138: 5 Traits You'll Find in Exceptional Leaders

In this episode, we explore insights from various sources, including the Maxwell Daily Reader and personal anecdotes, to provide a comprehensive guide to exceptional leadership in various contexts, from business to family life. Additionally, we reflect on the importance of setting and maintaining high standards, fostering a positive and productive environment, and the need for continuous personal and professional growth. 00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview 01:38 The Importance of Leadership 11:45 Three Essential Traits of Leaders 13:53 Trait 1 25:08 Trait 2 31:40 Consistency and Accountability in Leadership 34:10 Trait 3 41:59 Trait 4 49:58 Trait 5 54:59 Push, Pull, and Patience: Leadership Techniques ORDER MY BOOK HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Go-One-More-Intentional-Life-Changing/dp/1637746210 FOLLOW: Become a BPN member FOR FREE - Unlock 20% off FOR LIFE https://bpn.team/member IG: instagram.com/nickbarefitness/ YT: youtube.com/@nickbarefitness

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Nick Bare?

  Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today's episode is titled five traits of exceptional leaders. So I have five things that I want to discuss, but some notes prior to going into those five things to really set us up for this conversation, this discussion, and just some things that I want to share. The book that I'm currently reading, I'm reading a few books right now, but the one I'm really invested into, or I should say, one of the books I'm really invested into right now. And I've shared this on my social media and there's been a great response.

• 0:47Nick Bare?

  I actually came across this book because it was shared by so many people to me and it's by John Tyson. It's called The Intentional Father. It's a shorter read. I'm probably halfway through right now. I think, you know, I have, I have a daughter, I have a three-year-old daughter, I have a one-year-old son. I think the book is applicable to, can be applicable to all parents, all fathers, whether you have a son or, or a daughter. The book is, is more focused on raising sons, fathers raising, raising sons, but I think the, the lessons

• 1:31Nick Bare?

  shared and the foundational principles are broadly applicable to all parents raising children. And one of the reasons I want to speak into the five traits of exceptional leaders.

• 1:51Nick Bare?

  And this list could be hundreds of traits long. I mean, there could be a multi-part series to to this episode and maybe there will in the future, but there's just five that I want to share in this episode.

• 2:06Nick Bare?

  At this point in my life, watching my children grow up and get older, you know, where it really feels real. Last week Charlie started school for the first time. This morning I dropped Charlie off at school for her second week.

• 2:26Nick Bare?

  That felt real. That felt real. I feel like she was just born and it happened so fast. They grew up so fast. It sounds so cliche and I've heard it from so many people, but when you're watching it happen right in front of you, I want to slow it down.

• 2:47Nick Bare?

  I want to slow down their their aging because these years are so fun. They're very challenging. In all honesty, they're very challenging, but they're so much fun. You know, when I was driving Charlie to school today, the conversation we were having in the truck was just blowing my mind. I was sitting there responding and having conversation with my three-year-old daughter thinking, where did she learn some of this stuff?

• 3:16Nick Bare?

  And in the first couple of years of Charlie being born and and and growing up and now Nico, you know, he just turned one.

• 3:27Nick Bare?

  In the beginning, as a father, as a as a parent, your responsibility and job is is to keep them alive. You're providing comfort, making sure they're fed, they drink water. If they get sick, you care for them. You you put them to sleep at night, you wake them up in the morning. You're just helping them survive in those first couple of years. And now as Charlie is going to school and my kids are getting older, I am feeling this shift as a father, as a parent, and this big responsibility.

• 4:08Nick Bare?

  Now, it's not just keeping them alive, but it's leading them. And they're still young. And, and some of these things that I'm learning and hearing in The Intentional Father by John Tyson, I won't be able to implement for a few years, maybe even a decade.

• 4:27Nick Bare?

  But it's learning these things early on and having a plan. And realizing the responsibility that as parents, as a father, it is my job to lead my family and children. That is, that is a a mandatory responsibility.

• 4:50Nick Bare?

  So that's the book I'm currently reading, or one of them, and I highly recommend The Intentional Father by John Tyson. A few other things I'm reading right now. I've been sharing, sharing these and, and been getting a lot of questions and responses.

• 5:04Nick Bare?

  The Bible that I'm, I'm reading daily is the John Maxwell Leadership Bible.

• 5:11Nick Bare?

  And I love it.

• 5:13Nick Bare?

  It has a scripture and the doctrine, the biblical doctrine, but it all also has added elements within this scripture that applies the scripture and the lessons and the stories to leadership.

• 5:31Nick Bare?

  And I shared this Bible on my Instagram a few nights ago, and I got this response from this gentleman, which I believe is valid, but I want to explain.

• 5:41Nick Bare?

  And the response was, not everything has to be about business and leadership, especially the Bible and scripture.

• 5:52Nick Bare?

  And I recognize that. And I agree.

• 5:58Nick Bare?

  But I think as we, we go throughout this conversation about leadership,

• 6:06Nick Bare?

  leadership is not a synonym for business. Leadership is not a synonym for money. Leadership is not a synonym for power or authority.

• 6:19Nick Bare?

  I believe we are all called to be leaders in our own way and own capacity.

• 6:26Nick Bare?

  Well beyond the walls and boxes of business and organizational structure and hierarchy.

• 6:37Nick Bare?

  As fathers, as mothers, as husbands, as wives, as spouses, as community leaders within our work,

• 6:46Nick Bare?

  within our entire lives, we are called to be leaders

• 6:52Nick Bare?

  in our own way. And we are called to be leaders in this world, I wrote this down here, especially when surrounded in a world of chaos and darkness. Because what leadership has the ability to do is to bring order to chaos in darkness. Leadership, when done correctly, can be the light within darkness.

• 7:23Nick Bare?

  And leadership is not always about leading and influencing a team, or an organization, or a group of people. It can be, but I believe that more specifically and more importantly, leadership is about individual people. Leading individual people.

• 7:48Nick Bare?

  And the traits that I share

• 7:51Nick Bare?

  throughout this discussion, I would love for you to think of it in that context and lens. When I'm sharing these traits, don't think of it as one person in a leadership role, standing in front of dozens, hundreds, or thousands, leading them and guiding them to where they want and need to go. But imagine it and picture it as two people sitting across from themselves at a table, having a conversation. One person leading the other to help them get to where they want to go, or to be who they want to be, and experience what they want to experience, achieve what they want to achieve,

• 8:35Nick Bare?

  have impact, create legacy. Two people at a table, having a conversation.

• 8:43Nick Bare?

  Picture that as we walk through these five traits.

• 8:51Nick Bare?

  Second thing, in terms of John C. Maxwell. I am also reading daily, I have it in my hands right now, The Maxwell Daily Reader. 365 Days of Insight to Develop the Leader Within You and Influence Those Around You. So there are 365 days to pull from and read from. And, you know, for example, today that I'm recording this is September 2nd. So in the morning, I open up the book to the page titled September 2nd.

• 9:35Nick Bare?

  I'll do that right now. And this one is called Allowing Problems. September 2nd. It's a page of text, and it ends with a quote. And this one says, "Learn to view your problems as temporary stumbling blocks." It's page 270. I've really been enjoying it. I highly recommend it. John C. Maxwell's The Maxwell Daily Reader. It's a very quick and easy read. But I will be sharing one daily insight, and I'll be reading the whole page,

• 10:17Nick Bare?

  per five traits that is applicable to that trait throughout this podcast. And the last thing I want to share before we get into all the meat and potatoes of it. I was listening to a podcast this past week. It was Grace Hackett's podcast. And it was a conversation between her and her father, Mike Maranick, who is currently battling ALS. And if you know anything about ALS, it's a...

• 10:53Nick Bare?

  It's a brutal unfortunate disease that unfortunately has no cure. He's battling ALS and it was a very vulnerable, real conversation.

• 11:05Nick Bare?

  And he's been in the financial world, a wealth manager for, I believe it was 30 years. And he was sharing this story that a mentor shared with him once.

• 11:18Nick Bare?

  And it was,

• 11:21Nick Bare?

  you know, how to

• 11:24Nick Bare?

  foster relationships and the person that you want to be viewed as and perceived as, as you foster and build these relationships personally and professionally.

• 11:37Nick Bare?

  And so there's three things that people want to know

• 11:43Nick Bare?

  when they're considering if they want to work with you or not. Work with you, work for you, work alongside of you.

• 11:51Nick Bare?

  Those three things are, and I believe these are very applicable to being respected as a leader. Do you care? Truthfully, do you care? Do you really care about that person? About the mission? About the purpose?

• 12:11Nick Bare?

  About what you're working towards? Do you really care?

• 12:15Nick Bare?

  Are you trusted? And are you competent?

• 12:22Nick Bare?

  I believe those are three traits that if you want to be an exceptional leader, you have to adopt and embody. You have to care.

• 12:33Nick Bare?

  You have to be trusted. You need integrity. And you need to be competent. You need to be able to do what you're being trusted to do. You have to be good at it. If you're not good at it, you have to work to become competent.

• 12:54Nick Bare?

  But I was listening to this conversation with with or between Grace and her dad and he brought this up and I stopped mid run as I was listening to this conversation and I wrote down on my phone because I think those are things that we can ask ourselves frequently as we are leaders. Again,

• 13:15Nick Bare?

  this could be you leading a team in an organization, or this could be you leading your family. Like, do you care? Are you trusted? Are you competent? Okay, so trait number one.

• 13:30Nick Bare?

  Leaders serve others. This is servant leadership. I'm gonna read from page 179 of the Maxwell Daily Reader. This one is from June 11th. This is titled generosity.

• 13:52Nick Bare?

  "Nothing speaks to others more loudly or serves them better than generosity from a leader. True generosity isn't an occasional event. It comes from the heart and permeates every aspect of a leader's life, touching his time, money, talents, and possessions. Effective leaders, the kind that people want to follow, don't gather things just for themselves. They do it in order to give to others. Cultivate the quality of generosity in your life. Here's how. Give something away. Find out what kind of hold your possessions have on you.

• 14:32Nick Bare?

  Take something you truly value, think of someone you care about who could benefit from it and give it to him. If you can do it anonymously, even better. Put your money to work. If you know someone with a vision to do something really great, something that will positively impact the lives of others, provide them resources to accomplish it. Put your money to work for something that will outlive you. Find someone to mentor. Once you reach a certain level in your leadership, the most valuable thing you can do is to give yourself. Find someone to pour your life into, then give him time and resources to become a better leader."

• 15:18Nick Bare?

  All that is not given is lost. What are you currently losing by holding on to it?

• 15:34Nick Bare?

  Leaders serve others.

• 15:39Nick Bare?

  Servant leadership is not just about giving. I believe servant leadership, part of servant leadership is giving. But it's more about serving as opposed to giving. How are we serving others? If the goal of being in a leadership role or having the responsibilities of a leader is self-serving for power, fame, authority, position,

• 16:12Nick Bare?

  that is the wrong reason to want to be in a leadership role. You know, here at this business, people tell me, here at BPN, they want to be on the leadership team someday. And I always ask the question, why? Why do you want to be on the leadership team?

• 16:36Nick Bare?

  And many times, not all the times, they don't have a very clear answer of why. But it is the allure of being on the leadership team. Maybe it is a pay raise that is accompanied with that promotion. Maybe it is the access to information. Maybe it is the ability to make more impactful decisions.

• 17:06Nick Bare?

  But I believe the answer should be to serve everyone else. As a leader.

• 17:15Nick Bare?

  The first thing I think of effective, exceptional leaders is it is not for them. They're in that role, they hold that responsibility, they value that responsibility because they get the opportunity to serve others. Being generous is part of being a servant leader. And this doesn't mean you have to offer things or money. I actually think that's probably the last thing you should be generous with as a leader in a role with people.

• 17:56Nick Bare?

  And it's more so being generous with your time, your energy, actually having conversations and being curious and being interested and wanting to know and learn more about the people. Their wants, their desires, their goals, their hardships, their struggles, their weaknesses, their strengths, all of those things. But I mentioned before I kicked off this first trait, I want us to think of leadership not in terms of leading dozens or hundreds or thousands of people, but one-on-one conversations.

• 18:39Nick Bare?

  And that forces you to put yourself in a servant leadership role. Selfless service. That was one of the core values when I was in the Army. Selfless service. And I believe that there are a lot of exceptional leaders in the military who are there because of selfless service. In the military, you're not necessarily working towards a bonus or a pay raise.

• 19:12Nick Bare?

  Or ridiculous amounts of money, ever.

• 19:18Nick Bare?

  But it's mission focused, it's service focused, it's people focused. That's what I believe breeds such exceptional leaders in the United States military.

• 19:34Nick Bare?

  Someone that I've been listening to a lot recently, Pastor Joby Martin, he has a church down in

• 19:43Nick Bare?

  in Florida, I believe it's the 1122 church, that's what it's called.

• 19:50Nick Bare?

  And he creates a lot of content on masculinity and manhood and what it means to be a man. And one of the things that he said that I thought was absolutely just gold. He said, "True men of God surrender themselves before the cross, serve and lead their families. Put on the full armor of God and stand guard against the lies that threaten to tear our churches and our culture apart." And I bolded and italicized, "Serve and lead their families."

• 20:29Nick Bare?

  I was listening to a podcast that he was on a few months ago.

• 20:34Nick Bare?

  And he was talking about the difference between a boy and a man. And what makes them different?

• 20:43Nick Bare?

  And it's not what we oftentimes think of a man as, which is, you know, these are, these are parts or components potentially, but

• 20:54Nick Bare?

  not directly. Muscles, guns, and loud, deep voices. And standing up in front of everyone and, and yelling, "Follow me. I'm the way." But no, it is, it's being compassionate, it's showing love.

• 21:18Nick Bare?

  And it's serving and leading people, it's serving and leading their families.

• 21:25Nick Bare?

  Servant leadership is not a top-down approach to leading an organization or a family. It levels the organization with a collaborative and a serving mindset.

• 21:39Nick Bare?

  I was reading this book a few, a few months ago and um it was talking about

• 21:48Nick Bare?

  different ways to lead an organization and there's, you know, the, the concepts are few, the methods are many when it comes to leadership. And, and leadership is a forever learning experience. Every year, every month at this point,

• 22:06Nick Bare?

  I'm learning more about what it takes to be an exceptional leader.

• 22:11Nick Bare?

  Some of it I apply to my business, some of it I apply to my family, some of it I apply to, to myself, leading myself.

• 22:21Nick Bare?

  And I, I really attached this, this concept I heard in this book, I guess that I was reading or listening to.

• 22:29Nick Bare?

  And it was this, this, this concept and, and method you can apply to your business

• 22:37Nick Bare?

  of fostering this environment where people

• 22:43Nick Bare?

  don't think that they work for you. If you are the founder, you're the owner, you're the boss. And if you ask your employees, your team, who do you work for?

• 22:56Nick Bare?

  If they say, you, I work for you, boss. Now I work for you.

• 23:03Nick Bare?

  That's one way. I don't, I don't believe that's the right way. Teach their own.

• 23:11Nick Bare?

  I think that we should serve

• 23:16Nick Bare?

  one ultimate ruler and that is God. And I want my team to, to realize they don't work for me. They work with me. We work together. We are on this mission together collaboratively to work and build

• 23:33Nick Bare?

  and to accomplish the goals that we set forth through the vision that we've defined. The team here at BPN, they work with me, not for me.

• 23:45Nick Bare?

  I learned that mindset shifts in that book that I was reading a few months ago. And I can't remember the book off the top of my head, or I would share it. But that small mindset shift, as irrelevant as it may seem or sound, is, it's big. It's impactful. It's huge. The team doesn't work for me. They work with me. We work together. Trait number two, leaders hold themselves and others accountable. This comes from page 380, December 14th, of the Maxwell Daily Reader. This one's titled competency.

• 24:28Nick Bare?

  The word competent sometimes is used to mean barely adequate. When I talk about the quality of competence that is desirable in teammates, I mean it in the sense of its most basic definition, which means to be well qualified and fit. Highly competent people have some things in common. They are committed to excellence. John Johnson in Christian Excellence writes, "Success bases our worth on a comparison with others. Excellence gauges our value by measuring us against our own potential. Success grants its rewards to the few,

• 25:13Nick Bare?

  but is the dream of the multitudes. Excellence is available to all living beings, but is accepted by the few. They never settle for average. The word mediocre literally means halfway up a stony mountain. To be mediocre is to do a job halfway, to leave yourself far short of the summit. Competent people never settle for average. They pay attention to detail. Dale Carnegie said, "Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one, it makes you that much stronger. If you do little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves."

• 25:56Nick Bare?

  They perform with consistency. Highly competent people perform with great consistency. They give their best all the time. And that's important. If 99.9% were good enough, then 22,000 checks would be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes. And 12 babies would be given to the wrong parents today alone. Perform with the highest level of competence and demand the same of all your teammates and team members.

• 26:36Nick Bare?

  I was sharing earlier that through that conversation that I listened to Grace and her father Mike have, there are three questions. Do you care? Are you trusted? Are you competent? Competency. Competency is consistently committed to excellence. Leaders hold themselves and others accountable to a standard.

• 27:06Nick Bare?

  Yeah, there's been a few things that I've said over these last years that have really resonated and stuck with people. And one of those things, I guess a few of those things is the way you do one thing is the way you do everything. I by no means came up with that quote, but it's it's been referenced for years and years and years, and I love it. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. And that we have to choose the hard right over the easy wrong. I've seen those two things really connect with people. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.

• 27:51Nick Bare?

  And choosing the hard right over the easy wrong. Those two things contribute to achieving excellence. And if we want to be competent, if we want to be good at something, we have to be consistently committed to excellence.

• 28:10Nick Bare?

  In order to lead others, we must be able and willing to first lead ourselves.

• 28:22Nick Bare?

  You know, it's do as I do, which is not do as I say.

• 28:29Nick Bare?

  I want to follow someone. I want to be led by someone who's doing the thing, who has the ability and is willing, who, who sets the standard

• 28:43Nick Bare?

  and holds the standard time and time again consistently.

• 28:49Nick Bare?

  When I follow someone, I want to know that I can trust them. I watch them perform. I watch the way they speak to other people. I watch the way they respond in pure chaos. I watch the way they take care of their bodies. I listen to the words they say and which words they decide to choose to use.

• 29:13Nick Bare?

  I want to know that I'm following someone when I do and, and I'm being led by someone that's doing the thing,

• 29:22Nick Bare?

  that I can truly trust. One of the things I shared in my book, Go One More,

• 29:30Nick Bare?

  that's, that's relatable and relevant to this. You know, you get on an airplane, you're traveling, and the stewardess always go through the briefings and the safety checks. And half the people on the flight are tuned in and half are tuned out or already asleep.

• 29:52Nick Bare?

  But one of the things they always say when you get on this plane, in the case of an emergency,

• 30:00Nick Bare?

  and the oxygen masks come from the ceiling down in front of you. Before you take that oxygen mask and put it on your children or your friends and your family, the people next to you, put on your own oxygen mask. Put your oxygen mask on first and then help somebody else. Why? Because if you can't take care of yourself,

• 30:28Nick Bare?

  you're not going to be able to take care of anyone else.

• 30:33Nick Bare?

  If you can't lead yourself, you can't lead others. If you can't hold yourself accountable, you can't hold others accountable. True leaders that care, that are trusted, that are competent, they do the right thing. They're doing the thing every single day consistently. They show up and they get it done. They care about the small stuff because the small stuff matters. They care about excellence because excellence matters. That's why they are trusted as leaders. Leaders are recognized and praised in public for what they have practiced in private for

• 31:14Nick Bare?

  years and years and years. I heard this a long time ago and I loved it. Leaders are praised in public, praised and respected in public for what they have practiced in private.

• 31:30Nick Bare?

  This is how you gain and build trust as a leader.

• 31:35Nick Bare?

  As I've shared, I personally can't trust a leader who doesn't take care of themselves or honors their own commitments.

• 31:47Nick Bare?

  Yeah, I don't want to work alongside somebody who I know doesn't take care of their home life,

• 31:54Nick Bare?

  who doesn't lead and care for their spouse, their kids, their family, their responsibilities. I want people working alongside me in this business here at BPN that honor their other life responsibilities.

• 32:14Nick Bare?

  I don't want someone who kicks butt here at BPN and is an all-star and a stud and is helping the business grow, but simultaneously is letting their home life fall apart. I don't want that. That's not the leader that I want because they can't hold themselves accountable, therefore they can't hold other people accountable. They are one and the same thing. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. Trade number three, leaders have a vision and think big picture. This comes from page 124 of the Maxwell Daily Reader, April 22nd, titled Lead, Don't Manage with Vision.

• 33:01Nick Bare?

  An important part of leadership involves casting vision. Some leaders forget to cast vision because they get caught up in managing. True leaders recognize the difference between leaders and managers. Managers are maintainers, tending to rely on systems and controls. Leaders are innovators and creators who rely on people.

• 33:26Nick Bare?

  Creative ideas become reality when people who are in a position to act catch the vision of their innovative leader. An effective vision provides guidance. It gives direction for an organization, direction that cannot effectively result from rules and regulations, policy manuals, or organizational charts. True direction for an organization is born with a vision. It begins when the leader accepts it. It gains acceptance when the leader models it. And it becomes reality when the people respond to it. Are you leading your team or merely managing them?

• 34:13Nick Bare?

  What I love here is the difference between managers and leaders. Managers are maintainers, tending to rely on systems and controls. Leaders are innovators and creators who rely on people. The difference is between people and systems and controls.

• 34:33Nick Bare?

  That's why vision is a living, breathing thing.

• 34:39Nick Bare?

  Vision can't be created by AI.

• 34:43Nick Bare?

  Vision can't be produced by rules and regulations and documents. Vision is a living, breathing, moving, always-evolving thing.

• 34:58Nick Bare?

  People will try to replicate vision, artificially stimulate and discover vision. It doesn't work that way. You either have it or you don't.

• 35:11Nick Bare?

  The best leaders are visionaries. They have a vision and they think big picture.

• 35:18Nick Bare?

  A few years ago, we started implementing EOS in the business.

• 35:24Nick Bare?

  EOS stands for the Entrepreneurial Operating System. And if you're not familiar, there's two books that I recommend reading. One is called Traction. The other one is called Rocket Fuel. These are authored by Gino Wickman.

• 35:42Nick Bare?

  It's this structure in which you set up a business, manage and lead a business, set up organizational structure, meeting cadence, goal setting. There's multiple facets and components of EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System.

• 36:03Nick Bare?

  One of the key takeaways, and we still run parts of EOS in the business, but not fully.

• 36:09Nick Bare?

  One of the biggest things that took away from learning about EOS is that there's two important individuals within a business. Everyone's important, but there's two that are critically important. The visionary and the integrator.

• 36:27Nick Bare?

  The way Rocket Fuel, based off their website, breaks these down. There are two distinct types of leaders in entrepreneurial businesses, visionaries and integrators. Visionaries are big picture thinkers, always imagining what's next. Integrators make it happen. They bring clarity, accountability, and execution. When those two rules work together in harmony, it creates rocket fuel. That's what propels great businesses and people to the next level.

• 37:00Nick Bare?

  Visionary is all about people.

• 37:04Nick Bare?

  Integrator is all about systems.

• 37:07Nick Bare?

  Visionaries are the spark of a business. Now, I'm talking business right now, but it's applicable, I'm telling you, to all parts of life. Visionaries are the spark of business. They are the spark of family. They are the spark of community. They are the spark of innovation and change and transformation.

• 37:32Nick Bare?

  They're the passionate idea generators, relationship builders, and forward thinkers who bring energy, vision, and creativity. Integrators make it real. They lead with logic, drive, accountability, and turn ideas into action. They create clarity, align teams, and remove barriers to execution.

• 37:55Nick Bare?

  Leaders are visionaries.

• 38:02Nick Bare?

  They see into the future. They forward think and they backwards plan to get the team, to get your family, to get the community, to get the people there.

• 38:18Nick Bare?

  As I was thinking on this one and planning for this one,

• 38:24Nick Bare?

  this quote came to mind. "You can't make decisions today if you don't know where you are trying to go tomorrow."

• 38:33Nick Bare?

  That's a vision. If you're leading your family with me and my wife and our two kids right now,

• 38:44Nick Bare?

  I have to know where we're trying to be tomorrow. I have to have an idea or at least be following someone and being guided with a vision of where I'm trying to get my family to.

• 39:00Nick Bare?

  The purpose, what's guiding us?

• 39:06Nick Bare?

  And then from there, we can make decisions today that align with that vision, that purpose, and those values.

• 39:14Nick Bare?

  But if you don't have a vision, if you don't have core values, if you don't have purpose, if you don't have goals, how are you making decisions today? If you don't know where you're going or trying to get to tomorrow?

• 39:29Nick Bare?

  It's really challenging. It's nearly impossible.

• 39:34Nick Bare?

  It's almost

• 39:37Nick Bare?

  completely impossible.

• 39:45Nick Bare?

  You can only respond

• 39:49Nick Bare?

  as opposed to react if you are thinking ahead, if you have vision.

• 39:55Nick Bare?

  To be a leader in whatever capacity and role and responsibility you have to lead, vision is absolutely critical. The most exceptional leaders have a strong vision and they share it with everyone and they clearly define it

• 40:13Nick Bare?

  and they work towards it. Number four, leaders facilitate a healthy environment. This is page 96 of the Maxwell Daily Reader, March 28, titled "Leaders Must Be Environmental Change Agents." The leaders in any organization must be the environmental change agents. They must be more like thermostats than thermometers. At first glance, a person could confuse these instruments. Both are capable of measuring heat. However, they are really quite different. A thermometer is passive. It records the temperature of its environment, but can do nothing to change that environment.

• 40:59Nick Bare?

  A thermostat is an active instrument. It determines what the environment will be. It affects change in order to create a climate. The attitude of the leader, coupled with a positive atmosphere in the organization, can encourage people to accomplish great things. And consistent accomplishment generates momentum. Many times momentum is the only difference between a winning, positive growth climate and a losing, negative growth climate. Momentum.

• 41:33Nick Bare?

  The next time you find it difficult to adjust the environment in your company, keep in mind this simple fact from the law of physics. Water boils at 212 degrees. But at 211 degrees, it is still just hot water. One extra degree, an increase of less than one half of 1% can make the difference between a bot of languishing liquid and a bubbling cauldron of power. One degree can create a full head of steam, enough power to move a train weighing tons. That one degree is usually momentum.

• 42:12Nick Bare?

  Be a thermostat, not a thermometer.

• 42:18Nick Bare?

  I think leadership is like gardening.

• 42:23Nick Bare?

  When you think of a garden, you have to prune it. You have to plant seeds. You have to water it. You have to feed it. You gotta weed it. You gotta maintain it.

• 42:38Nick Bare?

  That garden, as a leader, is our environment. It is our responsibility to control that garden. We have to do all of those things. We have to, you know, in business, you have to hire and fire as needed.

• 42:56Nick Bare?

  In family, you have to establish those core values, to set boundaries. You have to enforce discipline.

• 43:04Nick Bare?

  You have to verbalize the vision and the mission and the purpose. Leadership is like gardening.

• 43:14Nick Bare?

  Right now, Steph has these two flower beds in the back of the yard, next to Charlie's playhouse, and...

• 43:24Nick Bare?

  Her kind of project the last year since we've moved into this new house has been to garden and she's incorporated Charlie along for this, this journey. And they planted the seeds together and they water it every day and they go and check on the plants and they prune and they maintain. And after a few months, it started growing and producing vegetables and fruit. And we'll go back there and there's peppers and there's jalapenos, there's basil and there's strawberries and there's cilantro and chives and arugula and all this stuff, carrots.

• 44:10Nick Bare?

  And Charlie can never let things grow fully. She picks it off as soon as it's producing fruit and starts eating it. She'll go outside, she'll come back in, she's eating a green bell pepper or a jalapeno or she'll take basil and she calls it her pizza plant. She's eating basil all the time. Spicy basil.

• 44:32Nick Bare?

  But leadership is like gardening. Raising a family is like gardening. And the goal is to maintain a healthy environment. So that in the garden's case, the plants can thrive and survive. And in a leaders context, it is so that the people can thrive, not just survive, but thrive and be productive and have energy and feel good and want to be there and

• 45:07Nick Bare?

  a healthy environment is conducive to so many things.

• 45:15Nick Bare?

  But the opposite of a healthy environment is a toxic environment.

• 45:21Nick Bare?

  And as much as it is a leader's responsibility to facilitate a healthy environment, part of that is also ensuring that anything that is toxic is removed. And even if a leader doesn't participate in the toxicity, if they allow it to happen, they are promoting it, they are encouraging it, they are allowing it. This could be closed-door conversations, this could be gossip, this could be cliques, this could be resentment, this could be jealousy, this could be playing favorites. This could be so many things that are happening within the environment, within the workplace, within a family, within a community. They are all problems.

• 46:05Nick Bare?

  And if a leader doesn't step in and course correct and work really hard tirelessly to ensure that environment is healthy, it will become toxic. Healthy environments encourage candor, they encourage dialogue, they encourage confrontation. Healthy environments don't ignore failures or mistakes or problems. They address them head-on and early on. I believe that the most healthy leaders, those exceptional leaders are,

• 46:47Nick Bare?

  there's an aura around them, there's an energy around them. There's a mood. They are positive, they are optimistic, and they don't allow others to experience, feel, or wear the stress that they are currently experiencing. An unhealthy leader is one who experiences stress. And when they are stressed, or upset, or angry, the energy of the entire environment shifts with them. They can bring it up, they can bring it down.

• 47:28Nick Bare?

  The most exceptional leaders, they don't allow their emotions to dictate the energy of the environment. They maintain that health, they maintain that positivity, they maintain that optimism.

• 47:42Nick Bare?

  It's critical. It's absolutely critical. Leaders facilitate a healthy environment. And the fifth trait is that leaders adapt well.

• 47:55Nick Bare?

  This comes from page 335 of the Maxwell Daily Reader. This is November 1st. Adaptability. Teamwork and personal rigidity just don't mix. If you want to work well with others and be a good team player, you have to be willing to adapt yourself to your team. Team players who exhibit adaptability have certain characteristics. Adaptable people are teachable.

• 48:25Nick Bare?

  Diana Nide said, "I am willing to put myself through anything. Temporary pain or discomfort means nothing to me as long as I can see that the experience will take me to a new level. I am interested in the unknown, and the only path to the unknown is through breaking barriers." Adaptable people always place a high priority on breaking new ground. They are highly teachable. Emotionally secure. People who are not emotionally secure see almost everything as a challenge or a threat. They meet with rigidity or suspicion, the addition of another talented person to the team, and alteration in their position or title,

• 49:09Nick Bare?

  or a change in the way things are done. But secure people aren't made nervous by change itself. They evaluate a new situation or a change in their responsibilities based on its merit. Creative. When difficult times come, creative people find a way. Creativity fosters adaptability. Service-minded. People who are focused on themselves are less likely to make changes for the team than people focused on serving others. There's that servant leadership again. If your goal is to serve the team, adapting to accomplish that goal isn't difficult. The first key to being a team player is being willing to adapt yourself to the team.

• 49:51Nick Bare?

  Not an exception that the team will adapt to you. Are you willing to adapt to your team in order to succeed?

• 50:02Nick Bare?

  Leaders adapt well.

• 50:05Nick Bare?

  But they adapt correctly.

• 50:09Nick Bare?

  Here's what I was thinking in terms of adaptability. What it is versus what it's not.

• 50:16Nick Bare?

  Think of a chameleon.

• 50:19Nick Bare?

  A chameleon doesn't necessarily adapt. A chameleon conforms.

• 50:25Nick Bare?

  You know, a chameleon is this reptile that its defense mechanism is that when it's out in the wild and it feels like it is in danger, it will camouflage itself. It blends into its environment where you can't see it. It's incredible. The absolutely incredible defense mechanism. Chameleons adapt to their environment to conform to the things around them. They want to blend in, camouflage, and hide. But leaders don't want that.

• 50:55Nick Bare?

  Leaders adapt. Leaders are firm on their values, but loose on position. Why I say loose on position is because they are teachable and open.

• 51:09Nick Bare?

  Open to change.

• 51:14Nick Bare?

  The reason it's not to conform, but it is to adapt is what I'm not saying a trait of a exceptional leader is, is that they conform to their environment. They give in to anything and everything. No, leaders know what they stand for. They have their values. They have their beliefs. They have their vision. They have their mission. They have their purpose.

• 51:41Nick Bare?

  They're firm on those things, but they are loose

• 51:46Nick Bare?

  on the position in the way that you potentially get to those things.

• 51:53Nick Bare?

  Leaders are firm on values, but potentially loose on position. They adapt, but not necessarily conform. They're not a chameleon.

• 52:06Nick Bare?

  Emotional regulation.

• 52:10Nick Bare?

  I think that is a critical component of exceptional leaders. When leaders are put in a position where they have to adapt, they have to pivot, they have to change.

• 52:24Nick Bare?

  They define a new way. It can be very stressful, it can be very challenging, it can be very hard, but part of that adaptation is regulating your emotions. Again, going back to the previous trait. If you can regulate your emotions correctly, you can maintain a healthy environment.

• 52:51Nick Bare?

  I was listening to a John Maxwell podcast this morning, actually. And it was talking about different styles of leadership and the way that you approach individuals and leading and developing individuals.

• 53:05Nick Bare?

  And there's three things to take away from this podcast I listened to this morning. There's a push, there's a pull, and there's patience.

• 53:14Nick Bare?

  When it comes to leading people.

• 53:20Nick Bare?

  And while leading people

• 53:23Nick Bare?

  to help them grow and develop and adapt over time, you might have to push them. Push them, pushing people requires candor, hard conversations, and telling people what to do. What to do and why they're doing it.

• 53:40Nick Bare?

  You realize they have the ability, they're just not doing it, so you push them. You can also pull them. When you pull them, you have compassion and you are encouraging people what to do and where to go and why.

• 53:58Nick Bare?

  And the last is through all of this, you have patience. You can push and you can pull, but you need to have patience in the process that allows them to develop and adapt over time. From the John Maxwell podcast, push, pull, and patience as traits of leaders. And I think this is tied very closely to adapting. We as leaders have to adapt the way that we are leading people based off of the person that we are attempting and trying to lead. They might need pushed, they might need pulled, they definitely need some patience.

• 54:39Nick Bare?

  So those are five traits of truly exceptional leaders that you can start working on and incorporating and just being more mindful of and aware as you lead your team, your business, your family, your children, your community, whatever it is you're being called to lead. These are five traits that I believe exceptional leaders embody. So with that being said, we'll see you guys in the next episode.