2181: The New Social Leadership: Move From Fear To Freedom by Christine Comaford on High-Trust Leadership

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[00:00:48] This is Optimal Work Daily. The new social leadership. Move from fear to freedom. By Christine Comaford of SmartTribesInstitute.com. When driven by fear, human beings generally go to one of three places. They get stuck, they solve problems that don't exist, or they focus on the wrong problem, which is low leverage and doesn't deliver the result they want.

[00:01:15] In the Industrial Revolution, scientific management principles emerged to cope with the need to produce more, better, faster. And it worked. But not anymore. This old-school management style is synonymous with what many people think is leadership. This model operates on fear. The team member must perform or will remove their ability to pay their mortgage, kids' educational expenses, etc.

[00:01:39] Fear pushes people to take action. In the information age, some of these principles and practices are still sound. Hey, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. But some feel as obsolete as the Ford Edsel they were designed to produce. I have noticed that leaders who are able to grow their organizations rapidly in the face of accelerating technological and societal change, the people who create and foster innovation exhibit certain characteristics. I call these characteristics SmartTribes Accelerators.

[00:02:09] The leaders who use these accelerators are the ones who pull their companies to and through inflection points. Plus, SmartTribes Accelerators will help you get what you want when you want it. Fear pushes. Vision pulls. These SmartTribes Accelerators focus, clarity, accountability, influence, and sustainable results foster emotional engagement.

[00:02:33] We know that leaders elevate and cultivate others, so they don't have to resort to primeval methods of control and manipulation, which misses our desired outcome anyway. We also know that as a leader cultivates these accelerators, their experience of personal fulfillment at work increases, as does that of their team members. True leadership inspires people with vision. Vision pulls people to not only take action, but to care about the outcome,

[00:02:59] to take personal ownership of it, and to bring their A-game every day. 1. Focused Be here now, not in the past or future. We choose what we want to focus on and what we want to ignore or defer. Being focused is about both being attentive and aware of issues, challenges, and the real numbers and events that are taking place. 2. Clear

[00:03:25] Be clear and explicit in your words, actions, visions, intentions, and strategies. Otherwise, misunderstandings, miscommunications, and wasted resources will result. Clarity strengthens a team's commitment and trust with others and their projects. 3. Accountable Make and keep commitments to yourself and others Developing leaders give their accountability away to either other people or circumstances.

[00:03:54] The quality and speed of results are directly proportional to how much accountability one takes on about having those results. 4. Influential How much influence do you have over outcomes and others? Developing leaders may think influence comes through domination. This is not sustainable and results in a crushed culture. Influence occurs through our language, decision-making, requests and promises, actions, intentions, and ways of being.

[00:04:24] 5. Sustainable Sustainability is the ability to play the game with equal or greater resources next time. It is about designing win-win agreements and interactions. Being unsustainable leads to quick leadership breakdowns, burnout, teams dissolving, and low-quality results. On the flip side, being sustainable creates the ability to continually grow and deliver consistent results.

[00:04:50] To build and lead a smart tribe, we need to make sure our people shift from their fear- and safety-driven critter state to their innovation- and possibility-driven smart state. How? By ensuring their survival needs are met. That they know they are safe, they belong, and they matter. That's the first step in creating a smart tribe. Safety, belonging, and mattering are essential to your brain and your ability to perform at work, at home, and in your life overall.

[00:05:19] The greater the feeling of safety, both mental and physical, the greater the feeling of connection with others, or the feeling that we're in this together and we belong together. The greater the feeling that we personally matter and make a difference, and are contributing to the greater good. And the greater the success of the company, the relationship, the team, and the individual. So let's take stock of your company's inflection point status. Are you ready for social leadership?

[00:05:47] Take our inflection point assessment to determine how ready you are to reach your next revenue inflection point. Social leadership will be key to get you there. Rate yourself on the following questions. Answer each with yes or no, and total your answers at the end. 1. Is your revenue growing as quickly as you want it to? 2. Is your profit growing as quickly as you want it to? 3. Do you have the right people in the right roles doing the right things?

[00:06:14] 4. Are you retaining your superstar employees? 5. Are you intentionally helping your executive team look into their blind spots, overcome challenging behaviors, and expand their vision and ability to elevate others? 6. Have you identified your next generation of leaders? 7. If so, are you following a specific, proven process to cultivate them?

[00:06:39] 8. Would you like to get more accountability, communication, and execution from your team? 9. Are you navigating rapid growth or turnaround where internal priorities are frequently shifting, and the team is challenged to quickly adapt and stretch? 10. Do you rarely have conflict, backstabbing, or silos between departments and or team members?

[00:07:05] 11. Does your culture focus more on positive outcomes instead of negative outcomes? 12. Do you know how to scale and allocate your human resources to get more done with fewer people? 13. Are you keeping your finger on the pulse of the culture and implementing programs to increase emotional equity? If you have 5 or more no answers, you're at risk of getting stuck between inflection points.

[00:07:30] 14. Look at your score. What are the key areas where you have the greatest opportunity for growth? 15. Is it in cultivating your culture and team? 16. Increasing or optimizing your revenue? 16. Streamlining your operations? 16. What inflection point are you headed toward? You just listened to the post titled, The New Social Leadership, Move from Fear to Freedom, by Christine Comaford of SmartTribesInstitute.com.

[00:08:01] This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. Good sleep is everything.

[00:08:28] That's why Oli's science-backed support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-theanine for both kiddos and grown-ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Oli's sleep solutions for the whole family at Oli.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. And a big thank you to Christine, who is a leadership and culture coach, serial entrepreneur, and a New York Times bestselling author of three books,

[00:08:58] Power Your Tribe, Smart Tribes, and Rules for Renegades. For over 30 years, she has helped leaders navigate growth and change by specializing in applied neuroscience, which helps her clients achieve tremendous results in record time. As an entrepreneur, she built and sold five different companies with an average ROI of 700%, and she was also a software engineer in the early days of Microsoft and Apple. So come by SmartTribesInstitute.com to learn a lot more about Christine and what she does,

[00:09:27] and I've got that linked for you in this episode's description, as well as at OldPodcast.com. But that is going to do it for today. I thank you, as always, for being here and listening all the way through, and I will be back again with you tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.