392: Embrace the paradoxes of leadership to rise to new heights with guest expert Tim Elmore

Tim Elmore, author of The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership: Embracing the Conflicting Demands of Today’s Workplace

Tim Elmore and Bill Ringle discuss how leaders today need a stronger cognitive to deal with the wide range of education, expectations, exposure, and emotions that employees bring to their work.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

Interview Insights

Top 3 Takeaways

  1. Leadership is not a feature but an identity.
  2. The fastest way to influence people is through serving and problem-solving.
  3. Do not attempt to control the outcome. Instead, influence it when you can.

Read the Show Notes from this Episode

  • Tim fondly recalls the first time he spoke in front of an audience and shared his appreciation for Sean Mitchell, the man who gave him the opportunity.[01:13]
  • The negatives and the positives of having talent. [03:53]
  • John Maxwell mentored Tim over 20 years. What was the most valuable skill that John Maxwell taught Tim Elmore? How to have a difficult conversation. [05:04]
  • What is true leadership and what makes it a challenge to execute consistently? [08:16]
  • Introducing the three buckets of Habitudes: What is in your control, what isn’t, and what you can influence. [09:11]
  • Why are most managers guilty of confusing the influence bucket with the control bucket? Mixing up what you can control with what you can only influence. [10:28]
  • CASE: Terry was a leader who is a poster boy of why it is dangerous to lead with too much confidence and no humility. [13:32]:
  • What is the Dunning-Kruger effect? What happens when people lead with ignorance and confidence. [15:30]
  • CASE: Dennis was a Chick-fil-A manager with a drinking problem that affected his workplace. After discovering this, Truett Cathy showed the door to Dennis. What door did Truett Cathy show his manager? The door to improvement. [16:23]
  • How do you hand over the reins of leadership like a boss? Examples from Martin Luther King and Truett Cathy. [19:06]
  • Tim created a new Habitude called clean the windows: Giving your team the freedom to work things their way but making the result you want to be achieved explicit. [24:22]
  • Isaac Newton is a perfect example of achieving exemplary results without supervision. [25:41]
  • My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [26:50]

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Expert Bio

Dr. Tim Elmore is the founder and CEO of Growing Leaders, an Atlanta-based non‐profit organization that was created to develop emerging leaders. His work grew out of 20 years of serving alongside Dr. John C. Maxwell. Elmore has appeared in The Wall Street
Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, Psychology Today, and he’s been featured on CNN’s
Headline News and Fox and Friends to talk about leading multiple generations in the
marketplace. He has written over 35 books, including Habitudes: Images That Form Leadership
Habits and Attitudes.

Contact Info and Social Media for Tim Elmore

  • Travels from: Peachtree Corners, GA

Resources Mentioned During the Interview

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

  • Isaac Newton
  • What are The 8 Paradoxes of Great Leadership?
    • Paradox One: Uncommon Leaders Balance Both Confidence and Humility
    • Paradox Two: Uncommon Leaders Leverage Both Their Vision and Their Blind Spots
    • Paradox Three: Uncommon Leaders Embrace Both Visibility and Invisibility
    • Paradox Four: Uncommon Leaders Are Both Stubborn and Open-Minded
    • Paradox Five: Uncommon Leaders Are Both Deeply Personal and Inherently Collective
    • Paradox Six: Uncommon Leaders Are Both Teachers and Learners
    • Paradox Seven: Uncommon Leaders Model Both High Standards and Gracious Forgiveness
    • Paradox Eight: Uncommon Leaders Are Both Timely and Timeless

Published by Tim Elmore

The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership by Tim Elmore