The Craig And Greg Show: Coach Up

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There seems to be a belief among some leaders that the louder they yell, the better they’re understood. No need to call anyone out, but we’re sure someone just came to mind. When you received that kind of coaching, did you receive it well? Of course not! Coaching should be focused on correcting and improving for the next time, not berating for things in the past. So tune in, and learn more about how you can coach up.

  • [0:18] Leadership ideas can come from all over the place. 
  • [1:34] We need to focus on the “up” in our coaching, not just yelling at our teammates.
  • [3:15] We should coach up with questions instead of statements.
  • [4:55] The instructions we give before “the game” pay huge dividends in the heat of the moment.
  • [6:42] Treat mistakes as coaching opportunities.
  • [7:50] When leaders are coaching up their teammates, they need to focus on tone and timing.
  • [10:38] We share some additional thoughts about seeing the potential for coaching in our teammates’ mistakes.
  • [12:27] Every person learns differently so every teammate needs to be coached differently too.
  • [13:21] I share a memorable story from my time working with the Guys With Ties group.
  • [16:03] Greg shares an encouraging quote.
  • [18:03] Coaching takes place outside of the spotlight, so we need to learn the right timing for our coaching.
  • [22:08] Leaders can’t be the armchair quarterback, but they must trust their teammates who were closer to the action.
  • [23:59] Coaching up will eliminate most of our HR problems.
  • [24:44] Greg and I love coaching up, so please get in touch with us if we can help coach you up

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

The Craig And Greg Show: Wait, You Like Meetings Too?

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Too often we fall into the trap of seeing meetings as perfunctory, tedious, and downright boring to attend. In this episode, Greg and I are here to tell you, we like meetings! If managed correctly, meetings can be an impactful leadership tool that helps grow and bond your team. So set aside any of your preconceived notions, and let us tell you why they think you should embrace opportunities for meetings.

  • [0:57] We’re robbing ourselves when we just try to “get through” a meeting. 
  • [2:33] Leaders help everyone learn during the meetings.
  • [4:00] Don’t spring brand new information on your team at the meeting, but help them prepare to contribute ahead of time.
  • [5:40] There is a value in getting our teams together.
  • [7:50] Sometimes the best leadership move is to cancel a meeting.
  • [9:28] How can leaders make meetings more efficient?
  • [10:42] A leader’s attendance signals the value of the meeting.
  • [11:23] Greg has a sarcastic quote that makes a great point about meetings.
  • [12:57] Not every meeting needs to involve every team member.
  • [14:36] Leaders need to set expectations before the meeting starts.
  • [16:37] How insecure leaders sabotage meetings.
  • [19:01] Be conscious of the workloads of those who are invited to your meetings.
  • [21:47] How do leaders keep people on-topic during meetings?

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Links & Quotes

Never forget that we live among giants. Greg and I would like to encourage you to honor those who gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedom that we have today 🇺🇸  And be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.

I am always fascinated by the latest discoveries that scientists are making. Especially when the complexities show the intimate involvement of a loving, all-wise Creator! The Institute for Creation Research reported a new discovery: “Who isn’t curious, at some level at least, about how human brains process all the complicated inputs and outputs that our daily lives require? Neurobiologists take that curiosity to the top floor. Their recent discovery of a new function for certain neurons has suddenly added a new dimension to these tiny processors along with a new take on how they came to be in the first place.”

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

J. Warner Wallace shares five reasons why we can trust that the Bible is historically accurate.

The Craig And Greg Show: Be A Noticer

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When was the last time you noticed your team? Not just on a surface level like saying hello in the hallway, but really truly paying attention to what’s going on with your team. Noticing is easy to do, but it does require you to spend time doing it. It’s impossible to see what your team is doing locked inside your office, so get out there and notice!

  • [0:17] Kids on the playground demonstrate an important leadership attribute.
  • [1:43] Leaders sometimes get too engaged in their work—how do we keep this from happening?
  • [3:48] People are dying to be noticed!
  • [6:17] What happens when we do or don’t notice the uniqueness of our teammates?
  • [9:54] Leaders need to know the difference between windows and mirrors.
  • [13:25] How our teams reciprocate for their leaders who notice them.
  • [14:45] There are some huge and lasting benefits when leaders create a culture of curiosity.
  • [17:11] Greg challenges leaders to learn a leadership lesson from Jesus.
  • [19:20] We need to build noticing into our weekly schedules.
  • [21:07] One group that all of should notice and celebrate: Our veterans and the family members of fallen vets.

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Links & Quotes

Your relentless pursuit of personal improvement becomes a better resume than anything you could ever put on paper! Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about personal development on The Craig And Greg Show leadership podcast. And be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.

T.M. Moore has a regular series of posts for pastors. This week he shared this, “In his training manual for pastors, Gregory the Great wrote, ‘There are some who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with their understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they are teaching the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach by their manners they impugn. Whence it comes to pass that when the shepherd walks through steep places, the flock follows to the precipice’ (The Book of Pastoral Rule).” If you are a pastor, I encourage you to check out the Pastor To Pastor posts on The Fellowship Of Ailbe.

On May 22, A.D. 337, Emperor Constantine died. John Stonestreet wrote, “Many Christians think that Constantine was perhaps the worst thing to happen to the Church. They believe he made Christianity the imperial religion, thus leading the Church to compromise with pagan culture, marrying it to state power, and derailing the spread of the Gospel. The Church, they argue, was better off as a persecuted minority.” Please check out this post co-written by Dr. Glenn Sunshine that gives some better historical perspective than perhaps what you have heard previously.

The other day, a friend of mine was scammed through her Facebook page. Scams are everywhere, so you need to stay aware of the ways to protect yourself. This is a helpful overview from Capital One of various types of scams.

“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” —Duke Ellington

Jellyfish fossils point to a global Flood, like the one reported in the Bible. Because jellyfish are 95 percent water, they have to be buried quickly in order to be saved as a fossil. 

J. Warner Wallace describes how Jesus arrived at the perfect moment in history. Once again giving more evidence to the historicity of the biblical accounts.

One of the most powerful missions sermons I have heard was preached by Dick Brogden:

An important warning from Axis—What it is: The Surgeon General has issued a warning on the dangers of social media for teenagers. Why the alarm bell is reaching a fever pitch: People have been wary of social media’s impact on developing brains for two decades—so why are highly-visible tone setters, like the Surgeon General and the American Psychological Association, issuing big, sweeping statements now? Part of it could be because we are getting more quality data on how social media shapes a young person’s brain. One newer study that’s been getting some buzz suggests that individuals who received their first smartphone at a later age have better mental health as young adults. Several big bills that aim to protect minors online will be voted on this year as tech giants face increased scrutiny over their safeguards (or lack thereof), for younger users. Kids growing up even a decade from now may encounter a completely different digital landscape when it’s their turn to learn about online literacy.

A Leadership Separator

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We are more likely to act ourselves into feeling good than we are to wait until we feel good about something before we act on it. That self-initiative is a true leadership separator. 

Check out the full episode of The Craig And Greg Show where we talk about grit, perseverance, and resilience.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

The Craig And Greg Show: Stop Doing Traditional Performance Reviews

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Performance reviews are a great tool to help leaders measure and celebrate the growth of their team, but the standard model of quarterly and yearly reviews is a terrible way to go about it. In this episode, Greg and I suggest a different approach to reviews that relies on frequent coaching and giving your team “the answers to the test” to set them up to succeed.

  • [0:15] We all have “have to” and “get to” leadership tasks in our organization, but we think performance reviews never should be in the have to” category. 
  • [1:29] Performance review times are a great time to unleash potential in our teammates.
  • [2:44] Greg shares how his daughter’s school does this well and how an organization he worked with did this poorly.
  • [4:02] I teach leadership principles to a group of young men called “Guys With Ties,” and I always have them focus on future growth.
  • [5:22] Leaders can only do effective reviews by having regular interactions with their teammates.
  • [7:00] We suggest a better way to give out compliments and corrections.
  • [8:35] Three key elements in performance reviews: (1) honesty, (2) timeliness, (3) looking forward.
  • [10:54] How do we handle situations where the review doesn’t match the projected employee bonus?
  • [12:55] Many of our teammates have probably had a bad experience with a previous performance review, so we need to address that upfront.
  • [13:16] Accountability is a heavy word but it is a vital growth piece.
  • [15:23] What happens when leaders are tired?
  • [17:27] What does it say to our teammates if we’re always too busy to schedule a time for a performance review?
  • [21:13] The culture we need to foster in our organization is an “improvement culture.”

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Sacred Cultural Cows

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Every organization has a culture and has some sacred cows. 

I define culture as the unwritten rules that everyone who’s been around for a while knows, but seldom thinks to share with any newcomers. Those newcomers usually don’t know they have broken one of those unwritten rules until they actually break one of those rules! 

Sacred cows are the untouchable things in every organization. Those things that have always been in place and can never be changed or removed. 

But what if you’re the new leader coming into an organization? How do you navigate the new culture? How do you keep from messing with those sacred cows? Greg and I discussed this on a recent episode of our leadership podcast. 

Check out the full episode this clip came from by clicking here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

The Craig And Greg Show: Toughen Up, Buttercup

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Recently Greg got a call from an educational institute asking him for advice on how to help their athletes “toughen up.” Unfortunately, they’re not alone, it seems like resilience is in increasingly shorter supply across the board these days. As a leader, it is your job to help instill grit into your team. Not tearing them down, but showing them that you view them with more potential.

  • [0:15] It’s time to toughen up, Buttercup! 
  • [2:54] We learn the best leadership lessons from the toughest times.
  • [4:17] Greg shares an example from coaching t-ball that applies to all our leadership roles.
  • [7:28] The temporary pain can protect us against the pain that would have derailed our leadership.
  • [8:35] A college contacted Greg about why their athletes are lacking resilience.
  • [10:12] Greg shares an insightful quote about struggling through a problem to achieve success.
  • [12:07] We define the leadership culture that will serve us and our teams best.
  • [13:34] We discuss an example from Greg’s NFL experience.
  • [14:56] Resilience can be hard to teach, but we still need to keep trying.
  • [17:54] Data from the Mayo Clinic that encourages us to develop grit.
  • [19:34] What happens to reach that have teammates who don’t show stick-to-it-iveness?
  • [21:04] A leadership separator is action over feelings.
  • [24:00] The wrong and right ways to handle disappointments.
  • [25:53] We can help coach you to bring out the resilience in yourself and your team.

Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.

Links & Quotes

Our negative self-told can limit our lives. If you’re a leader, your negative self-talk is putting a life on how well and how far you can lead. Check out this full episode from The Craig And Greg Show. And be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.

“Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.” —Mark Twain

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…” (Proverbs 13:22). In his excellent book Proverbs: Amplified and Applied, my cousin Dick Brogden uses our grandfather as an example of the principle in this verse: “Good has multi-generational implications. My grandfather was an incredibly generous man, and his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have reaped the benefit. I am convinced that one of the reasons my family is so generously provided for is because our ancestor repeatedly gave significant financial gifts to his church, the Billy Graham Association, and missionaries around the world. Contrary to Shakespeare’s pessimism in the mouth of Mark Antony, the good that men do does indeed live after them, it is not interred with their bones.”

Self-care is vital. Without taking care of yourself first, how will you have any strength to take care of others? To Write Love On Her Arms has a helpful list of self-care items you can do in just 20 minutes per day.

“Knowledge follows understanding. We invert it and think that if we know facts, we are wise. In reality, it is only the wise who can rightly interpret the facts. … There is a posture of humility before God that opens the lowly to the understanding of God. This spirit of understanding becomes the filter with which we sift facts. Facts sifted by understanding lead us to accurate knowledge. Scoffers reject the reality that they need God’s help and God’s Spirit to understand facts. They foolishly think that true knowledge can be gained outside divinely enabled understanding. They have earned their PhD in ultimate idiocy.” —Dick Brogden, in ‘Proverbs: Amplified and Applied’ commenting on Proverbs 14:6