The Leadership Drives Podcast

Is it hard for everybody to hear their own voice, or is it just me? I'm digging in the crates and listening to old episodes of The Leadership Drives podcast. This episode was my very first podcast interview!!!! Whew - I talked a mile a minute. Thank God that I'm getting better!!!! Sidebar: podcasting is much harder and more involved than I ever thought it would be. But I'm enjoying it! Although I talked a mile a minute, my guests, Michelle and Kenya, were great! I liked these parts most: 17:08 - What is success? 21:45 - What is self-care? 25:40 - How does conflict look for yall? If you have only a few minutes, listen to the conflict segment! There are a couple of things that really struck me. First, Kenya knows Michelle well enough to know when "she'll be in her crazy", AND SHE ANTICIPATES SUPPORTING HER WITHOUT BEING ASKED. What an awesome gift to a relationship to anticipate meeting one another's needs with actions???!!! Second, they shared how they no longer make their individual emotional well-being their partner's responsibility. Just wow!!! Do you know how many ppl get together with the expectation that their partner will make them alright or whole? Here's the link to the episode: https://lnkd.in/euXu_5DR #allleadershipispersonal #whatdrivesyoutolead #whatdrivesyoutolead #theleadershipdrives

If you've ever wondered what the people who report to you really think of you, ask them..........AFTER YOU QUIT! This is precisely what Matthew Ebert of Ebert Consulting did. In the first interview of a three-part series, he shared his perspectives on his leadership style and how he has grown while Charisse and Grace shared what it was like to work with him. Matt hired Grace and Charisse while he was principal at a public charter school in Baltimore, where he stayed for 10 years. Charisse was part of the administrative team and Grace is part of the faculty. As you listen to the interview, I encourage you to think about how you lead and how your staff perceives you. People don't interact with us based on what we want them to think of us. Rather, they interact with us based on how they consistently experience us: how is your team experiencing you? Do you think anybody is brave enough or willing to tell you? #getyourteamaligned #allleadershipispersonal #charterschoolleadership

Consultants and coaches are like cars: I’m not gonna standby and watch you lose. We win together. But I can’t help you, if I don’t know you. My contact info is in the comments. You should find one before you need one.

There reason I often say, "All leadership is personal; we just happen to do it in professional settings sometimes," is simple. I actually believe it! Roxane Gay's memoir, Hunger, proves me right! She shares how an experience she had at 12 years old has colored her entire life! She shares how this experience affects her personally and professionally to this very day. To say that she has and is living the spillover effect is an understatement. Perhaps it's because of life experiences such as Ms. Gay's that self-awareness and self-regulation are the cornerstones of leadership. If you can't master these two elements, you won't be successful in the others. #AllLeadershipIsPersonal #emotionalintelligence

On a beautiful winter afternoon in March, I drove to Baltimore, Maryland, to interview Traci M. of Creative City Public Charter School. I was excited to hear the story of what drove her to education. More accurately, I wanted to know why she left the classroom for a leadership role in a public charter school. On the other hand, I am fiercely committed to early childhood education and I never regret time spent with educators! I became a champion of early childhood education, especially K - 3, as I read Beverly Tatum's book, WHY ARE ALL THE BLACK KIDS SITTING TOGETHER IN THE CAFETERIA? Although I'd heard of the "school-to-prison pipeline" before, her book was the first I'd read that clearly explained it. Simply and sadly, kids who don't read on grade level by the end of third grade are more likely to wind up in prison. This happens because their earning potential is limited and they're usually from under resourced communities, which undermines access to opportunities. To continue, click here: https://lnkd.in/eMgcG4YH

I didn't plan it, but it worked out! As I was editing these interviews, I saw a common cord among them: they were deeply concerned about black families. Gwen Woods is fixated on the financial success of black families and works on it through several vehicles, from estate planning to life insurance to financial literacy training. She hates how so many ppl's choices are dictated by how much money they don't have. Gwen Woods Life and Annuities Retirement Specialist Akil L. Parker, M.Ed is interested in the same thing as Gwen, but he goes about it differently: he wants black kids to excel at math so that they have more career options. There's nothing wrong with a sociology degree, but how many ppl do you know who changed their majors to avoid math classes? He won't let you become locked out of an engineering career because you're afraid of numbers. allthismath Lovely Durham, MA, PMP's commitment to black men, equity, and excellence within black communities and institutions is palpable. She is all about making us acknowledge classism and other ways we exclude people while also being committed to excellence with respect to how the institution operates. Morehouse College Roy Copeland has spent his life serving and educating black people and he is singularly focused on legacy building for himself, his grandson, black families, and the black community at large (he and his wife are co-founders of the Copeland African American Museum). He is spending his time illuminating the strengths of the black community because he believes that we, black people, are and have the solutions to our problems. Valdosta State University Copeland African American Museum The links to their episodes are in the comments! Be sure to like, subscribe and rate!!!!

My conversation with "Bubba" was impromptu! I was exploring Clarksdale on foot and stopped by the tourism office, where he works. We chatted right up until I needed to head to Cleveland, Mississippi for interviews with Dr. Rolanda Herts and Dr. Pam Chatman. Bubba's love and commitment to Clarksdale was palpable. I loved how he made no attempts to gloss over the economic challenges of the region and works to identify the what's unique and sacred about the Delta in order to translate that into economic activity. On the other hand, when he talked about people, he chose to focus on love and didn't want to rehearse the injuries of the past. Interestingly, many people of color view being solely future-focused is an attempt to dodge the difficult topic of race in America. Just before connecting with Bubba and ironically, I'd just had a conversation with Rebekah and Ben of the Griot Arts program (about a 5 minute walk away) where they talked about how important it is to deal with race and the transgressions of the past. In particular, they talked a visioning exercise they did with the community to generate ideas about how to best utilize an older the theater that had been donated to their organization. They shared that a white gentleman participated in that exercise and suggested that they focus on love and moving forward. As I spoke with Bubba, I wondered if he was that guy. I point out this "antagonism" because it is the crux of conflict. When I work as a mediator and when I facilitate conflict resolution processes with teams, one of the most important parts of each process is giving the parties an opportunity to be heard. Sometimes, even when the parties feel as if the other side understands them, they find it hard to work together. By the same token, in those instances, where one or both of the parties don't feel heard or respected, those cases RARELY end with a sustainable solution (sustainable means that neither party will ask that the issue be reopened later). See the link in the comments to find my conversation with Rebekah and Ben and Bubba! #conflictresolution #theleadershipdrivespodcast

As I reflect on two previous podcast interviews, with Dr. Pam Chatman and Keith "The Prince of the Delta Blues" Johnson, I saw a connection. On one hand, Pam’s work focuses on serving the people of the Delta. On the other hand, Keith’s story, in part, captures the spirit of someone who is doing as much as he possibly can not to be one the people Pam helps. Both Pam and Keith hail from the Delta and neither looks down their nose at their fellow Delta native. Perhaps, it could be said that Pam represents hopefulness and support and that Keith represents what happens when hope, opportunity, and drive come together. Now, consider these other two aspects of their stories. In Keith’s day job, he works in HR at a casino in Tunica (By night, he is actually a blue guitarist and is known as the “Prince of the Delta Blues). He shared how he works to support the employees, who are usually Delta residents, to make sure they know how the organization can support them when they experience challenges that impact how they show up at work. Sometimes, it is impossible to maintain a boundary between your personal and work life. Meanwhile, Pam focuses on getting people what they need, whether it is resources to pay bills, food, or transportation to work. I can imagine that they hear heart-wrenching stories on a regular basis. By the same token, their personal journeys attest that they are intimately familiar with some of the circumstances that they hear. As they do the work that they do, I also imagine that there are times wherein they feel torn because we know there have to be times when they are unable to help everybody who requests help. Whether in nonprofit settings or otherwise, how do leaders grapple with realities like these and avoid burnout? Additionally, if you are a leader in an emotionally demanding context, how do you know you are burning out before hit the wall? What do you do to manage your physical and mental health? #allleadershipispersonal #valuesbasedleadership #nonprofitleadership

How often do you meditate on what you believe are the fundamentals of leadership (i.e., without these qualities, a person cannot be effective as a leader)? Yes, we can read all of the leadership books (and we should); however, it is important that each of us develops personal mantras and decides how we will show up in the leadership space. The definitions of leadership shouldn’t be reduced to cookie cutter responses. Each of us, whether we lead on or off the clock, must decide for ourselves what effective leadership is and grow from the experiences that give us feedback regarding whether our perspectives on leadership get the job done. I’ve been stewing on the list below, both in terms of the items on the list and how I’ve ranked them. What are your thoughts? What would you add, take away, or re-order? 1 - Credibility with stakeholders, genuine commitment to the organization’s mission, and unequivocal support from key figures in the organization. 2 - Courage, integrity, EI (especially self-awareness and relationships that help you see how you are perceived), ability to handle risk, effective communication skills. 3 - Ability to grasp and influence the org’s vision, values, priorities, and goals. Ability to build relationships and trust in order to benefit from others’ knowledge and skills and to build meaningful buy-in for change. 4 - Ability/willingness/desire to regularly (perhaps, constantly) recalibrate and reaffirm the vision, values, priorities & goals. 5 - Ability to SWOT the external environment, including the interests and needs of competitors, how other entities directly and indirectly benefit from and are threatened by your business, and how your business. Knowledge of the industry you’re in, adjacent industries, and that of your clients. 6 - Commitment to mutual accountability. 7 - Personal financial reservoir to reduce likelihood of malfeasance and questionable decisions based on fear of personal financial loss (conversely, some research shows that group members become selfish and hard to work with when they need very little from the group of which they are a part). #allleadershipispersonal #aligneverything

Black people don't do that! The "that" can be anything from swimming to hiking to skiing! As quiet as it's kept, Black folks often think this, too. Once, I was hiking in Shenandoah National Park, and a Black woman hiker, who I did not know AT ALL, approached me on the trail. She said, "Sis, please don't think I'm strange, but would you do me a favor? Can we take a picture together? My family doesn't believe that there are other Black people who hike and that being out here is unsafe. I want to show them that there are, in fact, other Black people out here!" I laughed and agreed to the take the photo because my family thinks hiking is "being out there in the bushes where bad things happen" and there are certain no Black folks hiking, EXCEPT me! So, when I met Lisa Parham Jones, I immediately understood where she was coming from when she said, "I want to show the world that Black people do all the things and go everywhere, including Maine!" Through her business, Black Travel Maine, Lisa aims to be the champion of travelers who want to explore the many and various ways Black people have contributed to the country and world while also participating in luxury experiences without wondering if people like them are welcome. See the link to my blog for the full story and link to the podcast episode.