Manila, 11 March 2020 — What deciding really means and how it helps.

This month in Grow3Leaders we explore effective leadership behaviors with the BUILD theme, illustrated by the motto that ‘Leaders build habits, a toolkit, and integrity.’ 

At the start, we took a deep (and long) dive into the theme and unpacked Three Leader Traps that hold back many high achievers, influencers, and wannabe leaders from making progress. We called them the Inconsistent Leader, the Ineffective Leader, and the Inconsequential Leader traps.

Now let’s get into action, shall we?

In this post, we take a look at three actions to change our behavior quickly and thereby avoid, or get out of, the three traps. 

The first action cuts radically through the complexity of building of habits (and the many books written about that), the second action gets us going to build our leadership toolkit, and the third action builds our integrity in a powerful way, every day. 

Interested? Then let’s go and swing that axe!

Action 1: Kill Off Choice

The first habit we will build is to decide on action every day instead of overthinking and procrastinating. While getting clear on our Vision (January theme) and Focus (February theme), they still leave us with too many choices. As a BUILDer we need to decide and build, every day. We need to just do it.

What does decide actually mean? The meaning is radical, are you ready for it?

To Decide means to Kill Off Choice. We tend to overlook that the ‘cide’ in decide is the same as in homicide, suicide, patricide, and other targets of killing. Things that are unpopular to talk about.

Swinging the axe, metaphorically for leaders, is to have a routine for each day of the week to kill off choice. That makes it much easier to do what matters most. Working together on this habit with fellow leaders will help get better at it quickly by finding courage and sharing experiences.

To build strong leadership habits, start with killing off choice, every day.

Action 2: Invest In Bamboo

The second action, and the first step to building our leadership toolkit, is to invest in a leadership program with a Bamboo design rather than Banana appeal. What does that mean?

Most leadership programs sell on Banana appeal: eat the wonderful training event and you will feel good right away and see results quickly. Shockingly, researchers say that two thirds of leadership training actually fails, because it is event-based instead of designed as a process. They sell us Bananas, not Bamboo. Remember that banana trees fall over easily when the storms come. Lots of damage and little is left.

Process-designed programs for leadership growth, on the other hand, are less popular yet much more effective, as research shows. It’s where typically only 10% of the work is training, 70% is taking on challenges, and 20% is getting feedback and support (the 70:20:10 Rule of Leadership Development). Sustained success actually takes much more time than an event. Think more in months to a year, just like how Bamboo grows, starting for a long time underground. Yet when it comes up, Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth, and produces strong and flexible all-weather results. The Bamboo metaphor is just right for leadership growth. Read more about it here.

So when we invest in leadership training, it pays to look carefully into what the design is and then … Kill Off Choice, yes, you got it.

Avoid expecting too much from Banana events that don’t last. Better to go for Bamboo designed programs, and optimize the use of online resources and coaching to support us with daily and weekly routines rather than depending on an events-only design.

I’m fortunate to be involved in Bamboo-designed leadership programs, and that’s where I have observed that leaders really do transform and grow, time after time. That’s why we have started the Grow3Leaders community based on that Bamboo approach.

Action 3: Show Up Early

The third action, and first for building integrity, is to quickly work on how we show up for other people, every day, every week, both in-person and online. The most powerful step is to decide (kill off choice) to always come early in order to be on time. Programming our minds this way helps to make it happen.

Becoming known for being on time, or early, shows to other people that we care about their time. When we respect their time, it shows we respect them, and that is a basic human need for all of us. 

Deciding to come early to be on time is a powerful behavior that builds our integrity as a leader. People around us learn that we are dependable. 

It also works in places where time is considered ... flexible. And it helps when we check in to remind and nudge our meeting or call participants to help them come on time too. 

In the business of building integrity as a leader, the responsibility lies with us, and it’s always our turn to show up on time.

Building Starts Here

Taking these three actions makes for a powerful start in building habits, a toolkit, and integrity as a leader or wannabe leader. In the metaphor of building a house, when you kill off design choices, you know exactly what to build and you go for it.

Is there more to learn about building? Of course. Yet nothing happens when we don’t take action first.

Want to practice this with other leaders in a community? Then consider putting in a request to join us in Grow3Leaders. Joining is free of charge—not free of commitment.

Come to learn together how to BUILD with others.