The Resilient Leaders Podcast with J.R. Briggs

  “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” -  Matthew 11:28-30 – The Message translation *...

In a whitepaper Kirk Lawrence, Director of Executive Leadership at the University of North Carolina, wrote, “Leadership agility and adaptability are now required skills if organizations are to succeed in a VUCA world.” Yep. Couldn’t agree more. Earlier in Episode 3 we talked about the acronym VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) to describe the nature of the world we live in. Here we...

“We can’t predict waves, but we can study the tide patterns and enroll in surf school.” On this episode, J.R. shares 10 ways to grow in resilience, lessons that will help us learn to catch waves more effectively. (1)  Embrace the tension of the Both/and mindset– big and small (2)  Be looking for connections, partnerships, and collaborations (3)  Experiment: build the plane midflight (4)  Seize opp...

Today we talk about the importance of preparation in leading an engaging, helpful, effective meeting. We’ve all sat through great meetings… and we’ve sat through meetings that felt like a waste of time. Leaders must think critically, thoughtfully, and carefully through how we structure meetings. In this episode we talk about the structure of a meeting, the questions to ask before you lead a meetin...

On this episode, J.R. talks about Carol Dweck’s groundbreaking book Mindset. She said everyone lives by one of two mindsets: fixed or growth. A fixed mindset creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. Every situation is evaluated: will I succeed or fail? Well I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will I feel like a winner or loser? And a growth mindset is based on the beli...

On this episode, J.R. shares his three irrefutable elements a leader. A leader is one who: ·      Builds trust ·      Bears pain ·      Gives hope Each of these are in a symbiotic, overlapping, intermingled relationship, growing and bulding off of each other. If we aren’t building trust, bearing pain, and giving hope then we aren’t leading – plain and simple. *** If you enjoy this podcast, can I a...

In this episode J.R. explores inversion thinking, developed by Carl Jacobi and made famous by Charlie Munger. Inversion thinking (also known as backward thinking) takes us through the backdoor of our thinking to help us arrive at a better, more robust understanding. It also helps us when we disagree with others in conversation. Utilizing inverse thinking can help lead us to be more resilient think...

In this episode J.R. tells the story of Steve Kerr’s resilience:  after ASU fans mock him about his father’s murder, he dropped 22 points on the Sun Devils leading his team to the win. You can read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/sports/basketball/steve-kerr-and-david-blatt-reached-nba-finals-on-unconventional-paths.html J.R. also explore how resilient leaders must pace themselves, e...

The New Reality has introduced huge amounts of change in our lives and leadership. Many of us have navigated this well, but we’re tired. Really tired. We’ve talked a lot about physical hygiene the past few months, but on this episode J.R. talks about mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual hygiene practices to make sure we stay healthy. He offers these 8 practices. 1.     Stay active 2.     R...

On this episode J.R. explores the massive difference between resilient organizations and efficient organizations. They are not the same thing; in fact, they are often opposed to one another. The virus is not merely an interruption; it is a disruption and an accelerator of the future. And resilient organizations (Lyft, Uber Eats, Wikipedia, Netflix, etc.) are doing fine but efficient organizations...

Leaders have a love/hate relationship with email. We can’t live with it, we can’t live without it. So how do we manage emails so we can get on to more important things like leading? On this episode J.R. shares 15 ridiculously practical and crucial email principles resilient leaders can live by. Here are the Crucial 15: Respond to every personal email you receive within 24-48 hours Emails should be...

We live in a world where the assumption is that leaders have to be the brilliant experts with all the right answers all the time. But with so much uncertainty, that’s just not possible. How are we to lead when we aren’t sure what to do next? J.R. offers three questions to help navigate the uncertainty: 1.     What information are you lacking that if you had it you could make a more confident decis...

Receiving feedback can be painful, awkward, vulnerable, and excruciating. Yet it can be a beautiful gift. Resilient leaders understand this. In this brief, but value-packed episode, J.R. shares why proactively seeking out feedback is crucial for resilient leaders. He also shares stories about when he went to trapeze school and how he solicits feedback from his sons who to be a better dad and from...

On this episode J.R. talks about how the Christian faith finds it foundation in resiliency – what he calls a theology of resilience (although it’s not as nerdy and academic as it sounds). Understanding how the nature of God and the DNA of the Christian faith are rooted in resiliency is crucial. Resilient leaders must provide new wineskins to meet the new, fermenting wine of the Holy Spirit in the...

The late American futurist Alvin Toffler said, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” Learning isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s an incredibly valuable resource and posture in the life of a leader of the future. But what gets us in trouble is our refusal to engage in unlearning. Unlearning is one of the prim...

On this episode, J.R. shares the Italian word for almond and what the tattoo on his right arm means. More specifically, this episode explores how the world is VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous), how we need to manage tensions more than fix problems, and unpack two Venn diagrams to help us manage the tensions in the days ahead. If this podcast adds value to you, your team, or your organ...

We are not going “back to normal” and there will be no “new normal.” Instead, we are entering - and have already begun to enter - the new reality. Why does this slight change of language matter in how resilient leaders talk and think? Because language always matters, especially for leaders. Going back to normal looks backward and focuses on the past; thinking about a new reality helps resilient le...

On this first-ever episode of The Resilient Leaders podcast, J.R. Briggs discusses: The three important metaphors from Praxis Labs ( praxislabs.org ) of a blizzard, winter, and little ice age to describe what the future may hold and why we need resiliency in our leaders more than ever before. The concept of the pivot and why it’s so important What is resiliency The traits of resilient leaders What...

The world has entered into a new reality where everything is shifting and no one is sure what the future will hold. How will leaders learn to navigate these uncertain times? While we cannot predict the future, what we can do is cultivate resiliency in our leadership now. Resiliency is going to become an ever-increasing competency in our world. That’s why exploring what it means to be resilient lea...