Category: Leadership Speaker

Is Your Team Determined to Fight for Diversity?

Never before in the history of our nation has diversity been more of an issue than it is now. It is time for change, but it takes an active mindset to change the corporate vision. Are you determined to help in that fight?

Dollars and (Common) Sense

Business writer Caroline Forsey in her online November 2018 article “5 Awesome Benefits of Diversity at Work” raised several important points as to what a diverse team can do to benefit a company. These measurable effects include fostering innovation, development of better ideas, elevating a company’s culture, and improving customer service. Forsey went on to cite several impressive sales and performance statistics of diverse teams, among them:

Companies in the top quartile for being gender diverse are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above the median.
Companies with the highest levels of racial diversity brought in 15 times more revenue than those with the lowest levels of diversity.
Diverse companies are 70%more likely to capture a new market.

Want to hire the best and brightest sales people? Statistics also show the 83 percent of Millennials want to work for more diverse companies, and overall close to 60 percent of employees want their workplaces to be more diverse.

If employees want more diversity, and it’s been proven that diversity improves sales, why isn’t it happening at a faster rate? It comes down to intention, and the determination, the daily grit to make it happen.

Sally Duby, writing for Forbes magazine (July 8, 2020) in “Walk The Talk To Create Diversity In Sales, Part One” raises four important points where corporations must have the vision to bring about the changes needed to be more diverse.

Leaders within a company should identify functional areas that need diversity; HR and the functional leaders should set concrete goals and steps to improving diversity; train the entire management team on the hiring and interview process to remove unconscious bias; and, in my view, the most important, encourage team members to refer diverse people.

When team members in the field are invested, when team members see how diverse sales efforts yield positive results, they will push for more diversity in their own workplace.

Duby concluded:

“Hiring a diverse workforce requires intentionality. It involves truly assessing where your company is at with its current hiring policies and having difficult conversations.”

Are You Determined to Fight?

Many factors made me a successful sales person and a champion of diversity. My accident took me from being a martial artist and football player to being a bedridden quadriplegic.

It was in that hospital bed that I saw myself with the mindset of being well. To rise up from that bed took every fiber of determination and daily grit to move again. That philosophy of Mindset-Resilience-Grit shaped my life and my sales abilities.

However, I did not get well by myself. I had a team of healthcare professionals who fought beside me. They were as diverse as you can imagine, but to my mind they had no race or religion. They were my friends. They fought with me and for me. I dearly came to love them.

When we pull together, we are all made stronger. When we believe in each other, there is nothing we can’t accomplish.

To book Scott Burrows, Corporate Diversity Speaker, for a virtual or live presentation contact us through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

What Do You Ask of Others That You Don’t Demand of Yourself?

As a keynote speaker on leadership and accountability, I have found that in terms of all the issues causing C-level executives to struggle, far and away, “accountability” is their biggest challenge. Leadership cannot survive without accountability in their organizations.

Business writer Shannon Howard, in a recent article “Holding employees accountable: where most leaders fail,” stated that C-level executives are often “not accountable for their own behaviors or deadlines.” She expanded that point by saying “When leaders fail to meet deadlines themselves, they’re not modeling the kind of behavior they want to see from their team. Let’s be honest: It’s hard to hold someone to a standard you’re not willing to hold yourself to.”

Accountability cannot be sporadic; it must be specific and consistent. If a leader is inconsistent, the leader is holding employees to a relative standard, which is often like having no standard at all. In fact, studies have determined that about 15 percent of CEOs keep ineffective employees on staff for far too long. In the long run, ineffective employees who refuse to be held accountable will damage the entire organization.

Echoing this sentiment, Joseph Folkman, writing for Forbes magazine said “Sometimes in organizations, it is really hard to focus. When we are sending multiple messages about what is critical and what others are accountable for, accountability dissipates. If you want people to be responsible, then you must clearly define the results that you want them to deliver, and let them have a fair amount of control on how they deliver those results.”

It all comes around to having the determination to hold yourself accountable and the vision to see it through.

Holding Yourself Accountable

New York Times bestselling author Ramit Sethi writing for Success magazine, outlines several steps of accountability that any executive as well as individuals can incorporate into their daily lives.

To summarize the steps: Create a schedule for what you want to accomplish, stop procrastinating and commit to it.

Set better goals: what are the goals specifically, how will you measure them, can you reach them and in what time-frame? Are your goals relevant to your success or are they unimportant?

Are you determined to be uncomfortable? Seriously, if you share the specific plan with those who will carry it out, there can be no equivocation on your part or theirs. If there is no vision of success, if there is no day-to-day grit in doing what must be done, then chances are it won’t get done.

Don’t forget about honesty and authenticity in this accountability equation. Be a leader and ask questions: can you achieve these goals, who will be responsible to get it done, how will we know if we are accomplishing what we had the vision to complete?

The objective for any leader is to demand of others no more or less than what you demand of yourself. Accountability is a shared vision of success. If everyone is held to the same standard of accountability, then accomplishment will follow.

Do you have the determination to lead and to hold those around you accountable? If you have that vision, expect that greatness may very well be the outcome.

Book Scott Burrows today, Leader and Accountability Motivational Speaker, through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

Where Will Your Organization Find Its Future Leaders?

As a motivational leadership keynote speaker, I often field questions from attendees as to how they can identify new leaders. Oftentimes I will answer, “How about the person standing next to you?”

The conversation may sometimes end at that point, or the person next to the guy answering the question might say, “Me? Oh, I’m not a leader, just a follower.”

How Would You Know?

Any organization, your organization, is looking for people to step up and lead. The problems are usually two-fold and are reflected in the brief exchange just a few sentences above. On one hand, most companies are always weighing their need to find leaders against their perceptions of how much it costs to recruit good leaders, and on the other hand, existing employees who could be fantastic leaders never think of themselves that way.

Marcel Schwantes, in a recent inc. magazine article entitled: “12 Ways to Identify the Future Leaders of Your Company Right Now,” discussed three important points (among many) worthy of deeper discussion: 1) focus on potential, not performance, 2) evaluate someone’s investment in the company’s future, and 3) farm your own in-house talent.

All three points require determination on the part of the executive team. Are you determined to see the potential in people? Are you determined to see those employees who are deeply invested in the company vision and with it, do you have the vision to do what it takes to transform them into leaders?

The Contract

If the organization is seeking leaders, future leaders within the company must have the determination and vision to be recognized as such.

As an employee, do you feel you have the potential to step up and lead? Are you invested in the future of your organization? If called upon to lead, do you have the daily grit to help elevate your company to the next level? Finally, if someone in your organization believes you have the tools to be a leader, will you shy away from the challenge or embrace the opportunity?

In 2017, the Wrike, Inc. collaborative work management platform published an inciteful article entitled: “9 Ways to Develop Your Leadership Skills.” It addresses any employee who wants to be recognized by their organizations as potential leadership material. The top three attributes are: practice discipline, take on more projects, and learn to follow.

All of those commitments require a seriousness of attitude and a directed focus to accomplishment. Discipline is a nice enough concept, but how many employees have the discipline to learn more about the job, to motivate others and to be dependable about doing quality work?

Leaders do more than what is required of them. Leaders see something that must be done and they will do it. More workload is often related to discipline. If employees are disciplined and they become more efficient, they can accomplish more.

Leaders learn to follow, and for many, this point is a problem. Following requires humility and acceptance. Many who claim to want to lead often have problems sublimating arrogance. In short, they are not team players. To lead and inspire great teams means to be willing to see many perspectives, to appreciate others and to help forge a common mission.

Organizations are looking for you, if you have the determination to do what it takes to be found.

To contact Scott Burrows, Inspirational Leadership Keynote Speaker, connect with his office today through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

Category: Leadership Speaker

Scott Burrows, Corporate Speaker on Diversity & Inclusion

Is Your Team Determined to Fight for Diversity?

Scott Burrows, Leadership and Accountability Keynote Speaker

What Do You Ask of Others That You Don’t Demand of Yourself?

Scott Burrows, Motivational Leadership Keynote Speaker

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