After a 3-0 record this weekend at the Black Swamp Curling Club in Bowling Green Ohio, we had arrived at the A Event Finals; now to fight the battle for 1st place! Did we win? I’ll leave that for the end of the article. The process of getting to this winners event and the outcome we achieved are the lessons leaders need to glean from my story.

But a little about the photo; when you arrive at the A, B, C event finals, you are piped in by a bag piper and at the end we make a toast to a good game, good sportsmanship and to the piper as a tradition in the sport of curling. I cried as we were walking onto the ice with my teammates Erin, Janet and Sue because I couldn’t believe we made it and I was thrilled at simply the opportunity. We had build a team, built trust and had amazing communication. We had only started curling together as full team a month ago, but we knew if we focused on the process, and what was most important, the results would come.

In our first two games, I was very nervous because both had beat me in the past and they were our toughest competition in the short term. They were close games where in the second game, we were tied after 8 ends and it came down to skips rocks (who can get our stone closest to the button / center). My stone with the help of the team sweeping and calling the angle helped my stone to get to 7 inches from the center. My opponent was a bit wider and with that we won the game. This was a testament to having confidence in myself to not blowing it under pressure and having the confidence in my capability. Moreso, it was trusting my team to take it to the place it needed to arrive.

After celebrating a bit to much after two wins and with the clocks moving ahead 1 hour this Saturday, our bodies made it on the ice one more time at 8:30 am Sunday. I was feeling a little ill, but I knew I had to be present for the team and fortunately, it was an easy game that got us into the finals. We kept our professional form despite our delight inside we were soon going to be in the A event finals and shared some good conversation with the opposing team while we rested up. The lesson here is even if you’re “crushing” the competition, keep your head focused on the process and sportsmanship. People will remember you for who you were as a person and not the result of the event that just transpired. Some leaders get so caught up in the win, they forget they’re interacting with humans.

Fast forward to our A-Event finals, the dynamic of the game changed. I had beaten and lost in the past to my opponent so it could go either way. The ice conditions changed and my teammates shots were not getting to where they needed to be; making it a tough match. One time, I had to make an incredible shot and my vice-skip was asking me to make a more conservative shot. I saw the harder shot and I was confident I could make it because I felt it was possible despite the odds. It’s amazing when you set your mind to something, because I made an amazing hit that enabled us to win the end. This was a moment of extreme confidence and desire to take the harder shot. In the past I would have blown it, but when I trusted myself and my team, anything is possible.

In the final end of the game, it was close and there was a chance to win it, but my last shot was just a bit off on an incredibly hard shot. We came away as the A event runner up; 2nd place out of 16 teams. While some may have been dismayed with the result, as a leader, I was more focused on the outcome and peace of mind. I now potentially have a team that wants to stick together and go to other events and get the same or even better results. The leadership lesson here is focus on the outcome and the results will come. I have a team that I enjoy their company. We communicate and trust each other and when that happens, we are A Event Runners up; a winning outcome!

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Good curling-Deb

Food Recalls, FAA Investigations, Layoff Fails, Lack of Transparency and others Corporate Debacles can usually be avoided with better risk management and a positive organization culture. Yet bad press in the news is growing and I am clearly seeing what is going wrong in the C-Suite.

As the Drop In CEO, I’ve dropped in to enough situations to see common trends Organizations will Crumble from the Top and Bottom; leaving them in Crisis. My superpower is to assess the landscape, listen to the people and find clarity into what is the true problem. Once I fix the problem in partnership with the C-Suite Leader, we elevate the people for a lasting impact and sustain the new level of performance. In most cases, I’m called in too late when there is crisis and some damage has been done. I plead with those reading this to heed these top 5 issues to prevent a crisis and perhaps bring me in when you feel things getting chaotic and you’re losing sleep.

Have the Courage to Ask for Help: Leaders wait too long hoping the problem will go away or with brut force it will get resolved. They feel shame in asking for help when true leadership realizes adding capacity and capability to their situation will help them navigate faster away from a crisis.

Trust, but Verify: As organizations grow and we’re disconnected from the tactical execution of the strategy, leaders get lazy and trust their people are giving you the right information. Honestly, we do need to expect that as we build out the talent. But every once in a while, you need to challenge the data you are receiving and verify it is the truth. Discovery will help you to feel confident in things are working or the transparency you need to identify risks and close gaps.

Losing Connectivity with People as the Organization Grows: Leaders need to find ways to assure their messages are cascaded down and understood by the teams. Additionally, the issues, gaps, perceptions etc. need to flow up and have access to senior leaders for valuable feedback and taking action before you’re in a crisis. Find creative ways to assure people feel included, they belong and are part of a culture that values individuals vs. simply results.

Close gaps in performance, not results: When you close gaps in people’s capacity, capability or confidence, you unleash their potential. When leaders focus on the results and people are not performing at their peak based on leading indicators of barriers, you’ll never sustain any short-lived results you might get. Focus on the people and they will get you the results.

Leaders no longer need to be lonely: Leaders often say it is lonely at the top. The fact is, they have a choice to have a partner or a #2 that can be that trusted confident to speak to and help navigate out of a crisis or avoid it. So often, they seek the advice of their C-Suite team or board of advisors as they should. However, they’re not impartial and a little too close to the situation. Consider a “Drop In CEO” as another guide in your journey to lead organizations. You can take action to stop the loneliness and expand your capacity by enlisting that valuable resource. Failure to do so can make it lonelier when you can’t see the challenges in front of you.

If this is you or an organization you care about that is experiencing some type of pain, let’s talk.

I’m here for you to avoid a crisis.

DM me on Linkedin or let’s make it easier and book a call here.

I just want to see you succeed!-Deb