On stage and when conducting Leadership Trainings for organizations, I typically start by sharing my 5 Points of the Day. I’ve found it to be the foundation of living your best life, professionally and personally. Point #1 focuses on being mindful of what we put in your mind, heart, and soul when we wake in the morning. Most people wake and immediately consume emails, the news, or social media. For me, it’s being grateful, posting my content when I wake, and driving my kids to school listening to short motivational videos in the car. Point #4 focuses on how we return home; it’s our job to return home the same way we’d like our Employees to show up to work. To return home and start the second half of my day right, I go to the gym and find myself listening to the same short motivational speech on YouTube; as it ignites a primal energy to focus and compete with myself!
The speech is a collaboration of World-Famous Motivational Speakers and Eric Thomas mentions a Lion. He stated, “Why does a lion look like that, and a giraffe doesn’t? Because it hunts for its food and even if they don’t catch it, it’s the process of hunting that makes them look the way they do”… and my favorite line, “It’s the process that makes you sweet!”. Leaders understand it’s your process, your willingness to do it consistently, and evolve it as necessary that produces a winning culture. It made me think of lions and how we, you, and I can Lead, professionally and in our personal lives as Lions.
I think most of us worldwide see lions as Kings & Queens of the jungle… even though they don’t live in a jungle, Lol! Whether you’d like to be a King or Queen or not… if you’re reading this, I think you’d like to be perceived as brave, formidable, smart, willing, ready, and a great hunter of your own food… your Dreams, Goals, and Desired Lifestyle for you and your family. So, how do we do it?
L. – Lazy!
I know… after all of that, I start with LAZY! Yes, too many times Leaders are so BUSY being BUSY they forget to be BETTER. It’s easier to move at mock speed, getting stuff done, meeting deadlines, metrics, leading projects, then return home to get the kids fed, off to their practices, and I could go on, but you get the point. It’s harder to be like a lion and STOP… rest, recover, reflect, and rebuild.
Lions spend most of the day resting to save energy so they can hunt effectively to care for and protect their families. It’s important you do the same and schedule time in your day and week to rest. The quiet whispers in your mind and body will always tell you when you need to rest, slow down, and be lazy… and when you don’t make time, your body certainly will… Be Mindful! Rest may refer to you managing your sleep better, shutting work down at a certain time, allowing down-time after dinner or before bed.
Recovering may involve taking that hot bath you’ve been thinking about, getting in the hot tub, treating yourself to a massage, getting with good friends, etc. For me, it’s getting in the sauna once per week… or at least twice per month, putting Friend-Time in my calendar once per month, and enjoying a “Reflection-Cigar” by myself one time per month or when needed.
Reflecting refers to you intentionally making and taking time to reflect on the decisions you’ve made as a Leader at work, your relationships, and in your home… evaluating the conversations you’ve had, the tone you used, the decisions you’ve made, things people have shared with you, what they’re right about, your plan moving forward, and forgiving yourself for not being PERFECT!
Rebuilding is our ability to come out of this designated “Lazy-Time” a better person and Leader… not only by “our definition”, but by marrying the lessons we learned about ourselves, the ways we want to evolve, with what our people (Employees, Bosses, Significant Other, and our Kids) need most from us right now!
I. – Intensity!
Everything a lion does seems intense. Whether it’s hunting, being lazy, or simply how they walk. I remember watching a video of people on safari and a pride of lions walked by and the sheer intensity of the lions’ stature, their walk, etc. was WOW!!! I’m not encouraging you to be so intense your Bosses, Co-Leaders, and Employees can’t share space with you. However, I am suggesting we be more purposeful and intentional regarding every word we choose, email we send, gossip we consume or engage in, and how we protect and create our reputations in-office, throughout our organization, with our clientele, and in our personal world outside of work!
O. – Offensive!
As a sports guy, I played defense and loved it! In Business, there are times to defend your People, your Product, and protect your People from themselves, and sometimes from you. However, great Leaders are also offensive!
When I was a Mental Health Therapist, I initiated thought-impacting and empowering Group Therapy Sessions and encouraged my team of Therapists to do the same. Nothing grinded my gears more than sitting in on a Session and it be blatantly obvious the Therapist only thought about the Group Session and what they were going to do five minutes prior… and my personal favorite, wheeling in a TV to watch a show or movie with no prepared questions to explore in-between scenes or afterward.
Nowadays as a Business Owner, it’s my job to be on offense in planning productive Team Meetings, 1/1 Meetings, Weekly Check-Ins, fine-tuning processes, upgrading Tech and products, and making my “Yes’s” powerful to create great company impact and offense and making my “No’s” meaningful to play great defense, protect our Vision & Goals, and to stay focused and on track with my Brand, Vision, and Vision Factors; The 3-5 Things that when done consistently will make the vision a reality!
N. – Noble!
I don’t know the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of a lion; my first thoughts are the mane, the intensity in their eyes, their nobility, and lastly… get the heck out of their way! I encourage you to be a lion when entering any room. I don’t mean roaring and out to kill everything and anyone; as lions are also very loving, curious, and protective. I mean entering every room, business meeting, virtual call, networking event, restaurant, etc. in a way that people know you’re something noble!
Years ago, when I was getting my business off the ground; I left the world of Mental Health and accepted a sales position at Bob’s Discount Furniture… Go Bob’s! I needed a job, but more importantly, I needed two consecutive days off during the week to focus on building my dream. I’m proud to say it all worked out! However, while working at Bob’s a funny thing continued to happen when serving customers; They kept asking, “What else do you do? You seem like you do more than this!”. How did they know? What made them ask?
The answer is A Leader’s L.I.O.N. and the N. of Noble. Before I share more… the cool thing at Bob’s was, when I shared my “real business” with customers and that my second book (most people don’t know about), 7 Ways to Love, was next door in Barne’s & Noble… I was honored to sell couches, mattresses, and sign my book for customers while completing their order at the terminal. I’ll never forget those days and a BIG Thank You to Bob’s and their Leadership Team!
You never have to announce your nobility, it will speak for itself when you intentionally care for your physical, spiritual, relational, financial, and mental health. This is one of the truest concepts I can share with you… People will not know exactly what it is about you, but they will sense it, feel it, and you’ll attract the right people and repel the wrong ones. You will not be for everyone, but when those who aren’t ready for you get ready… they will know where to come; and you’ll be even better when they do!
My question for you is, on a scale of 1-10 (ten being the best)… where do you rate yourself in each of the areas of physical, spiritual, relational (significant other, family, friends), financial, and mental?
- What does each of your numbers (ratings) mean to you? Remember, be good to yourself! If you’re a 3… GOOD! You’re not a 1 or 2! What’s good about your numbers for each?
- How could you move up a number or two in each? Remember, a 10 can become a 12!
- Whatever you’re willing to do to move up a number or two, is it what the person you’d be giving that effort to needs most from you right now? Remember, if you really want to know… ASK… and if you’re Leader enough to ask, you must be Leader enough to listen! When they answer, what are they right about? What are you willing to modify… or not?
Have you ever been at work or anywhere and someone walks in or by you… and you don’t know who they are, but you know they’re someone special? It’s something about how they walk, their eyes, how they listen, ask questions, share their thoughts, and get result after result. That will be you now that you know the 4 Keys to Lead more confidently!
What was your BIGGEST Takeaway from A Leader’s L.I.O.N. What will you apply NOW to enhance not only your Leadership & Work/Life Harmony… but also for those you’re Leading?
“You never have to announce your nobility, it will speak for itself when you intentionally care for your physical, spiritual, relational, financial, and mental health… Be Mindful! – Andre Young
Written by: Andre Young
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