When You're Ready to Commit: Leadership Beyond the Theory

Episode #103 When You're Ready to Commit: Leadership Beyond the Theory

Marty: Hey there, and welcome to episode 103 of the No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast. This week’s episode, When You’re Ready to Commit: Leadership Beyond the Theory. We’ve had lots of questions lately from listeners. Most recently from Ryan asking, “How do we implement the learnings from the podcast into their organisations and to get their leaders to pick up on the concepts and use them“?

Unfortunately, there are no simple answers to this question. The podcast is designed for leaders like you to expose you to different ways of thinking, and to give you some practical tips from the leadership “front line”. We know that this is hitting the mark, based on the amazing growth we’ve experienced globally, and we love that we’ve been able to reach so many leaders across the world through the podcast. But for most of us, including me, when we listen to a podcast, we do so without any commitment to actually changing.

It’s definitely a great way to shift our thinking. I know hundreds of executives though, who despite having the right leadership knowledge are genuinely awful leaders because they never develop the habits that would truly help them to lead better. Today, we want to talk about what it takes to change. This is why Em and I developed Leadership Beyond the Theory. If you love the podcast, Leadership Beyond the Theory is the next step. It’s there for you when you’re ready to commit to taking the No Bullsh!t Leadership concepts and embedding them as repeatable habits and behaviour.

If you’re not ready to commit right now, that’s perfectly fine. Everyone is at a different stage in their lives and careers, and only you know, when you’re ready to get serious. But this episode is still worth listening to so that you can understand the difference between involvement and commitment. So in this episode, Emma and I are going to have a chat about Leadership Beyond the Theory and why we have so much belief in this as the path to leadership excellence. We believe it will make the most difference in how you perform. So hey Em, how are you doing today?

Em: I’m really good thanks Marty. I’m so excited to record this podcast episode. Leadership Beyond the Theory is my baby, it is pretty much the thing I love most about my job. I absolutely love working with leaders in the two cohorts that we run every year, so yeah, I’m really excited to kind of talk through this with you.

I really like the idea of involvement versus commitment that you were just talking about, and I think it would be great to start this episode with a story that you often tell about the Wallabies rugby captain, Nick Farr-Jones before his first test match.

Marty: Oh yeah Em, this is a cracking story. So Nick Farr-Jones, young lad, first tour with the Wallabies of the UK and he was there before his first test match. Now the coach at the time, was a guy by the name of Alan Jones. And Alan apparently had this habit of the first morning before a new cap, so someone who was playing their first test match for the Wallabies was to run on, he would have breakfast with them one on one. And so this morning, of course, he had breakfast with Nick. And he sat down and apparently, Alan Jones said, “Nick, today, I want you to be the pig in the process”. And Nick in his laconic fashion said, “Why don’t you talk me through that Jonesy”? And he said, “Just think of this, Nick. We’re on a farm and there’s a chicken and a pig. And the chicken says to the pig, the farmer has been so good to us lately, I reckon we should throw breakfast on for the farmer and his wife, and the pig looked back and said, “Gee, I don’t know about that.” The chicken said, “Why not?” And the pig said, “Because for you it’s involvement for me, it’s real commitment”.

Em: I love that. Such a good one.

Marty: Yeah. It’s an absolute cracker, isn’t it Em?

Em: So Marty, we’re going to talk all about Leadership Beyond the Theory for the next ten or so minutes, but I just want to preface this episode for our listeners. Even if you’re not thinking of joining us in the upcoming cohort, don’t turn this episode off. It is really worth listening all the way through because we’re going to give you a thorough understanding of what the next step would be for you as a regular listener of our podcast. Leadership Beyond the Theory might not be right for you right now, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind as you work your way through your leadership career, and I think understanding more about the program is going to put you in a really good position to plan for it down the track.

Alright, Marty, let’s get into it. Why is better leadership even more critical now than it ever has been?

Marty: Well for those who are going to pick up this podcast in years to come, because obviously this is going to be evergreen, it’s worth understanding the context of when we’re recording it. So we’re about six months into the global pandemic that is COVID-19. And this has brought some changes into how we operate our organisations and how we lead our people. So for start, there’s things like the lack of proximity. You’ve got a very fragmented workforce now with a lot of people not working in the locations they used to, and it’s even more important than ever that you have strong leadership skills in order to handle this. So you’ve got to move from measuring inputs, which is basically time spent at the desk and effort put in and hours logged, to moving to measuring outputs, and then measuring outcomes, and then ultimately measuring value. You’re also operating in an environment of extreme ambiguity. And some of the tools that we provide in Leadership Beyond the Theory directly address how to handle a very ambiguous environment and how to turn this ambiguity into certainty for your people.

Also, with the heightened level of anxiety and stress that’s going on in our workforces, having the right mindset as a leader to manage this conflict and also to have the right level of resilience in yourself so that you stand up to these pressures is all important. Having tough conversations with people who are fearful or angry is always difficult. And the variability that you’re facing now due to people’s personal circumstances has increased massively. So for people like me, if I work from home, it’s fantastic. It’s relaxed. It’s productive. It’s really easy for me to do it because I don’t have to worry about anything else. But there are some people who work for you who are at home now and you know the drill. They’re trying to homeschool their kids. They’re spending a lot more time juggling things with their spouse and all the stress and pressure of getting their work done is just on top of that. And so how to manage that in all its variations individually is quite tough. It’s basically widened the normal spectrum of performance, I think.

Em: So I guess what you’re saying is that COVID-19 has basically amplified the environment that you used to lead in?

Marty: Oh yeah, absolutely Em, for sure. So what you used to get away with as a leader, you can’t get away with anymore. We were already heading in this direction before COVID hit, but COVID’s been a massive accelerator to this. So I guess in terms of the timing of our cohort, that we’ve got coming up now, Leadership Beyond the Theory timing is absolutely fortuitous. If you’ve struggled in the last six months, it will have made you very aware of the gaps in your leadership capability. The interesting thing is now is the time that you can get control back if you’re ready to commit. I’m sure the webinars on these topics, when we go through the programme in the next couple of months, will be incredibly valuable for this Leadership Beyond the Theory cohort.

Em: Mm absolutely. I’m really excited to hear those.

Marty: Yeah. And look, that’s just the environment we’re operating in, but when we talk about the benefits of Leadership Beyond the Theory, we can have a perspective, but it’s really our alumni, that have the strongest voices. Now for me personally, I believe that I’ve actually cracked the code on what the most critical elements of leadership performance are, but Em why don’t you briefly talk us through some of the testimonials, because I think it’s the past students who really tell us what the value is.

Em: Absolutely. So I’ve just picked out 4 that I think really talk to the outcomes of the program.

The first one is from Megi, who is one of our students from Google in Europe. Megi said:

“Leadership Beyond the Theory is the missing piece of the puzzle that you need to become a better leader. My mindset about leadership has completely changed and now I feel ready to face any difficult conversation or complex decision with confidence“.

Another one that I love is from Rupert, who’s a Senior Leader at Colliers International. He said:

“Historically, I haven’t been confident enough to lean into some of the opportunities that my organisation has offered because I felt I lacked the leadership polish. Leadership Beyond the Theory has given me the missing tools I need to step up”.

Charlotte is Head of Marketing for a digital agency. Her feedback still stands out to me because it encapsulates exactly what we wanted to achieve by creating this program. I think she says it better than I even could! Charlotte said:

“We’ve all had ineffective managers and bosses in our careers and wish that they could have provided better guidance and been more supportive. Leadership Beyond the Theory teaches you how to go out there and be the boss you’ve always wished you had”.

I love that one. And the very last one that I chose is from David, who works at Qantas. And David said:

“The greatest value I’ve gained from doing Leadership Beyond the Theory is that I now have clarity around not only where I want to go as a leader, but how I’ll get there. It’s a fantastic course. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough”.

Don’t they just make you feel all warm and fuzzy, Marty?

Marty: Oh, they absolutely do. Yeah. It’s great to hear too. And I remember some of the questions that all of those people asked during the cohort last time and they were fantastic questions.

Em: Totally. If you’re keen on reading the full interviews that we’ve done with over 30 of our past students, I recommend you head to www.yourceomentor.com/casestudies. Now, a common question that we get is “What is the difference between Leadership Beyond the Theory and the podcast”? We love that the No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast is our way of really reaching leaders across the globe, and it’s an incredibly powerful medium. We spoke about this in our 100th episode. We absolutely love producing it every single week, and we’re going to keep doing it for as long as we possibly can. It’s also helped us to learn that there is a massive need for the cut through, the cut-through content.

Marty: Yeah. And I think the big difference is that if you’re anything like me, you listen to podcasts when you’re on the go. I know I certainly do. So when I’m exercising, if you’re commuting, for example, to the extent that people still commute during COVID, or if you’re hiding from the kids at home, I mean, there are set times when you do it, but it’s still quite a casual commitment. And I know Em, you’re a lot more methodical and intentional when you listen to podcasts. Particularly things like you know, Amy Porterfield’s marketing podcast and so forth, which you’ve basically used to rapidly increase your knowledge and capability. But for most people, it gives them a few ideas without forcing any self reflection or real change. Now, the big difference between that and Leadership Beyond the Theory is that Leadership Beyond the Theory is an integrated, codified system. It has many of the same concepts you’ll encounter in the podcast, but this focuses specifically on implementation. Lots of people know what to do, but they have no idea how to do it. So there’s plenty of what out there in the world, but there’s almost no how. It doesn’t matter what you think. It doesn’t matter what you believe. It doesn’t matter what you understand. And it doesn’t even really matter what your intent is. It matters as a leader, what you do.

Em: That is one of my favourite sayings, Marty. Why don’t you go on to talk a little bit about our promise.

Marty: Yeah. Thanks Em. Look, we were pretty confident in this program when we first released it 18 months ago, but we didn’t really know how our audience would react. And now we’re supremely confident of its widespread applicability and value. It’s based on what we’ve seen with hundreds of leaders, who’ve undertaken the programme so far. Probably best if you talk about the promise, because we’ve developed this over time, and how we basically take all the risk on, on behalf of the leaders who invest their time and money into Leadership Beyond the Theory.

Em: I like how you hand-balled that one to me, Marty!

Marty: I’m good at that, you know that!

Em: So we only actually came up with the promise a few months ago. We wanted to make it super simple for leaders to understand what we can guarantee that they’ll get from this program. So our promise to you as a Leadership Beyond the Theory student, is that you can implement practical techniques from the very first lesson. You’ll gain the clarity and insight that can only come from an experienced CEO. And we promise that the program content is interactive, engaging and easy to fit into your busy life. So essentially it’s gonna increase your capability. It’ll help you get better results and your confidence will grow. Even the parts that you already know. It’s really good to have confirmation from Marty that you are on the right track.

And yes, Marty, you mentioned our money back guarantee. So we are so confident in this product that we offer your 100% money back guarantee. No questions asked. Well, actually that’s not true. I will definitely ask for my own learning, why you found that it didn’t work the way that it has for hundreds of other leaders, but there are no hoops to jump through. So if we haven’t provided the value that you expected, we’re happy to give you your money back. I will say though, we’ve never had someone ask, so that’s a pretty good sign.

I guess the last thing I want to say on this point is that our completion rate is super high. So we’ve got a 92% completion rate and that compares pretty favourably to other programs. When I was researching this last year, I found that the range can be as low as 15% up to about 60% at the top end for online program completions. So this really demonstrates the manageability and the engaging nature of our program. I will say, now, if you’ve heard enough and you want to take control of the second half of 2021, go to https://leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ and join us for the October cohort. Doors close for enrolment on the 28th of August. And we start class on the 31st of August, so there’s not much time left. So Marty, it’s a 7-week program, seven weeks, seven modules, maybe give us a quick rundown super quickly on what those seven modules actually are.

Marty: Yeah, I will Em, thanks. So if we go back, there was a really old podcast episode I did, Episode #26, The Roadmap to Exceptional Leadership: Part 2. And that takes a detailed look at the 7 Pillars, which formed the basis for Leadership Beyond the Theory. I’ll just quickly run through what those modules are. So the first module is Deliver Value, and these are all imperative statements for the things that leaders need to do to actually get better results. It’s all about performance and results. And value is the number one thing, because everything you focus on as a leader should come to value. That’s where you have to focus all your attention to drive value for your stakeholders. Then we talk about Handle Conflict. Conflict aversion is probably the number one career killer that I’ve seen over my lifetime. And so how do you actually handle that with the tools and techniques to become more comfortable in conflict situations?

Third module is Build Resilience. So how do you build resilience so that you can become stronger and handle the sorts of things that life throws at you? The fourth module, Work at Level, is all about working at the right level you’re paid to work at and doing your job rather than doing the jobs of the people below you. And now there’s an interesting guarantee we put on this. I guarantee that leaders will get between 10 and 20% of their time back every single week, if they can learn how to work at level properly and not do a whole lot of shit that they should be letting their own people do. Module number five, Master Ambiguity, speaks for itself in this environment of COVID-19. Now the last two are really about execution. So module six is Drive Accountability. And the combination of accountability empowerment is the number one driving force between execution excellence.And so if you can manage to get the accountability structures right, and empower your people to deliver, you will succeed, and you will perform better in terms of execution than anyone around you. Final module, number seven, is Make Great Decisions. And I hold the view that the companies that succeed are the ones that make better decisions faster than their competitors do. That simple. So really you can see that it’s just a practical way of teaching you the tools and the techniques that deliver these imperatives so that your performance improves. And you’re going to be noticed as a leader and people are going to love working for you.

Em: I’ll also put the link to episode 26 in the show notes. If anyone wants to go back and listen to that.

Marty: Yeah. Fantastic. Alright. Hey Em, why don’t we finish off with a bit of rapid fire? So I’ll throw a few at you and these are the common questions we get from our potential cohort members and you can give us an answer. Okay. What do you think?

Em: Sounds good!

Marty: Alright, so first objection “Right now isn’t the best time for me. I’m so busy”.

Em: We get this one all the time! Honestly, in reality, there is never a good time to find an extra few hours in your week, but ironically, the higher up you go in an organisation, the less time you have. COVID-19 has been pretty bad timing for all of us, but successful leaders find ways to get things done regardless of their external circumstances. So I guess ask yourself how important your career is? Is it important enough to wake up half an hour earlier each day or watch one less Netflix episode at night? I’m not suggesting that you don’t watch Yellowstone because that is currently my favourite binge at the moment. That’s on STAN though. But I did actually have one of our avid podcast listeners, Nathan say to me a few weeks ago, “Em, I wish I had done the programme last cohort, because now I’d be in a much better position leadership wise, eight months down the track”. So just a few things to consider there.

Marty: Yeah, that’s a good one. Let’s keep the rapid fire rapid. How much time do I have to dedicate to Leadership Beyond the Theory?

Em: So you need to dedicate about two and a half hours a week, excluding the optional weekly webinars. So we’ve designed this program to fit relatively easily into your busy life so that you don’t need to take time off work or sacrifice going to your kid’s soccer game on the weekend. We recommend you get into the habit of spending 30 minutes a day, every day, watching the videos and doing any of the accompanying worksheets and resources so that you can reflect on what that lesson means to you in your context. Some students like to do it on their commute to work, if you’ve still got one. Others do it in one block on say a Saturday afternoon or block out chunks of time in the boardroom during the week, whatever works best for you and your lifestyle. If you want to join the weekly live webinars with Marty, which we obviously highly recommend, that’s going to add an extra hour to the program commitment, every Sunday, but I’ll talk about that in a minute.

Marty: Okay, great. Next question. Do I get access to Marty?

Em: Yes. So every week we run two webinars where Marty and I will answer your pre-submitted questions. And that’s really going to help you put the learnings from that week’s module into your context. This is my favourite part of the program, because it just adds that extra layer of learning. Hearing questions from other leaders, from all over the world, from different industries and different levels of leadership, it really expands the way that you think about a topic. It’s also where students get to interact with each other. So I really just love them. They’re the highlight of my week.

Marty: So when do we have the webinars?

Em: We run two each week, one at 8:00 AM, Australian Eastern Standard Time, and one at 8:00 PM, Australian Eastern Standard Time. Now you don’t have to go to both. We just run two of them so that it doesn’t matter what time zone you’re in, you’re still able to make at least one live, if you want to. It’s important to note that I put both the replays up on the learning platform the day after. So if you can’t make either of them, you can just watch or listen to them in the following week.

Marty: Fantastic. Next question. Am I the right level or industry to do this?

Em: Look, experience tells us that this program is a no regrets move for anyone, whether you lead one person or 10,000 people. We’ve had hundreds of leaders globally from novices to CEOs, improve their leadership confidence and skills through the programme. Over the past two years, we’ve proven that this program works in absolutely any industry. So banking, mining, education, not for profit, manufacturing, childcare. I mean, it really just does go to show how applicable the tools are to every single industry. But as always, I recommend you go and read some of the case studies at yourceomentor.com/casestudies so that you can hear what the program is like straight from the horse’s mouth.

Marty: Okay. And last question, how much does it cost?

Em: The investment in LBT is $2,475 AUD, including taxes. To make the program more affordable, we offer both 3 and 6 month payment plans, if you don’t want to pay the full thing upfront, which is totally fine. And of course the program is tax deductible, which does make a big difference in June. If all else fails, and you truly believe that the program didn’t live up to our promise that Marty spoke about earlier, we will refund your money, in full, no questions asked. Oh, and you get lifetime access to the content, which means that the investment isn’t just for a two month period, it is for life. I also highly recommend asking your boss to invest in the program for you. Ultimately, they’re the ones who are going to benefit from your increased leadership capability. So make sure you do that. We’ve got a free script that Marty wrote, which will help you to ask that question. So I’ll put the link to that in the show notes as well.

Guys, we opened doors for registration a few days ago, and we’ve already filled up half the cohort. So if you’re ready to commit, head to https://leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ and join us for the October 2021 cohort. It truly is the no regrets way to build your leadership confidence and skills, fast. If you want me to help you work out, if the program’s a good fit for you, just shoot me an email, emma@yourceomentor.com and I’ll help you to work it out. I think that’s all for me, Marty, why don’t you do the wrap up?

Marty: Thanks heaps Em. Alright. So that brings us to the end of Episode 103. The title of this podcast is When You’re Ready to Commit. And hopefully that now helps some of you to work out how to commit. As Em said registrations have only been open for a couple of days and we’ve already half-filled the cohort. Now we cap it at 150 so that we can maintain the standard of personalised service and attention that makes such a difference to our program and gets us such high completion rates and success rates. So go to https://leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ now, and take control of 2021. I know that’s going to help you to be a No Bullsh!t Leader.