Learn the steps for becoming aware of your workplace obstacles and implementing a process to overcome them. In this episode of the Transform Your Workplace podcast, Brandon Laws interviews leadership author and expert, Errol Doebler. He provides thoughtful anecdotes and applicable guidance from his time as a Navy SEAL and FBI Special Agent and explains how these experiences have informed his current process.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
This episode’s guest, Errol Doebler, is a man of many skills and much experience. From his time as a Navy SEAL and FBI agent to his work in leadership consulting, Errol knows what it is to face immense challenges and build processes to overcome them. He’s the founder of his own leadership firm, Leader 193, and the author of The Process, Art, and Science of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Confidence and Clarity in Combat, in the Boardroom, and at the Kitchen Table.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
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🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
TOP TIP FROM THIS EPISODE
Sometimes, even the best leaders find themselves “stuck.” So, what is it that holds them back from leading a team to productivity? According to Errol Doebler, “They don’t know where to go. They don’t know why they’re feeling what they’re feeling. They don’t know what to do about that feeling.” And without foundational leadership, people respond to chaos and stress by reverting to “what they know” instead of “what works.”
Awareness is more than half the battle. Errol emphasizes that only when a leader is aware of the problems can they begin to find productive solutions: “We can work with a leader who says, ‘I know something’s wrong. I just can’t figure it out.’” Together, Errol and his clients talk about what is happening in the workplace — the good and the bad. Once these areas are identified, it opens the door to developing a process for change.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
A hard pill to swallow
“When you recognize an emotion that you have, and then you recognize how you acted on it, […] that’s a hard place to be, but it’s also a required place to be. I wasn’t beating myself up because that would have defeated the point. I had to look at it objectively. This is what I did, and I didn’t like it based on these emotions. Okay. Now what? […] It’s the hardest part, because it just doesn’t feel good to look in that mirror.”
Awareness makes it possible to move forward
“Sometimes we just need to make a good adjustment and that will really propel us. But without the awareness, you simply can’t have it. There’s a lot of great leadership books out there, and I love reading them […]. But most of them are based around certain behaviors. Do these three things and you’ll be a better leader. Now, generally speaking, they’re right. However, not always, because those particular two or three things that they said are true, but they may not be applicable.”
Behavior drives performance
“If you want a culture of innovation, let’s just say you start with the label. I want a label of excellence. I want a label of innovation. Cool. Identify three things that you and your team or your organization would do, […] and make them the basis for everything you do, how you behave. If we behave in these ways, we’ll be better engineers. We’ll be better salespeople. We’ll be better mechanics. It’s the behaviors that will drive the organization.”
The things we do
“What was our culture? I have no idea, but I can tell you the things we did. And you can put that label on it. So that’s the thing. If somebody says to me, ‘Oh, we have a culture already. We have a culture of innovation.’ Fantastic. What do you do that creates innovation? If you can’t tell me what you do very specifically, then you’re just making stuff up.”
Establishing expectations
“You can’t assume that [your team knows] that this is the behavior you expect. If you want something, you have to make it clear. It doesn’t mean you don’t go get input. It doesn’t mean you don’t run them by the team. It doesn’t mean you don’t adjust them as necessary, but you’ve got to start that process of establishing what you will hold people accountable for. And it needs to be very clear and unambiguous.”
The plan is the key
“There are those big ideas. But inside each big idea is a very methodical and disciplined planning process. And people often confuse those two things. There’s a difference between having a big out-of-the-box idea and the execution of that big out-of-the-box idea.”
LEARN MORE
If you want to learn more about Errol Doebler’s process for cultivating effective leadership, check out his website at leader193.com or find him on Instagram or Facebook: @Leader_193. You can also find his book on his website or Amazon.com.