All posts filed under: Leadership

I visualized being at the top for three years 

Published by Colin Nanka

“I visualized being at the top of Everest for three years until I was.” Ricky Singh (Indian / American Entrepreneur) We sat around the dinner table talking about our first day on the expedition and someone ask Ricky “we heard you climbed Everest in 2019, tell us about the experience.” He said “I climbed for 6 weeks every spring in Nepal with the team I assembled over three years. We practiced our skills and build trust constantly. When back in the US I spent a little time each night visualizing success. I saw myself at the top. I saw through any obstacles. Skills will only get you so far in Everest. You need belief in yourself, confidence you can handle anything that comes your way.” As we hiked Death Valley this week he got me thinking about my values. Trust, learning, exploration. Trust and learning have always been my top two. For me part of exploration is courage. Ricky exemplifies courage and learning. To be different, think differently, challenge boundaries. He was one of the most curious …

Are you a leader of tomorrow?

Published by Colin Nanka

What is life?    What’s it for?   There is a lot of ambiguity in the world right now. We are coming out of lock down. Life is getting back to normal. There is a new virus variant, we may be retracting, putting more strict measures back in place?   One thing is certain. Nothing is certain right now.   How does that make you feel?   Uneasy, confused, despondent.   I think we have all felt these emotions. I certainly have.   We are entering a new uncertain future.   The leaders of tomorrow (and this includes leading yourself and your family), are people who can adapt, pivot, grow, learn.   Attitude can lead you through ambiguity. Recovery for mind and body can lead you to the right results. Living (and showing others how) through your values leads to victory. Understanding and empathy helps lead you over the mountain pass of uncertainty.   We are all in it together. Help one another.   I will be on PTO for the rest of the week …

How do you retain top talent

Published by Colin Nanka

25-40% of people are thinking of quitting their job in the next 6-12 months! Are you one of them? In a recent article published in Axios titled the Great Resignation Wave, surveys show anywhere from 25% to upwards of 40% of workers are thinking about quitting their jobs. Similarly, a UK and Ireland survey found that 38% of employees were planning to leave their jobs in the next six months to a year. Why is that? I’ve read and heard from many people:   The pandemic has really spurred people to think deeply about what is important to them and how they prioritize that They want to be aligned to a company or organization that meets their values They want to be inspired on the mission of what their company does The job market is very hot right now and will no longer will tolerate working for a bad boss   If you are a leader of a team or an aspiring leader, here are some things to think about: People want to know where they …

Rock Tumbler

Published by Colin Nanka

I had a rock tumbler when I was younger. For those who have not heard of it, it’s a small cylinder that spins or tumbles. You put stones in it with some small pebbles that wear down and smooth your stones.   You leave it running for a few days. When it’s done you have some beautiful smooth stones and you add to your rock collection. I was thinking of this lately and why I enjoyed it. Taking something from rough form Investing in it over time The anxiety and excitement of what will result The reveal and pride in what you produced   It made me think of how people invested in me and now transitioning to how I invest in other people. You have a valuable rough young resource you are responsible for You listen, you coach, you advise  You ride the emotional coaster of some success, failure and growth You graduate someone you manage or mentor into the next state of their career   The stone continues to tumble, get smoother and shine. …

Here’s the rarest type of employee—and why they outperform everyone else

Published by Colin Nanka

It was after two years of really great success for me and then two years of failure that had me look in the mirror and reevaluate how I approached business. My secret sauce of being a great hardware seller hit a wall in 2008 when every purchase by customers was scrutinized to the nth degree. I realized I need to learn more…myself, from my peers and other people in the industry. I had some solid skills and was not sharing what I knew freely with other people. One day I decided I was going to give away my best ideas to my peers (and who I somewhat saw as competitors), pay it forward, and ask for help in the process. What I quickly realized is my two hot pieces of secret sauce were dwarfed in a good way by the 10 nuggets of wisdom I quickly got back. From that day forward #growthmindset was my number one focus. I believe we are at this inflection point again. The world is too complex and companies are …

Are you missing out on opportunity?

Published by Colin Nanka

Pull your toes on the way up, push through your quads on the way down and widen the circle.   Good advice from Peloton instructor Sam Yo last week on one of my regular spin classes. He was focusing on potential range of motion, power, and output. It made me think about how that applies to life.   You can look at it like 7 pieces of a pie in the wheel of life.  Spirituality Career Finance Family Learning Health and Wellness Friend and Community   If you are not getting your full range of motion, power and output in each area, you are missing out on opportunities.   None of us will be hitting 10/10 in all areas and not even close.   When we think about how much of the pie and landscape we are covering we can put a spotlight on the areas we would like to focus on…and perhaps pull our toes up a little more.   Where are you doing well? Where can you expand that circle?   Defeating Average. …

Upskilling and the war for talent

Published by Colin Nanka

We used to call education the four and 40. Go to school for four years, work for 40. What’s now is you are going to have to learn some sort of new skill every four years. I was listening to a great episode of Masters of Scale (Rapid Response) this week with guest Rachel Carlson,  co-founder and CEO of Guild Education. She shared “100 million Americans, over two-thirds of the workforce today in America, need re-skilling or upskilling in the next decade in order to be relevant, employable, and be able to survive in the economy of the next decade. The problem is those folks don’t know how to find what school or program they ought to go back to, let alone what they ought to study.” “So the half-life of a skill is now about four years. So if you’re learning anything skills-based, you are probably getting about four years worth. And so the future of work, the skills are going to evolve, right? “We call that the four and 40, right? Go to …

Are you anticipating where the puck is going?

Published by Colin Nanka

“Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it has been.” I was watching Master Class last week and they have a new series with Wayne Gretzky. I was fortunate, I grew up where he played the first decade of his career in Edmonton. He is one of hockey’s greatest players, if not the greatest, depending on your view. When asked why he was so good at the game of hockey, he famously said: “I skated to where the puck was going, not to where it had been.” He was talking about anticipation. Perhaps his greatest asset. People used to say he had eyes in the back of his head.  In an episode in Master Class which I highly recommend (for hockey fans this series is worth the cost alone!), he talks about how his father Walter was ahead of his time in thinking about the game. “I remember I was watching hockey on Saturday nights and my dad would say, I want you to watch the play, and draw where the puck …

Does your boat size fit the task at hand?

Published by Colin Nanka

I was sitting up on the patio of our building in New York City looking at the boats going by. We are down in Battery Park which is just next to Tribeca. You can see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance and it’s amazing how many different types of boats go through the Hudson.  In our new program at Salesforce, building out a Sales leader coaching practice, one of the things we have been talking about is you to best utilize your resources when working with a customer. I see similarities between the size of the boat you move in and how you bring value to a customer. Sometimes you are paddling in a two-person kayak. Other times you may need a little bit more horsepower and have 4-6 people in a speedboat. Sometimes and a little more rarely you see these pretty big yachts that are coming in from the islands and they are parked down by this little harbor and we walk down and check them out. Kayak is like your …

Are you outnumbered against fear?

Published by Colin Nanka

“If you face just one opponent, and you doubt yourself, you’re out-numbered.” – Dan Millman We all have fear. Fear of failure, fear of not being enough, fear of other people’s opinions, fear of covid. In his book Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Dan Millman talks about doubt and fear, it’s an awesome read. After recently reading more on the fear of fear itself, I found myself preparing for a recent presentation realizing I was not being fearful of not presenting well…I was fearful of fear itself. Trippy right. Once we realize that fear is a part of being able to perform and it will always be there, you can notice it, like a cloud passing, name it and move on. We can all face one opponent. If we can harness and leverage fear, we will be less likely to be outnumbered. In fact, if you can talk openly about your fear with others, you can outnumber fear. Defeating Average. Colin.