Listening is routinely found in “top ten” lists of the most important human skills for the 21st Century. Listening takes practice and can thrive in the right environmental conditions. To assume you’re cultivating improved listening skills without making equivalent investments in education, psychological safety, empowerment, and presence is a fallacy.

As time passes, the business matures, growth slows, and entropy sets in. Leaders and team members pull their heads up and take a look around at the state of their business. The common refrain goes something like this: “Wow, how did our culture deviate so far from our original intention? We need to get back to growth mode, but we also need a culture that will facilitate further growth, not impede it!”

This episode tells the story of 10-year-old Andy as a member of the La Crosse Boychoir, my mentor, Dan Johnson-Wilmot, and outlines three benefits of focusing on good posture for your personal and professional journey of continuous improvement.

"Nothing says “you’ve got this,” more than good posture. Many people will tell you that “clothes make the person,” but those clothes have to fit onto a frame—your frame. So before you go out and spend big money on a new wardrobe to boost self confidence, make the time to invest in posture by strengthening both mind and body."

My goal with this muse is to gently, but purposefully change the arc of the conversation in corporate circles around the concept of empathy and empathetic leadership. In my opinion, empathy is great, but it lacks two essential ingredients—the willingness/ability to help, and the ability to detach. Compassion represents a logical extension of empathy as it combines the ability to recognize someone else’s feelings and the motivation to help them do something about it. This addition of the motivation to help requires an ability to separate or detach oneself from the challenge the other person is experiencing. Without this ability to mentally detach, their challenge or pain becomes yours and carrying around that emotional burden will ultimately lead to your own exhaustion and burnout. Yes, it’s awesome that you feel another’s pain and want to help alleviate it, but if it’s at the expense of your own well-being, what’s the point?

Financial literacy is a woefully underdeveloped skill in both our homes and businesses. I frequently hear business leaders lament about the lack of financial literacy within their teams. In my first book, Balancing Act, I outline the four most important future-facing skills and financial literacy (and it’s more sophisticated cousin, financial acumen) is one of these four critical skills. So what is to be done to close the financial literacy skills gap? Use your annual budget process as an experiential learning opportunity for managers and key individual contributors in your organization.

So how do we balance control and empowerment? How do we create a high trust, high accountability workplace? We do so by installing a clear set of guardrails and guidelines within which the organization can function. Said differently, we install a “management operating system.”

Far too many of us look at the prospect of our fleeting, mortal lives with dread. We fill our lives with busy and hurry—seldom, if ever, stopping to check in with ourselves and ensure we’re living out the promise of our purpose. One of my goals with the Saturday Morning Muse is to help drive a shift in perspective—from the negative to the positive—from “I have to,” to “I get to.” If you want to be an effective, compassionate leader in life and in business, start engaging in your own mindfulness practice. What do you want to be known for? Up to this moment, have you done the best that you could?

The consistent truth to the creative process is that the only way “there” is “through.” To cut straight to the point today is that the skill of patience is woefully underrated and under-appreciated. Knowing when to push forward and when to let a project or idea sit is an incredibly important skill—for content creators and business leaders. Patience is key. Sometimes, some things, just need to sit.

There are many “top skills for the future,” but communication, influence, and professional presence routinely populate top ten lists that are prevalent in academic circles and the business press. I view it as my duty to prepare my students for the real world of work. If they enter the job market without being objectively terrified to use their voice, render an opinion, and act as a positive force for change and growth, I will have done my job.

First and foremost, great teachers are great listeners. They are keen observers of the world around them. Yes, they love to lecture and impart information and counsel, but one of the most important aspects of teaching is listening to the diverse needs of students to gain an understanding of where the student is, so they can be met where they’re at. A great teacher knows when to talk and when to shut up, observe, and listen.

To begin, it’s important to state what I hope is the obvious—that the number one job of all leaders and managers is to be a coach to their teams and team members. Unfortunately, in many organizations, coaching is viewed as a ‘nice to have’ and is not encouraged as the priority it should be. There are all manner of excuses for this lack of focus on coaching.

What’s the minimum bar for success for this self-reflection exercise? Were you able to connect with your breath and feel the rhythm of your heartbeat? If yes, then AWESOME! You just took a few huge steps forward.

Turns out that the answer to the question are you coachable is more difficult than most folks realize and it will take multiple sessions of self-reflection to make meaningful progress toward the answer.