leadership

Out on the Iditarod trail, you will find the most talented mushers and teams in the world. But they didn’t walk into the sport as champions.

No, it required a process. It required a commitment to growth—at the personal and professional level.

Whether you’re an Alaskan musher or an entrepreneur, the highest rates of leadership satisfaction occur where people stretch themselves to learn or achieve something new. (I know that’s true for me!)

Growth doesn’t just happen—even for the talented. To find out if you are setting yourself up for meaningful growth, consider these 3 “trail necessities.”

1. Growth Requires Input

On the trail, as the winter snow melts away, new life emerges—fresh spring vegetation, running water, and another year of preparation. Even after the race ends, mushers begin creating new plans and identifying new growth opportunities for themselves and their teams.

The team that contents itself by remaining the same between races will start well behind every other pack next year.

When I believe that I’ve already “made it,” my creativity and curiosity deteriorate every time. On the other hand, new input always generates fresh energy.

Favorite inputs of mine include listening to audiobooks, podcasts, and engaging personal mentors. Whenever I get the chance to read even a couple chapters of a new book, I feel rebooted.

Let the hunger for growth fuel the fire of passion for your life and business. Today, it’s easier than ever to instantly find something to read, something to hear,  something to learn, somewhere to grow. So there is no excuse for standing still.

2. Growth Requires a Reason

Everyone improves for different reasons—but without a reason, you’ll be headed nowhere fast.

On the Iditarod trail, survival, competition, and the fulfillment of a lifetime of training keep the team on task. When I first started in leadership,  I was motivated to grow because I knew enough to know that I didn’t know enough.

I needed those experiences that brought me face-to-face with personal and professional shortcomings. Case in point: At age 18, I was #1 in sales for my department. So when the department management position became available, they turned to me to fill it.

I called my first manager’s meeting for the next Saturday with the agenda to teach everyone else in the department how to sell better.

No one showed up for the meeting. The pain of that event caused me to want to grow and learn.

Even after years of experience, I’m still growing and learning to extend my personal potential. Potential isn’t a destination; it’s the constant inspiration to keep moving.

There are still better ways to do what I do—better ways to lead, teach, speak, coach, facilitate, etc.

The trail of leadership is a lifetime journey. Whatever reason keeps you on the move—pain, potential, or even curiosity— write it down, post it up, keep it where you can always remember to stay inspired.

3. Growth Requires Accountability

On dog sled teams, when you’re strapped in with 15 other dogs and a musher, each member of the pack is encouraged to give their best work. None want to let the rest of the team down, because the consequences of checking out will affect more than themselves.

Keep an eye on that pressure. Sometimes it can crush, but in the right environment, it creates a “7th gear” of performance that the whole team benefits from. In the past I’ve used elements like:

• Accountability partners that check in regularly
• Committing to leading a team
• Starting a club where you have to show up
• Setting personal milestones or deadlines

It can be daunting to purposefully put yourself in a place of growth. But on the days where you would rather quit, that structure keeps you moving. And all movement forward is a lesson learned.

Launch today and find something or someone to commit to that will “harness” you into growth mode.

Share Your Growth

For years, now stretching into decades, I have always come back to this principle of intentional growth.

I have had the great fortune of surrounding myself with people of a similar mindset who encouraged me, “If you will pour knowledge into yourself; if you will purpose to fill yourself with great knowledge, then you will become an incredible leader.”

Even if I am facing in the wrong direction and can only turn one degree each day—in 6 months, I can turn 180 degrees and be back on the right track!

I’d love to hear about your growth experiences. Feel free to share with the rest of us your favorite method for learning and growth. You never know when your comment will be the one that touches someone else.

Thanks for being a part of the leadership adventure! See you out on the trail!

Those who can communicate well can change the world. (And often do!) It’s a trend you can track in every industry—from mainstream to niche market.

While spending weeks in the Alaskan wilderness with veteran Iditarod mushers and their dog teams, I discovered invaluable lessons about communication.  

Those who learn to shape their message, effectively transfer it, and motivate others to action are the ones who often rise in leadership within an organization.  

They become the team’s Musher!

Corporate “mushers” that have difficulty communicating lose support for existing initiatives, rarely gain support for new initiatives, and are left with only their title or positional power to force team engagement.

So, straight from the pack professionals, here are three communication tips (and one warning) you can apply to your team right NOW.

1. Avoid the Overwhelm by Keeping It Simple

You don’t have to flood your team with words to get them to action. But you do have to be clear, concise, and direct.

In dog sled racing, you may be surprised to learn they do not use whips or reigns. In order to control, motivate, correct, and adjust, the leader verbally communicates with the team.

Mushing has its own language of about 10 to 20 words—that’s it.  

Mush! Hike! Gee. Haw. Line out. Pick it up. Whoa. On By. Come.

When it comes to directing the team and leading them toward an actionable result, veiled references or cloudy innuendoes won’t cut it. (I haven’t heard of any Husky claiming to be psychic!)

For years, my own communication weakness was to suggest a course of action that actually needed to happen quickly for the sake of the company.  

When the team failed to act or make course correction swiftly enough, I moved into “command and control” mode. Neither extreme works well and the combination of the two is certainly not recommended!

The simplicity of a leader’s language reflects his or her ability to communicate with the team with speed and precision, and then inspire action.

2. Identify Your Communication Landscapes

When mushing my own team through the Alaskan outdoors, I remember getting so caught up with the trail at times that I forgot to take in the landscape. Not only was it beautiful, but it was also always changing.

Just like the Iditarod has different challenges on different parts of the trail, so does your business communication. How we navigate each of those affects our race success.

Landscapes on the communication trail are:

• one-on-one conversations
• one-to-many conversations
• meetings
• vision casting
• presentations
• confrontation
• demonstration
• delegation
• accountability

And the list goes on…..

I encourage you to take a minute today to think about your communication strengths and weaknesses. Where on the trail are you strong in communication and where are you weak?

3. Action Affects Belief

Did you know that every day you say a lot to your team—without speaking a word?

In the dog kennels we could instantly tell which dogs belonged to each musher because the pack mirrored their leader’s energy. For professional corporate photographers Washington DC, contact Pamela Lepold Photography. If you’re from Detroit, then make sure to contact this headshot photographer in Detroit for professional services.

My Norwegian mentor, Nils, created a sense of stoic, serene strength in his pack. They didn’t jump or howl, but waited patiently for the next training run, feed, or move.  He believed this self-control made the entire pack stronger. 

Another musher led a team of exuberant dogs. (You couldn’t miss them.) He could work them up into a frenzy of excitement for the race ahead, and he took encouragement from their energy.

While I knew Nils dogs ran well under his training, I also loved how the loud pack spurred each other on and amplified this sense of adventure.

Two successful teams. Two different cultures. Two different communication styles.

Each team behavior, however, originated from the leader’s belief in what makes his team work best. Each leader believed in a certain team culture, revealed that belief through specific training decisions, then watched that belief translate to the team.

Of course, different projects or ventures may require teams that match the energy and creativity of the situation. They will always, however, end up reflecting the tone you set as the leader.

But Watch Out…

The fact is that none of us sees reality.  All that we see is OUR reality.

Every one of us sees life through our own “sunglasses,” and through those lenses the world is “bent” to become our world—our perception. We all have sunglasses, and they almost never leave our eyes.

Great leaders understand the value of their lenses—but take the time to look past it and understand their team.

If your pack sees a totally different landscape than you, it makes sense that they won’t go where you direct— because that way just won’t make sense to their lenses.

Shout and push all you want, but until there is an understanding, a compromise, or a strong faith in your intuition, the team as a whole will not progress. (Remember, mushers don’t rely on whips to move their teams. Instead they practice communication.)

When leaders can adapt their vision for the inclusion of the team—while staying true to the belief that made them set out to race in the first place, that’s where you will find a winning team. Even the workspace plays a part, and simple upgrades like mats made for rolling chairs can support smooth movement and maintain floor quality in busy office settings.

Catalyze Your Success with Communication

Communication is one of the greatest assets, not only a dog racing team, but your corporate/team culture can develop, to gain the highest rate of return.

When people can communicate with clarity, goals are achieved easily, and swiftly. When employees have an open understanding of the way others think and feel, they are able to manage conflict, overcome challenges, and communicate solutions quickly. If writing clearly is a challenge, enrolling in a business writing course can dramatically improve how your messages are received and acted on. Effective communication lies the importance of ensuring fair treatment in the workplace.

If you get injured while performing your work duties, you may need to search ‘workers compensation attorney near me‘ online. Instances of job termination after collecting workers’ compensation, for example, can raise concerns about employee rights and workplace safety. It’s essential to address such issues promptly and seek appropriate legal advice if necessary. For wrongful termination cases, make sure to contact the experts like wrongful termination Illinois. You may also contact this wrongful death attorney in Michigan if you need expert legal assistance.

Let your team know they are just that: a TEAM brought together under a common mission.

If you feel like could use some guidance on improving communication in your team, drop me a note using the form below.

You can finish the race strong if you keep it simple, identify your communication landscape, shape the culture with your actions, and learn to see through new lenses.