Self-Awareness | Dave Holvig

August 9, 2024August 9, 2024

The 7 Deadly Self-Preservation Tendencies And How To Overcome Them

Part 3 of Speaking Up

So why is speaking up REALLY becoming a “lost” art, increasingly rare, borderline extinct? One word (with a hyphen): Self-preservation.

So far, we’ve covered the importance of speaking up—reasons we don’t, reasons we should—and the influence that follows. Click here to read Part 1, Part 2.

Now let’s probe a layer deeper into the thing behind the thing that’s keeping you from speaking up, sabotaging your decision-making, and “protecting” you from LEADING!

This blog will outline 7 deadly self-preservation tendencies that hold us back from maximum impact so you can identify yours.

July 11, 2023July 11, 2023

Leading Different Lightbulbs: How to get the most out of your team based on their capacity.

Capacity Reality

We all have different capacity. What makes one person sweat is a warmup for another. We all have “40 hours,” but what gets done can be lightyears apart. At my best, I have the power to light up the midnight sky. A lightning bolt. At my worst? A candle blowing in the wind, a flickering votive (about to go out).

Balance of Power

Thankfully the goal of a dynamic team is not to all be 100-watt high beams. That’s not only NOT possible but would be totally annoying! Great teams are a mix of role players and stars, desk lamps and fog lights.

Look no further than the 2023 New York Rangers playoff bid for proof. As a die-hard Rangers fan, I watched with excitement as we signed one star after another leading up to the playoffs. And just when I thought we couldn’t add any more star power, we landed Patrick Kane, a bonified superstar. Here we go!

The best teams include brights, lights, dulls, and darks.

The problem? We had stars. We needed a grinder—someone who could create space for the other stars to shine by skating hard, hitting harder, and getting off the ice. That’s not what we got. Turns out Patrick also had a bad hip. But ultimately, the reason we blew it in the 2023 playoffs is clear: Not enough role players, too many stars.

Unlike the Rangers, when we strike the right balance, all the individual lights create one big spotlight of focused light. I call this “dynamic capacity.”

This blog will help you:

1. Embrace your team's capacity—so you can get more done as a team, NOT at the expense of your team.

2. Assess your team’s current capacity—so you know what’s true and possible in this season.

3. Teach your team how to think—so they don’t need YOU to know what to DO!

Let’s get practical. (My specialty.)

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023

Beat Burnout AND Supersize Your Influence With One Simple Mindset

Leaders Are Languishing

Think about your last few 1:1’s or heart-to-hearts with other leaders. How are they doing? How are you doing?

Crash and burnout

I’ve vacillated between the edge-of-glory and the brink-of-burnout for almost 18 years at a large church. Pretty standard stuff.

It’s been a steady ride of learning, listening (sometimes squirming), and occasionally watching someone crash. That is until a few years ago when the whole world changed.

Feelings of burnout are as common today as pensions were back in the day. There is a distinctly different despair in the air.

Can you feel it?

None of us are immune; we ALL need tools.

This blog will give you 6 mind shifts that helped me through seasons of insanity.

You heard me—six, one better than five! (spinal tap fans?)

More importantly, these same shifts supersized my influence! I just didn’t know it till later. I want that for you. As always, I’m writing to myself too… Let’s go!

February 27, 2023March 1, 2023

How To Lead Friends And Fools (Without Losing Your Cool)

The transition.

I can’t think of a more awkward transition than friend to boss. I’d rather have adult braces. Which I do! If you haven’t experienced this unique discomfort yet, you will. Just wait. (not the braces)

And…

Leading a fool will make you feel CRAZY; it’s a fast-track to questioning your own sanity.

Answer: “No, you’re dealing with foolery.”

Lead people long enough and you will lead friends AND fools. This blog will give you the tools to navigate both (without losing friendships or your mind).

Each requires something different:

Fools need “rules,” and friends need “real.”

Let’s dive in, friend first. (It’s easier.)

June 30, 2022July 1, 2022

This Is Not My First Rodeo Leadership

Moving From Proving To Improving

Have you noticed—no matter what kind of work you’re having done on your house—the person giving you a bid always rips on the work that’s already been done?

Is there a drywall guy on the planet that thinks someone else’s work is good?

No one comes in and says, “Well, it looks like the drywall was done by a pro.”

Usually, it sounds more like…

“Well, whoever did this must have been completely insane, possibly drunk and a bonified ‘hack,’ BUT we can rip it all out, do the same thing and keep this cycle of insanity going if you’d like. You are lucky to be alive.”

“Also, this is not my first rodeo.”

Proving mode: A state of needing everyone to know that you know.

This is not just a drywall problem; this is an occupational hazard that permeates every profession at any level of the org chart. It’s one of the least talked about, most pervasive reasons people don’t thrive in their careers.

None of us are safe from it and becoming it. Our inner ‘know-it all’ is one weak moment away from making us walk the proving plank. So, the faster we recognize it, the sooner we can “knock it off!” Then improving can begin.

This blog will outline three overly practical steps to help eliminate the urge to tell people it's not your first rodeo. And more importantly, help you start moving from proving to improving.