Hello friends. How are you? And welcome to the darn good leadership podcast. This show was all about being a strong and effective leader. One that creates positive impacts on your teams and communities. During this episode, you're going to get ideas, inspiration, and practical advice you can take to be a darn good leader. I'm your host, Emily holding. And since the show is about leadership today, I'm going to discuss eight practices that can help anyone become a darn good leader. It doesn't matter what stage you are in your career. You can start laying the foundation and the groundwork for being a darn good leader today. You don't need to be a CEO or a VP. You can be an intern, a new hire, a first-time manager, a five-year manager. The point is all of us can be leaders at any point in our career. So today we're going to go through eight practices. I personally use, and I say practices because unlike an action, you're going to have to do this more than once. These are eight practices that I personally use that need to be repeated regularly in order to maintain and grow your proficiency as a darn good leader. So let's jump right in. The first practice you can start to be a darn good leader is to find a mentor. Now mentors, when you find the right ones can be crazy magical for your career. They can literally transform your career trajectory. They give you something to model after they can provide solid feedback and advice based off their own experience, they can help build your own knowledge and understanding. And a Harvard study show that those who do have mentors are more inclined to have a career path and be happier and satisfied in their own current work. From the ages of about 21 to 30, I was lucky enough to always have a mentor at work and they did change over those nine years. There wasn't ever a formal mentor program that I had at my companies. So I had to seek out people who I admired, and all of them helped me in various ways. And as I've gone from intern to being a VP, finding peer mentors can also be just as helpful. Or finding someone in your same role, but who works at a different company, talking through real life challenges, issues, solutions can be so incredibly valuable and eyeopening in thinking through what potential steps I can take next to make positive impacts at my company. So internal or external mentors finding the right mentor can change your career for the better and help you with your journey. The right mentoring relationships can be a powerful tool for your professional growth. It can lead you to new career opportunities, a promotion, Even a better work-life balance. So do your research figure out, you know, does your company already have a mentor program? Like I said, my companies have never had a formal mentoring program, but do your research and see, are there other people at your company who have informal mentors and how did they get those started? Or just ask questions or set up some. Quick meetings with executives that you admire at your company and ask those questions. I have an elevator pitch ready though. And finally be a good mentee. If you are going to ask someone to be your mentor, you need to show up. And you need to have an agenda. You need to have a plan. You need to do the work. Do not put this all in your mentor. So you have to be an excellent mentee. And if you're curious about what that is, there are a lot of great books and articles. I'll try to link a couple in the show notes. But make sure that you're making good use of this mentor's time as well? All right. So that's number one, finding a mentor. Moving on to practice. Number two. Get involved with a community. Now this community should likely be something that's in your field that is outside of your current place of work. Well, how involved do you need to get you ask? Well, that's really up to you, but the important thing is that you become aware of what is trending in your industry. And one of the best ways to do that is to get involved with the community outside of your own place of work. This is going to increase your own understanding and knowledge. It will allow you to cross pollinate ideas. It will give you potential opportunities to create your own network of peers and people outside of your own place of work, which is huge. You want to build a really robust and rich social network. Some ideas here when I was younger, I was always involved in several communities of practice around my field. We would meet bi-weekly on the phone. We share challenges and issues. I would also go to a lot of conferences and I would attend those social events that they always put in place for networking. But during that time, what I would try to do with suss out any communities or forums that I could join, so I can make sure that I could be having these connections and places to ask for advice or help or support. I've also had some conferences that I've attended that made such a positive impact on me personally, that I was like, I have to get involved here. So I decided to volunteer and be on the planning committee that would help run those conferences. This allowed me to learn and meet so many different types of people and it connected me with people that I would have only dreamed of being connected to in the past. There are so many communities now that you can be a part of. So if you're like, Hey. I don't know of a community of practice. I'm not going to any conferences. Well, there's always LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a plethora of communities and you just need to get on there. Do a little digging, do a little research. And again, You're going to notice a key thing here is you got to take the action on these things. You gotta dig in, you gotta do the research and make it happen. Moving on to the third practice of being a darn good leader. Is read. Read. And read some more. So, if you really want to set yourself up for success, become an avid reader. Almost become obsessed with reading. Make reading and addiction. Stop being addicted to your phone. Start becoming addicted to reading. I know this is hard, if you can replace the time that you spend, fooling around on your phone with a book. You're going to be so surprised at how much further you're going to learn have ideas and just, it's going to build you up so much faster as a leader. Fantasy and fiction. I'm not saying to cut those out, but read about the things that are going to make a difference here. So read about leadership, read about your industry, read about your craft. Read about today's work environment. Read books, read articles, read blogs, read studies, but become incredibly curious. And set time for each and every day to read. I have a practice now of reading at least 10 pages a day on material that will help me sharpen my saw. It honestly gives life to so many new ideas. It keeps you relevant. It keeps your mind open to various possibilities and it helps you become a better leader. The fourth practice of being a darn good leader is to build strong report with your peers. Now, this can be peers within your own team and peers across the line of business. So life is all about having relationships. Good solid relationships. This requires you being a good partner having people's back when they need it. Listening. Not talking shit about people. So none of that gossip crap. Giving honest, constructive feedback. And taking other people's feedback with grace and in stride. Thanking people for when they've supported you or helped you or helped your teams. And letting them know when they're also doing a great job or letting their boss know that they're doing a great job. Another thing you can look at. Is, is there a gap or an opportunity to improve communication? To improve a process or to help with some sort of project with these peers. And why not see if you can get this collective group together as a team and kick something off. Or even look at doing some sort of community of practice within your peer group. This will definitely up your a game. And it's just more fun working with people you have good rapport with. So build up those peer relationships. And create that additional support system through these connections. Practice number five for being a darn good leader is. To take care of your people. So whether you have employees or not. This can also include just taking care of your team or your community but when you talk about taking care of your people, this is making sure that everybody's working at a sustainable pace, that people are taking care of themselves, that we're celebrating and recognizing people. So this includes birthdays. Big life events, work, anniversaries, big milestones that they achieve for their career or things that they're doing outside of work, but take an interest in them. What they care about. What's important to them. Give your people constructive feedback to make them better, but also hold your people accountable. Some of the kindest things that you can do for anyone and the best way to take care of people is to hold them accountable and to bring out the best versions of themselves and to bring out their true potential, so lift your people up, remind them of their strengths and let them know that you are truly there for them. The six practice of being a darn good leader is to be transparent about your work and your value I want you to do yourself a favor. Make it abundantly clear to your boss? And your team. What you've done, what you've achieved and what you plan to do. Do not. I repeat, do not let people wonder what is it that Emily does all day. I want to make sure people understand what it is that I am doing, what it is that I have done, what it is. I have accomplished what value I bring to the table and what things I'm going after next and how they can be a part of that. If you have any doubt any inclination that people don't know what you do? Change it up fast. Make it your mission to have them understand it. Have them understand your role, the value that you and your team provide to the company, to the customer. But make it happen. Here's a litmus test for yourself. Have you ever been in a one-on-one and your boss asked you. All right. What do you have for me? What's going on? And you say not much, I don't really have anything. Has it ever come out of your mouth? Not much. I don't really have anything. Okay. People. Likely you're having a one-on-one once a week, if it's been a week. And you have nothing going on, nothing to share with your boss. Come on. Do better. You have lots of stuff going on I'm sure. So you need to communicate these things, especially to your boss. All right. So what have you been doing? What have you achieved? What's working. What's not. What ideas do you have? Let them know what you're interested in, let them know what your. Worried about or concerned about or solutions that you've thought through, but do not reply, not much. Nothing's going on. No. You are more valuable than that. Your work is more valuable than that. And if that is really how you feel, then take a strong look at the mirror and figure out how you can change that narrative. So be overly transparent about your work and your value. The seventh practice to being a darn good leader is to make a difference on something you're passionate about. I want you to think about when's the last time you volunteered or led something at your workplace. Think about it. Is anything coming to mind? Are you having a Bueller? Bueller Bueller moment. The point I'm trying to make here is don't be one of those people who just stands back on the wayside and complaints. If there is a topic at work that you feel strongly about. And you're annoyed about, or you're complaining about you don't understand. You're frustrated about it. Well, guess what? You're a leader now. And even if you don't have a title, but you believe in, you're passionate about something. Think kit involved, take action. What makes a leader is your ability to take action on things. And to get shit done. So. If you don't like something, get involved. And you can do this at any stage in your career. And when you start to get involved with something. You begin to understand, oh, this is why this is so hard. Oh, this is why we haven't made change here. Or sometimes you get involved and no one else has volunteered to do it before, and it gets done easy peasy, fresh and easy. No big deal. But the takeaway here is make it happen. Participate, be a part of the solution. When I was an intern, the Boeing company. I remember my first couple of days at work, no one talked to each other. There was just a group of people who were working in the same space, who never talked to each other. I mean, occasional, hi, what's up, but nothing, no real interactions. And so I didn't like this. And instead of just complaining about it, Emily, as an intern self kicked off something, that I coined as, oh, what a bagel full morning. That's right. Oh, what a bagel full morning. Instead of, oh, what a beautiful morning. It's a bagel full morning. Because I would go pick up bagels once a week. And so what I would do. Is I would go around to everyone's cubicle at the time, and I would introduce myself and I'd say, hi, I'm Emily. I'm going to be picking up bagels on a weekly basis. What bagel would you like this week? Oh, you want a blueberry? What kind of cream cheese do you like? Oh, you don't like cream cheese. You want it buttered. Do you want it toasted? But when I did this I was getting to know everybody on my floor taking an interest in them, making connections, building rapport, but then when I actually brought the bagels in. What do people have to do? I asked them for 30 minutes to come sit together and hang out. And again, as an intern, I kick this thing off. There was also three different companies I've been at. I noticed that there wasn't a lot of innovation going on. So I kicked off hackathons because I felt very strong and passionate about it. Then more recently when COVID hit. I was really concerned about the connections people were going to have now that we are in this virtual environment. So, what did I do? I got involved. First of all, I was reading up a ton and I found this really amazing book. And it spoke to me so much that I bought a book for myself. I bought one for everybody on my team. I gave it to my boss. I gave it to our CEO. I gave it to the head of people, operations. I had several other leaders at the company read it. And then we got together and we discussed how we could apply this to our workplace. And most recently. There is some frustration going on with data at my work. And so guess what I'm doing, I'm getting involved. I'm getting involved around this data initiative and it is now my initiative to help be a part of this solution no longer am I going to sand by the wayside and complain about anything around data? Oh no, no, no, no. I'm going to become part of that solution. So. This is what I'm saying to you. Find something you're passionate about, good or bad that is either frustrated you or inspired you. And make a difference at your company by getting involved. That is a leader. The eighth and final practice of being a darn good leader is to take ownership of your brand. And we've talked about brand before, and we will talk about it again in the future. No doubt, but it is on you to create craft, develop your brand. Your brand is something that is living and breathing. So you can't just set it and forget it. It's a dynamic thing that you are in control of. So take it upon yourself to set the bar high, even if you don't have employees. Right. Set a good example, be respectful, deliver high quality items. Keep your promises. Take extreme ownership of things own up to your mistakes. Be genuine. And if you remember, we did a podcast, not too long ago about finding your leadership style through the three word approach. I will link that in the show notes, but you can use those three words. Mine are bold, bright, and optimistic realist. To hone in on what you want your personal brand to be, and then to drive at it. So let's recap. Here are the eight practices you can start today to help you be a darn good leader. Number one. Find a mentor. Number two, get involved with the community. Number three, read, read, and read some more. Number four, build strong rapport with your peers. Number five. Take care of your people. Number six, be overly transparent about your work and your value. Number seven, make a difference on things you're passionate about and get involved. And number eight, take ownership of your brand. Okay guys. So being a darn good leader does not happen overnight, but it begins by laying down simple practices that build into something truly powerful. Think through how you might start to build some of these practices into your own work routines. Have a mentor learn from your peers, listen to your people. Read, get involved with your communities, get involved with the things that bother you or that you're passionate about at work. These practices will help you be more educated and well-informed. And so then you're going to pitch things. To your company, that's more educated and well-informed. And then you will make decisions that are more educated and well-informed. And those are also key components of a darn good leader. These eight practices have honestly made work more fun, more enjoyable, and made me want to dig in and do more for my teams and my communities. I know they can do the same magic for you. So give it a try. All right. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I'm going to leave you the same way. I always do. People'd be bright. And be a darn good leader because your teams and your communities and the world need you to step up and shine. Cheers.