October 7, 2025 • 29 mins
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
How do you become a leader who's really good at
(00:03):
innovation, at moving your teamto be proactive rather than
reactive?
Like, what's the mindset?
Like, how do you do that?
How do you get good at it?
Well, let's talk about it inthis episode.
SPEAKER_01 (00:16):
This is the Lead in 30 podcast with Russell.
You cannot be serious.
Strengthen your ability to leadin less than 30 minutes.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
For coming to Atlanta, if you're an HR, L and
D leader, or a leader ofleaders, join us in November for
our executive breakfast.
Spend three hours with theexperts at Lone Rock Leadership
and learn how to build personalaccountability, accelerate
decision making, lead throughchange, and create clarity,
(00:49):
alignment, and movement.
Reserve your free spot beforeseats fill up at LoneRock.io.
SPEAKER_02 (00:56):
Yeah, if you're listening to this in October or
early November 2025, around thetime that this comes out, then
absolutely, if you're anywherein any of those neighboring
states, I promise you it's worththe investment of your time.
We are not, we are not going towaste your time inviting you to
a three-hour event.
(01:16):
In fact, the last one of thesewe did, these executive um
briefings, is what we call them,executive breakfast.
We did it in Dallas maybe amonth ago.
I was there.
Um it's the first one that I'vegone to, and all of the feedback
was we wish this was a full day.
We wish this was two days.
Nobody left going, oh my gosh, Iwish I wouldn't have been here,
or it was a waste of my time, orwhy do you do such a lame sales
(01:40):
pitch?
It's not, it wasn't a set, it'snot a sales pitch at all.
If anything, you're gonna leavekind of maybe with too much
meat.
So, LoneRock.io, if you want tofind out more about the
executive briefing in Novemberin Atlanta.
If you're in any neighboringstate, it's worth the flight,
get there, expense it.
You're gonna be, I mean, it'sgonna cost you what, a thousand
dollars total to travel.
(02:01):
If you're in Atlanta, it'll beway less than that.
It's free to attend.
Lone Rock.io.
The seats are filling up.
I think we're just north ofdowntown Atlanta, just in one of
the suburbs at uh at one of theJW Marriottes there.
So you could stay the nightbefore if you want, or just
drive over and uh you'll be outof there by noon.
Okay, um, reactive versus oh, Igot to do a little bit more
(02:23):
setup before I get into thetopic.
Um, welcome in to the Lead in 30podcast.
In less than 30 minutes, we giveyou a framework, a model, a best
practice, a story, an example,something for you to consider
implementing in the way that youlead others.
If you upgrade, if youcontinually upgrade your ability
to lead, it has a profoundeffect on your ability to um
(02:45):
affect your lifestyle, affectyour outcomes and your
organization, affect everything.
Um, and so that's what we dohere in the podcast.
My name's Russ Hill.
I'm gonna make my livingcoaching, consulting senior
executive teams doing a bunch ofthings with a bunch of
companies, and it's super fun.
And LoneRock.io is where you canfind out more about it.
And we're so grateful for thoseof you that share this podcast,
(03:07):
texting it to a friend, postinga link to an episode on
LinkedIn, whatever it is, uhthanks for helping us grow.
There's no advertising, nosales.
We're just giving out free um,hopefully, wisdom in this
podcast.
Okay, so we hear this all thetime.
Uh it's it's organizations thatare super reactive or leaders
(03:32):
who feel like their teams,whether that's a team of five or
five thousand, the the group orthe team is super reactive.
Like that's a part of ourculture.
It's our just kind of how weare.
And and we and the more peopleyou add to an organization, and
literally like you, it doesn'ttake like 10,000 for this to
(03:53):
happen.
It happens after you add like 10people into a very, very, very
small company.
The company moves much slowerbecause we got to get everybody
on board.
We got systems and we gotprocesses and we got different
departments and we got differentfunctions, and so we gotta like
have conversations and meetingsand discussions.
(04:15):
Now, most of you, most of yourorganizations, you lean way too
far into that.
In our new book, Deliver, that'scoming out um i any day now.
It's coming out in the end ofOctober uh 2025, at the time
we're putting this out.
In fact, we get our firstphysical copies like in the next
few days.
We're super excited about it.
(04:36):
It's uh it's a super robust umbook.
We're we're just jacked aboutit.
But it we in chapter one iscalled founder mode.
Chapter two is called consensusmode.
For those of you that have beenthrough lead in 30, it's a first
and second leader, right?
And uh for those of you thathaven't, it basically consensus
mode is what a lot of yourorganizations or departments are
(04:58):
in, where your your your cultureis we just talk about stuff and
talk about stuff and talk aboutstuff.
It's like, oh my gosh, we usethis example in chapter three of
the book called Gate C24.
It's an airport, gate C24.
And what if gate C24, the gateagent, was in founder mode?
Well, what would that look like?
It's pretty funny.
(05:19):
Um, in chapter three of thebook.
And then in chapter, in thatsame chapter, we talk about what
if the gate, the airport gate,was run by somebody in consensus
mode.
And not to not to have a spoileralert, but the plane would never
take off.
Like it'd be the most robustgate area, like the most diverse
group of people, and they'rehaving a total great
(05:39):
conversation and it'smeaningful.
And it's actually a super fun umscenario.
I I love I love I laugh out loudevery time I read it.
But consensus mode describes alot of organizations.
Now, we don't want you infounder mode where you're just
like moving super fast withoutgetting buy-in from anybody.
And and and anyway, um, I couldget my mind goes to the book
(06:02):
because we were just, I justspent the last few months just
getting it finished.
And um, and so I'm thinkingabout chapter four, but I'm not
gonna bore you with all thedetails.
This isn't about the book.
Um, the book, by the way, isDeliver, why some leaders get
results and most don't.
So if you want to start lookingfor that, it's not available at
the time this is coming out, butit will be uh if you're
listening to this in lateOctober or after that in 2025.
(06:25):
Deliver why some leaders getresults and most don't.
Um anyway, okay, so we we wewant to get after you've had 10
people, and and many of you whoare listening, you you don't
have 10 people in yourorganization.
You have 10,000, or you have ahundred thousand, or you have a
thousand or five hundred,whatever it is, and that just
(06:45):
slows us down, and so thatpushes us as a team, as a
culture, as a department, as anorganization into reactive mode.
So how do I get how do I get myteam out of that?
We're doing a uh I'm actually uhdoing an hour for one of the one
of the world's largest uhinsurance companies, which is
(07:06):
just having a phenomenal year,um, and and led this particular
part of the organization thatwe're working with is led by a
phenomenal leader.
And uh she's scheduled thisthree-hour leadership forum.
It's virtual with about 300leaders.
It's happening in a few weeks atthe time I'm recording this, and
that that's her whole theme.
She's like, I gotta get andthey're having they're having
it, it reminds me a lot ofAmazon and quite frankly,
(07:29):
Walmart.
Well, probably Walmart.
It reminds me of being in umBentonville.
I've told the story, I I thinkwe wrote about it in one of the
books, I can't remember, but Iremember being in Bentonville,
Arkansas, um, gosh, how manyyears ago?
2015, maybe?
And maybe 2012, I don'tremember.
And uh, and so we're we'respeaking, and for a whole team
of us from our firm, we'respeaking uh to all the the
(07:52):
regional managers, people thatoversaw multiple Walmart super
centers and Sam's clubs, likethey would they would be the the
the executive that oversees likelet's call it like five or ten
of those, right?
All over all over the globe.
And so Walmart's got them all inBentonville, they flew them all
in, and they're having thismulti-day session, which is
just, I mean, I you could writea whole book about this
(08:13):
experience and uh and notviolate the NDA, which is
important.
Um, but but the experience,again, multiple years ago, this
is this is when Amazon wascoming on, but not as big as
they are now, and before Walmarthad really started making their
changes.
But you all, Walmart's stillsolidly at number one in the
Fortune 500 list, right, as faras measured by revenue.
(08:33):
They've been in that spot, thenumber one spot, for a long
time.
Amazon's gonna dethrone them anymoment now, probably in 2026 or
2027.
Um, but the distance betweennumber one and number two used
to be Exxon Mobil that wasnumber one or number two.
But the distance between numberone and number two as measured
by revenue is was massive.
It's been massive, except latelywhen Amazon, after Amazon
(08:57):
launched AD AWS and whateverelse.
So Amazon's close.
But so you're you're in the room10, 15 years ago with Walmart
solidly in the number oneposition, generating more
revenue than any company onplanet Earth by a long shot.
And they're all focused oninnovation.
(09:18):
The word, the story that I'vetold before, it's been a long
time, but the story I've toldbefore is the executive, the
most senior executive we had inthe room who got up on stage,
the word that she kept usingover and over and over again
that really stood out to me as Iwas standing in the back of the
room before we took the stagewas extinction.
She's like, we're we're indanger of being going in
(09:38):
extinction.
And I'm sitting in the back ofthe room going, you're the
number one company in the world,not by a little bit, by a long
shot.
And no one has accused Walmartof being the most innovative or
coolest company or likewhatever.
Like they're not trendy.
Like no one's walking aroundwith like Walmart stickers on
their, on their uh, what do youcall those uh drink things?
(10:02):
I'm going blank on it that allthe women have.
Um, oh gosh, what is it?
I'm blanking on it.
Stanley.
You're not walking around withthe sticker on your Stanley or
your whatever of Walmart, right?
Like that's not a trendy thing.
But they're a giant, and they'vegotten a lot more innovative in
the last few years, thanks inpart by this executive team
(10:23):
pushing that into the culture.
We were there, we were in theroom.
Like, we got to move from beingproactive, getting our butts
handed to us by Amazon, eventhough they're not touching us
in revenue, but they're growingfaster than our rate of growth.
This is what they were talkingabout.
So extinction is our concern.
So, in other words, we got to bemore proactive rather than
(10:44):
reactive.
So then you got this insurancecompany that, I mean,
Chick-fil-A is great at this.
Like Chick-fil-A is they'redominating.
There's no one even close intheir industry when it comes to
per revenue or excuse me,revenue generated per location.
McDonald's is number two, but ifyou look at the distance and the
numbers, I don't have them rightin front of me.
(11:04):
But the trend line is crazy.
Go type it into ChatGPT orwhatever.
What's the per revenue or therevenue per location in
Chick-fil-A versus McDonald's?
Go type that into ChatGPT.
Not now, but after this episode.
And and and so, and you're gonnabe surprised by it, and then
say, give me the five-year trendline or give me the 10-year
(11:24):
trend line for each one of thosetwo restaurant chains.
You're gonna be shocked by whatyou see in 2020, 2021, 2022,
2023, the gap opening up betweenChick-fil-A and McDonald's.
And and and then you look, thenif you were asked Chat GPT or
whatever AI engine you use, youwere saying, well, now give me
the customer service or customersatisfaction scores from both
(11:47):
chains.
It's not even close.
I mean, who's looking atMcDonald's?
I love McDonald's, don't get mewrong, but the and they're a
monster, and they the story andyou know, the the uh what were
the name of the brothers?
I forget the name of thebrothers.
It started out in California.
I don't remember.
Anyway, but uh just a phenomenalstory.
And um, but but no one's lookingat McDonald's and go, oh, that's
(12:08):
the example of customer servicelike that.
No.
Like they they do what they dowell.
Same thing with uh Walmart,right?
Like you don't walk into Walmartand go, I'm about to have an
incredible experience with theseemployees, like Circle K, right?
No.
It's different for QT, it'sdifferent for Chick-fil-A, it's
different for Ritz Carlton, it'sdifferent for Delta Airlines,
it's different.
They're known for their cultureanyway.
(12:29):
But Chick-fil-A, that I mean,they're proactive.
And what happened in thepandemic?
In fact, I was talking to thissenior executive at this uh at
this insurance company, whichyou all would know the name of,
that's having a phenomenal yearwhen do this, we're doing this
uh leadership forum, thisvirtual forum, and I was using
the Chick-fil-A example withher, and uh, she wants me to
share it, or she wants us totalk about that in the end of
(12:50):
the leadership forum we're doingfor them.
But here she is.
Here she is, an amazing year.
Like I I personally did Teamscalls with about 10 executives
at the company.
Well, not just executives, likemid-level managers too, a couple
levels down on the org chart.
And I was reporting back to thisexecutive team.
(13:11):
I'm like, your team is likejacked up, like they are fired
up a phenomenal year, and hereshe is gathering them all
virtually, which most of yourorganizations aren't doing.
She's gathering them allvirtually, or you know, in
person would be even better, butvirtually for three hours and
and and designing thisincredible session, and the
(13:34):
whole theme is like we're noteven touching the surface of
what we could be doing.
Where how many leaders, how manyof you would be going, oh man,
how many of us would be going,This is an incredible year?
Like just we're high-fiving eachother in Q4.
Like, that's it.
No, she's like so focused on 18months from now, 36 months from
(13:58):
now, the mindset and not gettingcomplacent and not getting
comfortable and not thinkingthat this is gonna last.
Like, what are like that's onher mind.
And so at the end of our calltoday, I said, we had like a
minute left.
I said, Will you just take thelast 30 seconds and give me the
business case?
Give me the business case forwhy you're thinking about why
you're so focused on innovationand being proactive right now.
(14:21):
Why that's what why that's onyour mind so much?
She did a phenomenal jobarticulating it in just 30
seconds.
She took like a minute, minuteand a half, whatever.
It was fantastic.
I'm like, say that.
Say that in the in the meetingwith all the the uh 250 or 300
leaders, whatever it's gonna be.
So um, but so I don't know whatwhy you're motivated, you know,
(14:42):
what your particular reason isfor potentially wanting to be
more innovative or moreproactive rather than reactive,
or to have your organization dothat.
Maybe it's because you're havinga crappy year.
Maybe it's because your numbersor your organization's
struggling and you're trying toincrease performance, and so
that's the case.
Or maybe it's like thisinsurance executive, or maybe
(15:04):
it's like uh um Walmart in theday, or maybe, although they
were being threatened, so theyhad a burning platform uh was
their case for change, or maybeyou're like Chick-fil-A, just
like we want to innovate, wejust want to grow.
It's opportunity, right?
That that's motivating you.
Whatever the case is, um, and bythe way, there's the
organization case, and thenthere's you like the personal
(15:26):
case for why you need to getbetter at this, being more
proactive, more innovative,because it increases your market
value significantly.
It increases it significantly inthe marketplace.
Your value goes up if you cancreate that mindset, create a
culture, a team, where that'sthe dynamic, where we're
(15:49):
proactive, where we'reinnovative, where we're thinking
ahead, where we're cutting edgerather than getting pro uh
rather than being stuck inreactive mode.
So let's break it down.
How do you do that?
Okay, so there are four thingsthat I want you to be thinking
about as it pertains to this.
So this is kind of step by step.
(16:10):
How do you become moreinnovative and more proactive
rather than reactive as a leaderand instill that in the people
that you lead, whatever thatsize of group is.
Number one is I I want you tofly at a higher altitude.
I don't want you to be think ofit this way.
(16:32):
I don't want you to be a cropduster.
I want you to be a jet.
Right?
So crop duster flying just abovethe surface, creating all kinds
of dust, and it's got to spraythat uh repellent or weed killer
or whatever it is, pesticide orwhatever they spray.
Um if you've ever seen this,hopefully you've been on a road
(16:55):
trip sometime and you've seenthis out in the plains or
someplace where a crop dustercomes out.
It's so cool to see.
Um and and but they dip so lowthe small plane in order to
spray that junk all over theplants, right?
That we don't none of us want toeat the plants with it.
But that's another topic inanother podcast.
So so um the crop duster's superlow.
(17:17):
So what can the pilot of thecrop duster not see?
The horizon.
He or she can't see very far.
Their field of vision's superlimited because they're so low.
Now the jet is up at 35,000,50,000 feet.
What can they see?
Like forever.
They can see the horizon, theycan see the big picture.
(17:41):
So when you're the crop duster,when you're flying really low,
you can't be proactive.
Like it's just the laws ofnature, the laws of science.
You you are you're you're it'srequired of you to be reactive
because you're you're in thehere and now this very moment.
And so now some of you aregoing, but I'm in a position
(18:05):
where I've got to be.
Like I'm running the factoryfloor, or I'm out on the floor
with my sales managers or withthe salespeople, or I'm in the
back of the house at arestaurant, or I'm or we've got
these major fires that I'mputting out, or major current
needs.
I got it.
Like I got it, okay?
Either current needs, currentcrisis, current challenges,
(18:28):
current demands require you tobe the crop duster.
You've got to be in the weedsfixing this out, fix, fixing
whatever it is.
All right.
For a season.
For a season.
And there has to be an end dateon that.
And that's up to you.
It's not up to the or don'tdon't blame it on the
organization.
Don't blame it on your boss.
(18:49):
Don't blame it on anybody else.
And if those aspects, if it is,if it's just a reality of your
organization, it's a reality ofyour boss, they want you like
you, you've got to constantly bein that mode, then you're
working for the wrong leader.
You're at the wrong organizationto help you be proactive.
Some organizations are stuck inthat mindset.
And I look at executives and andleaders at that organization,
(19:12):
I'm like, how long are you goingto stay here?
Like, because you've been ridingthis out, and the organization,
unless you feel like you canstill have an impact on that,
and I totally believe inchoosing optimism and focusing
on what you control and all thatsort of stuff.
I'm a huge advocate of that.
But if you've been doing thatand doing that and doing that
and doing that, and it's notworking, the organization's not
shifting, then that's somethingfor you to think about.
(19:33):
And and and because you're notin that kind of a culture, and
that's just a that's achallenge.
So um now, if you're in aposition, like that's the nature
of the job, is to be the cropduster.
All right.
Well, that's there's some thingsyou can do, like that's
day-to-day, but you don't haveto be in that mindset 24-7.
You can be in that mindset forsix hours a day, five hours a
(19:55):
day, seven hours a day, whateverit is, most of your shift in air
quotes, um, or maybe it's yourentire time at the factory or at
the plant or at the warehouse orat the office or wherever it is.
But then outside of it, you cando steps two, three, and four.
But I I need you cannot be avisionary, innovative, proactive
(20:22):
leader when you're a cropduster.
So either you gotta figure thatstuff out for a season.
I'm talking like the next fourweeks.
I'm talking like the next eightweeks, and then you're then
you're gaining altitude.
Like get what you need.
And for me, when I was in themedia business, what this looked
like was building the leadershipteam.
It was investing time to buildup, upgrade the leadership team
(20:44):
around me, and being absolutelycommitted to that.
So there were some harddecisions.
I, as I've told the storybefore, invited some people to
leave, let go of some executiveswho were insanely good, but they
did, they limited my ability togain altitude.
You got it?
Because they flew at such a lowaltitude, and I needed them to
(21:06):
move.
I needed to be at 50,000 feet.
I needed them at like 30,000feet, and then the managers and
supervisors, I needed to be thecrop dusters at like 5,000 feet
or whatever it is, right?
Okay.
So number one, gain altitude.
Don't be a crop duster, be ajet.
Number, and and there's lots wecould talk about.
That could be a whole episode,but you you you got enough to go
on.
You you I'm getting youthinking, you figure out what
(21:28):
that looks like.
Um, number two is get to thecustomer.
You're gonna be reactive as longas you are stuck 100% of your
time in internal meetings.
You've got to be with thecustomer.
And there's no way that's gonnahappen unless you are proactive
(21:49):
with your schedule and you'remanaging it, and it's not
managing you.
And that's a constant battle.
That is not a checklist that,oh, I checked that box.
I'm managing my schedule, I'veaccomplished that, I'm no longer
having the schedule manage me.
No, that's a daily battle.
That's a weekly battle.
Those of you that know what I'mtalking about, right, right?
Like if we were in a religiousservice, you'd be screaming, hey
(22:10):
man, so wave your hand in theair or a lighter or something, I
don't know, or a cell phonecamera, or cell phone light, but
yeah, so so you've got to get,you've got to be proactive and
you've got to be intentional ingetting with the customer.
Why do I say that?
Like, why is that, why is that apart of a discussion around
being proactive and innovative?
Because you know where themarket's going.
(22:32):
You're you're part of the radar,you're out there, you're
listening to them, you're seeingwhat they really like about what
services and products and thingsthat your organization or your
team does, and you see whereyou're not quite cutting it.
And so you're you're you'reright out on the cutting edge.
The the leaders, executives, andorganizations that are the most
(22:53):
reactive are the ones who spendthe least amount of time with
the customers.
Period.
So you're out there.
And there are lots of differentways to do that, right?
Lots of different ways.
Um focus groups, there arecompanies you can hire that are
giving you that data, and I butI want to be in the room with
them virtually, physically.
(23:14):
I want I want to be talking tothem, I want to be knee-to-knee.
I want to be out doing marketvisits, I want to be looking at
quantitative data, surveyresults, like all of that mix.
Okay?
And so I'm listening to them,I'm asking the right questions,
yada, yada, yada.
So number two was spend timewith the customer.
That will force you, and theleaders that report into you, if
(23:37):
you're in that kind of aposition, you want them doing
that.
That's just the way we operate.
It's an expectation.
If you do that, if you requirethat, if that's part of your
ongoing mantra, like it's justin your DNA, you're preaching
it, you're modeling it, you'regoing to naturally, organically
pull the organization into amore proactive state.
(24:00):
Number three, I need you toconsume content, spend time with
consultants, spend time withmentors, be part of networking
or industry groups, be part ofBraintree, go to breakfast with,
socialize with people who thinkbroadly outside of your industry
(24:24):
or industry-wide, or just youwant to be reading those books.
You want to be listening tothose podcasts.
You want to be um I'm not a bigfan of reading 14 million
articles because I think it'syou can become like and you're
sending out articles to the teamconstantly and you're posting
them or whatever, like you gottalike chill.
You know what I mean?
Like there's too much.
(24:44):
You you can distract theorganization doing that too
much.
I'm just talking about yourmindset.
You're consuming content from amore macro and a more global, a
more big picture standpointthat's causing you to think.
That's those are the voices inyour head on the treadmill, in
the Uber, with the driver, uh,on the plane, uh, whatever.
(25:08):
You're just you're you'refinding people to follow on X or
Twitter or um LinkedIn orwhatever, like that are making
you think.
And you've got to you've got toturn off the noise and just
think about that.
So you're listening abouttrends, about different things.
You're not stuck in your bubbleand and locked in the cage,
(25:28):
right?
So, number one, I need you tofly at a higher altitude, be a
jet, not a crop duster.
Number two, spend time, moretime, intentional time with the
customer.
Number three, network, connect,consume content with people that
think on a more macro level.
Really think about it.
(25:49):
Stop talking and listen to them.
Be a cons uh uh uh consume thecontent.
Don't filter it all out, likelisten.
Stuff that challenges your wayof thinking.
That's super, super important.
And then the last item, numberfour, I want you to focus your
(26:09):
schedule and to be super, theword I'm gonna use here is super
important.
Disciplined, I want you to bereally disciplined in focusing
your schedule and your team'sschedule on high leverage
activities.
I've talked about this over thelast few months and a few
(26:30):
different episodes.
HLAs, write it down, put it inyour notes.
HLA's, repeat it, repeat it,repeat it.
It's part of your vernacular.
HLA's high leverage activities.
What are you getting rid of?
L uh low le L A's, yeah, Iforgot it for a second.
LLA's low leverage activities.
(26:53):
That's what reactive leaders areengaged in a ton of.
Look at their calendar, look atthe last month, look at the the
email inbox, look at Zoom orTeams or excuse me, um, Slack or
whatever.
They're just total reactive.
And they're they're consumed bylow leverage activities.
And I like this is a constantthing that I'm just measuring
(27:15):
our firm on all the time, ourleadership team on me, my
business partners are likelow-leverage activities are just
obnoxious weeds.
They just, you don't even haveto water the soil and they're
springing up everywhere.
They just multiply, like, holycrap, reproductive systems of
(27:36):
robe of uh of uh rabbits, right?
Like, whoa, we had one, now wegot 20.
Like, where'd these come from?
Low-leverage activities justmultiply their weeds and they
slow down your organization,they slow you down.
And if you're not superintentional, constantly applying
pressure to it, like thinking,is this a high leverage
(27:58):
activity?
What's the ROI on me spendingtime on this?
What's the ROI on our team orour lead our our um department
or our leadership team talkingabout this, focusing on it?
You ask my business partners, Ilike I gotta manage myself on
this because I have so muchenergy.
When when my time is taken up,someone's elevating something to
(28:20):
me about a low-leverageactivity.
Like, I like I don't mean it inany disrespectful way, but why
am I spending time on this?
Like, no, take care of that.
And by the way, I think thisdeserves maybe 45 seconds of
your time.
But in organizations that arereactive, LLAs are everywhere.
And we aren't fighting them.
(28:40):
We're not spraying theinsecticide or the weed killer.
Man, in the desert, you're outconstantly.
When you own land, you're outconstantly having to spray.
Even when it hasn't rained formonths, you're spraying that
weed killer constantly becausethose suckers are relentless,
and they are in yourorganization too.
Number one, jet, not cropduster, increase your altitude.
(29:04):
Number two, get with thecustomer, get your leaders with
the customers.
Number three, network, consumehigher, um, put yourself around,
consume content that's moremacro, big picture.
Number three, spray weed killeron those LLAs and focus
intentionally, in a disciplinedway on HLAs.
(29:27):
That's how you become moreinnovative and more proactive.
And it's what I wanted to talkabout in this episode of the
Lead in 30 podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (29:38):
Share this episode with a colleague, your team, or
a friend.
Tap on the share button and textthe link.
Thanks for listening to the Leadin 30 podcast with Russell.
How do you become a leader who's really good at
(00:03):
innovation, at moving your teamto be proactive rather than
reactive?
Like, what's the mindset?
Like, how do you do that?
How do you get good at it?
Well, let's talk about it inthis episode.
SPEAKER_01 (00:16):
This is the Lead in 30 podcast with Russell.
You cannot be serious.
Strengthen your ability to leadin less than 30 minutes.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
For coming to Atlanta, if you're an HR, L and
D leader, or a leader ofleaders, join us in November for
our executive breakfast.
Spend three hours with theexperts at Lone Rock Leadership
and learn how to build personalaccountability, accelerate
decision making, lead throughchange, and create clarity,
(00:49):
alignment, and movement.
Reserve your free spot beforeseats fill up at LoneRock.io.
SPEAKER_02 (00:56):
Yeah, if you're listening to this in October or
early November 2025, around thetime that this comes out, then
absolutely, if you're anywherein any of those neighboring
states, I promise you it's worththe investment of your time.
We are not, we are not going towaste your time inviting you to
a three-hour event.
(01:16):
In fact, the last one of thesewe did, these executive um
briefings, is what we call them,executive breakfast.
We did it in Dallas maybe amonth ago.
I was there.
Um it's the first one that I'vegone to, and all of the feedback
was we wish this was a full day.
We wish this was two days.
Nobody left going, oh my gosh, Iwish I wouldn't have been here,
or it was a waste of my time, orwhy do you do such a lame sales
(01:40):
pitch?
It's not, it wasn't a set, it'snot a sales pitch at all.
If anything, you're gonna leavekind of maybe with too much
meat.
So, LoneRock.io, if you want tofind out more about the
executive briefing in Novemberin Atlanta.
If you're in any neighboringstate, it's worth the flight,
get there, expense it.
You're gonna be, I mean, it'sgonna cost you what, a thousand
dollars total to travel.
(02:01):
If you're in Atlanta, it'll beway less than that.
It's free to attend.
Lone Rock.io.
The seats are filling up.
I think we're just north ofdowntown Atlanta, just in one of
the suburbs at uh at one of theJW Marriottes there.
So you could stay the nightbefore if you want, or just
drive over and uh you'll be outof there by noon.
Okay, um, reactive versus oh, Igot to do a little bit more
(02:23):
setup before I get into thetopic.
Um, welcome in to the Lead in 30podcast.
In less than 30 minutes, we giveyou a framework, a model, a best
practice, a story, an example,something for you to consider
implementing in the way that youlead others.
If you upgrade, if youcontinually upgrade your ability
to lead, it has a profoundeffect on your ability to um
(02:45):
affect your lifestyle, affectyour outcomes and your
organization, affect everything.
Um, and so that's what we dohere in the podcast.
My name's Russ Hill.
I'm gonna make my livingcoaching, consulting senior
executive teams doing a bunch ofthings with a bunch of
companies, and it's super fun.
And LoneRock.io is where you canfind out more about it.
And we're so grateful for thoseof you that share this podcast,
(03:07):
texting it to a friend, postinga link to an episode on
LinkedIn, whatever it is, uhthanks for helping us grow.
There's no advertising, nosales.
We're just giving out free um,hopefully, wisdom in this
podcast.
Okay, so we hear this all thetime.
Uh it's it's organizations thatare super reactive or leaders
(03:32):
who feel like their teams,whether that's a team of five or
five thousand, the the group orthe team is super reactive.
Like that's a part of ourculture.
It's our just kind of how weare.
And and we and the more peopleyou add to an organization, and
literally like you, it doesn'ttake like 10,000 for this to
(03:53):
happen.
It happens after you add like 10people into a very, very, very
small company.
The company moves much slowerbecause we got to get everybody
on board.
We got systems and we gotprocesses and we got different
departments and we got differentfunctions, and so we gotta like
have conversations and meetingsand discussions.
(04:15):
Now, most of you, most of yourorganizations, you lean way too
far into that.
In our new book, Deliver, that'scoming out um i any day now.
It's coming out in the end ofOctober uh 2025, at the time
we're putting this out.
In fact, we get our firstphysical copies like in the next
few days.
We're super excited about it.
(04:36):
It's uh it's a super robust umbook.
We're we're just jacked aboutit.
But it we in chapter one iscalled founder mode.
Chapter two is called consensusmode.
For those of you that have beenthrough lead in 30, it's a first
and second leader, right?
And uh for those of you thathaven't, it basically consensus
mode is what a lot of yourorganizations or departments are
(04:58):
in, where your your your cultureis we just talk about stuff and
talk about stuff and talk aboutstuff.
It's like, oh my gosh, we usethis example in chapter three of
the book called Gate C24.
It's an airport, gate C24.
And what if gate C24, the gateagent, was in founder mode?
Well, what would that look like?
It's pretty funny.
(05:19):
Um, in chapter three of thebook.
And then in chapter, in thatsame chapter, we talk about what
if the gate, the airport gate,was run by somebody in consensus
mode.
And not to not to have a spoileralert, but the plane would never
take off.
Like it'd be the most robustgate area, like the most diverse
group of people, and they'rehaving a total great
(05:39):
conversation and it'smeaningful.
And it's actually a super fun umscenario.
I I love I love I laugh out loudevery time I read it.
But consensus mode describes alot of organizations.
Now, we don't want you infounder mode where you're just
like moving super fast withoutgetting buy-in from anybody.
And and and anyway, um, I couldget my mind goes to the book
(06:02):
because we were just, I justspent the last few months just
getting it finished.
And um, and so I'm thinkingabout chapter four, but I'm not
gonna bore you with all thedetails.
This isn't about the book.
Um, the book, by the way, isDeliver, why some leaders get
results and most don't.
So if you want to start lookingfor that, it's not available at
the time this is coming out, butit will be uh if you're
listening to this in lateOctober or after that in 2025.
(06:25):
Deliver why some leaders getresults and most don't.
Um anyway, okay, so we we wewant to get after you've had 10
people, and and many of you whoare listening, you you don't
have 10 people in yourorganization.
You have 10,000, or you have ahundred thousand, or you have a
thousand or five hundred,whatever it is, and that just
(06:45):
slows us down, and so thatpushes us as a team, as a
culture, as a department, as anorganization into reactive mode.
So how do I get how do I get myteam out of that?
We're doing a uh I'm actually uhdoing an hour for one of the one
of the world's largest uhinsurance companies, which is
(07:06):
just having a phenomenal year,um, and and led this particular
part of the organization thatwe're working with is led by a
phenomenal leader.
And uh she's scheduled thisthree-hour leadership forum.
It's virtual with about 300leaders.
It's happening in a few weeks atthe time I'm recording this, and
that that's her whole theme.
She's like, I gotta get andthey're having they're having
it, it reminds me a lot ofAmazon and quite frankly,
(07:29):
Walmart.
Well, probably Walmart.
It reminds me of being in umBentonville.
I've told the story, I I thinkwe wrote about it in one of the
books, I can't remember, but Iremember being in Bentonville,
Arkansas, um, gosh, how manyyears ago?
2015, maybe?
And maybe 2012, I don'tremember.
And uh, and so we're we'respeaking, and for a whole team
of us from our firm, we'respeaking uh to all the the
(07:52):
regional managers, people thatoversaw multiple Walmart super
centers and Sam's clubs, likethey would they would be the the
the executive that oversees likelet's call it like five or ten
of those, right?
All over all over the globe.
And so Walmart's got them all inBentonville, they flew them all
in, and they're having thismulti-day session, which is
just, I mean, I you could writea whole book about this
(08:13):
experience and uh and notviolate the NDA, which is
important.
Um, but but the experience,again, multiple years ago, this
is this is when Amazon wascoming on, but not as big as
they are now, and before Walmarthad really started making their
changes.
But you all, Walmart's stillsolidly at number one in the
Fortune 500 list, right, as faras measured by revenue.
(08:33):
They've been in that spot, thenumber one spot, for a long
time.
Amazon's gonna dethrone them anymoment now, probably in 2026 or
2027.
Um, but the distance betweennumber one and number two used
to be Exxon Mobil that wasnumber one or number two.
But the distance between numberone and number two as measured
by revenue is was massive.
It's been massive, except latelywhen Amazon, after Amazon
(08:57):
launched AD AWS and whateverelse.
So Amazon's close.
But so you're you're in the room10, 15 years ago with Walmart
solidly in the number oneposition, generating more
revenue than any company onplanet Earth by a long shot.
And they're all focused oninnovation.
(09:18):
The word, the story that I'vetold before, it's been a long
time, but the story I've toldbefore is the executive, the
most senior executive we had inthe room who got up on stage,
the word that she kept usingover and over and over again
that really stood out to me as Iwas standing in the back of the
room before we took the stagewas extinction.
She's like, we're we're indanger of being going in
(09:38):
extinction.
And I'm sitting in the back ofthe room going, you're the
number one company in the world,not by a little bit, by a long
shot.
And no one has accused Walmartof being the most innovative or
coolest company or likewhatever.
Like they're not trendy.
Like no one's walking aroundwith like Walmart stickers on
their, on their uh, what do youcall those uh drink things?
(10:02):
I'm going blank on it that allthe women have.
Um, oh gosh, what is it?
I'm blanking on it.
Stanley.
You're not walking around withthe sticker on your Stanley or
your whatever of Walmart, right?
Like that's not a trendy thing.
But they're a giant, and they'vegotten a lot more innovative in
the last few years, thanks inpart by this executive team
(10:23):
pushing that into the culture.
We were there, we were in theroom.
Like, we got to move from beingproactive, getting our butts
handed to us by Amazon, eventhough they're not touching us
in revenue, but they're growingfaster than our rate of growth.
This is what they were talkingabout.
So extinction is our concern.
So, in other words, we got to bemore proactive rather than
(10:44):
reactive.
So then you got this insurancecompany that, I mean,
Chick-fil-A is great at this.
Like Chick-fil-A is they'redominating.
There's no one even close intheir industry when it comes to
per revenue or excuse me,revenue generated per location.
McDonald's is number two, but ifyou look at the distance and the
numbers, I don't have them rightin front of me.
(11:04):
But the trend line is crazy.
Go type it into ChatGPT orwhatever.
What's the per revenue or therevenue per location in
Chick-fil-A versus McDonald's?
Go type that into ChatGPT.
Not now, but after this episode.
And and and so, and you're gonnabe surprised by it, and then
say, give me the five-year trendline or give me the 10-year
(11:24):
trend line for each one of thosetwo restaurant chains.
You're gonna be shocked by whatyou see in 2020, 2021, 2022,
2023, the gap opening up betweenChick-fil-A and McDonald's.
And and and then you look, thenif you were asked Chat GPT or
whatever AI engine you use, youwere saying, well, now give me
the customer service or customersatisfaction scores from both
(11:47):
chains.
It's not even close.
I mean, who's looking atMcDonald's?
I love McDonald's, don't get mewrong, but the and they're a
monster, and they the story andyou know, the the uh what were
the name of the brothers?
I forget the name of thebrothers.
It started out in California.
I don't remember.
Anyway, but uh just a phenomenalstory.
And um, but but no one's lookingat McDonald's and go, oh, that's
(12:08):
the example of customer servicelike that.
No.
Like they they do what they dowell.
Same thing with uh Walmart,right?
Like you don't walk into Walmartand go, I'm about to have an
incredible experience with theseemployees, like Circle K, right?
No.
It's different for QT, it'sdifferent for Chick-fil-A, it's
different for Ritz Carlton, it'sdifferent for Delta Airlines,
it's different.
They're known for their cultureanyway.
(12:29):
But Chick-fil-A, that I mean,they're proactive.
And what happened in thepandemic?
In fact, I was talking to thissenior executive at this uh at
this insurance company, whichyou all would know the name of,
that's having a phenomenal yearwhen do this, we're doing this
uh leadership forum, thisvirtual forum, and I was using
the Chick-fil-A example withher, and uh, she wants me to
share it, or she wants us totalk about that in the end of
(12:50):
the leadership forum we're doingfor them.
But here she is.
Here she is, an amazing year.
Like I I personally did Teamscalls with about 10 executives
at the company.
Well, not just executives, likemid-level managers too, a couple
levels down on the org chart.
And I was reporting back to thisexecutive team.
(13:11):
I'm like, your team is likejacked up, like they are fired
up a phenomenal year, and hereshe is gathering them all
virtually, which most of yourorganizations aren't doing.
She's gathering them allvirtually, or you know, in
person would be even better, butvirtually for three hours and
and and designing thisincredible session, and the
(13:34):
whole theme is like we're noteven touching the surface of
what we could be doing.
Where how many leaders, how manyof you would be going, oh man,
how many of us would be going,This is an incredible year?
Like just we're high-fiving eachother in Q4.
Like, that's it.
No, she's like so focused on 18months from now, 36 months from
(13:58):
now, the mindset and not gettingcomplacent and not getting
comfortable and not thinkingthat this is gonna last.
Like, what are like that's onher mind.
And so at the end of our calltoday, I said, we had like a
minute left.
I said, Will you just take thelast 30 seconds and give me the
business case?
Give me the business case forwhy you're thinking about why
you're so focused on innovationand being proactive right now.
(14:21):
Why that's what why that's onyour mind so much?
She did a phenomenal jobarticulating it in just 30
seconds.
She took like a minute, minuteand a half, whatever.
It was fantastic.
I'm like, say that.
Say that in the in the meetingwith all the the uh 250 or 300
leaders, whatever it's gonna be.
So um, but so I don't know whatwhy you're motivated, you know,
(14:42):
what your particular reason isfor potentially wanting to be
more innovative or moreproactive rather than reactive,
or to have your organization dothat.
Maybe it's because you're havinga crappy year.
Maybe it's because your numbersor your organization's
struggling and you're trying toincrease performance, and so
that's the case.
Or maybe it's like thisinsurance executive, or maybe
(15:04):
it's like uh um Walmart in theday, or maybe, although they
were being threatened, so theyhad a burning platform uh was
their case for change, or maybeyou're like Chick-fil-A, just
like we want to innovate, wejust want to grow.
It's opportunity, right?
That that's motivating you.
Whatever the case is, um, and bythe way, there's the
organization case, and thenthere's you like the personal
(15:26):
case for why you need to getbetter at this, being more
proactive, more innovative,because it increases your market
value significantly.
It increases it significantly inthe marketplace.
Your value goes up if you cancreate that mindset, create a
culture, a team, where that'sthe dynamic, where we're
(15:49):
proactive, where we'reinnovative, where we're thinking
ahead, where we're cutting edgerather than getting pro uh
rather than being stuck inreactive mode.
So let's break it down.
How do you do that?
Okay, so there are four thingsthat I want you to be thinking
about as it pertains to this.
So this is kind of step by step.
(16:10):
How do you become moreinnovative and more proactive
rather than reactive as a leaderand instill that in the people
that you lead, whatever thatsize of group is.
Number one is I I want you tofly at a higher altitude.
I don't want you to be think ofit this way.
(16:32):
I don't want you to be a cropduster.
I want you to be a jet.
Right?
So crop duster flying just abovethe surface, creating all kinds
of dust, and it's got to spraythat uh repellent or weed killer
or whatever it is, pesticide orwhatever they spray.
Um if you've ever seen this,hopefully you've been on a road
(16:55):
trip sometime and you've seenthis out in the plains or
someplace where a crop dustercomes out.
It's so cool to see.
Um and and but they dip so lowthe small plane in order to
spray that junk all over theplants, right?
That we don't none of us want toeat the plants with it.
But that's another topic inanother podcast.
So so um the crop duster's superlow.
(17:17):
So what can the pilot of thecrop duster not see?
The horizon.
He or she can't see very far.
Their field of vision's superlimited because they're so low.
Now the jet is up at 35,000,50,000 feet.
What can they see?
Like forever.
They can see the horizon, theycan see the big picture.
(17:41):
So when you're the crop duster,when you're flying really low,
you can't be proactive.
Like it's just the laws ofnature, the laws of science.
You you are you're you're it'srequired of you to be reactive
because you're you're in thehere and now this very moment.
And so now some of you aregoing, but I'm in a position
(18:05):
where I've got to be.
Like I'm running the factoryfloor, or I'm out on the floor
with my sales managers or withthe salespeople, or I'm in the
back of the house at arestaurant, or I'm or we've got
these major fires that I'mputting out, or major current
needs.
I got it.
Like I got it, okay?
Either current needs, currentcrisis, current challenges,
(18:28):
current demands require you tobe the crop duster.
You've got to be in the weedsfixing this out, fix, fixing
whatever it is.
All right.
For a season.
For a season.
And there has to be an end dateon that.
And that's up to you.
It's not up to the or don'tdon't blame it on the
organization.
Don't blame it on your boss.
(18:49):
Don't blame it on anybody else.
And if those aspects, if it is,if it's just a reality of your
organization, it's a reality ofyour boss, they want you like
you, you've got to constantly bein that mode, then you're
working for the wrong leader.
You're at the wrong organizationto help you be proactive.
Some organizations are stuck inthat mindset.
And I look at executives and andleaders at that organization,
(19:12):
I'm like, how long are you goingto stay here?
Like, because you've been ridingthis out, and the organization,
unless you feel like you canstill have an impact on that,
and I totally believe inchoosing optimism and focusing
on what you control and all thatsort of stuff.
I'm a huge advocate of that.
But if you've been doing thatand doing that and doing that
and doing that, and it's notworking, the organization's not
shifting, then that's somethingfor you to think about.
(19:33):
And and and because you're notin that kind of a culture, and
that's just a that's achallenge.
So um now, if you're in aposition, like that's the nature
of the job, is to be the cropduster.
All right.
Well, that's there's some thingsyou can do, like that's
day-to-day, but you don't haveto be in that mindset 24-7.
You can be in that mindset forsix hours a day, five hours a
(19:55):
day, seven hours a day, whateverit is, most of your shift in air
quotes, um, or maybe it's yourentire time at the factory or at
the plant or at the warehouse orat the office or wherever it is.
But then outside of it, you cando steps two, three, and four.
But I I need you cannot be avisionary, innovative, proactive
(20:22):
leader when you're a cropduster.
So either you gotta figure thatstuff out for a season.
I'm talking like the next fourweeks.
I'm talking like the next eightweeks, and then you're then
you're gaining altitude.
Like get what you need.
And for me, when I was in themedia business, what this looked
like was building the leadershipteam.
It was investing time to buildup, upgrade the leadership team
(20:44):
around me, and being absolutelycommitted to that.
So there were some harddecisions.
I, as I've told the storybefore, invited some people to
leave, let go of some executiveswho were insanely good, but they
did, they limited my ability togain altitude.
You got it?
Because they flew at such a lowaltitude, and I needed them to
(21:06):
move.
I needed to be at 50,000 feet.
I needed them at like 30,000feet, and then the managers and
supervisors, I needed to be thecrop dusters at like 5,000 feet
or whatever it is, right?
Okay.
So number one, gain altitude.
Don't be a crop duster, be ajet.
Number, and and there's lots wecould talk about.
That could be a whole episode,but you you you got enough to go
on.
You you I'm getting youthinking, you figure out what
(21:28):
that looks like.
Um, number two is get to thecustomer.
You're gonna be reactive as longas you are stuck 100% of your
time in internal meetings.
You've got to be with thecustomer.
And there's no way that's gonnahappen unless you are proactive
(21:49):
with your schedule and you'remanaging it, and it's not
managing you.
And that's a constant battle.
That is not a checklist that,oh, I checked that box.
I'm managing my schedule, I'veaccomplished that, I'm no longer
having the schedule manage me.
No, that's a daily battle.
That's a weekly battle.
Those of you that know what I'mtalking about, right, right?
Like if we were in a religiousservice, you'd be screaming, hey
(22:10):
man, so wave your hand in theair or a lighter or something, I
don't know, or a cell phonecamera, or cell phone light, but
yeah, so so you've got to get,you've got to be proactive and
you've got to be intentional ingetting with the customer.
Why do I say that?
Like, why is that, why is that apart of a discussion around
being proactive and innovative?
Because you know where themarket's going.
(22:32):
You're you're part of the radar,you're out there, you're
listening to them, you're seeingwhat they really like about what
services and products and thingsthat your organization or your
team does, and you see whereyou're not quite cutting it.
And so you're you're you'reright out on the cutting edge.
The the leaders, executives, andorganizations that are the most
(22:53):
reactive are the ones who spendthe least amount of time with
the customers.
Period.
So you're out there.
And there are lots of differentways to do that, right?
Lots of different ways.
Um focus groups, there arecompanies you can hire that are
giving you that data, and I butI want to be in the room with
them virtually, physically.
(23:14):
I want I want to be talking tothem, I want to be knee-to-knee.
I want to be out doing marketvisits, I want to be looking at
quantitative data, surveyresults, like all of that mix.
Okay?
And so I'm listening to them,I'm asking the right questions,
yada, yada, yada.
So number two was spend timewith the customer.
That will force you, and theleaders that report into you, if
(23:37):
you're in that kind of aposition, you want them doing
that.
That's just the way we operate.
It's an expectation.
If you do that, if you requirethat, if that's part of your
ongoing mantra, like it's justin your DNA, you're preaching
it, you're modeling it, you'regoing to naturally, organically
pull the organization into amore proactive state.
(24:00):
Number three, I need you toconsume content, spend time with
consultants, spend time withmentors, be part of networking
or industry groups, be part ofBraintree, go to breakfast with,
socialize with people who thinkbroadly outside of your industry
(24:24):
or industry-wide, or just youwant to be reading those books.
You want to be listening tothose podcasts.
You want to be um I'm not a bigfan of reading 14 million
articles because I think it'syou can become like and you're
sending out articles to the teamconstantly and you're posting
them or whatever, like you gottalike chill.
You know what I mean?
Like there's too much.
(24:44):
You you can distract theorganization doing that too
much.
I'm just talking about yourmindset.
You're consuming content from amore macro and a more global, a
more big picture standpointthat's causing you to think.
That's those are the voices inyour head on the treadmill, in
the Uber, with the driver, uh,on the plane, uh, whatever.
(25:08):
You're just you're you'refinding people to follow on X or
Twitter or um LinkedIn orwhatever, like that are making
you think.
And you've got to you've got toturn off the noise and just
think about that.
So you're listening abouttrends, about different things.
You're not stuck in your bubbleand and locked in the cage,
(25:28):
right?
So, number one, I need you tofly at a higher altitude, be a
jet, not a crop duster.
Number two, spend time, moretime, intentional time with the
customer.
Number three, network, connect,consume content with people that
think on a more macro level.
Really think about it.
(25:49):
Stop talking and listen to them.
Be a cons uh uh uh consume thecontent.
Don't filter it all out, likelisten.
Stuff that challenges your wayof thinking.
That's super, super important.
And then the last item, numberfour, I want you to focus your
(26:09):
schedule and to be super, theword I'm gonna use here is super
important.
Disciplined, I want you to bereally disciplined in focusing
your schedule and your team'sschedule on high leverage
activities.
I've talked about this over thelast few months and a few
(26:30):
different episodes.
HLAs, write it down, put it inyour notes.
HLA's, repeat it, repeat it,repeat it.
It's part of your vernacular.
HLA's high leverage activities.
What are you getting rid of?
L uh low le L A's, yeah, Iforgot it for a second.
LLA's low leverage activities.
(26:53):
That's what reactive leaders areengaged in a ton of.
Look at their calendar, look atthe last month, look at the the
email inbox, look at Zoom orTeams or excuse me, um, Slack or
whatever.
They're just total reactive.
And they're they're consumed bylow leverage activities.
And I like this is a constantthing that I'm just measuring
(27:15):
our firm on all the time, ourleadership team on me, my
business partners are likelow-leverage activities are just
obnoxious weeds.
They just, you don't even haveto water the soil and they're
springing up everywhere.
They just multiply, like, holycrap, reproductive systems of
(27:36):
robe of uh of uh rabbits, right?
Like, whoa, we had one, now wegot 20.
Like, where'd these come from?
Low-leverage activities justmultiply their weeds and they
slow down your organization,they slow you down.
And if you're not superintentional, constantly applying
pressure to it, like thinking,is this a high leverage
(27:58):
activity?
What's the ROI on me spendingtime on this?
What's the ROI on our team orour lead our our um department
or our leadership team talkingabout this, focusing on it?
You ask my business partners, Ilike I gotta manage myself on
this because I have so muchenergy.
When when my time is taken up,someone's elevating something to
(28:20):
me about a low-leverageactivity.
Like, I like I don't mean it inany disrespectful way, but why
am I spending time on this?
Like, no, take care of that.
And by the way, I think thisdeserves maybe 45 seconds of
your time.
But in organizations that arereactive, LLAs are everywhere.
And we aren't fighting them.
(28:40):
We're not spraying theinsecticide or the weed killer.
Man, in the desert, you're outconstantly.
When you own land, you're outconstantly having to spray.
Even when it hasn't rained formonths, you're spraying that
weed killer constantly becausethose suckers are relentless,
and they are in yourorganization too.
Number one, jet, not cropduster, increase your altitude.
(29:04):
Number two, get with thecustomer, get your leaders with
the customers.
Number three, network, consumehigher, um, put yourself around,
consume content that's moremacro, big picture.
Number three, spray weed killeron those LLAs and focus
intentionally, in a disciplinedway on HLAs.
(29:27):
That's how you become moreinnovative and more proactive.
And it's what I wanted to talkabout in this episode of the
Lead in 30 podcast.
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