Last Week's Leadership Lessons - November 4, 2024
John M. Jaramillo, MBA, MSOP
Leadership Performance Coach & Consultant | Leadership Design & Branding | Podcast Host??| Executive Advisor | Freelance Writer ?? | Speaker
Lessons From The Week of October 28th
?? Last Week's Leadership Lessons (LWLL) - Like, Share, Subscribe! ??
This Week: 1. Sensitivity & Needing Time Alone / 2. The Pursuit of Arts / 3. Avoiding Invisibility
Reader Beware: If you've been here before, you know the drill. Please feel free to jump right on ahead to the list of stories. If not, read from here on to understand what I'm trying to capture in the Last Week's Leadership Lessons (LWLL) series.
Talking about leadership can be repetitive and boring as hell!
We're always seeing and hearing the same old definitions, constructs, and formal tips related to and regurgitated about the leadership field, every so often punctuated by a perpetually rotating door of the latest industry buzzwords.
Even with all its great energy and intention, the themes and hopes of the leadership discipline, admittedly, can become a little monotonous -- without great stories and living examples to wake them up.
(Granted, I post about them as well. Guilty. So I guess maybe I mean "overkill." The?overkill?of your run-of-the-mill leadership ideas is what I'm trying to supplement -- and maybe unlock -- here through more unique takes and lenses.)
Hence why I launched this series.
The way the world is going, I think it's essential to think about and take in more lessons on humanity in general than leadership specifically.
In this series, I want to capture themes and ideas for leadership -- while being particularly cautious that they not be necessarily conveyed as leadership lessons in the articles or sources I cite. I want to find examples that demonstrate more lessons about HUMANITY than the usual script of clichéd leadership building blocks.
The way the world is going, I think it's essential to think about and take in more lessons on humanity in general than leadership specifically. And it's not like I'm forsaking one for the other; the former should inform and be the foundation for the latter. (That's just me. That's just my take.)
And to be clear, these valuable lessons, as I express them, aren't carved in stone. My translations aren't absolute. They can't be. It's not that simple. I think that's what gets us in trouble when it comes to learning (or not) about society and each other: Most issues are typically seen as black and white, left and right, up and down, one side or the other. But again, it's not that simple. Not everything can be. We force it to be that way.
In most instances -- not all, but in most -- there is room for interpretation and different ideas and views to be exchanged somewhere on the middle ground. More nuance exists than we typically see -- or will admit.
And in that nuance there's beauty. Because in that nuance we can learn from each other. And because of that nuance, each of my interpretations is just one option for consideration in that middle ground of learning.
All that being said, below are three articles I came across last week that have valuable lessons for leadership, purpose, and expression. In reading these pieces, you may find the lessons for leadership do not immediately stand out or reveal themselves -- and that's because lessons can range from the loud, obvious, and obnoxious to the subtle, unassuming, and hidden. In my breakdowns below I'll first cover the idea In General and then it's applicability In Leadership.
...it never hurts to continue learning from your fellow human beings, whether you know them or not.
And although the source materials are not all leadership-related per se, they can all apply to leadership -- in terms of how you present yourself, navigate through life and work, and move, impact, inspire, and appreciate others.
Even if you feel you've already crafted your leadership to where you want it to be and the results clearly show it -- where others can get behind them and vouch for you -- it never hurts to continue learning from your fellow human beings, whether you know them or not.
Gestures, speeches, action, inaction, decisions, announcements, etc. They all tie in.
So bear with me. Some of them might seem like a stretch. But have some faith that I may be crazy -- but not?too?crazy.
This practice is merely effort to learn about ourselves, where we can improve, and how we can evolve.
Lessons are everywhere.
1. Sensitivity & Needing Time Alone
In General
Sensitivity gets a bad rap -- still. It's a hyperawareness but can still be looked down upon. It's deep listening but can still be seen as not being able to handle what's happening. It's patience and wherewithal to see what's occurring, instead of letting things race by, but still be seen as a weakness. Again, a bum rap.
But certain sensitivities are merely seeing what others won't -- or can't -- see. These hypersensitive people might feel and perceive what isn't visible to others. Because their perceptive powers don't work the same as most other people, common ground with them can be hard to find.
"Sensitivity gets a bad rap -- still."
In Leadership
This article covers the high empathy and deep cognitive processing of the hypersensitive person (HSP). It covers what the HSP senses and feels. A leader who is hypersensitive can see what most others can't. There is value in that different lens only they may hold in any given situation. But that sensitivity does come with a cost -- a need for self-care. The more only you see, the more only you take on.
We should all understand the space needed for each other's personalities, nuances, and, yes, sensitivities. The person with those sensitivities should be aware of what they need to perform their best -- if that hypersensitivity requires a lot of energy. If leaders with those sensitivities don't recover from that overstimulation, they can eventually find themselves burnt out.
If you live and work with any deep sensitivities, how do you make sure to take care of yourself to guard against overstimulation?
Check Out The Article HERE !
Applicable Past LWLL Editions
2. The Pursuit of Art
In General
I love the fact that art of any kind makes you reach beyond what is seen. It calls on imagination, creativity, and curiosity to manifest something out of nothing, be it through painting, drawing, writing, or music.
And artistry goes beyond those traditional areas. Artistry can exist in innovation, customer service, and conversations -- hell, even in curating a newsletter. Before anything else, and regardless of the medium, artistry is creating something someone can benefit from or enjoy, and sharing it with others. Most of us don't have that eye or calling, but that doesn't mean artistry can't work for us.
"Before anything else, and regardless of the medium, artistry is creating something someone can benefit from or enjoy, then sharing it with others."
In Leadership
It took me most of my life to understand the power of artistry, of wanting to create something and understanding that power and what its unleashing can provide. I never understood its applicability to the rest of the world. Then I began playing music, podcasting, diving into photography. Years ago, again, I never would have been able to articulate the value of each of those "hobbies" to other areas of work and life.
Now, I think those fields in the world of art can heal what divides us these days. Art is about openings, possibilities, and commitment to something outside ourselves. All of this lends itself to leadership. They may not play into the technical side of the world, but the vision that art empowers opens up new ideas and avenues into the future. That mindset infuses itself into other areas of work, life, and leadership.
What kind of artistry do you focus on, create, and share with others?
Check Out The Article HERE !
Applicable Past LWLL Editions
3. Avoiding Invisibility
In General
There are deep, rich, and painful lessons in the stories of others. Others live experiences and lives we couldn't even dream of or feel. They provide, though, stories of urgency, hard work, and resilience.
Even though we may not have too much in common with someone doesn't mean we can't take lessons from the road they've walked. We're each a study of the human spirit. We can learn to appreciate what we have and push forward for what we want.
"It's on each of us to decide how visible we want to be -- and then work in the direction of that decision."
In Leadership
This article is about self-leadership and understanding your place out there. The article is based mostly on race but also self-understanding, pride, stubbornness, conviction -- they're all aspects of great leadership and what someone shares of themselves.
Leadership is about bringing who you are out. Yeah, there's the technical, strategic, and organizational side of the work, but it's who someone is -- that "authenticity," if you will -- that sets one person apart from the next. It's on each of us to decide how visible we want to be -- and then work in the direction of that decision.
How are you working to become as visible as you want to be?
Check Out The Article HERE !
Applicable Past LWLL Editions
Honorable Mention
Rituals To Reduce Anxiety
In Leadership
As a student of lifelong anxiety, I can appreciate what this article shares. I wish I had access to this kind of wisdom when I was younger. It's commonplace now to see best practices, or "hacks," for how to deal with anything that may be throwing us off-center. I can imagine leaders utilizing rituals before beginning any of their duties, whether it's giving a speech, talking to an impromptu crowd, giving a presentation, or just walking into the office in the morning -- any point at which heightened performance is required and we have to turn "on."
Not all of us are wired the same. We have common needs, in general, and unique, specific, individualized needs when it comes to how we prepare ourselves for performance. We may carry out similar duties as others but maybe need to prepare for them differently. There may be rituals we never see that might lead to others' success. Maybe it's time to add some rituals to our leadership, life, and work approach, tapping into something different we never considered.
What are the rituals you utilize (or could utilize) to reduce anxiety?
Check Out The Article HERE !
Honorable Mention
Marketing Quotes To Keep You Effective
In Leadership
This is random, right? What do marketing quotes have to do with leadership? you ask. Everything. Marketing is about brand awareness, messaging, selling urgency. So is leadership!
Whether you're talking about "..what interests them...," "...open with the fire," "Humor gets under the door," "...shit that arrives at the speed of light...," or any other of the quotes here, it all applies. As it pertains to the examples I quoted, as a leader, you need to keep them interested, demonstrate urgency, understand the power of humor, and recognize your own bullshit. Again, leadership is brand awareness, messaging, and selling urgency, among many other things.
Do you understand your own brand awareness, messaging, and sense of urgency?
Check Out The Article HERE !
That's it! Those are the main articles for this week.
What other examples of leadership lessons – maybe even those that aren’t so apparent and obvious – do you come across in your everyday life and work?
What have you read lately that offers some insight on being human and navigating life -- and yes, by default, leadership.
Reach out to me and let me know what you think of these. Please share your own if you've found articles or stories with great lessons or insights that can contribute to how we carry ourselves through our lives and work.
Okay...A Leadership Article
Okay, yes. I have to break down an article that is focused on leadership. At least one.
Emotional Regulation: Leaders Keeping Their Cool
In Leadership
Everyone has their breaking point, even leaders. We're all human. When it comes to that breaking point, though, each of us has to decide how much we want to show. We should balance what we need to express with what the environment -- and our responsibilities and duties -- call for. I believe leaders have that right to express their emotions; they're also charged, though, with setting the emotional pace, cadence, and habits of their environment.
Not proactively regulating emotions, or not preparing for the triggers that might rear their ugly heads, can cost leaders dearly as they go about their work. Many of us might have witnessed moments where leaders unleashed their emotions and weren't quite able to recover from that response. As a results of that split-second reaction, the environment can change and the air can sour both within the team and beyond. Again, balance is needed, between what we want to gain in control and what we face losing in the environment if we snap.
How do you go about tapping into and releasing your emotion in the right way before it gets away from you and beyond your control?
Check Out The Article HERE !
Network Conversations With...The Book Leads Podcast Guests
How are you finding conversations that are changing you?
If you're reading this newsletter, it's because you're curious about tools, stories, and perspectives that can contribute to who you are as a leadership and, if you're familiar with the way I look at leadership, a person.
For me, those worlds intersect. They're not as compartmentalized as we might have once believed.
So, back to those conversations.
Where are the conversations that change you and open you up to learning about the world around you and your inner self? Where are those conversations that energize you? Where are those conversations that leave you better than they found you? How are you changing others through conversations, even in the smallest of ways? (Yes, that's possible.)
The Book Leads Podcast has changed me. I'm a different person now than when I started the series. Shit, I even evolve as a person over the course of each season. In the course of building up this library, I do have to step outside of what was previously my comfort zone to talk with people from across the country and around the world. My introverted self might have found that exhausting. Now, I see the value in it and want to do it even more.
So, where do you find those life-changing conversations for yourself? What is it you need out of a great conversation?
I mention this mostly because I know what it feels like to finally get what it is you've been seeking, and how much of you is unlocked in that process. You see what's really under the waterline of that iceberg, with what's over the surface reflecting what you've experienced and shown of yourself until now, and what's below it demonstrating what's left of you to find, tap into, and unleash.
Seek out those great conversations -- even those you might not have known you needed.
Last 10 LWLL Editions...
June 10, 2024 - 1. Navigating Unfairness / 2. Conversation Starters / 3. Setting Boundaries With Your Mentor
June 3, 2024 - 1. Your Reputation After A Mistake / 2. Being Insightful / 3. Negative Self-Talk
May 28, 2024 - 1. Knowing When To Exit / 2. Excelling At Conversation / 3. The Dark Side of Habits
May 20, 2024 - 1. Compelling Story Brand / 2. Disciplined People Traits / 3. Resilience Myths
May 13, 2024 - 1. Exhausted & Unmotivated / 2. Personal Brand & Sales / 3. Practical Optimism
May 6, 2024 - 1. Anxiety As A Catchall / 2. Branding Ecosystem / 3. Disengaged Bosses
April 29, 2024 - 1. Unbothered People / 2. What People Think / 3. Toxic Shame
April 22, 2024 - 1. Negative Mood / 2. Anxiety About Public Speaking / 3. Describing Yourself
April 15, 2024 - 1. Empathic Listening / 2. Power of Questions / 3. Faces of Resilience
April 8, 2024 - 1. Saying "No" / 2. Rewiring Your Brain / 3. Self-Confidence & Success
What Do YOU Think?
What are your thoughts on these topics? Again, like everything else in this newsletter, the ideas here may not come to mind immediately when you think of leadership, but there's a place for them. These stories and questions ask us to consider how we see, interact with, and influence people -- and leadership is all about people. Sometimes, all it takes is a great prompt or a simple question to have us think about (or rethink) areas of our lives.
High Engagement Starts With Managers
Check Out The Article HERE !
Passive-Aggressiveness in Friendships
Check Out The Article HERE !
Being A Likable Boss
Check Out The Article HERE !
Emotional Support
Check Out The Article HERE !
Graphic Finds
Here's a few graphics I came across this week that painted a great picture, breaking down information and bringing to life a great idea clearly for our understanding. A visual helps make an idea pop, allowing us to see multiple moving parts at once. As always, it may not be perfect -- including everything we'd like to see or possibly including some things we'd rather not consider. But, at the very least, it gets us thinking and talking about the topic.
10 Acts of Kindness At Work
I found this graphic on Infographics Insights LinkedIn group feed.
Every act counts. Gestures, tones, questions. They're all impactful, and they're all free. We're always looking to the big acts and decisions as the main sources of monumental shifts in performance and success, and we overlook the little steps we can take in the everyday to make a difference in the work (and lives) of others. This type of kindness outlined below, it ripples into everything else. Into how someone works, feels, and leaves the workplace or the relationship each day. Please realize how much of a difference you can make, no matter where you serve in the organizational hierarchy, with little acts of kindness.
What acts of kindness do you utilize in your everyday to create a ripple effect of satisfaction, fulfillment, and success -- for both yourself and others?
Find the graphic HERE !
8 Lessons For Educational Leaders From Ted Lasso
This graphic was shared by LinkedIn connection Stephanie Fengler, MBA, MSOP .
Ted Lasso is a great show. Those of us who study leadership were especially impressed by its simple lessons in leadership, in understanding others, in seeing others and being there for them. Articles and blog posts have been written and courses taught about it -- believe me, I was compiling its valuable nuggets in my head. But it's amazing that side of the show -- the simplest gestures and acts -- blows us away. They're all something we all have access to and are capable of -- being human. It's the free side of things. Not expensive consultants, coaches, or programs; just simple everyday approaches to the person next to us. Empathy, not earnings. Respect, not resources. Consideration, not corporate lingo. It builds on the respect outlined in the first graphic above.
What kind of lessons are you picking up from what's around you (even TV shows)?
Find the graphic HERE !
Follow-Up On Past Editions
Here are some follow-up articles that build on, supplement, or intersect with topics covered in previous editions.
There's always a different take or angle to help us refine and build upon a discussion we've had in the past. We can bring either some reinforcement, clarity, or questions to past understandings. Because I just give you the articles and how they connect to previous editions, I leave you to figure out, much how I break down the lessons above, how to extract the lessons for your own leadership.
The Book Leads Podcast - Season 3, Episode 95: Suzi Hunn
Episode 95: Suzi Hunn & Her Book, Big-Hearted Entrepreneur: Own Your Worth and Amplify a Mission That Matters
Suzi's LinkedIn Profile caption says it all. She's "helping conscious consultants amplify their impact" through her company, Teach Your Thing. Coming from a long line of teachers and evolving into an entrepreneur, Suzi's part of a movement disrupting the idea that business has to be only about the bottom line.
She studied both English and Business in college, combining the art form of the word with the practicality of what words can do through communication of value.
Now, she's helping clients distill, organize, and tell their stories and share value. She's sharing her own in her book, which serves as a very practical guide for owning your worth and amplifying a mission.
Some Conversation Highlights
The MAIN QUESTION underlying my conversation with Suzi is, What's the medicine in you that others need? How do you own it and amplify what you can share with others?
Next Up!
Episode 96: Dr. Eric Boyd and His Book with Anna Alvarez Boyd, PCC , FairWays to Leadership?: Building Your Business Network One Round of Golf at a Time
This series has become my Masterclass In Humanity . I'd love for you to join me and see what you take away from these conversations.
Learn more about The Book Leads Podcast.
The Ultimate Guide To Becoming A Successful Soul Professional Book
The Ultimate Guide To Leaving Your Legacy: 22 Powerful Lessons On Leading As A Soul Professional
This is the 3rd book in the series, and my chapter (Chapter 13) entitled A Legacy Before Death: How Stories and Everyday Moments Can Inspire Us to Live Our Best Life Today, builds on what I shared in my chapter in the 2nd book.
My Legacy chapter taps into the deep conversations and powerful storytelling that have come out of my podcast, The Book Leads: Impactful Books For Life & Leadership .
Every time I finished one of my episode conversations, I'm more motivated by seeing such humanity at work all around us.
It inspires me to galvanize my legacy every day, even in the little moments and interactions.
Thank you to Camille L. Miller, MBA, Ph.D. ABD for the invitation to join the roster of authors, to Laura Di Franco and her staff on the publishing side, and to all the great authors sharing their great insights in this book.
About The Book Leads Podcast
On The Book Leads podcast, I speak to specialists and experts across various industries and from varied backgrounds to learn about the book that made an impact and left an impression on their work, life, and leadership. In the course of my conversation I also learn about my guest's background, experience, and work they're carrying out today.
This series has become my Masterclass In Humanity . I'd love for you to join me and see what you take away from these conversations.
Learn more about The Book Leads and listen to past episodes:
About Me
I'm a Leadership Performance Coach and Consultant at coachitout.com .?In addition to coaching, and as you can see above, I enjoy writing, podcasting, and speaking about leadership. Specifically, I work with clients to realize what they're all about when it comes to (1) new positions they've been hired or promoted into; and (2) rediscovering what they want out of their leadership, development, and career.
My signature talks include Design Your Leadership! Nine Ways to Sharpen Your Leadership Brand In The Everyday, and Platinum Networking: Designing A Unique Experience For Others In A World Of Disconnection.
Please subscribe to my newsletter Last Week's Leadership Lessons , if you haven't already!
Reach out to me at [email protected] .
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2 周it’s interesting you mention subtle lessons.. i’ve found that the quiet ones often stick longer.. how do you personally separate what’s a real takeaway from noise?
Helping purpose-driven leaders amplify their impact through courses, workshops, and talks. Teach Your Thing.
2 周Artistry, visibility, alone time: These topics you bring up here have plenty o do with leadership. Thanks for highlighting the unexpected, in your thoughtful holisitic way! And thanks for the shout-out, John M. Jaramillo, MBA, MSOP. I greatly enjoyed our conversation.
Leadership Performance Coach & Consultant | Leadership Design & Branding | Podcast Host??| Executive Advisor | Freelance Writer ?? | Speaker
2 周Directory of Editions: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/last-weeks-leadership-lessons-directory-articles-john-m-/?published=t ?#leadership?#leadershipcoaching?#news?#coaching?#life?#work?#communication?#goals #writing #podcast #authors #books #yes #art #invisible #anxiety #marketing #quotes #blindspots #thebookleads #engagement #managers #passiveaggressiveness #friendships #boss #emotion #emotionalsupport #kindness #education #educationalleaders #tedlasso #venting #regrets #thinking