5 Steps to Invite Change
There are different ways to arrive at a place of change, but there's one we recommend…
DIFFERENCE + SAMENESS: Whole Leader Development and Diversity, Equity, + Inclusion
Over the past months, Rob and I have become friends and have learned so much from one another. So, as we sought to write something together regarding the relevance of whole leader development, we decided to write it as a dialogue - a conversation between us designed to explain the intentions behind the toolkit in reference to our own personal journey of inclusion and exclusion, and as a way to project where the conversation regarding differences and similarities across our contexts may be going next.
THE MULTI-VOCATIONAL LEADER | Our Hope For the Future
What does it mean to be a multi-vocational leader and what does it mean to invest in them? To be a multi-vocational leader is to be a person who is called to be a leader or a contributing member in more than one context of our lives - the number of contexts being defined by the number of different calls to serve that we may receive and the number of times we respond with a “Yes, I will serve there” answer.
Tell Me Your Story - Recovering the Unled and Mismanaged
Throughout my career, especially the last half-dozen years, I have been asked to take on what many refer to as "the hard cases." Other managers have found them difficult to work with, low-performing, frustrated, even hostile. While I am sure that there will be exceptions, thus far, I have actually found every single one of these people to actually be solid employees and eventually significant contributors to the team. The secret, I have found, is how you start the conversation with them and the four words I have found to be most powerful to unlock their potential are, "tell me your story."
The Whole Performance Equation
What would change if we got beyond our fragmented conceptualization of performance as simply winning or getting the job done? Effective execution is absolutely necessary, but isn’t not sufficient on its own to inspire us. Getting the job done and seeing our people as people is what whole performance is all about.
The 10 Scientific Truths of Whole + Intentional Leader Development
What would change if we intentionally prepared a generation of courageous and sacrificial leaders who will bring thoughtfulness, conviction, hope, resourcing, strategic thinking, and deeply rooted care to the institutions and people they serve?
No Margin for Character
We misunderstand and misuse the idea of character in our business culture because in business, margin drives everything. To go all business for a second, margin is the difference between a product or service’s selling price and its cost of production or to the ratio between a company’s revenues and expenses. Even if you don’t consider yourself a businessperson, that is important to understand because we, as a culture, define something’s value by its margin – by the difference between the cost we pay and the benefit we get.
8 Tips for Encouraging a Reluctant Leader
Who are the leaders or potential leaders around you who are reluctant to take on the role of “leader” or who are reluctantly in the role and might need a little support? We all know them. They are not sure they want to be the leader because they feel under-qualified, under-prepared, introverted, or may have had role models or people in their past who have minimized them or their potential. Reluctance to be the leader isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it could be a strength because they know that the stakes are high for those they lead. Here are eight quick tips for investing in these reluctant leaders.
10 Years of Whole Leader Development; Bad Bobby Goes WiLD
It all started with the name Bad Bobby. While that may seem like an unconventional start, it is our lack of convention and desire to see leaders as they really are that is the key to everything we do. The story begins with a confession and a-ha moment. First, the confession. My name is Rob, I am a grown man, and I play video games along with 155 million other Americans. I don’t play every day, but I do enjoy them when I get a chance to play. The fact is that my understanding of video games inspired me to build an online leadership development portal and set of tools that are wholistic, real, and create deep insight and learning for leaders.
Re-Formed Leaders
This is not me jumping on the leadership bandwagon. Reform, fighting against the racism, brutal violence, and injustice against people of color that has plagued our country and world will take us making a deeper and more thoughtful investment in the current and next generation of leaders. Leading with compassion, courage, composure, thoughtfulness and a spirit of sacrifice takes incredible fortitude, preparation and support. The next leaders are our friends, family members, and children. Will we make the investment to prepare them well?
One Month on the Job – Practicing What We Preach
Over the past 3 years I have had 12 jobs, which for a freelance writer is probably not that big of a number. I joined the Whole + intentional Leadership Development (WiLD) team to minimize the amount of hours that go into my tax return and because the team and mission seemed exciting and unusual. I have worked with other leadership development programs, however WiLD has an impact that almost looks too good to be true.
WiLD Leaders Celebrates Annie Barthel’s Next Step
Today was Annie Barthel’s last day working officially on the WiLD Leaders team before she transitions to her new role at Slalom Consulting. Annie has served as one of our Promotions Specialists for the last year, and while we are going to miss Annie, we are so excited for the next place she is going to serve.
WiLD Leaders Announces Dr. Daniel Hallak As Our Chief Commercial Officer
The team at WiLD Leaders is more than excited to announce that Dr. Daniel Hallak is joining our leadership team as our Chief Commercial Officer. Most recently in a leadership development role at Slalom Consulting and Professional Development and Employer Engagement Program Manager at Seattle Pacific University, Daniel brings an extremely unique and appropriately wild depth of experience across corporate, not-for-profit, and educational settings.
Wild Stories in a Sensible World
When it comes to our willingness to tell the stories of our lives, there are at least three kinds of people. Those too eager to share, those who don’t know there’s anything to share, and those who hesitate to share the real story. The first group defines themselves by their edginess and outside-the-box thinking (which is inside-the-box thinking, by the way). The second group lacks the awareness that they are just as weird as the rest of us, and the third group has a different kind of challenge. It’s the challenge of navigating the world of what is “sensible” and what is “wild”. I’m most interested in this third group.