Top performers take initiative. They take ownership for improving themselves and their teams. Are your athletes seeking ways to give their team an edge? Are they doing the little things to unify the team? Let’s look at three ways athletes can take initiative and gain a competitive advantage. These are the players who become your team leaders.

How to Go the Distance 

Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara is a model of what it means for a team leader to take initiative. The second oldest NHL player (41 years old) joined the Bruins in 2006, and was named the team’s captain. Since Chara’s arrival the franchise won four Division Championships, two Conference Championships, and the Stanley Cup in 2011.

What makes Chara so great?

He takes full responsibility for getting better. Why? Chara has told the Bruins more than once he wants to play at age 45. He wants to win a second Stanley Cup. He is also driven by an insatiable desire to fulfill his potential.

3 Ways Top Performers Take Initiative

Simply put leaders take responsibility. Across sports, business, or life, organizations are looking for those who take initiative. Those are the folks who demonstrate commitment, taking it upon themselves to get better and make their teams better.

Let’s take a closer look at Chara and other top performers to identify a few areas where athletes can take initiative and make themselves, their teammates, and their teams better.

Their Body:

As an athlete, taking care of your body is essential. Staying healthy, conditioned, strong, and operating at peak level is the goal.

To take care of his body, Zdeno plans his off-season workouts in excruciating detail. He has records of every workout, swim, ache and pain over the course of his whole career. Tom Brady is known for his super-strict diet and sleep habits (i.e., going to bed at 8:30 every night). Steph Curry utilizes all manner of scientific advances to keep his body in top form. The Seahawks offer yoga and meditation classes for players.

How much better could your athletes be if they fueled their bodies with better food and had better sleep habits?

Their Skills:

Some athletes wait for coaches to initiate developmental changes in their mechanics, tactics, or style. Team leaders and top performers don’t wait to be told what to do.

Many great athletes have support teams around them, including specialists outside their organizations to help them get better.

Chara sought advice from other Slovic-born world-class athletes. He got powerlifting advice from an Olympic weightlifter and footwork advice from ice dancers. His skills coach, Adam Nicholas, says of Chara’s drive for excellence, “He won’t stop until he masters everything.”

Tom Brady has “body coach” and TB12 partner Alex Guerrero. Steph Curry trains with Brandon Payne. Russell Wilson has worked with a Mental Conditioning Coach, Trevor Moawad, since 2012.

The Dallas Maverick star Dirk Nowitzki and private coach, Holger Geschwindner, picked an skill Dirk needed to add to his game every off-season. Matt Ryan uses a vision training device called NeuroTracker to help him think faster, see the field better, and make better decisions on the field.

Are your athletes taking the initiative to get the help of a mental coach (like me), skills coach, or other specialist? What edge could your players add to their games?

Their Team:

Who is responsible for building the team? Team leaders take the initiative to foster deeper relationships, build cohesion, and help teammates get better.

Chara has improved his leadership in the locker room over the years. Retired Bruins teammate, Andrew Ference says of Zdeno, the he went from “an Eastern European, pretty hardass approach” to “being more understanding.” He tries to include everyone on the team.

Portland Trailblazer Damian Lillard organized “a weeklong retreat to San Diego with beach barbecues, Padres games and touch football showdowns,” according to SI author Lee Jenkins. Lilliard’s mindset, “I was so hands-on about being the leader.”

Similarly, you’ve heard of QBs and wide outs hitting the turf in the off-season to work on timing. NBA players link up at off-the-beaten-path high school gyms to build chemistry. Shaquille O’Neal, NBA Hall of Famer, mentored rookies about all the off-court decisions, pressures, and challenges they would face in becoming a professional. All Black captains famously “sweep the sheds.”

How could your players take initiative to hold others accountable to the team’s culture, improve their leadership, or mentor their peers in becoming better people and better players?

Athletes who take initiative become leaders in the locker room.
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Empower Initiative

Taking initiative means going above and beyond what is expected. Empower your athletes to take initiative. Encourage them to find ways to make themselves and others better. That’s what team leaders do. And it makes the whole organization better.

Question: What could a little initiative make possible for your team?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Post: How to Get Every Player to “Own Your Role”
• Post: How to Convince Your Athletes to Get More Sleep
• Post: Why Are Top Teams Focused on Building Social Cohesion?

The post 3 Reasons Initiative is Guaranteed to Make Your Team Better first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

In The Power of Positive Leadership Jon Gordon wrote, “Optimism, positivity, and belief are the fuel that positive leaders need to keep moving forward and drive results.” Whether you agree or not, it is hard to deny that athletes play better when they’re having fun, enjoying the moment, and are surrounded by people they genuinely love.

The Positive Movement

You’ve likely encountered the “positive” movement in coaching today. With organizations like the Positive Coaching Alliance and InsideOut Initiative, positive coaching is gaining momentum.

You’ve probably noticed a shift in coaching at all levels. Coaches are moving away from the demanding drill sergeant to become more positive. This doesn’t merely mean having a better attitude and patting everyone on the back. In fact, positive coaching is a blending of scientific fields aimed at generating the best possible performance of your team.

As I shared recently, coaches can be both supportive and demanding. That is a big change in perspective that this positive movement is sharing with coaches today.

However, what good is being “positive” anyway? Can simply being positive help a team improve their results? If you’re like many other coaches, you might be a bit skeptical.

What Being Positive Means

Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson has devoted her career to the study of positive emotions. She has found that positive emotions are powerful, every bit as much as more familiar emotions such as anger and worry. However, they produce a vastly different result.

• Joy
• Gratitude
• Serenity
• Interest
• Hope
• Pride
• Amusement
• Inspiration
• Awe
• Love

Fredrickson’s research carries profound implications for the worlds of sports, coaching, and peak performance.

In fact, Daniel Goleman’s research found that positive teams perform at a higher level than negative teams. Martin Seligman found the same results when comparing optimistic thinkers and pessimistic thinkers.

Positive emotions open the minds of athletes to more creative, flexible, and innovative ways of thinking and acting on and off the field.

As a coach, being positive means infusing your team with more positive emotions throughout the sport experience.

Does Your Team Need More Positivity?

Athletes who experience more positive emotions will think quicker, be more adaptive, and find better solutions to in-game situations.

More specifically, there are 5 game-changing reasons to infuse your team with more positivity.

1. Improved Mental Agility

According to Fredrickson’s Broaden Theory, positive emotions have a “broadening effect on the momentary thought-action repertoire.” This translates to athletes thinking more flexibly under the pressures of competition.

2. Less Stress

Why do players and coaches try to lighten the mood when the team feels stressed? In fact, the reason is scientific. Positive emotions have an undoing effect on the negative effects of negative emotions. This means that athletes who feel tense from nervousness or anxiety would loosen up by feeling positive emotions such as amusement or gratitude.

The Cubs’ Joe Maddon leveraged this truth when he hired a magician to entertain the team and turned a slump into a three-game sweep of the Mets in 2015.

3. Better Problem Solving

When the brain is less stressed and experiences positive emotions, the Broaden Theory tells us athletes are able to choose the best response from a wider array of possibilities. If you want your athletes to make better decisions on and off the court, positive emotions are in your corner.

4. Increased Cohesion

Research shows that teams who experience a positive-to-negative interaction ratio greater than 3:1 are more successful and get along better.

5. Greater Commitment

When coaches praise the process, a way to share constructive positive feedback, that expression of appreciation instills pride in their athletes. This exchange of positive emotions builds a connection and fosters trust between the coach and player. When we feel connected to others, we’re willing to give more of ourselves to the cause.

Positive emotions increase athlete’s cognitive abilities, lower stress & improve performance.
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Bring the Positivity

I’m not saying you need to kiss your players on the cheek like Texas football coach Tom Herman. Nor am I saying you need to give everyone a hug like the Dodger’s GM, Dave Roberts. I simply encourage you to find creative ways to help your team experience more positive emotions. Offer praise. Have fun. Lead with positivity.

Question: What difference do you think more positive emotions would make in your team?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Book: Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson
• Book: The Power of Positive Leadership by Jon Gordon
• Book: Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
• Book: Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman
• Book: The Cubs Way by Tom Verducci
• Post: Is It Better to Be a Supportive or Demanding Coach?
• Post: How to Help Your Athletes Avoid Costly Impulsive Reactions
• Post: Good Job Isn’t Good Enough: What It Means to Praise the Process
• Resource: InSideOut Initiative
• Resource: Positive Coaching Alliance

The post 5 Proven Reasons to be More Positive With Your Team first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Coaching is like parenting in that it’s largely based on past experiences. You may choose to copy the best coaches you’ve seen and do the opposite of the worst. Perhaps you’ve had some good mentors along the way. Regardless, many coaches tend to be either more supportive or more demanding. Which category do you align with? More importantly, which gets the best results?

Not Polar Opposites

Often coaches get labeled as either “militaristic” or “a player’s coach.” Interestingly, both seem to carry a negative connotation.

A “militaristic” coaching style is typically seen as over-bearing, demeaning, negative, and fear-driven.

A “player’s coach” coaching style is typically seen as soft, buddy-buddy, and focused on fun rather than success.

As you might expect, neither of these two coaching styles is best.

However, you may be left wondering, “Which coaching style is gets the best results?”

Supportive and Demanding

Recently, a new term has emerged to describe many of today’s championship coaches. Their style is described as “positive coaching.”

• Joe Maddon – Chicago Cubs
• Dabo Swinney – Clemson Tigers Football
• Gary Gilmore – Coastal Carolina Baseball
• Anson Dorrance – University of North Carolina Women’s Soccer
• Amy Bokker – Stanford University Women’s Lacrosse

These are all highly successful coaches who are leveraging the power that comes from being both supportive and demanding.

Brad Stevens sums up positive coaching well in this short video:

Coaches Can Be Supportive and Demanding

Being supportive or demanding of players is no longer seen as polar opposites. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin.

In her book Grit, psychologist and University of Pennsylvania professor Angela Duckworth (mentioned by Brad Stevens in the video above) writes that there is “no either/or trade-off” between being supportive and demanding. She explains that the best coaches (including teachers, parents, and leaders) demonstrate care and respect while simultaneously enforcing high expectations.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

Why Be Supportive and Demanding?

Yes, coaches can be both supportive and demanding. Relationships built through trust and respect afford you the opportunity to be demanding and hold your athletes to a high standard.

1. Better People

In a study of 10,000 U.S. teens, psychologist Larry Steinberg found that those with “warm, respectful, and demanding parents earned high grades in school, were more self-reliant, suffered from less anxiety and depression, and were less likely to engage in delinquent behavior.”

By being both supportive and demanding you can positively impact athlete’s lives through sport – which is why many of you became a coach in the first place.

2. Increased Effort

Coaches who demonstrate a strong belief in their athletes see that their athletes demonstrate more effort and commitment.

Perhaps this is why Dabo Swinney calls himself an “over-believer.” This belief, which Swinney communicates to his team consistently, has helped his coaches and players believe more in themselves.

When athletes have confidence and believe in themselves their performance goes up.

3. Greater Commitment

Research confirms that doing hard things teaches athletes to do other hard things. Psychologist Robert Eisenberger termed this “learned industriousness.”

For coaches, this means it pays off to hold your athletes to high standards. They need to be challenged and pushed to reach their potential.

In fact Tim Elmore, author of Generation iY, encourages coaches to leverage the desire today’s youth have for participating in “projects that are very important and almost impossible to accomplish.”

By being both supportive and demanding, coaches can challenge players to work hard and achieve big goals. In doing so, you’ll foster a greater sense of purpose, stronger work ethic, and a relentless perseverance.

Supportive and demanding coaches positively impact athlete’s lives on and off the field.
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Be a Supportive and Demanding Coach

Elmore reminds us that today’s youth are both high performance and high maintenance. Athletes need to be nurtured and challenged. Coaches who build strong relationships with their athletes, believe in them, and care about them, will be the coaches who can challenge their teams to reach ever-higher levels of performance.

Being both supportive and demanding is the only path that leads to sustained success at any level.

Question: How are you demonstrating support and demanding high standards with your athletes?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Book: Generation iY by Tim Elmore
• Book: Grit by Angela Duckworth
• Book: You Win in the Locker Room First by Jon Gordon
• Post: 10 Secrets Every Coach Should Steal from Dabo Swinney
• Post: Coaching Your Team to Greater Confidence Stacks Up the Wins
• Post: What Do Champions Believe To Be True?

The post Is It Better to Be a Supportive or Demanding Coach? first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

If you want to build a high-performing team you must first build a championship culture. In Above the Line, Urban Meyer tells coaches that “Leaders create culture. Culture drives behavior. Behavior produces results.” Winning begins with culture.

Championships Are Built on Culture

When you think of athletics teams who consistently compete for championships, who comes to mind?

Alabama football? Duke men’s basketball? North Carolina women’s soccer? East Carolina baseball? Arizona softball? University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball? New England Patriots?

Tim Elmore says, “Every organization has a culture either by default or by design.”

What do these programs have in common? They have intentionally built a winning culture – by design.

“X’s and O’s are important but culture is the rock that your organization must be built upon,” said Mike Smith, former Atlanta Falcons head coach.

What is Culture?

In its simplest form, I say that culture is made up of your team’s attitudes plus their behaviors.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “It’s how we do things.” In so many words, a person saying this is telling you about the culture of their team.

However, culture is more messy and complicated than that. It consists of multiple facets and impacts everything across your organization, top to bottom.

As Jeff Janssen so eloquently put it, “Culture is the powerful and pervasive set of collective beliefs, values, and standards that subtly yet significantly influence and impact everyone and everything in your environment.”

Now that we have a sense of what team culture is, you may be wondering What difference does it really make? Let’s have a look.

Does Culture Really Matter?

Why do great organizations put a premium on building and sustaining a championship culture?

The short answer is that your culture will determine your trajectory. Culture impacts everything, especially your results.

In fact, studies show that culture accounts for “20-30% of the differential”  between organizations with an intentional culture and those without.

I offer 5 compelling reasons teams and organizations should be intentional in building a championship culture. Doing so…

1. Casts a Compelling Vision

You can’t have a championship culture without a clear and compelling vision. Once that vision is in place and communicated, it sets the tone for the type of culture your team will embody.

2. Establishes Clear Standards

A culture by design gets everyone on the same page. Everyone on the team knows what is expected on and off the playing surface. Team members know which character, attitudes, and behaviors are acceptable and which aren’t.

3. Required to Win Championships

Legendary 49ers head coach, Bill Walsh, put it this way. “The culture precedes positive results. It doesn’t get tacked on as an afterthought on your way to the victory stand.”

When taking over at Ohio State University, Urban Myer observed that training the right behaviors won’t stick if the culture doesn’t support it. The culture is the foundation that your strategy, skill, and effort are built upon.

4. Attracts the Best Staff, Coaches, and Athletes

A championship culture is like a magnet for pulling in people who fit what you believe, expect, and exemplify.

“Mediocre people don’t like high achievers, and high achievers don’t like mediocre people,” according to Nick Saban. Oil and water don’t mix. You want to attract people who fit the culture you’re building and protecting.

5. Predicates Long-term Success

Talent may win a lot of games or even a single championship, but it won’t last.

Jon Gordon, author of You Win In the Locker Room First, writes, “Culture drives expectations and beliefs. Expectations and beliefs drive behaviors. Behaviors drive habits and habits create the future.” That’s how you build a successful program for the long haul.

Culture is the foundation upon which every team is built – either by default or by design.
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Start With Culture

Regardless of what level you coach or lead, know that success begins with culture. Choose to be intentional and design the culture you want. A championship culture doesn’t evolve by accident. It starts with casting a vision, defining values, and establishing clear standards. Get your team on the path to long-term success.

If you’d like my help to build, grow, or sustain a championship team culture in your organization, please contact me to set up a free consultation.

Question: Why else is culture so important for long-term success?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Book: Above the Line by Urban Meyer http://amzn.to/2oEkFLK
• Book: You Win In the Locker Room First by Jon Gordon and Mike Smith http://amzn.to/2ox1zKH
• Book: How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture by Jeff Janssen http://amzn.to/2oxFon8
• Post: 4 Reasons Great Leaders Share Their Vision
• Post: How To Protect A Winning Team Culture

The post Why Do Great Teams Focus on Culture First? first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Our brains filter information 24/7. Some information makes it to our consciousness, some doesn’t. Some information we believe. Other we dismiss. A hidden process in our brains causes us to make assumptions, judgements, and decisions without having all the information. It is called the confirmation bias.

What Is The Confirmation Bias?

It is our human tendency to develop a belief about a situation and then seek out information that bolsters our belief.

In Decisive, authors Chip and Dan Heath write give an example of Smokers in the 1960s, when effects from smoking were less clear, “were more likely to express interest in reading an article headlined ‘Smoking Does Not Lead To Lung Cancer’ than one with a headline ‘Smoking Leads To Lung Cancer.’”

Put simply, we seek out self-serving information to reinforce what we believe about situations, research, people…anything.

The Confirmation Bias Creates Blind Spots

Suppose your daughter has been down in the dumps since moving to a new school. When you ask her what’s going on she tells you, “I don’t fit in.” She proceeds to explain that she didn’t make the volleyball team last week, no one sat by her at lunch today, and she wasn’t invited to a sleepover this weekend that two other girls in her class were.

However, she neglected to mention that several girls sat down next to her at lunch on Thursday, she high fives from her teammates in gym class, and two classmates complimented her outfit today.

The confirmation bias filtered out evidence that didn’t match your daughter’s belief – “I don’t fit in.” It caused her to completely overlooked the evidence that contradicted her belief.

The worst part is that the confirmation bias isn’t intentional. It just happens!

The confirmation bias filters critical information & creates mental blind spots.
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Deeper Beliefs Magnify the Confirmation Bias

The confirmation bias acts on our beliefs. The stronger the belief, the more powerful the confirmation bias. For example, the confirmation bias will tighten its filter for the belief, “I suck at math,” moreso than my belief, “Everyone will notice that spot on my shirt.” My belief about math is much deeper than what I believe about people’s abilities to notice that I spilt coffee on myself.

Why Is That A Problem?

This gets in the way when it comes to how we make decisions in life and evaluate our abilities.

Dan Lovallo, professor at the University of Sydney and decision-making researcher said, “Confirmation bias is probably the single biggest problem in business, because even the most sophisticated get it wrong. People go out and they’re collecting the data, and they don’t even realize they’re cooking the books.”

If I believe I’m a good parent, leader, brother, coach, typist, etc….I won’t notice the evidence that suggests otherwise. I become less likely to seek other’s opinions. I dismiss anything that goes against my belief.

I certainly won’t pursue opportunities to learn and grow in an area that I believe I’ve mastered. I’ll keep doing the same ineffective things again and again with a blind eye toward my shortcomings.

No Belief Is Too Small

Do you think Payton Manning is the best NFL quarterback to play the game? If so, you might highlight that he is the only quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different teams. On the other hand, if you believe he isn’t the best quarterback you might site the record-setting number of interceptions he threw in the 2015-2016 regular season.

How to Fight the Confirmation Bias

Now that you know the confirmation bias exists, what can you do about it?

1. Be Skeptical

Whether you think your child is an angel or believe your boss has it out for you, be skeptical of the evidence supporting those beliefs. The confirmation bias is filtering out the evidence that disproves your theory.

2. Be Proactive

When it comes to making key decisions, choice, and judgement calls seek out counter evidence. Reality test your assumptions. Act like a detective. Does your child drive you crazy on occasion? If so, perhaps they aren’t the sweet little angel at school all day like you’d hoped.

You’ll have to dig deep here. Like a good detective, seek out evidence that is based on facts. What is observable? What can be measured?

The point here is to make sure that you gain a more accurate understanding of the situation – not based on brain filtered assumptions.

3. Act With Confidence

Now you’ve played the skeptic with your own beliefs. You’ve verified the facts. Essentially, you’ve overcome the confirmation bias because you now have all the information. The information you have is reliable because it is based on facts and is measurable. You now have the best information with which to move forward.

You are ready to take action, make that decision, or argue your point. You can do so with much more confidence knowing that your beliefs didn’t go unchecked. You can identify room for improvement in yourself with more clarity and accuracy.

You can prevent the confirmation bias from sabotaging your decisions & leadership.
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Overcome the Confirmation Bias

By keeping a heightened awareness and a skeptical mindset you’ll detect those times when the confirmation bias is at work on your thoughts and beliefs. I pick out the confirmation bias in myself and others on a daily basis now that I’m attuned to it. Then, by hunting the evidence counter to your gut reactions, you can gain more clarity and accuracy in your thinking. Sometimes you may need to help others do the same. In all, you’ll become more effective in how you think, lead, and make decisions on a daily basis. It all starts with fighting the confirmation bias.

Question: Do you have an example of the confirmation bias? If so, share it in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Post: Decisive: How To Make Better Choices In Life And Work by Chip and Dan Heath
• Post: The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte

The post How to Overcome the Confirmation Bias first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

For 800 years have I trained Jedi,” Yoda explained to an impatient Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. In honor of this week’s release of Stars Wars: The Force Awakens, I thought it best that we all sharpen our mental edges through the wisdom of Grand Master Yoda. Much can we learn to toughen our minds if listen we will to Yoda’s instruction.

Jedi Training

Luke was sent by the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi to seek Grand Master Yoda in order to complete his training to become a Jedi. Found Yoda he did in a swamp on the planet Dagobah.

3 Jedi Lessons

Regardless of which arena of life you battle in, Yoda has wisdom that we can all benefit from. When it comes to mental toughness, I’ve identified 3 lessons we can learn from Yoda.

Lesson 1: Commit

Luke first discovered that his host was the great Jedi master he was seeking at dinner in Yoda’s hut. During this encounter, Yoda explained to Luke what it takes to become a Jedi. He told Luke, “The Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.”

Without commitment we can achieve little of significance in life. Success doesn’t come easy, nor quickly. To achieve our goals will require dogged determination, relentless persistence and a deep commitment to stay the course. We must be committed to our causes, our purposes, ourselves, our families, and our teams.

This is but one essential component of cultivating mental toughness.

The next two lessons come from this famous scene depicting advanced Jedi training.

Lesson 2: Believe

As you can see in the scene, the mighty Luke Skywalker struggled with confidence – believing in his growing abilities. Does that sound like anyone you know?

When Luke gave up on getting his ship out of the swamp, Yoda replied sharply, “So certain are you? Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?” Luke was stifled by his self-imposed limitations. He relied on past experience to tell him what was and wasn’t possible. Fortunately, trailblazers Thomas Edison and Roger Bannister didn’t think this way.  They both did the “impossible” by creating the lightbulb (Edison) and breaking a four minute mile (Bannister).

Back to the video clip. Luke continued to focus on limitations, “Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different.” Yoda then left no room for discussion, “No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.”

Like young Skywalker, we stumble over what we believe to be our limitations. We give too much power to doubts and fears. As a kid, I believed anything was possible. I believed I could be an astronaut, dunk a basketball, or fly off of a mountain. Why not, I thought? We must reclaim limitless thinking and dream big once again. We must unlearn what we have learned and avoid self-imposed limitations.

Lesson 3: Do

In exasperation, Luke caved to Yoda’s insistence. “Alright. I’ll give it a try.”

Don’t we do this? I’ll try to get up earlier tomorrow. I’ll try to exercise three times per week. I’ll try harder. I’ll try to work on my marriage. I’ll try to communicate better with my team…

According to the Jedi Master, we should throw in the towel on trying. “No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

Infamous. Powerful. What’s wrong with trying? Should we give hard things the “‘ole college try” as the saying goes? No! There is no try. As someone once said, trying is like failure with honor.

We think if we try, no one can fault us for failing. “Well at least I tried.” In reality, what we are saying is that we aren’t willing to fully commit (see Lesson 1) to following through and getting results. We aren’t willing to put ourselves out there because we might fail. “I’ll try” is really just a precursor to an excuse. Saying we’ll try is a good way to ensure we come up short whatever the task, habit, or goal may be.

People who say they’ll try aren’t truly committed to the outcome. Don’t expect results.
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Now, Practice Your Training

Whether you are seeking excellence in sports, work, or life, much can you learn from Master Yoda. Wise he is at 900 years old. Heed his coaching to commit to your goals, believe in yourself to achieve the impossible, and do or do not because there is no try. May the Force be with you.

Question: What is your favorite piece of advice from Master Yoda? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

• Post: Ask This 1 Question to Open Doors to the Life You’ve Dreamed Of
• Video: Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Training by Yoda
• Link: Star Wars Trilogy Episodes IV-VI

The post Train Like a Jedi: Yoda’s Top 3 Secrets to a Mental Edge first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

When it comes to work, we all want to be part of a close knit and hardworking team. However, one bad apple can wreck a good team. If your team has been out of sorts lately, you may be to blame.

When a member of the team isn’t carrying his or her weight or just flat out isn’t cutting it, it’s your job as the leader to step in. Otherwise you are sanctioning incompetence. According to Dave Ramsey, author of Entreleadership, sanctioned incompetence in a team is “a disaster waiting to happen.” Dave Ramsey’s company, Ramsey Solutions (formerly The Lampo Group), has been voted one of the best places to work in Nashville seven times, so Dave knows what he’s talking about.

The Pain of Sanctioned Incompetence

When a team member continues to slack off, perform poorly, or simply has a bad attitude, it affects the whole team. If not addressed promptly, other members of the team may think these behaviors are acceptable in your work environment. For example, if Jim is slacking off, Sarah may feel entitled to give less than 100% herself.

“Keep in mind incompetence isn’t evil; we are all incompetent at something.” – Dave Ramsey

My Incompetent Colleague

I experienced this firsthand in an organization several years ago. As a team, we found it difficult to trust another of my colleagues. She said inappropriate things and behaved too informally with our clients. She didn’t respond well to feedback about these things. Before long we didn’t trust her professionalism or ability to carry out projects independently. Ultimately, her presence on the team created more work for the rest of us and we came to resent her for it. The resentment spilled over to our boss for putting up with her laissez faire attitude.

If you aren’t careful, the lowest performer will set the tone for the team. Avoid this leadership pitfall.

One incompetent apple can ruin the morale and productivity of the whole bunch.
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Dealing with Incompetence

Once you’ve recognized the incompetence and quantified the behavior, what next? I believe you, as a leader, have 3 courses of action to consider.

1. Lead them well

If the incompetence appears to be laziness or a poor work ethic, perhaps you aren’t leading well. Have you provided clear direction? What goals is this team member working toward? Perhaps the deadlines are too loose. Are you challenging him or her too much or too little? Ensure you are leading this person well.

2. Train them

Is the incompetence a lack of know-how, skills, or poor behavior? Unless this person lied on his or her resume and didn’t meet your hiring requirements, perhaps he or she simply needs some training.

Provide the team member with the opportunities to exceed your expectations and grow as an individual. Does this person need on-the-job training, communication training, customer service skills, or advanced computer skills? Think of opportunities to equip your team member with the tools to be successful.

3. Release them

If the incompetence is beyond good leadership and skills training, it may be time to set the person free to find a more suitable work environment than yours. If the issue is character-based, such as stealing materials (or time) from the business, this is the go-to solution. Get rid of this person as fast as HR can process the paperwork.

Not everyone is going to be a good fit. If you wouldn’t hire them again, as Jim Collins points out, then why keep them around now? Move on. Hire better next time.

Don’t sanction incompetence – lead, train, or release him/her. Your team will thank you.
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Prevent Incompetence From Wrecking Your Team

We all have areas in which we can improve, whether interpersonally, technically, or otherwise. And we should strive for that growth. However, when incompetence goes unchecked on your team, it can become a cancer and drag down the morale, motivation, and productivity of the whole team. It must be addressed. The sooner the better. Consider the 3 options above to keep your team pursuing excellence.

Question: What areas of incompetence have you seen hurt an organization? Share your experience in the comments below. 

• Book: Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey

The post 3 Practical Ways to Prevent Incompetence From Wrecking Your Team first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Who’s to blame? That seems to be everyone’s primary concern when a project falls apart or things don’t go according to plan. We call it finger pointing. However, the reality is that failures can almost always be traced back to one person – the leader.

The Fork In The Road

Several years ago, I was in charge of an event. It was fairly “high vis.” New team members were on hand to see what right looked like. It was something I’d led multiple times before; however, there were some changes this time around. Shortly before we kicked off, I realized the technology wasn’t set up correctly. Someone had dropped the ball.

I had a choice to make. Did I blame team members for not following through? Or did I take responsibility?

Who Is The Problem?

In Entreleadership, Dave Ramsey describes how he views problems in his company:

So the problem with my company then and now is me. The problem with your company is not the economy, it is not the lack of opportunity, it is not your team. The problem is you. That is the bad news. The good news is, if you’re the problem, you’re also the solution.”

When things go wrong, it likely isn’t someone else’s fault at all. It’s yours, as the leader.

This can be a tough pill to swallow. However, given that you are the only person in your organization you can control, this ought to be encouraging. You can change you.

Leaders are the problem in their organizations. The good news is, they’re also the solution.
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Taking Responsibility

Taking responsibility isn’t always easy, but as a leader it is necessary. When you stop blaming your team members and take responsibility, you can multiply the success of your team. Here are 3 alternative actions leaders can take to avoid blaming their team.

1. Don’t Blame…Communicate

When a team member doesn’t follow orders, directions, or guidance, how should you respond

Rather than blaming them, seek first to communicate. Perhaps they misunderstood the task. Perhaps you didn’t provide clear enough guidance. Perhaps you assumed too much.

You could ask a few clarifying questions. What was their guidance? What did they believe the objective was? How did they plan to get the task done?

The real question may be, “How can I communicate better next time?”

2. Don’t Blame…Train

When a team member doesn’t seem to understand how to execute a task the way you want, how should you respond?

This often happens with new team members, or those taking on a new role. Leaders assume they’ve been trained and have the requisite skills. When a task isn’t done the way you wanted, or a procedure isn’t followed, it can be easy to jump to conclusions. They don’t know what they’re doing. Why were they hired in the first place?

Rather than blaming the team member, check your assumptions. Who trained them to do the task? Was that a skill they were supposed to have coming into the position? If so, has anyone verified their ability to do it?

In most situations, the team members just need a little training. Show them what right looks like. Educate them on how to navigate that piece of software better. Coach them through delegating to their staff more effectively.

You may want to start by asking yourself, “How can I better train this person?”

3. Don’t Blame…Streamline

When a team member misses key details in a procedure or skips a step in a routine process, how should you respond?

This happens most often with implied tasks, the little steps involved in larger projects. When processes and procedures aren’t followed correctly, leaders may assume the team member is careless or isn’t trustworthy to follow through.

Rather than blaming the team member, consider whether or not you have set him or her up for success. Is the process too complex? Are there too many steps to remember? Has he or she been trained to do it?

In these situations, typically involving the delegation, leaders may not have made the process clear. Writing out a checklist, flow chart, or a step-by-step guide that includes screenshots or pictures can set the team member up for success.

Instead of blaming your team for problems, seek to communicate, train and streamline.
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The post How to Stop Blaming Your Team: 3 Alternatives first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Burnout is rampant. Americans, especially, are working more hours than ever and sleeping less than ever before. Sadly, the United States is the only developed country that doesn’t guarantee workers paid vacation. Burnout seems inevitable. Indeed, it is a worldwide issue. However, burnout is NOT a foregone conclusion and you CAN proactively buffer yourself from it.

Burnout Sneaks Up On Us

I was working with a hand-picked group of colleagues on a new training product for leaders. We were in Georgia for a week to beta test and evaluate this new program. The months and weeks leading up to this had been a whirlwind of coordination, refining, and debate, on top of my normal responsibilities. As you’ve likely guessed by now, I was feeling pretty burned out.

By Wednesday of beta-week, I realized I needed to intervene or my performance would suffer more than it might have already.

You may have found yourself in similar situations. We get over scheduled or redirected, and other things take precedent to our sanity, health, and well-being. These are the times when burnout sneaks up on us.

What is Burnout?

Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger coined the term burnout in 1974 referring to the “physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.” Based on the work hours many people log today, it may be surprising that we aren’t all burned out.

Psychology Today defines burnout as a state of chronic stress and frustration that leads to:

• physical and emotional exhaustion;
• feelings of cynicism and detachment; and
• a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment.

Common signs of burnout are:

• Chronic fatigue
• Poor focus and concentration
• Sleep disturbance
• Physical discomfort
• Feelings of anxiety and depression
• Loss of enjoyment
• Uncharacteristic pessimism
• Isolation
• Disengagement
• Increased frustration and irritability
• Decline in productivity and performance

These qualities converge to sabotage your personal and professional lives.

How to Prevent Burnout

As a go getter, the best way to deal with burnout is to buffer yourself from becoming burned out to begin with. I have found 4 buffers that work for me.

1. Exercise

During the beta week of leader training I mentioned above, exercise saved my bacon. That Wednesday, a colleague (who was also suffering) and I made time to run in the evening. While it took extra energy, exercise has a mysterious way of refueling the tank.

Since then, I have become much more conscientious about getting regular exercise. Every time I start to feel the initial symptoms of burnout, I also see how I’ve let my exercise slip.

Turns out research confirms the buffering effects of exercise. A 2013 study of insurance and bank workers found that a twelve week exercise program reduced individual and work-related burnout. Another study focused on job burnout and depression found that those employees who engaged in physical activity demonstrated significantly less burnout and depression (Toker et al., 2012).

2. Eat Well

What we consume (food and beverages) is the fuel our bodies use to propel us through the day. Just like our vehicles don’t run well when filled with mediocre gasoline, our bodies don’t run well on a subpar diet.

How do we expect our bodies to keep up the pace, face obstacles, and be resilient if we are fueling it with fatty carbs, sugar and caffeine? I’m not much of a baker, but that sounds like a recipe for burnout to me.

Over the last few years, I’ve become more aware of how my body responds to what I put in it. When my body is fed with real food (think natural, from the earth food with recognizable ingredients), it simply runs better.

When we fuel our bodies with real food, they run better. #PreventBurnout
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3. Sleep

A 2012 study investigating the connection between sleep and burnout found that getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night is “the main risk factor” for burnout.  The researchers identified the connection between reduced sleep and burnout as one of “causation.”

Our minds and bodies need sleep. As we sleep, our brains are resetting chemicals in our minds and bodies that affect our abilities to cope with stress, physically and mentally.

My fitness watch tracks my sleep for me. When I review my most frustrating weeks, or when I’ve felt more chaotic and overwhelmed at work, it was when I was getting less than optimal sleep.

To prevent burnout, set a routine and intention to make sleep a priority. Everyone in your life will thank you, even your employer.

4. Rest

Work, work, work all day long. That is surely a path to burnout. Our minds and bodies need time to recover and rejuvenate. We need rest.

When I’ve been at the grindstone too long, I begin to crave relief, release, and rest. I don’t mean five minutes surfing social media. Taking a breather and a mental break is good, but it isn’t enough.

I’m talking about setting aside time to disengage from work, outside of work. As a Christ follower, I honor the sabbath, a day each week to rest and reflect on what has been accomplished. But, there are lots of ways to rest:

• Get outside (my favorite)
• Read a novel
• Go for a walk
• Take a nap
• Putter in your garden
• Connect with family and friends
• Do something creative
• Play with your children
• Explore somewhere new
• Take a vacation

Notice rest doesn’t mean doing nothing. It also doesn’t mean escaping your present circumstances. Rest is peaceful, enjoyable, relaxing, and fun.

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To help you beware of the signs of burnout and be proactive in preventing burnout, I’ve created this printable infographic.

Buffer Yourself From Burnout

We are all at risk for burnout. Some of us push ourselves hard to achieve, others of us get stuck in a cycle of monotony. Either way, we must all keep an eye out for the early signs telling us we’re on the course to burnout. More importantly, make these 4 buffers non-negotiable in your week-to-week life. Avoiding burnout is a key aspect of continuing to cultivate excellence.

The best way to avoid #burnout is to prevent it from the start.
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Question: What helps you avoid burnout? Share your own insights in the comments section.

The post 4 Powerful Ways to Prevent Burnout first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

You know what it feels like to be overwhelmed. If not, check your pulse. Sometimes we take on too much. We get behind. Other times we get overloaded by other’s agendas. We can easily find ourselves in over our heads, drowning in our task lists, and feeling completely overwhelmed. 

Overwhelmed at Work

I remember one week in which I felt particularly overwhelmed. I’d been leading the revisions our team was making to a week-long training course for leaders.

Sitting at my desk, my head was swimming with tasks that needed doing. They were random and disconnected. “Print the handouts. Gather the new videos. Update the evaluation form.”

I needed to get organized, but was too overwhelmed to think clearly. Fortunately, the story didn’t end there.

How to Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed

When I feel overwhelmed at work, there is a simple 4 step process that helps me declutter my thinking and take productive action. I’m confident it will work for you too.

1. Capture Tasks 

What are the things that need doing? If you’re like me, these are fluttering around in your head already. They might sound like, “Get the department report from Debbie,” and, “Confirm Tuesday’s meeting with Mitch.”

Capture these individual tasks and projects. You can use your favorite to-do app or go old school with pen and paper. The point is to write it all down, everything! Likely you’ll find that some tasks have multiple steps while others are simple. Capture them all and add them to your to-do list.

David Allen defines multi-step tasks as projects. For example, “Get the department report from Debbie,” could be broken down into two steps: 1) Call Debbie to ask for the report and 2) Receive the report. Therefore, this is a project.

The tasks that only require one simple step are called what Allen calls “next actions.” An example of a next action is, “Send thank you email to Sarah.” It requires no added information or step.

For this (and all my task management needs) I use Wunderlist. You can scope out my task management process here.

2. Turn Projects into Next Actions

Usually it is the projects (rather than the simple tasks) that lead us to feel overwhelmed. “There are so many things to do. Where do I start?”

Take the projects and write down each of the next actions that you need to take.

• Create a new blog post note in Evernote (where I do my writing)
• Select the post topic
• Collect resources for the topic
• Create the headline image
• Craft the headline
• Write the rough draft

3. Choose Your Next Actions

Ask yourself, “What is the next logical step I can take?”

In writing a blog post, I can’t create the headline image before I write the headline. So, “craft the headline” has to come first.

For outlining a meeting agenda, you first need to 1) identify the topics to discuss and 2) determine the best logical flow, before you send out the agenda to the attendees.

You don’t have to plan out the project start to finish with every single action you need to take to complete it. That can be overwhelming. Plus, you may not know every step from where you are right now anyway.

As you take purposeful action, your next steps will become more clear to you.

Now, you have more clarity on what needs doing. I find this step grounds me in reality and helps me focus on what I can control. For some people, seeing a long list of next actions can create more anxiety. If this is you, hang in there for step 4.

When you’re overwhelmed by a project, start by identifying the next actions you can take.
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4. Get Started

Finally, the part we’ve all be waiting for…get started. Do something. Take that next action.

This is where you turn all that anxiety and worry into momentum.

You’ll find that taking the first step gets you unstuck. Sometimes that’s all you can do; while in other situations, this one step will turn into a snowball of productive action. Before long it is lunch time and you’ve barely come up for air from all of the hard work you’ve been doing.

When you feel overwhelmed, taking the next logical step and turns anxiety into momentum.
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Gain Clarity and Control

We’ve all felt overwhelmed at some point in our lives. Maybe you feel like there’s more to do than you have time for. This seems to be the case in today’s culture of busyness. To keep from feeling overwhelmed, capture the tasks, turn projects into next actions, choose your next actions, and then get started. When you do, you’ll gain clarity and control, putting yourself in the driver’s seat.

Starting a project is often the toughest part. By putting this 4 step process to work, you can declutter your thinking and take productive action.

Question: What leads you to feel overwhelmed at work? Share your thoughts in the comments section below the post. 

The post How to Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed at Work first appeared on The Excelling Edge.