Leadership Mindset To Discover Purpose, Impact People, and Achieve!

Luke: 0:11

Welcome to the special bonus episode of the "I" in Win. Before I introduce today's guest, I want to mention our new website, theiinwin.com, where you can listen to past episodes, leave review, or even register yourself as a guest if you're interested in being on the show. Now for today's special bonus episode, we welcome Mr. Andy Hillig of Andy Hillig Solutions, LLC. I've known Andy for a little over a year now, and I could tell you that he's a phenomenal resource for any leader, as he helps leaders to discover their purpose, which leads to results. Hope you enjoy this special bonus episode. Andy. Thanks for being on the show. And I want to start with your experience in leadership. I know you spent many years in corporate leadership. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Andy: 0:53

Yeah. sure. Uh, thanks for that, Luke. And thanks for having me, uh, by the way, um Yeah. I guess I want to go back to a little bit of my, my upbringing. I grew up on the south side of Chicago, really blue collar family, and, um, you know, leadership kind of really wasn't in our genes, quite frankly, the corporate world wasn't in our genes. And so, for me to, you know, kind of land in leadership in my career was really a first in our family. But, you know what I discovered, and obviously what my employers discovered as well too, is that I had some innate leadership abilities that I didn't know I had, um that they saw in me. And, and so, I, I was promoted into leadership positions pretty early in my career. I was a, a vice-president in a large healthcare system by the time I was 30. My peers around me. You know, much older could have been my parents' age in most cases. And so it was an interesting experience for me. Um, you know, really growing in leadership and growing really quickly and getting to experience what it's like to kind of feel like you're the kid at the adult table at Christmas that we all know that metaphor pretty well. So, I learned a lot about leadership. I had some good mentors who invested in me and sent me through some leadership development programs. Um, but you know, by and large leadership for me and like it is for most is kind of a trial by fire. You learn sometimes how things go correctly And sometimes you also have from things that didn't go so well.

Luke: 2:30

We share a similarity in our age. I should say our young age becoming leaders. My first head coaching experience, I was 29 years old, zero experience coach. And I'll never forget the first meeting with all the conference head coaches I walk into the room. And there's seven other head coaches. And I believe six, if not, seven of them are now in the coaching hall of fame, just to put it in perspective. here I come walking in 29 years old full of legend head coaches, and they all just looked at me and. Go sit in the corner and just listen. That's how you become a better coach. And I sat in the corner and I listened and I became a better coach, so I could relate with you and that one, Andy. Um, so let's get to the present. Now you are a leadership mindset coach. So what exactly do you do?

Andy: 3:23

Yeah. Um, leadership is tough. Leadership is a calling, um, leaders are called to lead and they become leaders because they care about people and they want to bring out the best in people. And, and when in succeed, right? Whether it's on the field for you or it's in the classroom or it's in the, in the office, you wanna and leaders want to lead teams to that win to that victory. But it's not easy. And leadership in the corporate sense is a tough job these days. Um, leading isn't easy and so. I've learned some things along the way and I also have a lot to learn. Um, but what I enjoy most is kind of that giving back to leaders and helping them to garner that self-awareness about why they got into leadership what they love about leadership, and kind of rediscover or rekindle that fire, um, you know, I, I, what I like to say is I helped the difference makers make a difference by focusing them on, on what drives them, learning to recognize what depletes them, uh, what it takes to inspire and motivate their people to get the results they want to get, and develop the ability to achieve all this while discovering the harmony between work and life and, and, you know, you hear the work-life balance and I really think it's become more of the work-life harmony. Uh, how do you bring the two together and discover, that brand, that purpose, you know, and that work that aligns with who you are and what you enjoy. So you. Create that nexus, if you will, of kind of that complete join fulfillment in both life and work. It's so important for, for leaders these days. And, and it's, it's kind of funny, Luke, when you shared your story a minute ago about your first head coaching job and kind of sitting in the corner and learning and listening. Most leaders in the corporate world, don't get that opportunity. Um, you get thrown in and you don't get a manual. You don't get a playbook, you don't get, you know, directions on how to be a leader. You, you just get thrown into it. And before you know it, you kind of look back and you say, what just happened? You know, you're, you're 20 years into your leadership journey and you say, what, what just happen over those last 20 years? Uh, Did what I had to do to survive and keep my head above water as a leadership mindset coach, I help leaders who hopefully avoid getting to that point, you know, 20 years down the road and wonder what happened. And so that's the thrill that I have with being a leadership mindset coach.

Luke: 5:55

And the you've touched upon was this idea of being in the business of people that that's what leaders do. And I've always argued that as well. It doesn't matter if it's head, coach, you know, executive of a healthcare system, you really ultimately in the business of people and in developing people. So why would you say in leadership. That we should focus on developing people rather than just purely outcomes.

Andy: 6:23

It's a, it's an interesting question. That's a, it's a very interesting question. I guess I'd break it down like this. To me first and foremost, we've got to draw the line between management and leadership. And I think sometimes those lines get blurred, especially in the corporate world where management is a science, right? That's a something you can. Uh, degree in, you know, an MBA, or some kind of business degree. And you learn how to run the business, you know, the, the financials, the budget, production lines, whatever it may be. You can learn that and that that's the technical skill of being in leadership. But the leadership side of things is the really it's the leading people and how do you inspire and motivate people? Um, And get them to come to work every day, just on fire to do their job or to push the limits of the status quo and find ways to do things better. That's an art. Um, that's something that can be acquired over time and it's really a lifelong journey. Um, and so when you look at the journey of a, of a leader, most start off as a great technical expert. For you, it was probably, you started off, you know, you, you, you got a love of football and then you became a player and then found yourself in coaching later on. Um, it's the same way in the corporate world as well, too. You, you start off as a great technical expert but the thing that's the hardest part is that, that leadership, that learns skill. Um, and so as a manager, it's easy to focus on the outcomes because it's measurable and it's specific with respect to the tactics you can employ to manage a business. Leadership on the other hand is not as measurable. You've got to find ways to inspire people who in turn are driven to do their best but how do you measure that? And I think that's where this divergence comes in of the, you know, how do we get so focused on the outcomes that we lose sight of the people that we're leading? And I guess I always like to say is if you focus on the people first and you really bring out the best of them, and again, focus on that and inspiration and motivation, and get them to do what they enjoy most. Um, and they come to work on Mondays and are excited to be at work. Those outcomes are going to follow. Um, and so, you know, the outcomes are what you look at to know if you're doing a good job, but that, that I think is the, what the, how is the, how you get people to do their best work.

Luke: 9:00

And let's kind of stick on that point, because in my opinion, there's a division and a lack of trust between leadership and those they lead. And I know there's exceptions to this rule. I'm just saying generally speaking, we tend to not trust leadership. And the only way to break that down is to have a relationship. And that's what you kind of just touch upon towards the end of your answer. So. How do leaders establish relationships with those? They lead without the authority. And I don't like to use the word authority, but I don't know. don't know how else to pose the question because you are in a leadership role, but you do need to have this relationship and a, Hey, how was your weekend and refer to people on a first name basis. So w what are your thoughts?

Andy: 9:47

Yeah. That's always the struggle, especially, you know, again, oftentimes leaders come into leadership roles having first been appear and a coworker. And in some cases, a friend. And now how does that relationship evolve into becoming an, uh, an authority? Um, and how do you. Be friendly. And in some cases be friends, but also command the respect that you've earned as a leader. And at the same time, show that respect back to those people that you're leading. And so, you know, I think there's, there's there's a pretty simple five step recipe I, that you know is not mine. It's not. Unique. It's, it's pretty ubiquitous, I would say, but, you know, I, I think the first thing is you've got to be inspirational and I've said that before. Um, but you've got to inspire people. You've got to make it exciting to come to work every day. And they got to know that the work is meaningful. Um, so that starts off with communicating a vision. Right? What does, and I, and I use this. This, this, I guess, metaphor a lot. Um, but in the corporate sense as I'm coaching leaders and as I'm coaching teams too, it's what, what does winning look like? Right. We're, we're all competitive by nature. Uh, as human beings, you know, studies have shown that we, we strive to compete. We strive to win, whether that be in sports or board games or cards or, whatever that may be we're all competitive in nature. So, you know, as a leader, you've got to first establish that vision of, Hey, what does, what does it look like if we win right. And then why does that matter? You know, why does winning matter? What will winning on our team, get us for our team, uh, for the overall organization, if you're part of a bigger enterprise, um, but really connecting the dots for those individuals. So that again, they are inspired. They want to charge forward. They want to help win they want to see the organization do well. The other thing I think you have to do though, is also spin that around and, and, and. Apply that, that old acronym with them, that what's in it for me. Um, what inspires them, you have to get in touch with what motivates. So you have to, there has to be an element of the what's in it for me, as you develop that vision and craft that vision of what winning looks like, because you know, it may be, what it means to the company to win. And that goes back to your previous question about outcomes, but those outcomes have to connect to something personal to me as the employee as well, too. So I think that that's an element that, that can't be overlooked when creating a vision, then you have to engage the people, right? You. Probably one of the most, uh, overlooked parts of leadership. Um, and I think, you as a coach on the field and, the greatest coaches in sports, I think really understand this better than the corporate world. And I think this is a lesson in the corporate world can really take, um, is. Engage the people understand their strengths and abilities and interests at an individual level. Don't assume that everybody's at work and has the same strengths and abilities because they're all on the team. Everybody brings something different to the workplace. And I think, you know, we hear a lot about diversity and inclusion as a social responsibility these days. But I mean that, that's something that's been very important and it has been missing in the corporate world for so long. Right. We got to understand the individuals of the team. What they bring to the team and we've got to tap into that. Right. So that each of them again understands what angle they're coming from and how they contribute to, how do we win as a team? You know, what is my role to play based on what are my strengths and abilities, which may be different than yours. That's a piece that leaders oftentimes overlook and I think it's so critically important. Um, and then, and then once you understand that you got to empower them, right? You got to ask them to help and align what their strengths and abilities are to what you need to get from them. Um, so you empower them by saying, you know, I, I, things like I trust you or. I want your help with this or I think you can really bring something new, right? Really engage their creativity, their critical thinking skills in the workplace by empowering them. You know, oftentimes as leaders, leaders think that the role of a leader is to have all the answers and solve all the problems. And it's no it's to engage and empower the people because they're the ones that are going help you win. And so that's your role as a leader. And then once you've done all that and your things are going off and running, you got to provide feedback along the way. You got to keep coming back to them and showing them, Hey, are we winning or not? You know, or, Hey, we're not winning what what's keeping us from winning. What are you, what are you seeing in your work every day that's limiting you, that that's preventing you from winning. You know, a constant, continuous, almost every day kind of thing. You know, and, and really having that communication loop with the team, they're the ones that are doing the work. They're the ones that can give you the answers of what's not working out there, or what barriers are we running into that's keeping us from winning. And so, um, did we win? Are we winning? Why aren't we winning? What do we need to do to win more often? Um, and then of course, once that's all done and you have won, and something that leaders often overlook is taking that time to celebrate, you know, as, as leaders we're so accomplished, oftentimes that we don't take the time to stop and enjoy when we actually have won, because our minds, you know, our alpha mindsets are already off to the next thing, you know? Okay. We've won. We go, we earned our paycheck today. Let's let's keep moving and it's no that's important for the team is to really celebrate and win that. And quite frankly, that's something that I struggled with as a leader that I often got a lot of feedback on was that, you know, you've got a lot of great accomplishment. You move the team along, you, you accomplish the goals, you met the, the objectives, you got the outcomes. It takes some time to celebrate that. Andy people want to know that they did a good job and know that the work that they've done is valuable. And so I, you know, I think that that's important in, in so many things, whether it be with our kids or our teams or, um, in the workplace, we we've got to celebrate and we've got to take that time to celebrate when we've accomplished something good.

Luke: 16:08

And one thing you touched upon in your response, but I want to highlight it because I think it's really important is you discuss the balancing act of what leaders need versus what those they lead need. And sometimes those two things don't jive. And again, I heard your answer, but I just want. Go back to that point. How do you balance as a leader? Essentially getting people to do things are really to the benefit of the leader or the company or the team, and not necessarily for themselves.

Andy: 16:42

Yeah. I mean, again, I think that's truly the definition of leadership. Um, probably the biggest, I guess mistake leaders make is when they first get into leadership is thinking that they have to have all the answers. And I, and I think that that's maybe a, a stigma that's been created in the corporate world or in our society is that you get into leadership because you have all the answers and. Leaders oftentimes overburden themselves with having to shoulder the responsibility or come up with the answers or drive the results when. The reality is, is that your team is sitting there waiting for you to ask them for help and I think that's the hard part is admitting or asking for help maybe is is a sign of weakness or a sign of, of failures, a leadership. And so uh, your ability to lead has been compromised, but that relationship that you can build that empowering. And by again, understanding what strengths and abilities individuals on your team bring in matching what you're asking them to do with those strengths and abilities that that's empowerment and that's where you go from again, I think managing to leading now. And I think that that's the difference.

Luke: 17:58

Taking a look at your website. I read something that stuck out to me, and this is direct quote from there. My passion is helping leaders discover their purpose so that they can have the impact they want to have in the workplace. I love that quote and that's, uh a big part of what I would call your why. And, I believe that people get into leadership as I've mentioned earlier, because they do believe in people and they ultimately want to have an impact on people and they want to make people better. But, you know, here's the conundrum. Leaders aren't evaluated on their impact on those they lead. They're really judged on outcomes. So how do you produce the outcomes you need to produce to keep your job without sacrificing your why of impacting people?

Andy: 18:48

Yeah. And I like how you said that to Luke, because I think a lot of times, um, leaders think that they're exclusive of each other. Right. And I, in order to get the outcomes, I've, I've got to drive hard. I've got to be a bad-ass um, leave, leave a lot of carnage behind, uh you know, stop at nothing to get with what you need to get. And in doing so, you, you burn a lot of relationships and you, you burn a lot of that, that human capital, if you will. Um, so I, I think the first thing is is realizing that they're not exclusive of each other. You can drive to outcomes while keeping your why in mind and at the forefront of what you do, right. Outcomes are what they are. And I said this before, because they can be measured. Right. And nobody's really figured out a good way to measure how a leader touches the heart and minds of people. That's not something that you can come up with a good measure and put it on a dashboard or put it on a scoreboard and say, there, I did that. No. You measure wins and losses, right? Because that that's tangible. You can look at that and see that. Um, but as I said before, it's how you lead to that point is how you lead to the outcomes that that's important in, in how you touch the hearts and minds of the people on your team is. What happens, and the outcomes are the result of that. And so I think that's, that's the thing that leaders need to keep in mind in terms of the, why is the outcomes will come. You can't start with the outcomes first and then try to bring the people along. You gotta, you gotta. Really get in tune with the people. And again, go back to, they should, when they come to work on Mondays and they're excited to be there and they, you know, they're putting in a hundred percent effort for you. The outcomes are going to come. You know, nobody wakes up every day with the goal in mind of, uh, I want to go to work, to mess up, or I want to, I want to go to work and, and prevent us from hitting those outcomes. We, we all want to go to work and do a good job and win, right. That again comes back to that competitive spirit that we all have.

Luke: 20:54

And I have to interrupt. I have to interrupt you on that point because I'm laughing, as you said, because. I cannot tell you the amount of times I sat in film evaluation with coaches and they would be upset over a player, making a mistake. And I would always come back to the point. Do you, do you think the kid wanted to make that mistake? Do you think he, he put in all this time in the weight room and on the practice field to show up on a Friday night and make that mistake for everybody to see, and for us to sit here on a Saturday and exactly. And I just think people lose that perspective, you know? And, oh man, why did he do that? Well, he didn't want to make the mistake, you know, but sorry, I just, sorry. I interrupted is I had to interject that.

Andy: 21:36

Yeah. well, no, it's, it's actually a great, he actually had me stop and think for a minute there as well to Luke. Right. And thinking of even my own kids and sometimes lessons and leadership need to be applied to fatherhood as well, too. Um, You know, because you think, yeah, in the answer to that, as the, it goes back to kind of what I said a little bit ago, that cycle of winning and what does it take to win and what kept us from winning. Right. So the mistake happened, right? Yeah. So what did we learn from it? Um, you know, as the old saying, I use it a billion times in my lifetime with the Thomas Edison quote, right. Thomas Edison, didn't fail at making a light bulb a thousand times. Learned a thousand ways not to make a light bulb. And so what did you learn and what kept us from winning? And so what can we do next time to win. And, and that, I think, again, it goes, I said before that feedback loop is, is so critically important and that's the relationship, that's the relationship that you need to drive to is. And if you do that and you do that over and over again, suddenly, you, you make less mistakes and you start seeing that you're winning more often. Um, and now you're connected to your why that that's ultimately what you want. You want to see people engaged and excited and inspired, and that's what you want. You want to come to work that way every day as well, too. And so that harmony, that that comes from. It is when all of a sudden the outcomes start happening and it it's like magic leaders, you know, when they see that start to happen, th they're kind of surprised at first of the, really that that's what it took in to get the results that I needed to get. That's all I needed to do. And I didn't need to be this, this, kind of draconian leader, um, that just doesn't work.

Luke: 23:23

Well, staying on this theme of outcomes. I know that small wins are massive motivators too. And being in leadership could be definitely a long and lonely journey at times. So what are some small wins that leaders can focus on to help their own motivation to forge ahead?

Andy: 23:42

So, you know, it's a, it's a day-to-day thing, right? Leadership is is happens every day. Um, and I gotta take something from, from one of your guests on a previous podcast, because I think it's awesome. With what Katherine Adamek said, you know her acronym for "win" you know what's important now. And I think that that's the key for leaders in the corporate world as well to our leaders, anywhere is the what, what do I need to do to win today? You know when the day and then you'll win for lifetime. So you gotta plant right. Failure to plan is a plan to fail as the old saying goes. And if you can't tell by now I use a lot of sayings and a metaphors, Luke Lukin. And how I talk about this. Um, but that's the key is what do I need to focus on? What do I need to do today that, that small win, as you said, right? So, what's the priority for today? Um, cause there's going to be a lot of distractions throughout the day, you know, there's going to be unexpected phone calls. There's going to be unexpected emails or people dropping in your office or, you know, things like that. But w what are those things that, I've got to make the time for? And I can't overlook, or else I won't win today. And so that, I think those are some of the small things. And again, on that list should be touching base with my team, whether it be some kind of, you know, morning huddle or be you rounding with the team, um, that needs to happen every day as well. That that's what's keeps that relationship alive. Um, and then again, that touch base is also the opportunity to find out what prevented us from winning, which is sometimes the most valuable nuggets of, you know, if we know what didn't work, then we can figure out what it takes to work and put contingency plans in place. And so that has to be one thing that's on that list every day. Um, and then, you know, I think the other thing that you do that I think is a small win is. You do you measure and share the results with the team? if we know what winning looks like and we've defined it, then every day we should be able to discuss, did we win or not? Um, and again, I think in the. Uh, the hustle and bustle of the day, those last couple things I just said, there are oftentimes the first things that fall off the list for leaders, because they are busy going to meetings or responding to emails, or locked in their office, trying to get their own work done that they forget to make that connection. So I, again, it's a common theme, but it goes back to making that connection, that small win. If you know, what's important now,

Luke: 26:19

You talked about taking a look and saying, Hey, did we win in my round? Speaking of athletics, my concern is always that the scoreboard could be very deceiving because you could win and real, you didn't win or you could lose. And really you didn't lose. It has to do the standard performance that you have set for your team. And I don't have corporate background, but I would assume there would be some similarities there because we have numbers we have to hit. And just because you don't hit those numbers, it doesn't necessarily mean that you lost. And just because you did hit those numbers again, it doesn't mean that you necessarily have won. But, I think we're at the have you on again, just to discuss the the deception of our eyes at times. And we're not really seeing the truth of our organization, but you know, we're running out of time and we'll have to have a separate interview for that one. So let's make that part two of this interview. Um, Yeah. So, you know, as we are winding down, though, you do have lots of nuggets to share on leadership. How about some resources on leadership that we could give to our listeners, if it's books or blogs or other podcasts that you could recommend for people who want to improve their leadership skills?

Andy: 27:30

Yeah. With this concept of winning that I, I like to recommend is a book called own the gap. Um, and it's more for the corporate leaders, but it is more of that, you know, what does winning look like? Uh, did I win? Did we win? What do we need to do more when it's, it's a closed loop management system but it's a really good book. It's a little bit technical but it's really good if you want kind of that playbook on on how to handle. Business and lead, lead your teams. Um, the other one is if you're looking to kind of, you know, get more energy and more, understand yourself a little more self-awareness around, you know, what helps me, uh, fuels me, you know, and, and what drains me in my leadership role in the corporate world, there's a book by Bruce Schneider, Energy Leadership, um, transforming your workplace in your life from the core. I think is another good one. And then the last one I love a lot is called the Kaizen Way One Small Step Can Change Your Life. Um, you know, that book, I always use the example it talks a lot about, and this goes back to your scoreboard analogy, Luke, where, you know, the scoreboard may not show that you won but if you're, I think it's all about goal setting is what this book is all about. Right. And having small incremental goals to set. So if you're, you know, the example I always like to use is if you're a couch potato and you, you have a goal of running a 5k, well, the first thing you gotta do is get up off the couch and walk in place during commercials breaks. Right. And have your favorite. And then keep evolving to the point to where you're running the 5k. And so this book, the Kaizen Way is a great kind of quick read but very impactful if you want to kind of change how you do things, um, how to, how to set small goals for yourself.

Luke: 29:17

And how can our listeners get in direct contact with you?

Andy: 29:20

Direct contact. Um, you can reach out to me on LinkedIn. That's a big, popular way and like the corporate world, these days to connect with people, Andy Hillig, um, just look me up otherwise. Everything else is pretty easy from there to email me at andy@andyhillig.com or even you mentioned my website a little bit ago. Um, www.andyhillig.com.

Luke: 29:41

Great. And I'll be sure to share all that information has show notes as well. And like I said, we'll, we'll definitely have to do a part two there's interview cause there's a lot more I'd like to discuss, but in the meantime thank you so much for coming on and sharing your expertise. As we have discussed, there's tons of crossover between leadership and athletics, leadership in education leadership in the corporate world. And, and they do cross paths throughout. So there's lots of benefits to all of our listeners. So thanks for sharing your expertise today.

Andy: 30:08

Yeah, thanks Luke, I appreciate it.

Luke: 30:10

Thanks for listening to this special bonus episode of the "I" in Win. I hope you found Andy's leadership wisdom to be as valuable as I did. And if so, please do consider reaching out to him as he is a great resource for any leaders looking to reach new Heights. And again, I would like to ask if you're finding value in the podcast, please do consider recommending it to others. And as always remember, the more I's we impact in this world, the more everyone wins. That's the "I" in Win!.