September 23, 2025 • 29 mins
It’s never happened in our lifetime. The recent assassination of a major political figure highlights something troubling about our current environment - the increasing inability to peacefully coexist with those who hold different views. While one person bears responsibility for violent actions, we all contribute to the climate around us, especially as leaders.
What can we do to create healthier workplaces where people don't feel isolated, dismissed, or bitter toward those with different perspectives? In this special episode, I offer four practical principles that can help any leader foster environments where disagreement doesn't lead to division.
First, we must allow genuine space for different opinions. Too often, we minimize or dismiss alternative viewpoints in the name of efficiency, leaving team members feeling their expertise isn't valued. Second, we need to accept that we aren't always the decision makers. Learning to thrive despite disagreeing with leadership decisions is an essential skill that builds resilience.
Third, consider reducing the size of your world. Constantly consuming global news and social media often leaves us angry about circumstances we cannot influence while neglecting the spheres where we can make a difference. Focus more intentionally on your immediate environment—your family, neighborhood, workplace, and clients. Finally, break screen-dominated routines by incorporating outdoor time, movement, and alternatives to endless video meetings.
These principles won't solve all societal problems, but they offer practical ways for leaders to create healthier environments where people feel valued, connected, and able to thrive despite differences. What steps will you take to model these behaviors with your team today?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The reality is, it's never happened in our lifetime,
at least if you're under the ageof 60.
And even if you're older thanthat, you weren't old enough at
the time, back in the 1960s, toremember the last time that, in
the United States of America,political violence took the life
(00:21):
of a national figure.
There's been no successfulassassination, and while this
episode and this podcast isn'tabout politics and we're not
going to dive into the right orthe left, you do have to wonder
in a moment like this, ifthere's something that we as
(00:41):
leaders inside of organizations,people who lead teams some of
us hundreds, some of usthousands or tens of thousands
of people Not feel so isolated,not feel so much bitterness, not
(01:05):
feel so much animosity towardsthose they disagree with.
My opinion is we can do somethings, we can be better, we can
lead more effectively and showthe way, and so in this episode
of the Lead in 30 podcast, asyou can tell if you listen
(01:27):
normally, we're taking just alittle bit of a different
approach, and so I hope youwon't mind, I hope you'll give
me some space to offer a fewthoughts of mine as an American,
as someone who cares deeplyabout freedom of speech, someone
who deeply respects yourability to disagree with me, to
(01:51):
have opinions, to haveperspectives, to try your best
to positively influence theworld around you.
And so I'm not going toadvocate just like always in all
387 episodes before this one,I'm not going to advocate a
political position or doanything like that.
(02:12):
I'm just going to offer fourideas, four suggestions on how
we, how you as a leader of otherpeople, can potentially help
yourself and help them.
Never get to a place where wewould harm someone who disagrees
(02:33):
with us.
It sounds ridiculous and Irealize and I fully believe that
one person, one person, isresponsible for what happened in
Orem, utah recently, but we allcontribute to the environment
and the world around us.
And so in this episode, I'mgoing to offer four ideas, four
(02:56):
thoughts around how we might beable to help in the current
environment.
Welcome into the Lead in 30podcast.
This one is a special episode.
Environment.
Welcome into the Lead in 30podcast.
This one is a special episode.
Every once in a while, we mixit up and we throw out the
normal open, the normal musicbed, all of those sorts of
things, and just talk about thereality of what we're up against
(03:18):
, what we're facing and how wecan upgrade ourselves in the
environment we find ourselves in.
Isn't it interesting how theenvironment, the circumstances
around us are not static.
They change dramatically.
I actually think that's one ofthe most exciting and compelling
(03:38):
reasons to choose to decide tolead others is that you get to
work on yourself nonstop, andfor those of us that are
addicted to steep growth curves,that's attractive, that's
interesting, that's compellingrather than intimidating
although it's intimidating attimes, but not overwhelming,
(03:59):
hopefully.
My name's Russ Hill.
For those of you who might benew to the podcast listening for
the first time.
I make my living coaching,consulting senior executive
teams at some of the world'sbiggest companies.
I'm part of the team at LoneRock Leadership.
We've got a training company aswell as an executive consulting
company.
You can find out more about usat LoneRockio.
Okay, four things that I thinkwe can do in today's environment
(04:25):
, which, by the way, has existed, for it's not like it started
yesterday.
It's existed for years.
I personally believe it's notgoing to get better, that it's
going to get more intense andmore difficult, but I hope I'm
wrong.
I hope I'm wrong, but in in, inthe circumstances we find
ourselves in, how do we help,especially, especially younger
(04:54):
generations that maybe wereprofoundly affected by the
lockdowns and the isolation ofCOVID, the pandemic and um, and
and the environment, especiallythe uh, the digital environment,
the virtual environment thatthey find themselves living in.
How do we help them not feel soisolated, not feel so
disconnected, not potentiallyfeel hopeless, not potentially
feeling overwhelmed by theenvironment they find themselves
(05:19):
in and trying to be successfuland make a good life for
themselves in a very complex anda very challenging world?
So here are four thoughts thathave occurred to me that have
been on my mind over these lastfew weeks.
Number one.
Number one we've got to allowspace for other people's
(05:41):
opinions, and I know you hearthat and I'm talking about you
all.
I'm not talking about out inthe political world, I'm not, I
I I'll talk more about that in amoment, but this isn't, this
isn't an episode about that.
I don't there.
There are a million politicalpodcasts that you can listen to
and that can reinforce yourworldview.
If that's what you seek, um, orthat can analyze it's.
(06:04):
It's hard to find anythingthat's not biased these days.
Right, everybody's got anagenda and they're that's part
of our issue, um, they're doingeverything in their power to um,
to tear down those who disagreewith them and to build
themselves up to.
They've got a lot ofself-interest.
So you can find all thosepodcasts, and a lot of them are
(06:26):
at the top of the charts.
Um, in whatever podcast app youyou use I'll say more in a
moment, but I'm not.
I'm not certain that um,listening to a lot of those I I
occasionally dip in and listento one or two.
I I tend to seek out the voicesthat are the least riled up,
(06:49):
the voices that criticallyevaluate what's going on, even
if they lean a certain way, havea political bent to them.
I'm not interested in peoplethat are trying to rile me up or
that are trying to convince methat those that see the world
differently than I do are evilor need to be destroyed or need
(07:14):
to be silenced or whatever itmight be.
You might feel differently.
That's just my perspective.
I've been there, I've done that've I've gotten riled up, I've
listened to those episodes, I'vepaid for subscriptions to some
of those folks and I just foundmyself in a less healthy place.
Um, I found myself less focusedon thriving and succeeding in
(07:39):
in the world that I'm in andjust ticked off at the world
around me.
It was.
It was actually darker than Iwanted it to be, and uh, and and
.
So I needed to clear myself.
That actually happened for meduring the pandemic Um, I
listened, I was listening to,I'd go to bed at night listening
to episodes of certain podcasts, certain political events, and
(08:02):
I was angry angry all the timein the isolation of COVID, and
that wasn't good for me as a dad, as a husband, as a business
owner, as as as as just as ahuman being.
So so, number one allow spacefor other people's opinions.
(08:23):
I think we need to do a betterjob of that in the workplace,
and I think how we show up asleaders has a pretty big impact
on the people that we lead, thepeople on our teams, and some of
you are executives that overseetens of thousands of people.
Others of you have thousandsunderneath you, some of you have
hundreds, some of you have ateam of four or five, some of
(08:45):
you don't have any directreports, but you're leading um
in in the, the, the, the on theteam, even though you don't have
the position power, you've gotthe, you, you've got um,
influence and um, and so when we, when we have meetings and this
sounds so elementary, you all,it sounds so basic, it might
(09:08):
even sound trivial to you, but Ithink it's.
I think that we're contributingto maybe some of the hostility
around us when we just soadamantly shut down or disagree
or undermine or get into the dmsand into text messaging and
into private channels and Slackor Teams or whatever else, and
(09:29):
we just really rip apart someonewho disagrees with us or
another department and itbecomes an us versus them.
And we're not using you know, Imean 99% of us who are
listening to this podcast or youknow, in our circles we're not
using violent rhetoric and we'renot.
We don't have maybe hostilefeelings towards the people in
our organizations, but we justwe don't provide enough space.
(09:53):
We minimize other people'sperspectives, their data, what
they think, their opinions, andand we, we, we tend to just
project our own.
I'm guilty of this.
I think many of us are.
Some of you are the exception,but many of us because we're
driven and we we've got solimited time, right, we, so
(10:14):
we're looking at it.
We're like we got to get moving, and so the way to get moving
is to shorten the conversationand to not debate it as long and
to, for me just to kind ofinterrupt you.
And as soon as you startspeaking, and just well, the
decision's made.
Here's where we're going, andyet that leaves you in a place
of feeling, um, belittled, in aplace of feeling demeaned, in a
(10:37):
place of feeling isolated, in aplace of feeling like you don't
have influence, and thatcontributes to you being
frustrated and feeling like mygosh.
I've worked so hard, I went tocollege, I got this degree, I've
got this experience in mycareer.
I'm not stupid.
I've got experience and awisdom and I've got data backing
(10:58):
me up in my perspective, andyet you shut me down, you know,
in our meetings, and so you justget to this place.
You've been there before,haven't you?
Man?
I have holy cow, have I beenthere?
And and I've worked for leaderslike this.
That's just the way that theylead.
They're not interested in yourperspective, and it's not that
(11:19):
they're bad people, it's justthat they, they, um, they just
overreach.
And when I've worked forleaders like that, I've tried to
minimize the amount of time I'massociated with them.
I've left organizations becauseof it, and so how do you allow
space for other people'sopinions?
You listen, you just listen,and you realize that, in order
(11:45):
to get movement on teams, ittakes a little bit of time and
it's not going to be as fast andit's not going to be as
efficient and it's not going tobe.
Yeah, it's just not going to beas efficient or fast as you
want it to be.
And that doesn't mean you haveto slow down the organization or
the team or the progress of theproject in order to hear every
(12:05):
single voice and to have debateon every little thing, but it's
just.
It's just an approach.
So I want to hear yourperspective.
Can you share with me what yourview is?
And and there's no perfect wayto do this and we're constantly
working on it each one of us andsome of us are way better at it
some of you lean too much intothis way.
All you do is leave space forother people's opinions and it
(12:28):
causes challenges on your teamor the team that you lead or the
team that you're on, becauseall you do is just listen, and
that's not effective either.
So there's just a happy medium,a sweet spot to be here.
I think that in our currentenvironment, though, generally
speaking, we can.
We can move more towards thelistening part of the spectrum
(12:50):
and a little bit further awayfrom the directive side of it,
if that makes sense.
There's so much anger, there'sso much bitterness, there's so
much resentment, there's so muchfrustration.
That comes when decisions aremade in organizations, and part
(13:15):
of what we're dealing with insociety right now is decisions
are made in society, ingovernment, and the reality is
there are periods of your lifewhere the Supreme Court is not
going to be governed.
It's not going to have amajority of people who have your
political view.
That's going to exist fordecades of your life, and then
there's going to be a period oftime where the Supreme Court
(13:35):
does have your worldview and yetfor 50 percent of other people
in, I now realize that there arepeople all over the world
listening to this podcast.
Just use different terms thatapply to the government and the
environment that you're in, um,if you're in, if you're in a
democracy or or of a republic,if you're not, wow, I.
I hope someday you get toexperience that.
(13:57):
But so I'm just I.
This is I'm speaking primarilyto a us audience, but obviously
there's tons of application tothose of you internationally who
listen each week and to variousepisodes.
But part of our challenge is.
We want everyone in Congress,we want the Supreme Court, we
want the leadership team of ourhospital, of our insurance
(14:20):
company, of our restaurant.
We want them to agree with us,we want them to have our
worldview, and that's not goingto happen.
There will be periods of timewhen your boss, when the senior
executive team of theorganization, when the Supreme
Court, when the city council,when the whomever has your view,
they see the world pretty muchthe same way you do.
(14:41):
And then there are going to beperiods of your life, of your
career, when they don't.
And that's okay, and you've gotto realize that's how it goes,
and and so, and that you're notthe decision maker and so things
aren't going to.
The Supreme Court of the UnitedStates is going to make
decisions during periods of mylife that I adamantly disagree
(15:02):
with.
That's the way that it'sdesigned to be, and they're
going to make decisions that Iagree with.
The same thing's going tohappen for a presidential
administration, the same thing'sgoing to happen for a city
council.
The same thing's going tohappen for our business unit
leadership.
So I'm not the decision maker,I don't get to make all the
decisions.
I'm in a very big world with alot of different organizations
(15:23):
and a lot of decisions that arecontinually being made, and I
get to make all the decisions.
I'm in a very big world with alot of different organizations
and a lot of decisions that arecontinually being made, and I
get to make some of thedecisions and there are a whole
lot that I don't get to make.
So I'm not going to get to makethe decision on mask mandates
or shutdowns, or on buildingpermits, or on priorities or key
(15:44):
results that we're going tochoose for the organizations, or
product release timelines orwhatever.
The world cannot exist with you, with me, as the sole decision
maker, and so I need to getcomfortable with the fact that
there are some decisions in mylife that I'm the decision maker
on, and that there are morethat I'm not, and I need to be
(16:09):
okay with that and to realizethat, okay, yeah, there's some
that I and I I've been aroundlong enough.
Most of you have too.
Hopefully, we've come to thepoint to where we realize now
that we can actually thrive notsurvive, but thrive in a world,
(16:33):
in an organization wheredecisions are being made that we
disagree with.
It's actually okay, and theworld's going to keep spinning
and it's going to be all rightand you can still make a good
amount of money.
You can still have thelifestyle that you want, and you
can still.
(16:53):
There's so many things that youcan control, but there are a
ton you can't.
And so when we model that kindof behavior lack of resentment,
lack of emotion around the factthat we're not always a decision
maker and we help others seethat I think we help society at
(17:18):
large and I think we help ourorganizations have a healthier
culture.
Actually, I don't think it, Iknow it.
Number three reduce the size ofyour world.
Oh my gosh.
If you've listened to thispodcast on a regular basis, you
know that I'm a huge advocate ofthis.
Again, it goes back to the bestexample I can use for you or
give you.
It goes back to the pandemicand when the pandemic was
(17:42):
happening and I was watching theeffect of shutdowns and
lockdowns and mandates and allof these things on my family.
I've got four kids and and theywere at various stages of life
I had one that was in Australiaat the time were based in
Arizona.
I had a high school studentthat wasn't going to have a
(18:04):
graduation.
I had another one that was afreshman, that that was, you
know, taking online classes andcrumbling, shrinking, melting in
front of us, and I was angry.
And all you know, in 2019, Itraveled on 165 flights.
In 2020, I think I flew I needto look that up I think it was
(18:29):
like 20.
And and so it profoundlyaffected every aspect of my life
, and I know the exact samething's true for you, and so I
got angry.
Right, I'm really mad,frustrated, bugged, and I'm.
Then I'm, I'm consuming contentwith people who have agendas
(18:49):
and people who are riling me up,who are angry, and so I just
there came a point when Irealized this isn't working for
me and I'm not in a good place,and so what?
One of the things that helpedme and I'm going to get to
another item, number four isconnected to this item number
three.
Number three reduce the size ofyour world.
What I did was I've I'vereduced, I literally reduced the
(19:12):
size of the world, and so Istopped consuming as much media,
I stopped scrolling some of thefeeds, I unfollowed some people
, I unsubscribed a certainpodcast, even though these
people had my worldview, andwhat I became more consumed with
was the world within a fewmiles of me, not the global
(19:35):
world.
And so how can I help my kids?
How can I?
Um positively affect my, myincome and my career?
And how can I help ourorganization?
How can I help our clients?
How can I that?
That became my world, and, ohmy gosh, did I feel better?
Instead of trying to solve theworld's problems, I was just
(19:58):
trying to solve mine.
Instead of focusing on thingsoutside of my control, I was
focused on things that werewithin my sphere of influence.
Instead of getting angry, I gotactive.
I've started focusing on thingsthat I could do, and so I think
(20:19):
this is a huge issue in society.
I think our world is tooconnected, and I know that
sounds weird.
There's so many advantages, somany positive things that come
from being connected, but thereare some real negative things
that come from it too, and sothere are apps that are no
longer on my phone.
There are, um.
(20:40):
There are social media accountsthat you could look at.
You could look up my socialmedia account, and years ago,
you would see I postedincredibly often on some of the
platforms.
I was very active.
Now you'll see I haven't postedin years.
It's intentional.
I'm not scrolling those feedsanymore either, because and I'm
(21:04):
not.
I'm not saying everyone shouldfollow my lead, I'm just telling
you it really worked well forme, reducing the size of my
world and becoming moreconcerned about, within a few
miles of me and the organizationthat I work at, the people that
I, um, that I, that I, that aremy colleagues, the clients that
(21:25):
we have, the potential clientsthat we have, the people in my
neighborhood, my neighbors, myfriends, that my kids that's
what I'm, the teams that I wantto follow, you know, in
athletics and cheer and whateverelse.
And while I stay informedaround the rest of the about
what's going on in the rest ofthe world, I don't spend nearly
as much time consuming contentaround it and I have much less
(21:48):
emotion, uh, around it, becauseI realize even the people that I
disagree with have agendas andare really interested in
self-preservation and in theirown success, and they're not as
pure and as well I don't know asI might want them to be.
(22:09):
And so I have politicalleanings, I have a lot of
beliefs, but I'm less interestedin you seeing the world the way
I do anymore and I'm lessconcerned about government
agencies or elected officialshaving my worldview, because
I've been successful, I've madegood money and I've been happy
(22:34):
and I've had a family that'sthrived.
When people I agree with andpeople I disagree with are in
power, it actually hasn'taffected my life that much.
And when it has, when they'vemade decisions that have
profoundly affected our family,when they've made decisions that
(22:56):
have profoundly affected ourfamily, we adjust, we thrive, we
figure it out and so you reducethe size of your world.
You might consider that Ifyou're really angry, if you're
frustrated.
I think that's one of theissues, especially with our
young people.
I think they're too connectedto people they don't know and in
(23:16):
their feeds come things thatrile them up, that convince,
that plant ideas in their mindsand if you see a certain kind of
message over and over and overand over and over again, it can
affect you profoundly.
Number four this is, as we nearthe end of our list actually
(23:40):
this is the end of our list getoutside of your routine.
I think this is so critical.
You and I debated calling itget outside your routine and or
get outside like literally getoutside.
You know that the governor ofutah, who I have so much respect
for the way that he handledwhat's happened in the last few
(24:05):
weeks and I'm not saying I'm not, don't read into anything that
I'm saying, it's just that, um,one of the things that he said
in a news conference that Ilistened to and actually sent a
clip to our family group chat,our text thread, because I
thought my kids and my nowin-laws, daughter-in-law and
(24:26):
son-in-law, I thought they wouldbenefit from listening to this
90 second clip from a politicianwho sounded unlike most people
on both political sides inmodern times and I wanted them
to hear it.
But one of the things he saidwas to touch grass.
Right, you've heard thatstatement.
It's especially popular with,or normal, or used frequently
(24:47):
with younger folks.
I think we need to do that more.
I think it profoundly affectsone of the reasons that I'm so
committed to working out andgoing to the gym and that sort
of thing isn't anything elsethan it's.
I understand it profoundlyaffects one of the reasons that
I'm so committed to working outand going to the gym and that
sort of thing isn't anythingelse than it's.
I understand it's not touchinggrass literally, but in a way it
is.
It's getting outside of my homeoffice or the travel routine
(25:07):
that I have or whatever it mightbe, and it's being physically
active and it's being in motionand it's sweating and it's it's
all of that.
And I think that when we gettoo caught up in our own routine
, day after day after day afterday after day, and especially
when that involves being indoorsI I'm sorry, I know it sounds
(25:29):
so basic, but I actually thinkthat there's a lot of um, that
there's a lot of truth in theimpact of this In your home
office or your basement theateror your bedroom or your video
game console or your couch andTV or whatever that routine is,
or wherever it is that you cansit and veg and consume and play
(25:53):
and be connected.
I think that when we spend toomany hours doing that, by the
way, I think the exact samething is true of you, those of
you who are spending hour afterhour after hour after hour in
zoom meetings or team meetings.
That's affecting you.
That's affecting your, your,your ability to deliver results.
It's affecting your mentalhealth.
(26:13):
It's affecting your emotionalhealth.
I think you've you've got toblock out time on your calendar
to deliver results.
It's affecting your mentalhealth.
It's affecting your emotionalhealth.
I I think you've you've got toblock out time on your calendar.
I think those of you that leadteams.
You've got to.
You've got to find ways to haveyour team not do that as much.
It's not healthy and and so,yeah, you might have three or
four zoom meetings or teammeetings or whatever a day, but
but block out on my calendar.
(26:35):
Today there's sections of myday blocked out to, where no one
can schedule a virtual meetingwith me.
I'm working on projects, I'mgoing to, I'm working out of the
home office.
Today, as I'm recording this,I'll sit on my back porch for a
little while with my laptop andget lots done.
I'll go to the gym for a periodof time instead of taking a
lunch, so to speak, or you knowthat sort of thing.
I'll go to the gym for a periodof time instead of taking a
(26:56):
lunch, so to speak, or you knowthat sort of thing.
I'm going to go work out, I'mgoing to, and and there are
there are appointments on mycalendar that are virtual
meetings that I'm going to dialinto.
I'm not going to actually beconnected via video camera,
because that is that negativelyaffects your health.
Like, why do we have to seeeach other on every meeting?
Why do we have to be lockedinto staring at a screen over
(27:18):
and over and over again.
Why don't you, as the leader,have on some of these meetings,
say you know what, on this oneevery other week, we're just
going to dial in, we're notgoing to connect via camera and
let people walk around, let themsit on their back porch, let
them sip a cup of coffee whilethey're in the call.
Let them, you know, do whateverthey do, or you know, drink
their their um, what do you callthat's their stanley, their
(27:43):
water or whatever, sitting intheir wherever um, let them
whatever it needs to be, thatthat get outside of your routine
, touch grass, get moving.
So the four things that I thinkand I know these sound fairly
elementary, fairly basic, but Ithink there are things that we
can model, that we can do asleaders that will affect our
(28:03):
mental, emotional health andthat can profoundly affect those
around us and maybe, in somesmall way, help contribute to a
healthier environment that ourteam, that the people in our
organization live in.
Number one, allow space forother people's opinions.
(28:23):
They've had differentexperiences in life.
They hold different beliefs.
Yours aren't right, theirsaren't right.
Right, it's just, it's based onwhat you know, and so your
worldview isn't right.
It's based on what you know andso your worldview isn't right.
There are flaws in it andtheirs isn't either.
You're just doing the best youcan assume positive intent and
other people.
(28:44):
They're just trying to surviveand thrive.
There are exceptions.
There are people out there thatare way off the you know that
are, that are not great and andand we're not gonna, I'm not
gonna concern myself with that,so allow space for other
opinions.
Number two realize you aren'tthe decision maker.
There are more decisions youdon't get to make in the world,
in life, in the organization,than decisions you do get to
(29:06):
make.
That just accept it, come tothat, come to terms with it.
It's okay.
Number three reduce the size ofyour world.
Number four get outside yourroutine, touch grass.
That's what's on my mind inthis episode of the Lead in 30
(29:26):
podcast.
The reality is, it's never happened in our lifetime,
at least if you're under the ageof 60.
And even if you're older thanthat, you weren't old enough at
the time, back in the 1960s, toremember the last time that, in
the United States of America,political violence took the life
(00:21):
of a national figure.
There's been no successfulassassination, and while this
episode and this podcast isn'tabout politics and we're not
going to dive into the right orthe left, you do have to wonder
in a moment like this, ifthere's something that we as
(00:41):
leaders inside of organizations,people who lead teams some of
us hundreds, some of usthousands or tens of thousands
of people Not feel so isolated,not feel so much bitterness, not
(01:05):
feel so much animosity towardsthose they disagree with.
My opinion is we can do somethings, we can be better, we can
lead more effectively and showthe way, and so in this episode
of the Lead in 30 podcast, asyou can tell if you listen
(01:27):
normally, we're taking just alittle bit of a different
approach, and so I hope youwon't mind, I hope you'll give
me some space to offer a fewthoughts of mine as an American,
as someone who cares deeplyabout freedom of speech, someone
who deeply respects yourability to disagree with me, to
(01:51):
have opinions, to haveperspectives, to try your best
to positively influence theworld around you.
And so I'm not going toadvocate just like always in all
387 episodes before this one,I'm not going to advocate a
political position or doanything like that.
(02:12):
I'm just going to offer fourideas, four suggestions on how
we, how you as a leader of otherpeople, can potentially help
yourself and help them.
Never get to a place where wewould harm someone who disagrees
(02:33):
with us.
It sounds ridiculous and Irealize and I fully believe that
one person, one person, isresponsible for what happened in
Orem, utah recently, but we allcontribute to the environment
and the world around us.
And so in this episode, I'mgoing to offer four ideas, four
(02:56):
thoughts around how we might beable to help in the current
environment.
Welcome into the Lead in 30podcast.
This one is a special episode.
Environment.
Welcome into the Lead in 30podcast.
This one is a special episode.
Every once in a while, we mixit up and we throw out the
normal open, the normal musicbed, all of those sorts of
things, and just talk about thereality of what we're up against
(03:18):
, what we're facing and how wecan upgrade ourselves in the
environment we find ourselves in.
Isn't it interesting how theenvironment, the circumstances
around us are not static.
They change dramatically.
I actually think that's one ofthe most exciting and compelling
(03:38):
reasons to choose to decide tolead others is that you get to
work on yourself nonstop, andfor those of us that are
addicted to steep growth curves,that's attractive, that's
interesting, that's compellingrather than intimidating
although it's intimidating attimes, but not overwhelming,
(03:59):
hopefully.
My name's Russ Hill.
For those of you who might benew to the podcast listening for
the first time.
I make my living coaching,consulting senior executive
teams at some of the world'sbiggest companies.
I'm part of the team at LoneRock Leadership.
We've got a training company aswell as an executive consulting
company.
You can find out more about usat LoneRockio.
Okay, four things that I thinkwe can do in today's environment
(04:25):
, which, by the way, has existed, for it's not like it started
yesterday.
It's existed for years.
I personally believe it's notgoing to get better, that it's
going to get more intense andmore difficult, but I hope I'm
wrong.
I hope I'm wrong, but in in, inthe circumstances we find
ourselves in, how do we help,especially, especially younger
(04:54):
generations that maybe wereprofoundly affected by the
lockdowns and the isolation ofCOVID, the pandemic and um, and
and the environment, especiallythe uh, the digital environment,
the virtual environment thatthey find themselves living in.
How do we help them not feel soisolated, not feel so
disconnected, not potentiallyfeel hopeless, not potentially
feeling overwhelmed by theenvironment they find themselves
(05:19):
in and trying to be successfuland make a good life for
themselves in a very complex anda very challenging world?
So here are four thoughts thathave occurred to me that have
been on my mind over these lastfew weeks.
Number one.
Number one we've got to allowspace for other people's
(05:41):
opinions, and I know you hearthat and I'm talking about you
all.
I'm not talking about out inthe political world, I'm not, I
I I'll talk more about that in amoment, but this isn't, this
isn't an episode about that.
I don't there.
There are a million politicalpodcasts that you can listen to
and that can reinforce yourworldview.
If that's what you seek, um, orthat can analyze it's.
(06:04):
It's hard to find anythingthat's not biased these days.
Right, everybody's got anagenda and they're that's part
of our issue, um, they're doingeverything in their power to um,
to tear down those who disagreewith them and to build
themselves up to.
They've got a lot ofself-interest.
So you can find all thosepodcasts, and a lot of them are
(06:26):
at the top of the charts.
Um, in whatever podcast app youyou use I'll say more in a
moment, but I'm not.
I'm not certain that um,listening to a lot of those I I
occasionally dip in and listento one or two.
I I tend to seek out the voicesthat are the least riled up,
(06:49):
the voices that criticallyevaluate what's going on, even
if they lean a certain way, havea political bent to them.
I'm not interested in peoplethat are trying to rile me up or
that are trying to convince methat those that see the world
differently than I do are evilor need to be destroyed or need
(07:14):
to be silenced or whatever itmight be.
You might feel differently.
That's just my perspective.
I've been there, I've done that've I've gotten riled up, I've
listened to those episodes, I'vepaid for subscriptions to some
of those folks and I just foundmyself in a less healthy place.
Um, I found myself less focusedon thriving and succeeding in
(07:39):
in the world that I'm in andjust ticked off at the world
around me.
It was.
It was actually darker than Iwanted it to be, and uh, and and
.
So I needed to clear myself.
That actually happened for meduring the pandemic Um, I
listened, I was listening to,I'd go to bed at night listening
to episodes of certain podcasts, certain political events, and
(08:02):
I was angry angry all the timein the isolation of COVID, and
that wasn't good for me as a dad, as a husband, as a business
owner, as as as as just as ahuman being.
So so, number one allow spacefor other people's opinions.
(08:23):
I think we need to do a betterjob of that in the workplace,
and I think how we show up asleaders has a pretty big impact
on the people that we lead, thepeople on our teams, and some of
you are executives that overseetens of thousands of people.
Others of you have thousandsunderneath you, some of you have
hundreds, some of you have ateam of four or five, some of
(08:45):
you don't have any directreports, but you're leading um
in in the, the, the, the on theteam, even though you don't have
the position power, you've gotthe, you, you've got um,
influence and um, and so when we, when we have meetings and this
sounds so elementary, you all,it sounds so basic, it might
(09:08):
even sound trivial to you, but Ithink it's.
I think that we're contributingto maybe some of the hostility
around us when we just soadamantly shut down or disagree
or undermine or get into the dmsand into text messaging and
into private channels and Slackor Teams or whatever else, and
(09:29):
we just really rip apart someonewho disagrees with us or
another department and itbecomes an us versus them.
And we're not using you know, Imean 99% of us who are
listening to this podcast or youknow, in our circles we're not
using violent rhetoric and we'renot.
We don't have maybe hostilefeelings towards the people in
our organizations, but we justwe don't provide enough space.
(09:53):
We minimize other people'sperspectives, their data, what
they think, their opinions, andand we, we, we tend to just
project our own.
I'm guilty of this.
I think many of us are.
Some of you are the exception,but many of us because we're
driven and we we've got solimited time, right, we, so
(10:14):
we're looking at it.
We're like we got to get moving, and so the way to get moving
is to shorten the conversationand to not debate it as long and
to, for me just to kind ofinterrupt you.
And as soon as you startspeaking, and just well, the
decision's made.
Here's where we're going, andyet that leaves you in a place
of feeling, um, belittled, in aplace of feeling demeaned, in a
(10:37):
place of feeling isolated, in aplace of feeling like you don't
have influence, and thatcontributes to you being
frustrated and feeling like mygosh.
I've worked so hard, I went tocollege, I got this degree, I've
got this experience in mycareer.
I'm not stupid.
I've got experience and awisdom and I've got data backing
(10:58):
me up in my perspective, andyet you shut me down, you know,
in our meetings, and so you justget to this place.
You've been there before,haven't you?
Man?
I have holy cow, have I beenthere?
And and I've worked for leaderslike this.
That's just the way that theylead.
They're not interested in yourperspective, and it's not that
(11:19):
they're bad people, it's justthat they, they, um, they just
overreach.
And when I've worked forleaders like that, I've tried to
minimize the amount of time I'massociated with them.
I've left organizations becauseof it, and so how do you allow
space for other people'sopinions?
You listen, you just listen,and you realize that, in order
(11:45):
to get movement on teams, ittakes a little bit of time and
it's not going to be as fast andit's not going to be as
efficient and it's not going tobe.
Yeah, it's just not going to beas efficient or fast as you
want it to be.
And that doesn't mean you haveto slow down the organization or
the team or the progress of theproject in order to hear every
(12:05):
single voice and to have debateon every little thing, but it's
just.
It's just an approach.
So I want to hear yourperspective.
Can you share with me what yourview is?
And and there's no perfect wayto do this and we're constantly
working on it each one of us andsome of us are way better at it
some of you lean too much intothis way.
All you do is leave space forother people's opinions and it
(12:28):
causes challenges on your teamor the team that you lead or the
team that you're on, becauseall you do is just listen, and
that's not effective either.
So there's just a happy medium,a sweet spot to be here.
I think that in our currentenvironment, though, generally
speaking, we can.
We can move more towards thelistening part of the spectrum
(12:50):
and a little bit further awayfrom the directive side of it,
if that makes sense.
There's so much anger, there'sso much bitterness, there's so
much resentment, there's so muchfrustration.
That comes when decisions aremade in organizations, and part
(13:15):
of what we're dealing with insociety right now is decisions
are made in society, ingovernment, and the reality is
there are periods of your lifewhere the Supreme Court is not
going to be governed.
It's not going to have amajority of people who have your
political view.
That's going to exist fordecades of your life, and then
there's going to be a period oftime where the Supreme Court
(13:35):
does have your worldview and yetfor 50 percent of other people
in, I now realize that there arepeople all over the world
listening to this podcast.
Just use different terms thatapply to the government and the
environment that you're in, um,if you're in, if you're in a
democracy or or of a republic,if you're not, wow, I.
I hope someday you get toexperience that.
(13:57):
But so I'm just I.
This is I'm speaking primarilyto a us audience, but obviously
there's tons of application tothose of you internationally who
listen each week and to variousepisodes.
But part of our challenge is.
We want everyone in Congress,we want the Supreme Court, we
want the leadership team of ourhospital, of our insurance
(14:20):
company, of our restaurant.
We want them to agree with us,we want them to have our
worldview, and that's not goingto happen.
There will be periods of timewhen your boss, when the senior
executive team of theorganization, when the Supreme
Court, when the city council,when the whomever has your view,
they see the world pretty muchthe same way you do.
(14:41):
And then there are going to beperiods of your life, of your
career, when they don't.
And that's okay, and you've gotto realize that's how it goes,
and and so, and that you're notthe decision maker and so things
aren't going to.
The Supreme Court of the UnitedStates is going to make
decisions during periods of mylife that I adamantly disagree
(15:02):
with.
That's the way that it'sdesigned to be, and they're
going to make decisions that Iagree with.
The same thing's going tohappen for a presidential
administration, the same thing'sgoing to happen for a city
council.
The same thing's going tohappen for our business unit
leadership.
So I'm not the decision maker,I don't get to make all the
decisions.
I'm in a very big world with alot of different organizations
(15:23):
and a lot of decisions that arecontinually being made, and I
get to make all the decisions.
I'm in a very big world with alot of different organizations
and a lot of decisions that arecontinually being made, and I
get to make some of thedecisions and there are a whole
lot that I don't get to make.
So I'm not going to get to makethe decision on mask mandates
or shutdowns, or on buildingpermits, or on priorities or key
(15:44):
results that we're going tochoose for the organizations, or
product release timelines orwhatever.
The world cannot exist with you, with me, as the sole decision
maker, and so I need to getcomfortable with the fact that
there are some decisions in mylife that I'm the decision maker
on, and that there are morethat I'm not, and I need to be
(16:09):
okay with that and to realizethat, okay, yeah, there's some
that I and I I've been aroundlong enough.
Most of you have too.
Hopefully, we've come to thepoint to where we realize now
that we can actually thrive notsurvive, but thrive in a world,
(16:33):
in an organization wheredecisions are being made that we
disagree with.
It's actually okay, and theworld's going to keep spinning
and it's going to be all rightand you can still make a good
amount of money.
You can still have thelifestyle that you want, and you
can still.
(16:53):
There's so many things that youcan control, but there are a
ton you can't.
And so when we model that kindof behavior lack of resentment,
lack of emotion around the factthat we're not always a decision
maker and we help others seethat I think we help society at
(17:18):
large and I think we help ourorganizations have a healthier
culture.
Actually, I don't think it, Iknow it.
Number three reduce the size ofyour world.
Oh my gosh.
If you've listened to thispodcast on a regular basis, you
know that I'm a huge advocate ofthis.
Again, it goes back to the bestexample I can use for you or
give you.
It goes back to the pandemicand when the pandemic was
(17:42):
happening and I was watching theeffect of shutdowns and
lockdowns and mandates and allof these things on my family.
I've got four kids and and theywere at various stages of life
I had one that was in Australiaat the time were based in
Arizona.
I had a high school studentthat wasn't going to have a
(18:04):
graduation.
I had another one that was afreshman, that that was, you
know, taking online classes andcrumbling, shrinking, melting in
front of us, and I was angry.
And all you know, in 2019, Itraveled on 165 flights.
In 2020, I think I flew I needto look that up I think it was
(18:29):
like 20.
And and so it profoundlyaffected every aspect of my life
, and I know the exact samething's true for you, and so I
got angry.
Right, I'm really mad,frustrated, bugged, and I'm.
Then I'm, I'm consuming contentwith people who have agendas
(18:49):
and people who are riling me up,who are angry, and so I just
there came a point when Irealized this isn't working for
me and I'm not in a good place,and so what?
One of the things that helpedme and I'm going to get to
another item, number four isconnected to this item number
three.
Number three reduce the size ofyour world.
What I did was I've I'vereduced, I literally reduced the
(19:12):
size of the world, and so Istopped consuming as much media,
I stopped scrolling some of thefeeds, I unfollowed some people
, I unsubscribed a certainpodcast, even though these
people had my worldview, andwhat I became more consumed with
was the world within a fewmiles of me, not the global
(19:35):
world.
And so how can I help my kids?
How can I?
Um positively affect my, myincome and my career?
And how can I help ourorganization?
How can I help our clients?
How can I that?
That became my world, and, ohmy gosh, did I feel better?
Instead of trying to solve theworld's problems, I was just
(19:58):
trying to solve mine.
Instead of focusing on thingsoutside of my control, I was
focused on things that werewithin my sphere of influence.
Instead of getting angry, I gotactive.
I've started focusing on thingsthat I could do, and so I think
(20:19):
this is a huge issue in society.
I think our world is tooconnected, and I know that
sounds weird.
There's so many advantages, somany positive things that come
from being connected, but thereare some real negative things
that come from it too, and sothere are apps that are no
longer on my phone.
There are, um.
(20:40):
There are social media accountsthat you could look at.
You could look up my socialmedia account, and years ago,
you would see I postedincredibly often on some of the
platforms.
I was very active.
Now you'll see I haven't postedin years.
It's intentional.
I'm not scrolling those feedsanymore either, because and I'm
(21:04):
not.
I'm not saying everyone shouldfollow my lead, I'm just telling
you it really worked well forme, reducing the size of my
world and becoming moreconcerned about, within a few
miles of me and the organizationthat I work at, the people that
I, um, that I, that I, that aremy colleagues, the clients that
(21:25):
we have, the potential clientsthat we have, the people in my
neighborhood, my neighbors, myfriends, that my kids that's
what I'm, the teams that I wantto follow, you know, in
athletics and cheer and whateverelse.
And while I stay informedaround the rest of the about
what's going on in the rest ofthe world, I don't spend nearly
as much time consuming contentaround it and I have much less
(21:48):
emotion, uh, around it, becauseI realize even the people that I
disagree with have agendas andare really interested in
self-preservation and in theirown success, and they're not as
pure and as well I don't know asI might want them to be.
(22:09):
And so I have politicalleanings, I have a lot of
beliefs, but I'm less interestedin you seeing the world the way
I do anymore and I'm lessconcerned about government
agencies or elected officialshaving my worldview, because
I've been successful, I've madegood money and I've been happy
(22:34):
and I've had a family that'sthrived.
When people I agree with andpeople I disagree with are in
power, it actually hasn'taffected my life that much.
And when it has, when they'vemade decisions that have
profoundly affected our family,when they've made decisions that
(22:56):
have profoundly affected ourfamily, we adjust, we thrive, we
figure it out and so you reducethe size of your world.
You might consider that Ifyou're really angry, if you're
frustrated.
I think that's one of theissues, especially with our
young people.
I think they're too connectedto people they don't know and in
(23:16):
their feeds come things thatrile them up, that convince,
that plant ideas in their mindsand if you see a certain kind of
message over and over and overand over and over again, it can
affect you profoundly.
Number four this is, as we nearthe end of our list actually
(23:40):
this is the end of our list getoutside of your routine.
I think this is so critical.
You and I debated calling itget outside your routine and or
get outside like literally getoutside.
You know that the governor ofutah, who I have so much respect
for the way that he handledwhat's happened in the last few
(24:05):
weeks and I'm not saying I'm not, don't read into anything that
I'm saying, it's just that, um,one of the things that he said
in a news conference that Ilistened to and actually sent a
clip to our family group chat,our text thread, because I
thought my kids and my nowin-laws, daughter-in-law and
(24:26):
son-in-law, I thought they wouldbenefit from listening to this
90 second clip from a politicianwho sounded unlike most people
on both political sides inmodern times and I wanted them
to hear it.
But one of the things he saidwas to touch grass.
Right, you've heard thatstatement.
It's especially popular with,or normal, or used frequently
(24:47):
with younger folks.
I think we need to do that more.
I think it profoundly affectsone of the reasons that I'm so
committed to working out andgoing to the gym and that sort
of thing isn't anything elsethan it's.
I understand it profoundlyaffects one of the reasons that
I'm so committed to working outand going to the gym and that
sort of thing isn't anythingelse than it's.
I understand it's not touchinggrass literally, but in a way it
is.
It's getting outside of my homeoffice or the travel routine
(25:07):
that I have or whatever it mightbe, and it's being physically
active and it's being in motionand it's sweating and it's it's
all of that.
And I think that when we gettoo caught up in our own routine
, day after day after day afterday after day, and especially
when that involves being indoorsI I'm sorry, I know it sounds
(25:29):
so basic, but I actually thinkthat there's a lot of um, that
there's a lot of truth in theimpact of this In your home
office or your basement theateror your bedroom or your video
game console or your couch andTV or whatever that routine is,
or wherever it is that you cansit and veg and consume and play
(25:53):
and be connected.
I think that when we spend toomany hours doing that, by the
way, I think the exact samething is true of you, those of
you who are spending hour afterhour after hour after hour in
zoom meetings or team meetings.
That's affecting you.
That's affecting your, your,your ability to deliver results.
It's affecting your mentalhealth.
(26:13):
It's affecting your emotionalhealth.
I think you've you've got toblock out time on your calendar
to deliver results.
It's affecting your mentalhealth.
It's affecting your emotionalhealth.
I I think you've you've got toblock out time on your calendar.
I think those of you that leadteams.
You've got to.
You've got to find ways to haveyour team not do that as much.
It's not healthy and and so,yeah, you might have three or
four zoom meetings or teammeetings or whatever a day, but
but block out on my calendar.
(26:35):
Today there's sections of myday blocked out to, where no one
can schedule a virtual meetingwith me.
I'm working on projects, I'mgoing to, I'm working out of the
home office.
Today, as I'm recording this,I'll sit on my back porch for a
little while with my laptop andget lots done.
I'll go to the gym for a periodof time instead of taking a
lunch, so to speak, or you knowthat sort of thing.
I'll go to the gym for a periodof time instead of taking a
(26:56):
lunch, so to speak, or you knowthat sort of thing.
I'm going to go work out, I'mgoing to, and and there are
there are appointments on mycalendar that are virtual
meetings that I'm going to dialinto.
I'm not going to actually beconnected via video camera,
because that is that negativelyaffects your health.
Like, why do we have to seeeach other on every meeting?
Why do we have to be lockedinto staring at a screen over
(27:18):
and over and over again.
Why don't you, as the leader,have on some of these meetings,
say you know what, on this oneevery other week, we're just
going to dial in, we're notgoing to connect via camera and
let people walk around, let themsit on their back porch, let
them sip a cup of coffee whilethey're in the call.
Let them, you know, do whateverthey do, or you know, drink
their their um, what do you callthat's their stanley, their
(27:43):
water or whatever, sitting intheir wherever um, let them
whatever it needs to be, thatthat get outside of your routine
, touch grass, get moving.
So the four things that I thinkand I know these sound fairly
elementary, fairly basic, but Ithink there are things that we
can model, that we can do asleaders that will affect our
(28:03):
mental, emotional health andthat can profoundly affect those
around us and maybe, in somesmall way, help contribute to a
healthier environment that ourteam, that the people in our
organization live in.
Number one, allow space forother people's opinions.
(28:23):
They've had differentexperiences in life.
They hold different beliefs.
Yours aren't right, theirsaren't right.
Right, it's just, it's based onwhat you know, and so your
worldview isn't right.
It's based on what you know andso your worldview isn't right.
There are flaws in it andtheirs isn't either.
You're just doing the best youcan assume positive intent and
other people.
(28:44):
They're just trying to surviveand thrive.
There are exceptions.
There are people out there thatare way off the you know that
are, that are not great and andand we're not gonna, I'm not
gonna concern myself with that,so allow space for other
opinions.
Number two realize you aren'tthe decision maker.
There are more decisions youdon't get to make in the world,
in life, in the organization,than decisions you do get to
(29:06):
make.
That just accept it, come tothat, come to terms with it.
It's okay.
Number three reduce the size ofyour world.
Number four get outside yourroutine, touch grass.
That's what's on my mind inthis episode of the Lead in 30
(29:26):
podcast.
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