First published 12 July 2020 on Your Best Year Starts Here with Nigel Risner.
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Nigel kicked this one off with a money tip. If you want to earn more money, put an L in the front. He admitted he'd only thought of it that second. The L he actually meant was leadership, the last letter of the REAL model he'd been running through last week.
His point is you can't lead a team if you're not leading yourself first. If nobody's following you, you're not much of a leader. He also owned up to something plenty of people feel and never say. He likes knowing who's listening. Podcasts drive him a bit mad because you never really know, so when someone stops him and says they heard last week's episode, his reaction is "I'm a leader. Someone's listening to me."
Then we got onto kids. Nigel sometimes hears his own words coming out of his daughter. Mine does it to me too. We were talking about moving house and she said, "remember, Daddy, home's not where you live, it's the people you're with." That's my line. Lovely that it stuck. Also, please don't quote me at me.
I brought up content and content. Same spelling. The content you let into your life affects how content you are, and what you put out does the same to other people. And I said something about done beats perfect that I stand by. It doesn't mean any old rubbish will do. If you know you'll show up better after ten minutes of meditation, that's worth thinking about.
Nigel's version is feedback straight after a talk. Someone asks if they can give him some and he'll say "Not right now." One person calls you a horse, they're crazy. Fifty, get a saddle. Somehow that turned into my beard, and a friend in the States who told me any boy can have a shave but only a man can grow a beard. So I kept it.
Worth remembering
- Lead yourself first. If nobody's following, start by looking at you.
- Your kids and your team soak up what you say, so be careful what that is.
- Watch the content you let in. It changes how content you are.
- Done beats perfect still means your best with what you've got right now.
- Pick your moment for feedback. One odd comment is probably their stuff. Fifty people saying the same thing is worth hearing.
The greatest leaders are the greatest listeners, and the greatest listeners can become the greatest leaders.
Nigel Risner
The content you allow into your life influences how content you are with your life.
Neil Martin
