Aegis Learning is pleased to announce the accreditation from the Nevada Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training for our Leadership IMPACT program.

This means that all law enforcement professionals can now receive continuing education credits when they attend this program.  Our other leadership program offerings are currently being reviewed for the same quality certification and we are also seeking accreditation with several other professional agencies.

Thank you to Matt Zobrist for his work in starting this process for Aegis Learning.

By Teresa Lowry

When I was growing up, my Uncle Ronnie would tell the same joke every time he came to our house for dinner. It started out with “Did I tell you I received the Most Humble Man award this year? My uncle would then feign indignation and conclude: “But when I accepted the award they took it back!” We would all laugh. Humility can be tricky, if we think we are then we’re not!

When we explore confidence and humility, we may envision the extremes. At one end of the spectrum is Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa models of humility. Let us aspire to something more likely. On the other end of the spectrum there is the extreme side of confidence: arrogance. We want to avoid this at all costs. What effective leaders demonstrate is the graceful balance and blend of confidence and humility. No false bravado or false humility here. Authenticity will get us where we need to go.

Cruising Our Way to Confidence

Confidence is a sense of control and mastery of oneself and the world.

In Leadership IMPACT and all our extended leadership development programs, we provide guidance that confidence is a personal dynamic that’s generated internally but potentially affected by many outside influences. Effective leaders must be confident or at the very least appear confident. Our confidence as a leader will dramatically affect the desire of our team members to follow us.

Past successes, failures, tolerance for risk, experience, and subject matter expertise all impact our confidence. So, does feedback from others. Confidence is also impacted by our resilience and general state of wellbeing. At its core, confidence is the reconciliation of the consequences of failure. Every time we process what could go wrong and then proceed, we are producing confidence.

To enhance the feeling of confidence, remember past successes. Relate current scenarios and challenges to past events when you succeeded in your actions. Another technique to improve confidence is to track, monitor, and report achievements.

To keep confidence from turning into arrogance, follow the simple rule that confidence is unspoken. Confidence is quiet while arrogance is loud and obnoxious. Confidence is a gracious thank you to compliments. Thank you. Period. Similar to apologies. I am sorry. Period.

Confidence allows us to lead during times of uncertainty or ambiguity. It is knowing we can handle and can learn from whatever comes our way.

The Road to Humility

In the Harvard Business Review article “The Best Leaders Are Humble Leaders” by Prime and Salib, May 2014, it was noted that humility is a trait that many successful organizations look for in new hires. Without humility, you are unable to learn. Citing a Catalyst study, they found humility is one of the critical leadership qualities that team members appreciate. The key is learning from corrective feedback and admitting mistakes. When leaders humbly admit they don’t have all the answers they create a space for others to step forward and offer solutions.

A humble leader solicits feedback and asks “How am I doing?” This question should be posed to team members, peers, customers, mentors, and family members. Listen to their feedback and then accept it. Without justification, explanation, and with appreciation. If you have the good fortune to have a truth teller, who without agenda or ulterior motive, is willing to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly, listen to them. And then tell them how grateful you are to have them in your life.

Humility could include seeking input from others, subordinating your own ideas, and avoiding adding value. It definitely includes the ability to apologize, to forgive and be forgiven.

Sometimes when we forget to be humble, life finds ways to remind us. Lessons if you will. We think we are all that as we enter a room and then realize after the big presentation that a zipper is not zipped up, or there is kale in our teeth, or a pink Velcro roller left in the back of our hair. Someone yawned or even fell asleep while we were talking. We lose a promotion, an election, the big game, the partner of our dreams. If we don’t find humility sincerely and honestly it will find us and it’s not pretty.

The Intersection: Meet Me on Authenticity Street

We want to be strong, confident leaders. We want to know that in a time of challenge or crisis we can and will rise to the occasion. Each success, as well as lessons learned from each failure, will give us the confidence we need to lead our team.

What will ultimately connect us to the people on our team will be our humility. It is in our moments of vulnerability when we let our guard down that we forge an emotional bond. The intersection of confidence and humility is authenticity. We would not be in a leadership position without a set of skills we can feel good about, and at the same time, we can be humbled regularly by what we have yet to learn or master. When we take our experience, skills and knowledge and show by example that we will take care of our team while demonstrating humility we are at our most authentic as a leader. It is a nice place to be. Even if you can’t accept any awards for it.

There are not enough superlatives to go around for the group of leaders from the City of Las Vegas that recently (July, 2017) completed Leadership SUCCESS.  The transformation and openness of this team was amazing and Aegis Learning was honored to be there with them.

Their program including nine learning units, peer coaching, outside reading and reports of skills mastered.  Congratulations to all of them and we look forward to hearing about your continued success.

Another great group from Freeman, the world’s largest trade show contractor.  

Congratulations to the Chicago branch of Freeman for completing Leadership IMPACT and we look forward to hearing about your ongoing success.  The future for this group of leaders is very bright.

Congratulations to the awesome group of leaders from Carnival Cruise Lines for completing Leadership IMPACT.

Tremendous enthusiasm, spirit and a great heart for leadership.  Well done Carnival Cruise Lines.  Well done.

Recently,  a 2015 “Forbes” article (Horoszowski,M. 29 March, 2015. Forbes.com) resurfaced on various social media sights, highlighting the benefits of volunteering. Despite its age, the message still rings true. Reading this article got me thinking about how volunteering can also expand our leadership skills, and may provide us with a real-life laboratory to test out new skills and competencies in order to hen transfer them back to the workplace.

We all know that a critical leadership skill is time management; if you cannot manage yourself, then you surely cannot lead others. So if “volunteering makes you feel like you have more time” then I’m in! (and from personal experience, as counterintuitive as it sounds, this is true!) ….so how is it possible to pack in more than 24 hours in a day and still manage to balance all the demands of career / family / self-care and now volunteering? The answer is by appearing to be in control and not allowing stress to take over your life. Also if you are working for a cause that is truly your passion, then it is not “stressful” rather it is truly a joy.

So find your passion. Whatever that may be; volunteer with your kid’s PTA. Volunteer at the local soup kitchen; take the kids and have them serve the homeless on a holiday. Join a Church committee on whatever topic is of interest. Spend time at the local animal shelter. Become active in your professional association and mentor a promising protégée or teach a class. Hold a FUNraiser and walk or run for ___(insert your favorite charity here) ____ . Whatever your area of interest, these groups welcome new volunteers; and if you are already part of a non-profit or charity organization, then get more involved by joining the leadership team. Whatever it is, find your passion. You may say “I don’t have time to volunteer” that’s true, none of us do; however, time management is as simple as managing priorities; we make time for those things that are a priority.

Practice leadership skills that you may not have an opportunity to apply in the workplace. Maybe you are an independent contributor and do not have any direct reports or no longer manage a process. First, you need to reassess your value and realize that you are more important than you may realize. Take on some new responsibilities in a volunteer capacity; but be careful, you may even learn a new skill set along the way. Even if you’ve never been a “supervisor,” you may find yourself in a “leadership” role and have to be the boss for the first time ever. An interesting dynamic with volunteers is that like you, no one is compensated to be there, and your leadership skills may really be put to the test.

Volunteers working together all share the same core “cause” or passion in common, whatever that is; keep the strategic goal in focus. This is similar to the workplace, the primary difference being the paycheck and individual’s motivation. In a volunteer setting, there is a high degree of certainty that everyone is there because they want to help, rather than to earn a wage. Everyone is working together towards the same ultimate goal and leadership can and should use that to “rally the troops” when necessary. Keep in mind that volunteer leadership is driven by communication, influence, and relationships, not power and fear. Try this same approach in the workplace; it works!

Still not convinced? Some other great reasons to volunteer are to use this setting as a “proving ground” even if just to yourself, to practice and perfect your leadership skills; for example, challenge yourself to speak in public, or work on a project that will teach you a new skill set; what have you got to lose?. Then those skills are transferrable to the workplace. And at the same time you are giving back to the community, expanding your network (i.e. influence) meeting net people, our and might just enjoy yourself.

(And by the way, it looks great on a resume)

As chief learning officer for Aegis Learning, Linda Florence is an advocate for continued education and quality professional growth.

Linda is a talented facilitator and coach and passionate about the causes she support locally and nationally.