Provoking Your Greatness - Misti Burmeister

Want employees who care greatly about creating remarkable results? Listen to this interview! Lee Cockerell is one of the most down-to-earth and transparent leaders I’ve been privileged to interview. Far beyond management and leadership, Lee got to the heart of what’s needed to provoke greatness in yourself and your team.   Enjoy!   Resources from the interview: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Zero to One   Learn more about Lee Cockerell’s speaking and online courses here.   Here’s to your greatness,   Misti Burmeister

“Why don’t they put more time and attention to that client? If they don’t, they might lose them.”   “Can’t they see I would be excellent in that position? Why don’t they consider me?”   “Don’t they understand that if they’d just have more team building activities throughout the year everyone would work better together? Collaboration clearly improved after our yearly retreat.”   “Why don’t they spend a little extra money on the furniture in our waiting area? At least they could provide fresh tea/coffee and relaxing (or energizing) music for guests! Seriously, don’t they understand that we’ll have a better reputation, and therefore more customers, if we did?”   Ever find yourself saying or thinking any of the above statements?   They, of course, are the responsible ones—the Owner, CEO, Executive in charge. And if they’d simply listen to you, then everyone would be better off, including them.   This is the way many of us think when faced with subpar performance, communities, election results, and even our workpl

Running beneath the surface of our conscious awareness is a set of beliefs—sort of an autopilot of assumptions and expectations. The role models we’re exposed to as children, along with the stories we consistently hear, instruct our belief system and set us up to repeat patterns that create the results we see every day. Do you know the beliefs you bought into as a child that continue to create your current reality? I thought I did, and then I came face-to-face with the reality of an undesirable result I’ve recreated too many times to count. Frustrated and angry, I’ve found myself lamenting to friends and colleagues about how inappropriate some men have been, particularly in a business setting. “The guy’s a jerk,” they’d say, fully supporting my irritation at the situation. Which is true—some men are jerks, though none of them have the ability to impact me without my permission. Rather than waste any more time pointing a finger outward, I looked inward and asked myself, “How am I behaving that’s causing such i

Why do leaders struggle to create collaborative work environments where team members step up and do whatever it takes to create remarkable results? Is it because they haven’t set a vision that is compelling enough? Maybe. Is it because they haven’t counseled their team enough about the importance of working together, despite the weekly—no daily—reminders? Probably not. Is it because the team hasn’t decided on a shared set of values? I doubt it. The biggest reason leaders struggle to rally a team is less about what they’re doing and more about what they’re allowing. While enjoying a delicious scoop of ice cream at my favorite shop in Baltimore, MD (The Charmery), I listened to Lauren, a recently minted lawyer, share about Waffle Wednesdays, a tradition she started at the small district court where she works. “I love to bake,” she said, as she went into great deal about the pumpkin waffles she made in November, and then the stuffing waffles with cranberry sauce and gravy she made in December. “What’s your addre

Company culture experts urge leaders to establish clearly defined values to serve as a guide for decisions and behaviors throughout an organization.    To ensure they have the best representation of the values shared among those in leadership, companies often spend gobs of cash and time on experts who ultimately produce a document aligning the most common ideals.    Mounted on the wall, and often on the website, these key words or phrases are meant to ensure everyone is on the same page about what’s expected and acceptable.   While these values are typically inspiring and alluring, they often fail to produce the intended result—a strong team environment. In many cases, these key phrases wind up serving to weaken trust, accountability, collaboration and productivity.   Stopping into Best Buy to exchange a gift I received for store credit, I headed to the customer service line. Fortunately, the line was quick and I was walking toward the exit in less than 10 minutes.   As I made my way toward the exit, I notice

  The greatest teachers in life are rarely the ones with great advice. They are remarkable role models who consistently show the way, while asking the kind of questions that stop us in our tracks. Their questions infect us with the kind of curiosity that leads us in the direction of our own answers.   You know the kind of person I’m talking about. Their question pierces through our internal chatter and commands the truth we’ve been searching for.   In November of 2016, I witnessed a teacher so committed to his craft that he not only showed the way, but provoked questions in me in a way that has changed me forever.   On day two of a three-day business retreat, Mark LeBlanc dropped to his knees in front of fifteen highly ambitious business owners. With his hands clasped in prayer, he opted to forgo asking us to begin tracking specific business numbers every day, and he full out begged.   Mark is a remarkably successful businessman, speaker and business coach. He doesn’t need to beg anyone to buy from him. In fa

We shy away from sharing or expanding into what we have to offer in the most obscure ways. We think that getting out of our comfort zone means doing something big, which is exactly what keeps us trapped and doing what we’ve always done.   Finishing up lunch with a client at a nice restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland, I kept thinking about that beautiful basket of bread (that we didn’t even touch) going into the trash. While a business lunch is perhaps not the right environment to request a to-go box for the bread, I found myself imagining the delight of handing it off to a homeless person on my drive home.   Fortunately, my image of giving outweighed my concerns about perception and I asked them to package it. Excited to hand over this generous helping of deliciousness, I started my drive home.   Of course, as fate would have it, I didn’t see a single homeless person on my 20-minute drive home. Not one… dozens on the way there, and not one on the way home. Five minutes from home, I realized this bread was about

In a rush to get from one experience to the next, we may miss the simple and seemingly superfluous opportunities to inspire greatness. Believing that inspiration only comes in oversized packages, we may forget to look for the tiny (barely noticeable, really) opportunities to inspire others into action.   Having an “off” day and needing a shift in scenery, I headed to the pool for a workout. The moment I pulled into the parking lot, I started talking myself out of swimming—“It’s been a rough day… I could just go across the street and grab a hot tea, read and relax,” I thought.   Has this ever happened to you?   Before putting my car into reverse and heading over to grab that tea, I made a promise to myself—“Just do a short workout… Get in and get out… a little something is better than nothing,” I thought, “and it might make me feel better.”   Just as I finished my short workout, the lady I had been sharing a lane with stopped and asked me, “What team are you training for?”   Considering I had unintentionally s

They should is a trap that kills enthusiasm and growth faster than any economic downturn ever could.   When you catch yourself thinking, “They should or shouldn’t,” stop and ask yourself, “How can I help them reach their goals?”   Consider letting go of the shoulds (work harder, pay their dues, respect me) and shouldn’ts (go above me, think so highly of themselves, be so lazy), and instead focus on communicating your vision while helping them reach their goals.   Their success is your success, regardless of whether you’re the boss or the employee. Embrace this truth, and watch your reputation and your results grow stronger.    Here’s to your greatness,   Misti Burmeister   NEW! Gain clarity on what’s preventing your growth, along with what will inspire it – get your Gearing for Greatness session Today: http://mistiburmeister.com/gearingforgreatness/    

Greatness chases greatness. Companies and leaders in continuous pursuit of evolution (personal/company brand), worry more about keeping up with demand then poaching.   On the flipside, those who hoard resources and acknowledgment wind up losing their most precious assets to the competition.   Sitting in one of the nicest business clubs in Washington, DC, just before the start of an event, Lena, a fellow businesswoman, peeked over her computer and asked, “Excuse me, are you familiar with LinkedIn?”   “I’m no expert,” I said, “but what do you need?”   “If I accept a connection request, can they see my list of connections?”   “I think they can see who you’re connected to regardless,” I said, “But I’m not certain. Why?”   “The person trying to connect with me is a competitor, and I don’t want her marketing to my list. Should I accept the invitation to connect?”   Lena’s question reminded me of the one I’d heard just the day before, from a CEO of a company with a little more than 100 employees—“How do I praise (or

Confidence in nearly every endeavor comes with a sense of knowing or familiarity. In sports, strengthening the fundamentals is key to making critical decisions in a split second.   The same thing is true when it comes to gaining confidence in yourself.    Confidence in yourself increases in direct portion to self-awareness. The more experience you have with self-talk, the more confidence you’ll have. Self-awareness leads to self-confidence. By becoming aware of the results you’re creating every day, you have the power to change them.   Here are 10 daily habits to strengthening your self-confidence:   Review. At the end of every day, carve out 10-20 minutes to review the day. Write about what worked well and what didn’t work so well. At the end of the month, review what you wrote and watch as patterns begin emerging.         Challenge. Set a specific, tangible, measurable and meaningful goal. The more challenging it is, the greater the wisdom you gain. The lessons learned in pursuit of any goal effects our con

I had the great privilege of being in Kara DelVecchio’s audience at a recent conference focused on women in leadership in the Washington, DC area. Her stories and passion were enough to capture my attention for well over an hour—in fact, I was nearly late getting set up for a session I was responsible for because I was so intrigued.   When she agreed to let me interview her for this podcast, my fingers couldn’t type my questions quickly enough. Her journey, curiosity, courage and compassion are enlivening and inspiring—so was this interview. Enjoy!   Resources from the interview:   --Willful Blindness by Margret Heffernan --The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer --Kara on LinkedIn   About Kara:   Kara DelVecchio is the Vice President of Sales, responsible for North American revenue for WeddingWire. She oversees an inside sales team of more than 150 sales professionals and is focused on delivering profitable growth and scaling the organization for future success.   Prior to joining WeddingWire, Kara held a

Confidence comes from the Latin word confide, which means to entrust. Self-confidence, then, is about learning to trust yourself with yourself. Just as it takes experiences over time to trust others, trusting in your own experience of life requires that same kind of intention and attention.   Remember the first time you sat behind the steering wheel of a car to drive? With your heart pumping, you tried to remember all the critical elements of driving, like gas! Too focused on adjusting the mirrors, getting your seat just right and thinking through all the rules of the road, you completely forgot to look at the gas gauge.   Caught up in the busyness of traffic five minutes into your lesson, your instructor asks, “Without looking at the gauge, how much gas do we have?”   Clueless, you add check gas gauge to your mental checklist for your next excursion. After several months, you start getting the hang of this driving thing, pass your test and venture out on the road alone for the first time, loving the freedom.

When asked what it was like to be blind, Helen Keller said, “It's much better to have no sight than it is not to have a vision.”   While some people seem to be born with a clear vision for their life that naturally morphs into their career and inspires their team, most of us have to take the time to allow our vision to emerge. Interestingly, the difficulty in creating a vision isn’t what we think it is.   Creating a clear picture of a desired future that inspires us requires a two-pronged approach: being and doing. We’re very good at doing, and lack intensely in being and noticing. Few allow themselves the time to do the mundane tasks that provoke awareness and cause (day)dreaming, critical elements in the visioning process.   (Day)dreaming feels like a waste of time because it lacks a sense of accomplishment. And, being present to our thoughts is almost always anxiety producing and uncomfortable. In a community that almost exclusively celebrates doing over being, such a focus is both foreign and uncomfortabl

Margie Warrell  has inspired millions of people around the globe to use their courage as a weapon to combat fear. As an avid follower of Margie’s work, I was excited to have a chance to learn about her journey, along with her perspective on the current state of the world during these political times.   Throughout the interview, we talk about how she went from being the oldest of seven, growing up on a dairy farm, to interviewing and working with respected leaders including Sir Richard Branson, Kathy Calvin, Bill Marriott, and Marianne Williamson. We also dive into the specifics of how Margie helps leaders set the stage for greatness to emerge, both through her seminars and coaching.   More about Margie Warrell and how to get in touch—   Margie is the host of RawCourage.TV and a certified master coach. An acclaimed keynote speaker and guest lecturer at Columbia and Georgetown University, Margie’s also a sought after expert commentator with leading media such as the Wall Street Journal, Redbook, Psychology Toda

Just nine years away from what he referred to as the socially acceptable date for retirement, Sam shared about the fear of filling his time—“I need to keep my brain active, and I’m not sure what I’ll do without people needing my help, or the excitement of winning the deal. My work brings purpose and structure to my days.”   When work provides such a strong sense of identity, belonging and accolades, letting go of the known for what’s next can be terrifying. The feeling of being needed, having a sense of belonging, and the adrenaline of accomplishment can stop us from disconnecting on vacation, spending quality time with friends/family, relaxing or even retiring.   When habits are deeply rooted in accomplishment, it’s difficult to trust the stillness, especially when the accomplishments are netting accolades that stir cravings for more. These cravings can easily keep us hustling even when we’re ready to step into our next greatest area of contribution.   Experience (and research) has continuously demonstrated

Imagine standing inside a giant jar of jellybeans, minus the beans and delicious smell. Looking through the glass, you can see there is a label, but you cannot figure out what it says. You can also see dozens of other people, all within their respective jars, none of whom can see what’s written on their own label. You can see their label and they can see yours, but no one can see their own. This is exactly where most of us find ourselves when it comes to understanding our own greatness and how to improve. We want growth, but it’s difficult to know how without gaining insight from others. Since we think we’re supposed to know what’s on the label, we end up with a recipe for insanity and stalled performance. “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” –Albert Einstein Creating a systematic approach to giving and receiving feedback ensures consistency in having a chance to gain perspective, share our own and evolve in the process. Here are seven quick tips to make perfor

There are tons of articles out there that discuss advancing your career—about seven million, to be exact. It shouldn’t be surprising to see why it’s a confusing topic. While there is no magic bullet, simple strategies can be taken to land the opportunities you want.   As I enjoyed a delicious breakfast with Stacey, a talented leader in the tech industry, I marveled at a story she shared about a young man, Keith, who has gone from being brand new in the industry to vying for a producer position in less than two years.   “He may just get it too, Misti,” Stacey shared, “And he’s up against well-established, credentialed producers who have a clear understanding of how to communicate across teams.”   Intrigued, I asked about what Keith had done to become one of the top two candidates vying for this position.   “If I didn’t know better, Misti, I would think he was being coached directly by you—seriously!” Stacey said, and then began listing the following actions he’d taken:   Took it upon himself (time and money)

Being interviewed by such a powerfully present spiritual leader was one of the most special experiences of my career—Thank you, Sister Jenna.   During this short interview, we talked about how this year’s presidential election has the potential to instigate in U.S. citizens. We discussed how we can use these time to move us closer to our individual and collective greatness.     The energy being produced from this election is powerful and valuable—are you getting full use of it to move your team, business, family and career forward? Listen in to learn how.   Here’s to your greatness,   Misti Burmeister

Seeking understanding is the last thing we want to do when someone has offended us, tainted our reputation, or put us in harm’s way. It’s far easier to hold tightly to our beliefs, keep our anger, and strengthen our story by gathering all the necessary data and buy-in from others.   It’s risky to seek their perspective and listen openly and authentically to their thought process, particularly when they might not demonstrate such concern in return. They may never ask about our experience, or even appreciate our interest in understanding theirs, making it far easier to keep our animosity and find a way to punish them.   “He’s my boss’s, boss’s, boss,” Brad said, “And I have no idea how to write the letter to his boss explaining how his poor choices put my life in danger. What do I do?”   “Do you have a way of contacting the man you’re upset with directly?” I asked.   “No. I mean… I know his name, but I don’t know his contact information.”   “Could you find it?”   “Well, maybe… but if I do talk to him then I can