E053: The Substance of Leadership with David Robinson

It's important that we're changing the paradigm of what leadership looked like back in the day to where we need to go with leadership today, based on the problems we're trying to solve and the talent we're trying to attract as well as our bottom and top-line growth. Today, David Robinson shares some great insights into leadership as well as some actionable steps we can do to improve as leaders.

David selected the military route as his career choice, which led him to the U.S. Naval Academy but ended up spending 25 years as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Marines. For him, it was the best thing that ever happened because it helped shape and develop him as a leader, something he's really passionate about.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

Why David chose the military route and the life lessons he got
3 common denominator traits in leaders today
The marathon mentality vs. the sprint mentality
Responding in adversity
3 questions when debriefing with your team
Retention strategies and ideas
The 3 P’s of developing a high-performing mission
The power of emotional connection to influence others

Episode Highlights:

Things David Learned in the Military

Self-leadership comes first. You have to be able to discipline and lead yourself before you can effectively lead others. With that comes emotional awareness, pressure, and how you respond emotionally to that pressure.

3 Common Denominator Traits in Leaders Today

1. Persistence

The burden of leadership is real. Perseverance and persistence are important components of being able to lead an organization because things don't always go well every day. There are fires to put out and challenges to overcome.

People can be complicated at times, and getting people to work together toward a common goal is quite a challenge. And that takes a level of marathon mentality. Many leaders take a sprint mentality, which can be harmful not only to themselves but also to the people that report to them.

2. Commitment to Self-Improvement

Exceptional leaders have an element of humility where they are committed to self-improvement. They know they have blind spots, and they are looking for other people to help them fill in those blind spots. Acknowledge that we all have growth areas. And the first step is to get into a mentality that there is room for growth. Ask feedback from others and

3. Ability to listen

As a leader, you have to listen first and then speak last. Say, "What do you think we should do?" as opposed to saying, "This is what I want you to do." Because when you listen to your people, they have great ideas most of the time, much better than your ideas. And if you stifle that conversation, expressing your opinion early on can inhibit innovation and finding the best solutions.

Allow your team or two or three sub-teams to go come back to you with some answers on how they would go about accomplishing the task. This opens the aperture and allows them to think innovatively and creatively. It allows them to bring their own experience and expertise as well as ownership to their solutions.

3 questions when debriefing with your team