A PDF COMPANION TO THE AUDIOBOOK © 2021 Patrick R. Leddin All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by HarperCollins Leadership, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus LLC. Any internet addresses, phone numbers, or company or product information printed in this book are offered as a resource and are not intended in any way to be or to imply an endorsement by HarperCollins Leadership, nor does HarperCollins Leadership vouch for the existence, content, or services of these sites, phone numbers, companies, or products beyond the life of this book. ISBN 978-1-4002-2531-6 (eBook) ISBN 978-1-4002-2530-9 (HC) Library of Congress Control Number: 2021933391 Printed in the United States of America 20 21 22 23 LSC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 THE 5 WEEK LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE DAY 1: CLARIFY FOCUS Today’s Thought You may not be able to move the trees, but you can choose how to deal with them. Today’s Questions 1. What trees tend to occupy too much of your time and energy? 2. What trees do you see in the work lives of your team members that are occupying too much of their time and energy? 3. How might you remove some of those trees? Today’s Challenge Pick one of the trees that you listed above that is occupying too much time and energy in your life and let it go. Don’t talk about it. Don’t think about it. Just let it go. 12 THE 5 WEEK LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE DAY 2: ENGAGE PEOPLE Today’s Thought Leading people is not about transactions. Leading people is about transformation. Today’s Questions 1. When you are working with others, whose agenda are you on—your agenda, their agenda, or a shared agenda? 2. Do you overly focus on the task at hand and forget that people are involved? 3. What might you do to strike a better balance between people and tasks? Today’s Challenge Pick one relationship that has become overly transactional and take a step today toward bringing the human dimension back into the relationship. DAY 3: RETHINK FAILURE Today’s Thought If you want to accomplish something that you have never accomplished before, you will face setbacks and failure. It comes with the territory. Great leaders learn from failures and continue to move forward. Failure is inevitable. Your response to failure is your choice. Today’s Questions 1. Have past failures increased or diminished your determination for greatness? 2. What dreams have you given up on and settled for something less? 3. Have you been knocked down in the past and managed to get back up and try again? 4. How deep is your well of resiliency? 5. What are you doing right now to invest in your mind, relationships, body, and spirit? Today’s Challenge Think about a recent failure that you’ve experienced. Identify one thing you can learn from that failure to help you to become a better leader. 22 THE 5 WEEK LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE DAY 4: FIND GUIDES Today’s Thought Call the guide whatever you want—coach, mentor, advisor, etc. (yes, I know there are differences)—we all need a guide in our lives. Today’s Questions 1. When you think about your career, whom do you look to for advice and guidance? 2. We like to think that we are creating a new path for ourselves and forging new ground, but the reality is that others have gone before us. Who has gone before you that can help you to navigate the path? 3. Few things go exactly as planned. You are going to hit the occasional setback, miss an interim goal, or fall short at times. Do you have someone in your life who provides you a needed boost of confidence when times get tough? Today’s Challenge Identify one person who can provide you guidance, direction, or counsel. Send that person a note and set up a time to talk. 26 THE 5 WEEK LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE DAY 5: SEEK BALANCE Today’s Thought As a leader, there is more to do every day than you possibly have time to accom- plish. Finding balance takes persistence, practice, and courage. Today’s Questions 1. When you work to strike balance, set your sights on something realistic and obtainable. 2. How uncomfortable are you with disappointing others? How about disap- pointing yourself? 3. What is the last big thing you said no to in order to maintain a sense of balance? Did your life blow up or did it continue? 4. Are you willing to practice finding balance? Or, will you merely surrender at the first sign of resistance and fall back into old ways? Today’s Challenge Have a conversation today with a family member or friend about what balance in your work and life should look like from their perspective. 32 THE 5 WEEK LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE DAY 6: THINK DIFFERENTLY Today’s Thought Being a new leader is an exciting, scary, humbling, and amazing time. Embrace it. Keep things in perspective and maintain your balance. And, if you fall off the log, dry yourself off, swallow your pride, and commit to getting it right next time. Today’s Questions 1. When you enter a room, does your ego lead the way or do you leave it in the hall? 2. Are there ways you might be failing to be fair and consistent with your people? 3. What would you point to in order to show that you are earning, not demanding, respect? 4. When was the last time you attempted to truly engage someone else in goal-setting or decisionmaking? 5. How well are you keeping things in perspective? Today’s Challenge Based on your answers to the five questions, identify one small but painful action that you can take today to improve in one area. DAY 7: ENJOY THE JOURNEY Today’s Thought If you fast-forward ten, fifteen, twenty, or more years, you and those on your team won’t remember the specific goals you are working on today. No one will recall the metrics that are driving today’s discussions, but they will remember what it was like to work with you. They will remember what it was like having you as a leader. Today’s Questions 1. How might your focus on tasks, goals, objectives, and results be causing you to lose sight of the bigger perspective? 2. How often do you take the time to pause in the moment and enjoy the journey? 3. What might you do differently to enjoy the moment, while delivering results? Today’s Challenge Make a commitment to pause three times today and reflect on the moment. On the next page, you’ll find the Week 1 Wrap-up; before you begin, jot down what you observed, heard, felt, and so on. Then, think what you would have missed if you hadn’t spent that moment in the moment. WEEK 1 WRAP-UP hroughout the course of this week, you explored ten leadership mindsets. Now is a chance for you to assess your current thinking in each area. Consider T if you are on target, struggling, or somewhere in between. TEN LEADERSHIP MINDSETS Clarify Focus (Day 1) Engage People (Day 2) Rethink Failure (Day 3) Find Guides (Day 4) Seek Balance (Day 5) Check Ego (Day 6) Remain Consistent (Day 6) Earn Respect (Day 6) Keep Things in Context (Day 6) Enjoy the Journey (Day 7) Mindset Your Current Thinking Clarify Struggling 012345678910 On Target Focus Engage Struggling 012345678910 On Target People Rethink Struggling 012345678910 On Target Failure Find Struggling 012345678910 On Target Guides Seek Struggling 012345678910 On Target Balance Check Struggling 012345678910 On Target Ego Remain Struggling 012345678910 On Target Consistent Earn Struggling 012345678910 On Target Respect Keep Things Struggling 012345678910 On Target in Context Enjoy the Struggling 012345678910 On Target Journey Considering how you assessed yourself, answer the following questions: Do you believe that others would agree with your assessment? Why or why not? For the areas that you assess as currently on target, what can you do to sustain them? For those mindsets where you are struggling, which one would you like to address first? What can you do to begin to shift your thinking? 48 THE 5 WEEK LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE DAY 8: EXCAVATE PURPOSE Today’s Thought Understanding purpose facilitates your ability to make the right decisions, take the right actions, and model the right behaviors, especially in tough times. Today’s Questions Think about a team that you have been on in the past that had a very clear purpose. This could be a team from work, school, sports, or what have you. 1. How did having a clear purpose affect the energy level of the team? 2. How committed were you and your teammates to the team’s success? 3. What was the team able to achieve as a result of the clear purpose? Today’s Challenge Meet with two people and ask each to share a time when they were on a team that had a clear purpose. As they share their stories, listen for examples of energy, commitment, and results. Doing this will allow you to see firsthand the power of purpose. 52 THE 5 WEEK LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE DAY 9: UNDERSTAND MEANING Today’s Thought Finding meaning in your work is what allows you and your team to overcome the day-to-day challenges of work.