Latest Posts

Five things I’ve learned in my first 10 weeks as a parent

Published by Colin Nanka

Patience 

Newborns have their own schedule and often don’t align with yours. We need to be flexible and patient.

Partnership

Defining roles on what each of you do is key. We are still working on it and have developed some sense of division of tasks. 

Joy

There is nothing that brings more joy than the smile of your child and watching them sleep. I’ve given up a number of things to spend more time doing both. 

Perspective 

When you get to wake up with your child and put them to sleep every night the challenges of the day seem lighter. 

Legacy

I find myself thinking longer term, building the foundation for Tess’s life. 10-year goals help bring perspective to priorities today. 

I’ll share more lessons as they come, I know we have a lot to learn!

Colin

Images are a powerful

Published by Colin Nanka

Why People Think They Can’t Draw

What I have learned over time is that if you put text on a screen or slide and then speak to people, they have a hard time retaining what you are saying. Think about it the next time it happens to you.

It’s difficult to read and listen at the same time!

A friend passed on a great video that shows you how to draw the basics of characters/cartoons on a whiteboard.

Images are a powerful way to communicate your message.

Have some fun learning to draw!

Colin

Is your smallest gear spinning?

Published by Colin Nanka

I was listening to a great Gary V podcast with the former CEO of Home Depot Frank Blake last week and they discussed among many items including where leaders make mistakes in communication. 

As Frank says “Your Job is to make sure the smallest gear is moving and the one that is closest to the customer.”
 
In many organizations that is your sales team and customer service organization.  
 
Think about the gears on a large clock tower and how they spin, the biggest moves slow and as they get smaller, they spin faster. 
 
If any gear is not catching (the messaging) of the one above, they are out of sync and the customer suffers. 
 
Summarizing “many CEOs put out too many ideas and have not confirmed the field gets it before they move to the next.”
 
This applies to peer and business partner relationship as well. 
 
If your gear is spinning but smaller not catching, then you are failing. 
 
 
Confirm you are in sync this week. 
 
Colin

How Bamboo Will Get You Through

Published by Colin Nanka

Bend don’t break is a phrase you often here in times of challenge.

Also called fortitude.

Think about how bamboo bends in the wind and survives, while the huge, strong oak tree may break. Fortitude is the ability to endure life’s hardships and get back on your feet each time you are down.
 
We can’t always be strong. We want to show up and perform our best, we want to be fast, want to look good, yet in truth, we are not always capable of this.  
 
What helps during uncertainty and disappointment is the virtue of fortitude, a sense of quiet strength and confidence, deep trust and faith and simple lasting willingness or stubbornness to endure.
 
Summary from “The Way of the Champion” by Jerry Lynch.
 
Colin

 

How creating a board of advisors will make you better

Published by Colin Nanka
In this great podcast on the learning leader show, the former President of Iams, a $1B organization talks about why as a corporate leader it was crucial to surround himself with a board of directors who could compliment his strengths. Even more important is his recommendation to have your own personal board of directors.
 
As I grew in my profession I learned to surround myself with a smart group of people who could help me fill in my gaps.  I started with a business coach, added a personal trainer, took on an athletic therapist, nutritionist and asked the CEO of one of my customers if I could grab coffee with him once a quarter.
 
I have a monthly meeting with some ex Salesforce leaders and find different ways to stay connected to people who compliment me.
 
Highly recommend this great podcast.
 
Colin

 

Why it’s important to apply new filters

Published by Colin Nanka

I was listening to a story of how Coca-Cola at the height of their soft drink market domination had 45 percent market share. They were trying to figure out how to grow.

A new leader came in with beginners eyes and uncovered they only had 1 percent of the liquids market! Water, juice, etc.

They pivoted their strategy to refocus on the larger market opportunity and we now consume many liquids and brands owned by Coca-Cola.

Apply beginners eyes this week.

Colin

8 Leadership Hats That Will Make You Better

Published by Colin Nanka
We don’t just wake up one day and become a great leader.  It takes hard work, courage, testing, failing and looking at your self in the mirror constantly.
 
Like your favorite yoga pose, we all lean to leading from our favorite position or strength and often fail to work on a difficult pose. Knowing the pose or position you lead from is half the battle.
 
Which leadership pose are you spending too much time in?  Not enough?
 
Coaching
Coaching is one of the primary roles. Leaders when coaching are asking good questions. Being curious. Helping people think for themselves.
 
Mentoring 
You have skill or knowledge you want your people to have. “I did this before, here is how it worked for me.” Giving away something you have.
 
Facilitating 
You are managing an agenda, outcome, meeting or conversation. It’s not teaching and you don’t have to be a teacher in this role. You hold the agenda for the session. 

Role modeling 
You are leading from the front. You ride shotgun and show them how, in action and then ask them to do it. You never ask them to do what you won’t do yourself.
 
Delegating
There are times when you have to tell. When to tell and when not to tell is the fine art. This is not as much a demand but asking someone to do something you know they are capable of and trusting they can complete it.
 
Directing
Directing and delegating are tied together. You are in control.  You are expressing how you want the task to be completed. It’s Important to know how often you this role. It’s not the majority! This is telling someone exactly what you need to do and by when. It’s more of a demand. 
 
Providing feedback
This is a critical part of your role as a leader. People crave feedback.  You can never give enough.
People don’t typically like feedback because it’s judgemental and too often negative.  My rule of thumb is to give 5 times as much positive feedback as corrective. You should be doing it constantly.
 
Teaching
What can you learn, they learn and we learn together. It starts with landing points verbally and visually showing them on a whiteboard and drawing it out. Here is what I want you to know or teach you. I want you to learn this.
 
What role do you or your leader need to step into more often?  Test it, and ask for it!
 
Have an awesome start in July!
 
Colin

10 minutes of this per day will make you better

Published by Colin Nanka

As I heard Tony Robbins say recently, “the mind is like a kite on the end of a string, and where everything starts is with breath. Control your breathing, you control how the kite flies.”

We wake up each day, with the chance to start fresh, through your first few breaths.

Be intentional about how you start it, instead of letting it happen to you!

The holiday (Canada Day and Independence Day!) week is a good time to reflect.

Even if you have a family, what you do for yourself impacts how you can support the rest of the team.

As they say in case of emergency, “put your own oxygen mask on first!”

I spend the first 20-30 min of each day meditating.

Successful people I know spend at least 10 min asking themselves questions related to gratitude or visualizing what success will look like in the day.

Whatever your method, make sure you are taking care of yourself first!

Colin

Two questions that will help you break through the angst

Published by Colin Nanka

There is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in the world right now. People often ask how do you handle it?

One, I am starting to put on less news on TV when I get home and do more reading and listening to music. 

Two, I ask these questions at the end of every day. They are on my calendar. 

What you focus on daily makes a big difference to your level of angst. 

What am I grateful for?

How could I have made today better?

Too making each day better. 

Have a great weekend!

Colin 

 

Three things I learned from will.i.am

Published by Colin Nanka
 When one door closes….create a new door.
-Will.i.am
 
In this great Super Soul Sunday Oprah + Will.i.am interview you will hear about the future of social media and artificial intelligence and why Will considers himself a technologist and not a musician. “I create music but prefer to be in technology instead of the music industry.” Perhaps the amount of time he has spent with our own Marc Benioff has influenced him!
 
Will refers to many times in his career when one door closed, instead of brooding about a lost opportunity he focused on creating new ones.
 
Will shares “hip-hop and Jazz were created from a community who had nothing at the time and made there own way.  Without them, we would not have this wonderful music.”
 
What did I take away from this great episode?
 
1. Make your own luck 
2. Appreciate the time when you struggle, it can be your greatest turning point
3. Break the mold – you can be a musician, technologist, philanthropist all at the same time, or whatever unique characteristics describes each of us.
 
Create your own door today!
 
Colin