Tag: accountability

Death to Clichés

The global pandemic may have gotten to me! I have been triggered!

I have to believe I would never have written this blog 18 months ago. The odd thing is, the source of my trigger extends from a very unlikely, strange place!

Clichés! Yep, clichés! I said it!  They are everywhere and here is the rub! I am guilty of using them as well.  

I am part of a movement that uses clichés in a bid to stay connected to the audience made up of quick twitch minds scrolling through their social media platforms like a starving meerkat in search of its next meal. 

The site Your Dictionary defines clichés as such…

“Clichés are terms, phrases, or even ideas that, upon their inception, may have been striking and thought-provoking but became unoriginal through repetition and overuse. ”

Unoriginal clearly being the operative term!

I scrolled through twitter for no less than 4 minutes and here is a list of clichés/jargon that I found.

Of note, in an effort to establish complete transparency, the final example extends from yours truly. Like I said, I am guilty! 

The Magnificent 8

  1. Authentic leaders lead authentically.
  2. A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake
  3. Your problem isn’t the problem. Your reaction is the problem. 
  4. The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. 
  5. I would rather die of passion than of boredom.
  6. The bad news is time flies. The good news is you are the pilot! 
  7. Leadership is like conducting a symphony. It’s not your job to play all of the instruments. 
  8. Why not you? Why not you! When not you. Why not? Give yourself permission!

I get it. Clichés are nice, cute hooks that can capture the eye of the reader.

Yet, like eating liver and onions, using clichés should be enjoyed on occasion!  They should never be the staple of your diet.

It’s like the 80’s Faberge Organics shampoo commercial titled “So on and so on!”.   

“Mystery Men”

Every time I read a series of clichés I am brought back to a scene from the movie released in 1999 titled, “Mystery Men”. The scene stars Ben Stiller in the role of impatient super hero Furious Roy and Wes Studi in the role as Sphinx. Sphinx relies on clichés and is pragmatic in his approach and Furious Roy is a want to get things done type of guy.

Belly Buttons vs Clichés

It’s been said that belly buttons are useless but I will argue that from a life giving perspective, belly buttons are kind of valuable. Far more valuable than a cliché that does not connect you to something of greater value. A belly button serves as a portal that could bring us the next great scientist, author, BMX champion, opera singer or YouTube influencer! A cliché on its own gives birth to nothing. 

Throw a whole LinkedIn lineup of clichés at someone and a trite numbness inevitably takes over.

A cliché on it’s own lacks authenticity. A series of clichés do not inspire me to get going, they inspire me to tune out and take a good nap! I want some substance with my side of snappiness! 

I played professional football for 9 years in the Canadian Football League. I learned early on that the coach or player espousing a bunch of clichés usually liked the sound of their own voice and was usually ill prepared for competition.

Could you imagine a professional football coach commanding the attention of his team before heading out of the locker room to do battle and saying, 

“Fellas, fellas, gather around! Never forget. It’s a 60 minute game and the bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the PILOT. Let’s go get them boys!”.

A cliché may sound good but it won’t help you when a 230 pound linebacker is trying to put you and your rib cage in row 6! 

Knowledge is power!

I have always been a guy who wanted to know the what, when, where, who and why! Leading, coaching and team building is not easy. It’s a competitive industry. It requires an intuitiveness that connects people on a deeper level. It demands authenticity, depth and generosity. 

Being in the business of setting others up to succeed and celebrating the potential contribution others can make is the reward for those who have been bitten by the leadership/coaching and team building bug.

If we ask our clients to buy in and put the work in, regardless of the arena they compete in, the least we as leadership and coaching experts can do is serve as an example. 

Include a link to something of value with the cliché.  Add some meat to the potatoes! Feed your audience. 

It could be a great blog post or a great video that expands on the idea presented by the cliché. So, the time is nigh! Join the revolution! Join me in the fight to ban the art of posting clichés on their own. 

This whole being triggered thing is tiring! I am going to see if Mystery Men is on Netflix!

Stay safe and well!

——————–

Ken Evraire is the owner | principal of TECTONIC TLC Team Lead Coach.

He is a quintessential team player who loves coaching, team building and talking leadership!  He is grateful for the opportunity to work with a roster of fantastic clients ranging from the government sector, not for profit agencies, start ups, Fortune 500 companies and elite sports teams.

He is father to 3 precocious children, has the best ex-wife in the world, is a former professional football player that has since donated his brain. He has run 3x marathons (Honolulu 2x + Barcelona), done stand up comedy and believes the old school coach was wrong…there is indeed an “i” in Team! 

Check Ken out on the following social media pages…

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-evraire-leadership/

Twitter https://twitter.com/Tectonic_tlc

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tectonictlc

Leadership is not easy! Ta-da…the secret is out!

Let me state the obvious. Leadership is not easy.

Never has been…never will be. There will be days when the last thing you may want to do is lead! There will be times when you will have a desperate need to want to just sit in the back of the bus and watch the street blocks go by!

It’s a natural response when you take on a role of leadership. As invincible as you may think you need to be, yes, there will be days when the last thing you ever want to do is stand in front of the band as it makes its way down the parade route!

“Let them lead themselves! They don’t listen to me half the time anyway!”

When that moment of hesitation or doubt arrives, stand in front of the mirror, look at yourself and ask one question and one question only.

“Did you expect this to be easy?”

If you answer yes, then you need to re-visit why you have taken on the responsibility of leading others. If you answer no, then a great opportunity to raise your team’s game is at hand!

First and foremost, it’s not your job to make the team succeed, it’s your job to put the team in a position to succeed. One man or woman does not make a team but a leader that continues to search for growth opportunities within his/herself and the team does!

“High-risk leadership beckons many, but few accept the call. Apollo 13 succeeded at critical moments like this because the bosses had no hesitation about assigning crucial tasks to one individual, trusting his judgment, and then getting out of his way.” Apollo 13 Flight Director Gene Kranz

Leading others is a great responsibility. It’s personal. It requires someone who is special and is led by the single-minded desire to see other’s succeed. It requires someone who recognizes the day to day investment and sacrifices his team makes.

Think about it…when someone punches the clock for a total of 40 hours a week, that is a third of their week.  Yes, one could argue that the company has an investment in them and they should just do their jobs, but do not lose sight of the fact that the employee has also invested in the company and the investment they make in terms of effort, focus, going the extra mile will reflect the type of leadership they receive, good, bad or indifferent.

Hiring someone or someone accepting a job offer is a professional decision influenced by a series of personal circumstances, unique to each company and individual.

Great leadership equals buy in…bad leadership equals buy-out!

Leadership is not about one person sitting atop the mountain enjoying providence over all as it was in pre-70’s business world, but rather an open journey that is built on a foundation of trust, patience, communication and respect.

Self-correction is key to leadership success. Without it, you will fall into the trap of simply repeating the same mistakes!

When it comes to leadership, there is never the “hit a walk-off home run and win the game” moment. You may hit a home run but there is always another game, another plate appearance and an opportunity to either hit a home run or strike out.

It doesn’t matter if you lead a team of 500 or a team of 5!  Leadership is a tenuous journey.

“Leadership is fragile. It is more a matter of mind and heart than resources, and it seemed that we no longer had the heart for those things that demanded discipline, commitment, and risk.” – Gene Kranz – NASA Flight Director.

Don’t be afraid to look in the mirror and remind yourself that it’s not supposed to be easy and you don’t have to be perfect.

Authenticity, patience and passion will reward you. It will also make the investment of your time more than worth it.

 

Ken Evraire is an award-winning leadership coach and team builder. As a former professional athlete, he has learned a from great coaches and learned even more from the bad ones!

To contact Ken email him at ken@kenevraire.com.

To learn more about Ken, visit his website www.ken
evraire.com or visit him Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kenevrairedotcom/ or on twitter https://twitter.com/kevraire17

Leaders need to look in the mirror (often)!

So it’s late…and my wife is upstairs killing a slice of key lime pie. Better the pie than me!

To suggest that she is not pleased with me would be an understatement. We have enjoyed a great long weekend with the kids! As is always the case, our home started to look like a frat house after a good run during pledge week. This is what happens when we convince ourselves that we are a borderline bohemian family! I think we have adopted this lifestyle in a bid to justify our want to procrastinate! Truth is, our kids (Elijah 7, Summer 5 and Nate 4) are not bohemian but rather regular, normal kids who suffer from severe short term memory loss when we ask them to put their apple core’s in the compost, put their Mr. Freeze tubes in the garbage, not leave their BMX helmets in the middle of the doorway etc. If you have kids I apologize for preaching to the choir! You feel our pain!

Now, I was tired and a tad impatient which is not the best time to remind me that as the adults we may need to stop playing the role of entertainment director to our kids and begin preparing for what will be a very busy summer! Preparations began with attacking the in-house to-do list. A to-do list that I have been avoiding like an opponent tries to avoid a Mike Tyson punch. It will inevitably sock me right in the kisser (not in a literal sense) so I might as well just bite the bullet and get to work because she is right. Yes, any rational man would do so…or would they? Again, did I mention I was tired!

Yes, she was right. Indeed, we needed to get back to reality and create some structure at home. Yet, rather than agree with her…I chose to fight it. It was a no win but like a tempestuous, impatient child I didn’t want to win…I just wanted to disagree for the sake of disagreeing! For no other reason than I was tired. I was the dad and I was right (at least in my own mind but in the deepest recesses of my mind I actually knew I was wrong!). Shhh, don’t tell Pamela!

Now when I say “fight it“, I mean I still washed the bathroom floors (our 4-year-old believes hitting the bowl is optional!), began to purge the basement, re-claim her office space that had become our 4th toy room, and did some dishes but I did it all while applying the silent treatment. Now that is leadership! (not).

Leadership or co-leadership is not easy. Never has been…never will be. There are days when the last thing you may want to do is lead! There are times when you want to sit in the back of the bus and watch the street blocks go by! There is nothing wrong with that. Just let the other driver know.

Understand that there are times when you need to be led. Accept being led by another is not a bad thing. Sometimes you need to let someone else grab hold of the steering wheel. Sometimes you need to let someone else look at the map!

So, tonight I find myself needing to re-set my intentions. I am still tired but no so much that I can’t take the time to look in the mirror and remind myself to practice what I preach!

Leadership is not about one person sitting atop the mountain enjoying providence over all but rather an open journey that is built on a foundation of trust, patience, communication and respect. Self-correction is key to your success. Without it, you fall into the trap of simply repeating the same mistakes!

Leaders who do not take the time to look at themselves honestly in the mirror as a tool for self-evaluation are destined to fail. Often times the only one to hold a leader accountable is the leader him or herself. It doesn’t matter if you lead a team of 500 or a team of 5!

Tonight, I will look in the clean mirror (thanks to my work earlier this evening), evaluate my performance and learn from it.

Sleeping on the couch also serves as a great reminder of my need to improve my game! Isn’t it poignant! I am now wide awake and can’t sleep! I should go tidy up the garage!

Ken Evraire is an award-winning leadership coach and team builder. As a former professional athlete, he has learned a from great coaches and learned even more from the bad ones!

To contact Ken email him at ken@kenevraire.com.

To learn more about Ken, visit his website www.ken
evraire.com or visit him Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kenevrairedotcom/ or on twitter https://twitter.com/kevraire17