Dr. Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders: Five Things You Need to Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Be both inherently collective yet deeply personal. This one is tough because most leaders are better at one than the other. We must be collective in our communication with the team showing them we see and understand the big picture. At the same time, people need us to speak personally to them, showing we understand them and how this season affects them. Mother Teresa spoke to crowds and to donors about the collective nature of her vision, but never lost sight of the individual sick and suffering people she was serving.

As part of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Tim Elmore.

Dr. Tim Elmore is the founder and CEO of Growing Leaders, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization created to develop emerging leaders. Since founding Growing Leaders, Elmore has spoken to more than 500,000 students, faculty, and staff on hundreds of campuses across the country, including the University of Oklahoma, Stanford University, Duke University, Rutgers University, the University of South Carolina, and Louisiana State University. Elmore has also provided leadership training and resources for multiple athletic programs, including the University of Texas, the University of Miami, the University of Alabama, The Ohio State University, and the Kansas City Royals Baseball team. In addition, a number of government offices in Washington, D.C. have utilized Dr. Elmore’s curriculum and training. From the classroom to the boardroom, Elmore is a dynamic communicator who uses principles, images, and stories to strengthen leaders. He has taught leadership to Delta Global Services, Chick-fil-A, Inc., The Home Depot, The John Maxwell Co., HomeBanc, and Gold Kist, Inc., among others. He has also taught courses on leadership and mentoring at nine universities and graduate schools across the U.S. Committed to developing young leaders on every continent of the world, Elmore also has shared his insights in more than thirty countries — including India, Russia, China, and Australia. Tim’s expertise on emerging generations and generational diversity in the workplace has led to media coverage in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, Investor’s Business Daily, Huffington Post, MSNBC.com, The Washington Post, WorkingMother.com, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, and Portfolio.com. Tim has appeared on CNN’s Headline News and FOX & Friends discussing parenting trends and advice.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I began teaching and leading students in 1979. I was an educator and youth worker who fell in love with guiding the next generation and helping them win in life. By 1983, I went on staff with John C. Maxwell, and instantly saw the importance of leadership development. I believe leadership matters and it matters disproportionately. My love of young people and my love of leadership were “married” 20 years later when I launched a non-profit called, Growing Leaders. This organization partners with businesses, schools, athletic programs and non-profits to equip leaders to connect with and prepare the emerging generation to be leaders. I created Habitudes® — Images That Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes as a “next gen” conversation starter for thousands of organizations.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I launched my career and started organizations as a teen with far more passion than insight. As a young professional, I recall being naïve about what people needed from their leader, neglecting some social and emotional skills that became the most important skills in my arsenal today. I needed a staff member to request that we have a “team meeting” so they could align with the vision. It was revolutionary to host a “team meeting.” ☺ In addition, I remember having to look up what “P and L” and what “cost of goods sold” meant. I never let inexperience prevent me from acting — and I am pretty sure people put up with me and helped me out because they saw I needed so much help. ☺

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

Two people come to mind. First Shawn Mitchell invited me to help him start a non-profit when I was in high school. He taught me to be a communicator beginning when he pretended to have laryngitis one Friday night. This forced me to get up and speak to a crowd and thanks to Shawn, I’ve been speaking on a regular basis for 44 years. (Shawn later apologized for his pretense but said it was the only way he knew he could get me on stage.) Second, without a doubt, serving with John Maxwell was life transforming. As a 20-something, I watched John lead every day and was able to avoid mistakes that many of my peers were making. He took me under his wing and generously gave me his time, insights, examples and resources. I remember a trip my wife and I took with John and his wife Margaret. While there, I needed to buy a new suit but had a limited budget. Once I chose a suit, the others suggested I get a tie to go with it. I insisted I couldn’t get the tie as the suit already cost too much. When we exited the store, we noticed John wasn’t with us. A few minutes later, he snuck behind me and slipped a small bag inside my larger bag which held my new suit. I looked inside — to find that he had purchased the tie that went so well with the suit. This was typical of him.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

From the beginning our mission statement was to develop young leaders who would transform society. Over the years, we’ve modified the language. Today our mission is: To empower the emerging generations with skills to lead in real life. (We are targeting Millennials and Generation Z) and the leaders who manage them: employers, teachers, coaches, administrators and youth workers.

Our vision, which is the outcome of our mission, is simple but profound: We imagine a world improved, even transformed, by millions of young influencers who solve problems and serve people in their communities. We’ve determined the greatest two acts that earn anyone the right to lead are: solving problems and serving people. Do this, and you will naturally influence others.

Thank you for that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?

I recognized quickly that our team was going to need different kind of leadership from me during the quarantine and pandemic. During times of disruption leaders do well to offer these three gifts:

Context. Our team had not context for how to handle a pandemic. I immediately researched what people did during past pandemics and was able to offer some context to my young teammates. COVID-19 was the fourth pandemic our world has seen in the last century. Providing this history gave everyone perspective and calmed them of some uncertainties.

Applications. In uncertain times, people need specific actionable steps to take, even more than they.

Normally do. When we can’t be certain, leaders must be clear. Clarity becomes the best gift we can give them. I didn’t try to speculate three months down the road; we just offered steps to take today and met briefly for a virtual meeting each morning to do so.

Belief. In times of disruption, people can become scared. They need to hear their leader authentically say: I not only believe we are going to make it through this, but we will be stronger for it. This belief is more for the team’s heart than their mind, but I believe it is just as essential. I love the phrase John

Maxwell taught me: When there is no hope for the future, there is no power in the present.

Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?

2019 and 2020 were the most difficult years in my leadership journey. We engineered a re-org on our team and experienced turnover, transitions, new positions and some distrust between team members. I soon discovered we were not alone. Inc. magazine carried a piece called “the great resignation” which detailed how 4.5 million employees resigned in three months. I also read about the Great CEO Exodus of 2020. It crossed my mind to make a transition of my own. During this time, however, I made some discoveries that enabled me to reignite with our mission and lead in a fresh way. I am leading differently now, embodying some leadership “paradoxes” that have transformed the way I approach my team.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?

Two thoughts come to mind. The first is one of our Habitudes: “The Flight Attendant Factor.” Have you noticed when you experience turbulence on a flight, people tend to grab their seat handles instantly? But, if the turbulence continues, people intuitively know to look at the flight attendants. If they are still smiling, serving drinks calmly and making jokes with passengers, passengers know everything is fine. I believe leaders are flight attendants and know people benefit from them remaining poised in challenging times.

Second, I genuinely believe leaders must practice paradoxes, especially in tough times. A paradox is an apparent contradiction that seems like it can’t be true; two opposing realities exist at the same time. Today, employees come to us with higher levels of education, expectation, emotion, exposure and sometimes entitlement which require leaders to read nuances and embody paradoxes. These paradoxes make leaders uncommon and worth following. For instance, uncommon leaders:

• Display both confidence and humility. People need leaders to be confident. Confidence makes our leadership believable. But we must be real. Humility makes our confidence believable.
• Leverage both their vision and their blind spots. Leaders must operate off of a clear vision, but often it’s the blind spots they have that enable them to do what others assumed impossible.
• Are both visible and invisible. Great leaders time their presence well. They know teams need to see them setting the example early on but must eventually step aside and be absent so others can step up and take their place at the right time. They lead via their presence and absence.

There may be an endless number of paradoxes that separate great leaders from good ones, but I found eight of them and illustrate them with case studies in, Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership. I’m pretty excited about this new book. It’s been a game changer for me.

When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?

In uncertain times, this is when leaders earn their keep. It’s been said 95 percent of the decisions we make can be made by a reasonably intelligent high school sophomore. But you get paid for the other 5 percent. In uncertain and ambiguous times, teams need their leader to be both timely and timeless. It’s another paradox. Especially today, leaders must stay on the cutting edge, timely in their ideas, products and services. Yet, lasting leaders cling to timeless principles and values that work in every age. Being timely communicates your organization will keep up with the culture, if not lead the way. Being timeless communicates stability in the midst of constant change.

What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?

I try to keep three ideas in mind in such times. First, I prioritize personal issues before work issues. People need to know you care first about them personally. Address this first, then move on to the work issues at hand. When we lean into their personal wellbeing, they tend to be able to lean into the work. Second, I believe it’s best to communicate hard realities before easy ones. Because we’re human, we’ll tend to want to instantly share the easy stuff, the good news first. If we do, however, savvy people begin to wonder if we’re a spin doctor and must be hiding something. Get the cards on the table, then end with the silver linings in the dark clouds. Third, I find people need leaders to communicate the big picture before the smaller details. Show them the box top, then share how their puzzle piece fits in.

How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?

One of our Habitudes is called, “The Bit Market.” It’s built off the story of a drill company that sold tons of drill bits for electric drills — forgetting the market is for “holes” not for drill bits. Those bits are only a means to an end. Great leaders always separate their products from their purpose; their methods from their mission. Drill bits come and go; the hole is the outcome customers are interested in. We must always remember what people really want and need. Reed Hastings came up with the idea for Netflix and took it to Blockbuster Video Stores in 1997. Sadly, Blockbuster assumed they had a handle on home entertainment. In reality, they had a handle on video cassettes, and failed to see the “hole” was home entertainment, which would soon be performed through streaming videos online. Blockbuster went from the record books to the history books in less than three decades.

Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?

I created a new Habitude for such times. I call it: “Dentists and Cavities.” Have you noticed when you visit the dentist and have a cavity, he usually says, “Can you stay a bit longer and I’ll fill it now or if not, can you return as soon as possible so I can fill it?” Dentists know if they don’t fill that cavity soon, something else will fill it. Bacteria and germs. So it is with people. When there is incomplete information available, people experience mental cavities; holes in their narrative that they may fill with inaccurate information. Distortions surface. Fears rise. In these times, emotions can masquerade as thoughts. That’s why leaders must see themselves as dentists and fill cavities. They must overcommunicate in times of change and turbulence.

Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?

Three of the biggest mistakes I see businesses make are:

1. They continue business as usual, forgetting that team members are humans with angst.
2. Leaders become absent psychologically or physically. Absentee leadership plagues businesses.
3. Holding onto high standards without offering gracious forgiveness. Leaders must practice giving grace during difficult times; call them “safety nets” if you will, so that people don’t become paralyzed from taking risks.

Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?

For us, I found the key was to turn disadvantages into advantages. When the dark clouds come, where are those silver linings that we may have never discovered without such stormy weather. Mary Barra is the CEO of General Motors. During the pandemic, her plant in Kokomo, Indiana all but shut down. No one was buying cars. But Mary did see the need for ventilators — a huge need. And her factory there could make them. The team pivoted and cranked out thousands of ventilators in a matter of months. Mary is a great case study of a leader who repurposed her work and everyone won: her team, the company’s bottom line and our nation’s health.

Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.

Believe it or not, I found that leading in turbulent times — times that are volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous — requires practicing some paradoxes with your team. Here are some important ones:

1. Be both inherently collective yet deeply personal. This one is tough because most leaders are better at one than the other. We must be collective in our communication with the team showing them we see and understand the big picture. At the same time, people need us to speak personally to them, showing we understand them and how this season affects them. Mother Teresa spoke to crowds and to donors about the collective nature of her vision, but never lost sight of the individual sick and suffering people she was serving.
2. Be both stubborn and open-minded. This is key. During turbulent times, there are some timeless values leaders must pay special attention to, or they can compromise all they hold dear in the name of survival. Yet, during times of change, they must be flexible on everything else. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick fil a is a great example. He identified the set of values his stores would embrace but remained adaptable until age 92 when he opened a new restaurant. His strong will and open mind led to double digit growth that’s continued for decades.
3. Be both a teacher and a learner. Angela Ahrendts became CEO of Burberry Coats in 2006. The brand was in decline and was viewed as a high priced coat for rich, older women. As CEO, she was expected to “teach” this company how to rise from a downturn, but the first step she took was to meet with young team members (twenty-somethings) and learn from them. She asked what Burberry needed to do to reach Millennials. Those young teammates came up with loads of great ideas which took Burberry into years of growth. Angela was a teacher and a student.
4. Learn to separate your product from your purpose. I spoke of this earlier when I mentioned “The Bit Market.” Too often leaders fall in love with their methods and focus on those instead of their mission. Methods come and go, mission stays the same. This is why effective leaders don’t fall in love with an idea; they fall int love with a problem to solve. This keeps them open to new ideas and innovations that arise over the years. If you love your products more than the problem they solve, you may miss the next great product that comes along.
5. Be “for” your customers more than your own offerings. This seems strange, but people expect companies to market their products and services. When companies brag about what their customers are doing and talk about how much they are “for” their customers, it almost always comes back to bless them. Jeff Henderson talks about this in his book, “For.” It is counter-intuitive, but it works. Stop the humble-bragging on social media and boast about others.

Can you please give us your favorite” Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“The further out you can see, the better the decision you’ll make today for yourself and your team.”

I love this quote because it encourages me to take the long view, rather than the short view. It nudges me to make things right, rather than patch things up. It pushes me to play the “infinite game” instead of just focusing on profits today. Life is better when we do three things:

• Think big picture.
• Think high road.
• Think long term.

How can our readers further follow your work?

TimElmore.com

GrowingLeaders.com

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

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Dr Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders: Five Things You Need to Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbu was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.