short (though super fun) vacation with my family. We had a bunch of cool things planned, including a dinner with Julie and her husband Peter. My kids, like many, have a tendency to be shy around people they don't know. For this dinner, it was important to me that Julie and Peter get to know my kids as they truly are and that my kids also have a fun time, despite the fact there weren't any other kids at dinner. So, on the way to the restaurant, I set expectations for my kids. I told them that Julie and Peter are important to me. I told them that they were safe and free to be themselves. And I told them I expected them to join in on the dinner conversation. When we set clear expectations for others, we give them a roadmap to follow and set them up for success (in life and in business). Dinner turned into a 3-hour event that flew by because the conversation was so full and engaging. I think my kids did great, though you'll have to ask Julie and Peter what they thought. 😀 #relationships #leadership #settingexpectations

Honing My Leadership at KIM

"It's an investment that's going to make so many areas of your life better." The Co-Active Leadership Program is a full transformation. This means it touches many areas of your life, including your career, your parenting, your relationships, and your impact in the world. Sharlene Shah, PCC Learn more: https://bit.ly/3TP8tqy

Running a fraternity is different from running a company… but there is some overlap. Back in our college days - and long before Inspect Point, Padraic Doyle and I co-led our fraternity as President and Vice President, respectively. While the stakes were decidedly lower (we were only 19 years old, after all), the fundamental elements of leadership still applied. We learned that to manage a bunch of 18 to 21-year-old guys, we needed to be strategic in our communication. We needed to understand what made people tick, what they responded to, and what our leverage was. Once we understood those things, we could reach our collective objectives together - and have some fun while doing it. As business leaders now, Pat and I use many of the same tools: we work toward a common goal alongside our team and make sure to balance the hard work with real connection. And in regards to our customers, we communicate with them and identify their needs so that we can build a better product to suit their needs. While in many respects we’ve come a long way from the fraternity house, we owe some of our current success to the lessons we learned there. What a ride it’s been, Pat - it’s a pleasure to be leading alongside you again!

"Appreciation should be earned" No appreciation should be given and not just said! If you are a top tier leader how do you show your managers appreciation? It's not a monitory thing to me. I've heard conversations with other leaders that expect additional earnings for doing the very job they were hired to do. Maybe with additional responsibilities or a change in daily responsibilities that require more time on task, but not to simply demand or expect it. In order to be given appreciation you have to appreciate what you have. Be thankful that God has placed you in your current role. But the other side .... If you are a top tier leader and you don't show appreciation for those under you it very well could be the beginning of your foundation crumbling. Remember who counts! Remember who is always in your corner! Remember who has always supported you through the tough times of your leadership career! R.Hill

WISDOM WORTH REPEATING #14 Leadership: What’s FAITH got to do with it?   Jim Collins, Good to Great: Unwavering Faith Amid The Brutal Facts – In confronting the brutal facts, the good-to-great companies left themselves stronger and more resilient, not weaker and more dispirited. There is a sense of exhilaration that comes from facing head-on the hard truths and saying, “We will never give up…It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail.” Stephen Covey, Principle-Centered Leadership: Teach them to have faith, to believe and trust others, and to affirm, build, bless, and serve others…If you are going to build champions, you’ve got to take an interest in people…the main reason people don’t reach their potential is because they doubt themselves. The key to success with people is to believe in them, to affirm them. Kinnaman & Lyons, Good Faith: For many people of faith, it’s becoming harder to live their convictions…In fact, to millions of people, faith is irrelevant or even bad news…Lived well and practiced consistently, good faith may be the best hope for our neighbors and society as a whole…Good conversations demand active listening, mental and emotional engagement, openness to the possibility that we’re wrong, and empathy to see the situation from other person’s point of view. Robert Greenleaf, Servant Leadership: And this required living by a sort of rhythm that encourages a high level of intuitive insight about the whole gamut of events from the indefinite past, through the present moment, to the indefinite future. One is at once, in every moment of time, historian, contemporary analyst, and prophet – not three separate roles. This is what the practicing leader is, every day of his life…Living this way is partly a matter of faith. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. #leadership #servantleadership #managementconsulting #executivecoaching

What does silo-ing, low morale, lack of innovation, retention issues, and high stress work environments all have in common? A lack of, or low levels of, TRUST. As a Certified Partner with the Trust Edge Leadership Institute, my focus for the culture within any organization is TRUST. You want to have the company or organization that your Vision Statement declares? Start solving issues with Trust and you will. Contact me for your FREE Team Assessment using the 8 Pillar Framework of Trust from the Trust Edge Leadership Institute.

A Leadership program that will help you strengthen your leadership in ALL areas of life and help you really lead from your TRUE SELF: So grateful to be a graduate of this program it has not only helped me in my leadership but most importantly has impacted how I raised my children. As my children become young adults I see who they are becoming as young adults, I realize what an impact this program has had on my whole life. I highly recommend it as a resource to tap into your most powerful leadership yet. Sophie Audet, Rachel Tenenbaum, CNTC, PCC, CPCC, Heidi Kilham, ACC, CPCC

Good things come only to people who take a chance. That way, we're all either gamblers or beggars, or else losers. At times I find myself pondering which category I belong to. However, in the larger picture, perhaps it is inconsequential. What truly matters is our willingness to embrace uncertainty and seize opportunities when they arise, or in other words, to take a chance. What with so many leadership courses discussing de Bono's caps and encouraging us to think outside the proverbial box, we can hardly miss noticing that these discussions have become so cliched today, that they've boxed us in! It is my understanding that none of these really matter. Everything is in flux, and depends on a thousand other things. All we can do is take a chance, and accept the outcome. Perhaps we can learn from the outcome and refine our parameters for the next gamble, but we have to appreciate that the great gambler that is life will also refine it's own parameters in dealing the next hand. And that makes this drama of uncertainties so entertaining. -- Pradeep K (Prady)

Sometimes we think our legacy is years in the future and will only come to life after we’re gone. But we’re always in the process of leaving a legacy. We are always in a steady process of what we ARE remembered for. We shouldn’t think we are able to put it off until we’re older, or in a better position, or in a higher financial bracket before we think about what we’ll be remembered for. How did you make people feel in that meeting you had on Friday? Will they take that feeling into the weekend with them? Will it cause them to want to better themselves? Will it cause them to lift up others the way you lifted them up? What if it’s the only interaction they have with you? Maya Angelou deepens this idea with her famous quote, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” How you make people feel is the biggest part of your legacy because…. -It happens with every interaction you have -Your other accomplishments will be regarded either positively or negatively only through the lens of what kind of person you were (how you made others feel) This is a big part the message I bring to the stage at leadership conferences or into company leadership events…we need to understand how deeply impactful the way we treat others is. Our legacy is what we leave behind Even if we’re just leaving the room. #empoweringkindness #bekind #leadershipdevelopment #leadershiptraining #keynotespeaker