YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO CHANGE

Yesterday I attended Leadercast Live in the Atlanta, GA area. This event was broadcast to over 20 countries and 100,000 people around the world. Over the next week I will share notes on the excellent talks that were delivered. Below are my notes from Kat Cole’s talk.

KAT COLE: Kat Cole went from being a Hooters waitress to the C-Suite in a very short period of time. She is now the COO and President of FOCUS Brands North America. Prior to that Kat spent several years as the President of Cinnabon where she led 1200 locations in 55 countries.

One of my core beliefs is that we have to give ourselves and others Permission To Change! We must also have a Passion To Evolve & Grow!

In many organizations, the people on the front lines often lack the needed information, authority, or communication ability to make the needed changes on their own. It then falls on the Leader to make the hard decisions, the tough calls to move the organization forward even when it is uncomfortable.

As a leader, we must have a passion to evolve and give ourselves permission to change. We must do this in order to be equipped to make these tough calls as a leader.

Early in my career I said “Yes” before I was ready for that next promotion but I did the hard work so that I would not let the people who had confidence in me down. I used the Hustle Muscle to figure it out and live up to the expectations of those who had place confidence in me to do the job.

Checking is the process to make sure I am on the same page with both my team at work and my spouse. With my husband, we have month check-ins to make sure we are on track at home. We both have busy professional careers and goals associated with our respective careers, but we don’t want to lose touch and focus on our most important priorities at home in our relationship and family dynamics.

We have a commitment to better at home than at work. We do this on our Monthaversary. We ask each other 3 questions:

We are seeking how we can be there to show up for one another. These questions will chart the path for how I can be a better partner/leader for you.

Answer the tough questions, “I would be failing you if…?

You must have the courage to answer and act.

I don’t want to be STUCK! Sometimes we need to leave a situation, job, boss, relationship, company and start something new.

Maybe if there was more permission to change and passion to evolve we would have more successful families, organizations, communities and companies in our world today.

As a leader give yourself and others permission to change. You must have a passion to learn and grow.

The Hot Shot Rule is when you imagine it is your last day on your current job and you meet your replacement, “Mr. or Mrs. Awesome”. This person has it all together and is coming into your current job with lots of new and fresh ideas to prove themselves and put their mark on your old position.

Imagine who that person would be. Who would be an upgrade for your job?

We are blinded by our own Progress!

We are often hostage to our own progress. It keeps us from moving forward and improving. You need to go back to your current job on Monday and look at your current job through the eyes of your replacement, “THE HOT SHOT”.

You need to commit that the current state of this job and my performance is the worst it will ever be. I will take this new perspective and work to improve those things that come to mind as if this was my first day and I was taking a fresh look at all that needs to be done.

How can we change to get better?

A good dose of what has pushed the world forward is giving ourselves and others permission to change. It is OK to think differently tomorrow than you did yesterday. It is a sign of growth. I have permission to change.

I must be my own best coach. Pick one thing I am going to do differently this week or month and then go do it. Then share with your team what you have done. You want to be authentic and transparent with your team to show you are still growing and learning your job and how to do it better. This will be duplicatable and the result of doing this activity will transform your organization.

You need to set your own definition of success. Set your own goals and aspirations.

The result of practicing The Hot Shot Rule is that your model the behaviors you desire for your organization and this enables you to lead more effectively. You can use the Hot Shot Rule to model vulnerability, curiosity, humility and drive change in your organization.

In order to accomplish this, fresh eyes are required. Be the new person on your team.