It’s an incredible feeling to walk away from a workshop feeling inspired and ready to take on the world.  It’s the kind of experience that can empower you to make changes to the way you think or act that elevates your leadership skills and can help you take your business and people to the next level.

We had this exact experience recently when we were lucky enough to attend a workshop by Mark ‘Squiz’ Squirrell.  Wow!  This was a leadership workshop that was different to anything else we had experienced.  Through his story telling and some amazing footage that we were able to view through virtual reality headsets, Squiz plunged us into the some of the most dangerous places in the world and made us evaluate our decision making and leadership skills.

Thanks to his time in the Special Forces, his career managing and delivering humanitarian aid and a quick trip up to the Summit of Everist, Squiz has unique experiences that have shaped his ability to make decisions under pressure, lead and develop high functioning teams and deliver on the needs of the task or project in front of him.  Thanks to Squiz’s sharing of his lived experiences, we received some powerful insights about leadership that we would like to share with you now.

Be a Better Leader

1. Resilience – strong leaders have the mindset to lead themselves, and others, through challenging times.
   
   
2. Everyone must play their role in a team. You can’t carry people.
   
   
3. How much time are you putting into your recruitment selection process? How much time are you committing to training your team (especially before they hit the ropes / frontline?). Do you include practice / simulation when training to really embed the knowledge to ensure people are set up for success?
   
   
4. Are you training people to make good decisions under pressure? Are you making good decisions under pressure or stress? Do you understand the importance of de-briefing after a difficult situation; reviewing the decisions and actions and learning from them. Are you mindful of considering all of the available options when making a decision – considering what the best decision to make in this instance is, that will assist with the desired outcome…? (pointing fingers and blaming is never the answer).
   
   
5. The absence of decision making is the absence of leadership.
   
   
6. To be a truly effective leader you must build genuine relationships both within your business and outside of it. Genuine relationships allow you to reach out for help when needed in crucial situations. There are times when you simply cannot go it alone!
   
   
7. Good leaders don’t just look at their Position Description. They look at how they can better contribute to the organisation’s goals, and then they do that – whatever that is.
   
   
8. The importance of strategy and planning before action or execution.
   
   
9. You need to assign the right people to the right tasks to achieve the goals. You must understand the diverse skill sets in your team and deploy them accordingly. You must encourage team communication and cohesion when confronting a challenge.
   
   
10. Be aware of complacency after reaching a goal or solving an issue. Sometimes the trip ups happen after the main event and complacency is often the cause.
    
    
11. As a leader, always take ownership, even if not directly involved.
    
    
12. The leader needs to stay back so they can see the whole picture and be strategic about the forward progression. If the leader is in the weeds with the daily operations, then they can easily become preoccupied with dealing with daily challenges, and forget, or not be able to see, the bigger picture.
    
    
13. Celebrate all successes and wins. With the big achievements, celebrate BIG with ice cream and music. (OK, it doesn’t have to be ice cream, but it does need to be relevant to you and your team.)
    

You invest in your people and their development, but it is important to remember yourself and your leadership team. Leadership skills need to be constantly refined and improved and we are here to coach you, mentor developing leaders or deliver a training program that is specific to the needs of you and your team. 

We’d also like to give a shout out to Squiz and recommend him as a truly inspiring and thought-provoking speaker that you may wish to consider for your next team development session.  Contact Squiz at Global Frontline.  Otherwise, contact us at HR Staff n’ Stuff to chat about your leadership development needs.