Bridging Leadership Lessons from the Workplace and Those Experiences Shaping Today's Youth and Tomorrow's Leaders
After 30 years with the same company, I found myself in the position of preparing to transition to something new. While it was shocking to most, it wasn’t completely unexpected to me.
Now, not being surprised isn't the same as being ready! At 53, I wasn’t ready to retire. Our youngest son is a sophomore in high school and while I had been working towards a “Plan B” I was not ready to execute a “Plan B.” One day your blog post on Establishing Trust and Integrity at Work is being shared on the corporate website and the next you are changing your status on your social media. But as I have always said, “it is what it is” and my lecture on the Circle of Control was never more relevant. That day and the weeks that followed, were filled with people reaching out to me and I believe most were surprised about my calm and reassuring demeanor. My response just came out naturally, “sometimes God speaks to you, and you choose not to listen. Sometimes God shows you a path and you choose not to look. Sometimes God decides He has had enough, and He doesn’t care that you are too stubborn or too scared. It’s God’s plan and He decided it was time.” The next morning, I wake up at my normal time and begin my routine. In the NY Times Wordle game, my word was COACH! The following day, my morning verse was: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." - Psalms 32:8. It was reassuring to see His message. That week, I officiated the wedding for a young man that I used to coach when he was a kid. I also continued to livestream my Inside the Huddle interview with our High School coaches. I moved forward with my life because my life was moving forward. The next week I’m giving a training class on the 3 Pillars of Impact. The following week I’m watching the most incredible sunset (see the pic!) on the shore of the Pacific Central Coast, with nothing but gratitude in my heart for the blessings I have and continue to receive. The following week I was in Chicago at a Quartz Event IMPACT Manufacturing Leadership Summit , sharing my story of Impact while stressing the importance of executives to walk the walk and put the 3 Pillars of impact into action. During the two weeks following my departure, I had so many people reach out to me; former coworkers, friends, and casual acquaintances. They shared their sadness and confusion, warm thoughts of encouragement and advice, they provided contacts and even job offers. You quickly realize that your life really is about impact and the breadth of the impact is not always obvious. I was listening to an Audiobook titled The Big Goal System. One of the speakers was Krish Dhanam and he had some profound statements that I want to share here: “Success if not who you are in relation to the person sitting next to you. Success is who you are in relation to where you began and what you began with.” “Your career is what you are paid for, your purpose is what you are made for.” He finishes by saying, he is not his job and declares that he is a husband and father and states the names of his family. What a statement! I am not my job. I am the husband of Jenny and the father of Zach, Megan, Trey, and Ethan. Wow! That is a testimony. You may not be ready when events happen that force you to transition. It may not be part of your plan, but it is part of God’s plan. When you take a moment to reflect, you quickly realize that you are ready. That you are equipped for the next leg of your journey. That you are not alone. I am not my job. I am the husband of Jenny and the father of Zach, Megan, Trey, and Ethan. Ready or not, I am ready to move Beyond Today.
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![]() Our high school basketball season started last week. Our youngest son has been anxiously awaiting the first game of his sophomore season. He isn’t nervous… just excited about the opportunity to once again compete alongside his friends in the sport he loves. It got me thinking about how incredible it is when you are young. The excitement of the newness of the season ahead, where there is no record yet, there are no trials or tribulations, everything is pure and open. It is all about what CAN BE and not what IS. Prior to the season, my son spent a lot of time in preparation to be the best player and teammate he could be by focusing on:
I then was thinking about why it is so hard to recapture those feelings as an adult when you are in the workforce. But then I realized, those feelings still exist, we just don’t recognize them in the same manner. As an adult, you prepare for a project or your job in a similar manner.
It doesn’t matter if you are at work preparing for a big meeting or hitting a deadline, or you are a high school kid preparing for the first game of the season, you can experience a gambit of emotions:
Everything is before you, full of potential and unspoiled. Next Play What if we could keep that same attitude throughout the season? What if we actually could play, live, and/or work in the moment? In sports, coaches continuously use phrases such as:
But is it only a catch phrase? When things go south, coaches have a tendency to “react” instead of “respond” to the situation. That results in a negative attack versus a positive correct or adapt. As a leader, what is your response at work? Do you show frustration? Do you become critical? So, you focus on what went wrong versus the “next play?” Keep the Preseason Vibe Let’s go back to our first game of the season. The first day of school. The first date. The first day at work. The story has yet to be written. What if we could maintain that outlook in the middle of the season? In the middle of the project? Not a review of what has gone wrong. Not the weight of a two-game losing streak. Soak in the incredible power of potential. The fresh outlook that everything is possible and still in front of us. That there is ALWAYS more to the story. That there is another chapter still to be written. Socrates said that “The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” When you talk with your team, is the focus on “What we need” or “What we did”? Maintain the excitement of the preseason throughout your seasons of life. Adopt a mindset that you will Be Better Today, knowing that there is always another chapter to be written. Embrace that growth mindset, that sense of ownership, to carry that optimistic and enthusiastic mindset Beyond Today. ![]() Let’s be honest, it’s never easy when someone points out to you that you are not the expert. Whether or not it’s true doesn’t really matter, but it really attacks the pride and even more so when you are a young, new manager. Now imagine having the Founder of the company who changed the industry with his patent, look you in the eyes and say, “Tom, you see, you’re not an expert.” I don’t know if his spider senses started tingling or if it was the sound of my jaw hitting his office table that made him realize I was crushed, but he immediately reassured me that this was a good thing. He went on to say that because of this, I wouldn’t get sucked into my own biases and the need to provide solutions that the hard-core scientists and engineers would. He said my lack of expertise would set me apart from others so I could ask questions, read the room, and trust the team. But he didn’t say it would be easy. Prepare to be Overlooked While they may not go as far as disrespecting you, it might be possible that they discount you and don’t see you as a threat, so they are ambivalent. This isn’t a bad scenario as everything you do will surprise them. Your progress and insight will increase your impact to the team and gradually they will become a big fan. Don’t Carry a Chip Just because you know that they don’t see you as an expert, you can’t carry that chip on your shoulder. If you do, it can cause unnecessary conflict and tension on both your work team and among your leadership peers. You will be tempted to prove your worth and value which at its best will be annoying and at its worst will be seen as lacking integrity trying to be something you are not. Don’t Be a Pushover While you can’t fight every fight, you don’t have to let people discount you with every breath. It’s tempting to retaliate with a witty comment about “if they know so much, then why are you not in charge?” but you know that it will go south really quick. Subtle opportunities to reinforce what you are bringing to the table while highlighting the impact it has on the team, is a way to align both of your efforts to support the team’s goals. Your Value Will be Questioned This will happen by both the leadership team and your team. Many managers work their way up through having expertise in their field. Their reputation and status are based upon what they know. I recall a story shared at a conference by a Senior Facilities Executive, where he described having a disagreement with the Senior Executive leading their Technology department. The Technologist dismissed the solution proposed by the Facilities lead with a simple comment, “you see, our group has the “big brains.” Oh, and those reporting to you won’t be happy either. People who are experts tend to measure themselves on what they do and accomplish, not necessarily on impact. How can you, someone who clearly doesn’t know anything about this, lead them? You will need to demonstrate your value over time, by embracing their expertise and thriving in the role of leader. Use your skills to remove obstacles so your team can create a bigger impact. Build Connections Initially, I focused on maintaining grassroots contacts across the company. Technician level people that were the heart of the workforce that I could count on to share the pulse of the employee with me. Plus, it gave me “street cred” when I would make comments or ask questions because those employees would vouch for me. There was a transformational moment for me when I was transitioning into upper management. The owner approached me and was critical of my approach to build key connection points within the group. My first instinct was to become defensive. But as we talked, I gained clarity that his point was that the single connections moved too slow and wouldn’t serve as well in the larger organization. He likened it to transplanting a plug of grass and waiting for it to take hold and spread or putting down fresh sod. That conversation enabled me to expand not only how I build connections, but why connections are important. Lean in to it Embrace it. Double down. Own every part of it and put your faith in your team… who ARE the experts! Give them the opportunities to showcase themselves to management. Coach them on delivery and support them as they navigate presenting to management. With your leadership peers, you can stress the importance of empowering teams, how you practice trust, and the importance of using good communication to build connections. Leverage it to Receive Grace You can’t use it as an excuse or crutch, but you can, on occasions, leverage it to have others extend to you grace. “As you know, I’m not an expert…” or “we knew this was going to be a learning curve…” or maybe, “As I continue to get comfortable in this role…” But let’s be very clear, if you use this too often, you are reinforcing their concerns and fears. This is ONLY effective when you are actually making progress. Never think less of yourself for not being an expert. While your expertise may not be in a specific functional area, you need to grow your expertise in the traits that make you a leader: Builder of Trust, Being a Connector, Empowering Others, Sharing Your Vision, and Being a Servant Leader. By focusing on the employees, your expertise will grow, and you will be an expert, Beyond Today. |
AuthorTom Brown - a husband and a father who is simply trying to make a difference. Using my experience as a Manufacturing Executive to connect leadership from the boardroom to the hardwood to help teams grow and develop to make a difference in the lives of others. Archives
February 2025
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