Greg Griffith's Three P's

In this Leadership episode Greg Griffith, will walk you through the crucial 3Ps - perspective, position, and power, that will help us steer clear of emotional polarization. Contrary to popular belief, our decisions are not always a matter of life or death. It's time we took a step back, embraced a data-driven approach, and realize the power that we each hold.

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Transcript

Finding the Middle

Speaker 1 0:03

Welcome to this month's Greg Griffith Leadership Podcast . Join Greg Griffith as we , together , learn what it means to be leaders of our world as we faithfully love and faithfully lead . Like , share , rate and review this podcast with your friends and others of influence , for they too are looking for people like you to help them lead and love day to day . Now further ado . Here is your host , greg Griffith .

Speaker 2 0:33

Hey leaders , thanks so much for being a part of this podcast Greg Griffith leads . I'm honored that you would even take a moment to just listen in today . Couple things I would invite and encourage you to do . Please rate , review and share this podcast with a leader you know that would like to lead a little bit better and a little bit farther , as they are leading faithfully and living faithfully as well . I normally do an interview , but this was something that's been on my heart , something that I've been learning and leading in here over the past probably year , and I thought I wanted to share it with you and praying that this helps you lead better with your family , with your work and whatever season you're in , even in your daily life .

Speaker 2 1:24

I don't know about you , but I could guess that you , like me , have found yourself constantly right now in the state of extreme polarization . What do I mean by that ? We are being consistently bombarded with the reality that every single thing is a hot potato , meaning that it's life or death . It is the most crucial thing that we could do that if we make the wrong decision , everything could end , and the truth of the matter is none of that is true . What that really does is . It creates inside each and every one of us a extreme emotional response , and when we have that emotional response , we lose the ability to make good decisions , we lose the ability for rationale . And so I have been learning and leading into this and really trying to find a time to say what's the middle , remove myself from an emotional polarization that I , as a leader , can find myself so easily wanting to get into . Whether it's a decision for how our organization is going to go , whether it's how I'm leading as a parent to my children , or even whether it's a decision of what my wife and I do for vacation , we can find ourselves emotionally driven . I like the axiom that says to remove roadblocks , you also eliminate emotions and you are data driven , and that really is saying find your middle . So , leaders , here's what I want to do today . I want to give you the four Ps to finding the middle , and the first P is perspective .

Speaker 2 3:30

Perspective really matters . If you believe that the perspective is that this is a life or death decision , that this is a decision that will ultimately affect how everything goes , then you have found yourself at the polar opposite of an extreme position . Take a breath , take a moment and look at the perspective . Here's how I like to look at my perspective . First , I'm 46 years old . I have some life behind me . I have some life ahead of me . In the scheme of the world , my 80 , 90 years is small . My perspective is the reality too , that anything I do this moment is not going to destroy what I've done in the past , nor will it deter what my life will look like in the future . As a leader of an organization , I remind our teams consistently that whatever we decide today will not close our doors tomorrow and whatever we do today will not keep us open . There is a place that was here well before us and , truthfully , this will be here well beyond us . So a perspective that takes a breath and says where is this really mattering Helps us get to the middle . It removes our emotional I have to do . It removes the fear of the future and it removes the pain of the past . Know your perspective .

Speaker 2 5:40

Number two position what is your role ? This is so important as a coach . When I coached basketball , I always told every single one of our players you have a role , I have a role , I'm your coach . I can't play , I can't take the shots . My role is to help lead , encourage and put you into positions of success . Some of you , your role is going to be to start . Some of you , your role is going to come off the bench . Some of you , your role is going to be to get our players ready through practice .

Speaker 2 6:17

What position do you have ? Are you in a position to actually make a decision ? Are you in a position to make the difference ? Are you in a position to make the call ? Are you in a position to be the criticizer ? Are you in a position to be the encourager ? Are you in a position to be the advice giver ? I think so often we put ourselves in the position of the armchair quarterback . We're the ones saying if I were to call the shots , I'm not the one who's calling to play on the field . I'm the fan to encourage , to support , to uplift . So what position do you have ? So , when you go into something , when there's something that's raising your anxiety , when you're finding yourself in an extreme , what position are you in and what position is the person you're talking to in ? Are you talking to a person that can actually make a difference , or are you just talking to a person that also is like you , without a position to do anything about it . And when we do that , we just stoke flames of discouragement and disgruntlement , and in Christian language this is called gossip . So know your position , know your position and accept that position . Number three so we have our perspective . Where are we at ? What is our position ? How can we make a difference ? And then , lastly , or thirdly , what's your power Like ? What power do you have to be able to make a difference in this ? And really , here's the power . We only , every one of us , only has the power of one .

Speaker 2 8:13

I love that saying the power of one from Dr Gary Smalley's , where I first heard of it . What is that power ? How I respond . I don't have any other power . My only power that I truly can control is my response , and that's how I can control what I do . That's the power that I have . That's all you and I have is the power of one . How are you responding to whatever situation you're in ? And , by the way , when we go off the handle , when I find myself responding emotionally to whatever someone else is doing , I've actually yielded that power to them . I've now said the power to control me is you , and I've given that power away . Where , when I say this is how I'm going to respond . This is what I want to do . This is who I am . This is what's been formed in me . Then that's my power , and I don't let anyone else do that . No one can make you yell , no one can make you cry , no one can make you scream , no one can make you storm off . You have that power . Take it , own it and use it .

Speaker 2 9:35

Our perspective , our position , our power leads us to the last P , our posture . This is where . How am I relying and seeing God through all these things ? What's my posture with God ? I don't love that phrase that says stop trying to be God when we try to control things . I do try to control things , but I'm never trying to be God . I know I'm not God , but I do try to control the outcome .

The Power of Yielding to God

Speaker 2 10:15

So I'm not saying here that I'm trying to be God . What I am saying is I have to have the posture to yield myself to the will and the way of God . Even though it might not be mine . I may want a desired outcome that God sees something greater and bigger than what I can even see or know , and so am I willing to have a posture to yield that to Him . And again , when my perspective is that everything was before me and there's going to be a lot of things after me . When my position is that let me just take care of what I can take care of .

Speaker 2 10:53

When my power is how I respond and I realize I can't force others to respond the way I would want them to , my posture then could be to yield to God , to say , all right , I'm going to let you go with this .

Speaker 2 11:09

Let me be the most faithful , hardworking steward in whatever role this is and we have this .

Speaker 2 11:19

I can't force my children to choose what their next school is or if they go to school in their next stage . I can't force them to do a job . I think one of the biggest ways I see this happening is and I haven't experienced it but parents who are parenting adult children . They have to have a posture of yielding , of saying I can't control this anymore . I can just influence , I can just love , I can pray and I can yield them to God . Friends , leaders , when we live out this way , use these four Ps perspective , our position , our power and our posture we will find ourselves leading not on the polar opposite spectrums , but will lead through the middle , and I guarantee to you , you will find , like I have been , just an emotional groundedness , a peace that surpasses all understanding , and a privilege each day to step into , whatever it is , knowing your perspective , your position , your power and your posture . So live out today , faithfully leading , faithfully loving , and see yourself walking with the presence of God .

Speaker 1 12:54

Thank you for being a part of this month's Greg Griffith Leadership Podcast . Join Greg next month for leadership insights to faithfully love and faithfully lead . And now go beat a rhythm today .