On Creating Situations Where Everybody Can Lead

Did you know that you’re more likely to succeed as an organization if every team member is considered a leader in their roles? Creating opportunities for everyone to lead helps people within the organization discover their leadership abilities or other rich skills within themselves.

In this episode, Jenny speaks with Tim Whitmire, the founder of CXN Advisory. He coaches executives on strategy, goal setting, alignment, and execution. He is also the co-founder of F3 Nation and co-author, with David Redding, of Freed to Lead: F3 and the Unshackling of the Modern-day Warrior. F3 is a network of free, peer-led workouts for men in the United States and has grown to more than 30 states and 2,000+ scheduled workouts a week through volunteer efforts. F3 participants apply a distinctive lexicon of terms during their workouts.

Listen in to learn about starfish vs. spider organization and why starfish organizational leadership (where everyone is considered a leader) is more likely to succeed than the spider organization. You will also learn how your team can agree and be enthusiastic about objectives and row together in a boat around OKRs.

“Nobody gets away with just showing up and being at the back of a pack all the time and being a free rider we need you upfront leading.” — Tim [33:37]

Show notes

• [1:30] Intro
• [3:07] Tim describes his career in journalism and financial services before he started offering advisory services for potential leaders.
• [4:16] How his naturally good leadership skills led him to start CXN Advisory.
• [7:20] Where the concept of Tim’s book Freed to Lead: F3 and the Unshackling of the Modern-day Warrior came from.
• [14:05] How being in a group dynamic effort with the same expectations pushes you to a daily maximum effort.
• [19:30] Understanding the SadClown Syndrome – lacking purpose to live even when things are seemingly going well in your life.
• [21:08] The three things you need to do to overcome the SadClown Syndrome.
• [30:06] Starfish vs. spider organizational leadership and why the starfish organization is better.
• [38:19] Tim explains the F3 Completely Stupid and Utterly Pointless (CSUP) concept.
• [45:28] How he helps teams agree on objectives, be enthusiastic about them, and agree to row together.
• [51:51] Why he encourages his clients to focus on what’s within their control to achieve their objectives.
• [55:00] How to connect technology with the outcome and do OKRs effectively.
• [57:55] Tim answers some rapid-fire questions about his team and personal goals.