Episode 676 - How to Thrive in a World of Chaos

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Helping leaders motivate their people

to a higher level of performance

through strong human relations,

team building, and goal achieving.

This is the seven-minute leadership podcast

with your host, Paul Felle Valido.

Hello everyone and welcome

to the seven-minute leadership podcast.

It's episode 676.

We are living in a time

where chaos is no longer occasional.

It is constant.

Turn on the news, open your phone,

walk into your workplace,

sit in a leadership meeting,

and it feels like everything is moving at once.

Wars, economic pressure,

political division,

staffing shortages,

technology moving faster than people can keep up.

And a workforce that is thinking and acting differently

than it did even two years ago.

And here's the question every leader is asking right now

even if they're not saying it out loud.

How do I actually thrive in this?

Not survive, not hang on, thrive.

Because survival is reactive,

thriving is intentional.

And if you're waiting for things to calm down

before you get your footing,

you're going to be waiting a very long time.

Chaos is not going anywhere.

So today I'm going to give you a way

to operate inside of it,

not outside of it.

First, you need to stop chasing stability.

Most leaders are exhausted

because they're trying to create a version

of the workplace that no longer exists,

predictable schedules, clear communication,

long planning cycles, consistent employee behavior,

that world is gone.

You cannot thrive in chaos if you're trying

to recreate calm.

Instead, you need to build your leadership around adaptability.

Think about flying an aircraft.

The pilot is not trying to eliminate turbulence.

The pilot is trained to operate through it.

Small adjustments, constant awareness,

staying ahead of the aircraft.

That is your job as a leader right now.

You're not here to eliminate chaos.

You're here to lead through it.

Second, shorten your leadership decision cycle.

In a chaotic environment,

slow leaders lose, not because they're unintelligent,

but because they are outdated.

You cannot sit on decisions for weeks.

You cannot over-analyze everything.

You cannot wait for perfect information.

You need to gather enough information,

make a decision, communicate it clearly,

and adjust if needed.

This is where redkey leadership shows up.

Not every decision is critical,

but the ones that are, you cannot hesitate.

Chaos rewards the size of leaders,

and your team is watching you.

If they see hesitation, they feel uncertainty.

If they see clarity, they feel direction.

Third, control what is actually controllable.

This sounds simple, but it's not,

because chaos pulls your attention everywhere.

News cycles, social media, employee drama,

industry shifts, financial pressure,

and before you know it, your energy is spent on things.

You cannot change.

Thriving leaders tighten their focus.

They ask one question over and over again.

What is in my control today?

Your attitude, your communication, your expectations,

your follow-through, your standards.

That is your lane.

Stay in it, because when leaders drift into everything else,

they lose effectiveness where it matters most.

Fourth, create micro stability for your team.

You may not be able to control the world outside your organization,

but you can control the experience inside it,

and this is where leaders either win or lose right now.

Your people are dealing with the same chaos you are,

financial stress, information overload, personal pressure.

When they come to work, they're looking for something stable.

That something is you, consistency,

and how you communicate, consistency,

and how you hold people accountable, consistency,

and how you show up.

You don't need to have all the answers.

You need to be predictable in how you lead.

That becomes the anchor in the storm.

Fifth, eliminate noise and focus on signal.

Not everything deserves your attention.

Chaos creates noise.

Every email feels urgent.

Every problem feels critical.

Every conversation feels important,

and it's not great leaders filter.

They identify what actually moves the organization forward

in what is simply a distraction.

This is where experience matters.

You have to develop the ability to say this matters,

and this does not, and then act accordingly,

because if everything is important, nothing is important.

Sixth, invest your seven minutes with intention.

This is where your entire leadership philosophy comes to life.

Seven minutes a day. That's it.

But those seven minutes need to be focused.

Think about your team.

Who needs a check-in? Think about your operation.

What needs attention? Think about yourself.

Where did you slip yesterday and what needs to be better today?

Seven minutes of intentional leadership

will cut through more chaos than hours of distracted effort.

This is how you stay sharp when everything around you feels scattered.

Seventh, build resilience into your culture.

Not slogans, not posters, not corporate buzzwords,

but resilience people who can handle pressure,

people who can adapt, people who understand that not

every day is going to be easy,

and this starts with what you tolerate.

If you tolerate complaining, you'll get more of it.

If you tolerate avoidance, it spreads.

If you tolerate low standards, chaos gets worse.

Your culture either absorbs chaos or amplifies it,

and that's on you.

And finally, you need to change how you define success,

because in a chaotic world, success is not perfection.

Success is progress.

Did you move the organization forward today?

Did you make a decision that needed to be made?

Did you show up for your team in a way that mattered?

Did you maintain your standards when it would have been easier and not to?

That is thriving.

Not everything going right.

You leading right when everything else is unstable.

So let me bring this home.

You're not waiting for the chaos to end.

You're becoming the leader who can operate inside of it.

Clear, focused, decisive, grounded.

That's what your team needs,

and that is what separates leaders who survive from leaders who thrive.

So as you move through today,

I want you to ask yourself one question.

Am I reacting to chaos?

Or am I leading through it?

Because your answer to that question is shaping everything around you.

Lean into it, own it, and lead it.

And if you want more seven-minute leadership resources,

head over to paulfileveleto.com, click on free stuff.

I have over 25 free leadership documents you can download and start using today.

This has been the seven-minute leadership podcast,

and I thank you for listening.

For more paulfileveleto podcasts, visit paulfileveleto.com.

Discover a spectacular island destination

with crystal blue seas, endless sunshine,

and the cool Bahamian breeze.

Bahamar, located in Nasal Bahamas,

offers your choice of three luxury hotels,

the richly refined rosewood,

the playfully hip SLS,

and a stylishly modern grand diet.

With over 45 restaurants, bars and lounges,

Bahamar serves up delicious dining

from world-renowned chefs,

like Daniel Balloude and Marcus Ann Wilson.

Nightlife venues like the new Jamba Tees Jazz Club,

and the Caribbean's most luxurious casino.

At Bahamar, you'll find every pleasure under the sun,

and one of the kind experiences for the entire family,

like Bahamay, our 15-acre lush tropical water park,

interactive wildlife experiences,

including our daily flamingo parade,

world-class golf, tennis, spa, and so much more.

Visit www.Bahamar.com today,

and discover a vacation destination,

where memories are made for a lifetime.

Bahamar, life spectacular.

Every business has an ambition.

PayPal Open is the platform designed to help you grow into yours,

with access to business loans so you can expand,

and hundreds of millions of PayPal customers worldwide.

Your customers can pay all the ways they want today,

with PayPal, Venmo, pay later, and all major cards,

so you can focus on the future.

When you need a partner trusted by millions,

there's one platform for all business.

PayPal Open, grow today at PayPalOpen.com,

loan subject to approval in available locations.

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