Ep 642 | Stability Starts With You

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. This past week, I was at a summit in LA, a conference in LA. It's called the All In Summit. It's hosted by the the guys that run the All In podcast, one of my favorite podcasts. I just mentioned it on an episode the other day. And they host this All In Summit where they're interviewing the best and brightest of the world. At that summit, and I cannot remember for the life of me who made this statement. At the summit, I heard this line. And the line was something along the lines of, If the United States, if our country wants stability in the world, then it must first be stable at home. I got to thinking about this statement naturally from like a political state standpoint, but I also internalized it a bit because I realized that that statement holds true not just for nations, but it's, it's true for just leadership. If you're unstable If you're chaotic, if you're reactive, then your business or your team, your office is likely going to reflect that. In other words, I think stability starts at the core. If you want consistency outside, I think you've got to create some consistency inside. So today, today I want to, I want to talk around how stability starts with you. I want to give you some tactical ways to think around how to create a bit more stability in your world, such that as a leader, you show up more stable in the office, and modeling that sort of behavior creates a more stable environment. So, the big idea here, again, globally, is that America cannot credibly lead the world if it's fractured internally. This is not about politics. That's not what I'm here to discuss today. But I think we could all agree that if there's chaos at home, it's tough to credibly lead the world. If we have financial disorder, political division, social instability, it shows up in how the world perceives us. I think in business, your company is no different. If you want your office to run smoothly, if you want your team to execute consistently, If you want your people to feel secure, you have to be grounded first as the leader. The world looks to the United States the same way your team or your business looks to you as the leader. If you wobble, they tend to wobble. If you're steady, then they're likely steady. I think there's, you know, given this, I think there's some really tactical ways to create some more personal stability that we should all consider. I'm going to list out some ways for you. So, number 1, I think you've got to anchor in daily routine if you aim to create more stability. What do I mean when I say that? Stability begins with rhythm. When your mornings are unpredictable, your days become unpredictable. So, I think we all need to make sure that we create a baseline. A time we wake up, a time we exercise, even a consistent, you know, breakfast, other specific habits or things that you do each morning and you're anchored to that daily routine. When you do these things, it signals to your team that you show up the same way every day. And predictable habits will create more predictable leadership. Like when you have things in order, starting in the morning, you'll have a tendency to have things in order when you get to the office. So, number 1, anchor in daily routine. Number 2, bring order to your personal finances. I think that money stress is one of the fastest ways to create instability. If you're always living on the edge, if you're overextended personally, it's probably going to bleed into some business decisions. So, get clarity. What's coming in? What's going out? What are my present reserves? And then when you have margin, it should make you, you know, a bit calmer. And when you are— when you're calmer, you can lead differently. You can make better decisions. Number 3, if you crave stability, I think you've got to control your inputs. In other words, chaos in equals chaos out. So if your information diet is full of noise, if you're doomscrolling or you're reactive to the media or you're into gossip, you're going to probably process and lead chaotically. So choose some inputs that ground you. Maybe read something worth reading or listen to something that actually sharpens you. Protect what's getting in. Number 4, I think of course, no surprise here, health. Use health as a baseline when it comes to stability. What do I mean? Energy is leadership stability. In other words, if you are constantly running on fumes, you become reactive, you become short-tempered. So, prioritize your hydration and your nutrition and your movement. And it's not just to feel good, while that's important, it's not just to look good, but it's because your physical steadiness creates more mental steadiness. And your team notices the difference between an energized leader and one that's depleted. You're not fooling anybody if you're depleted. You're not getting by like you think you're getting by. Number 5, when we think around relation— I'm sorry, when we think around stability, I think we think around relational integrity. What do I mean when I say relational integrity? If your home life is unstable, and this might be hard for some of us to hear, if your home life is unstable, it's going to follow you into the office. You cannot compartmentalize as much as you think. You just can't. Have the hard conversations, repair what's— what needs repairing, invest in, you know, some time in those that are closest to you. I think a stable leader at home becomes a stable leader at work. Yes, Yes, many people may mask this, but there's probably a shelf life on that. At some point, it's going to break. So, if you want stability, if you believe that creating stability for your team starts with creating stability in you, we probably have to check our own relational integrity. Number 6, in ways to create more personal stability, practice emotional regulation. What do I mean? I mean, your team watches not just what you do, but how you react under pressure. In other words, do you fly off the handle or do you pause and respond with composure? Building the habit of taking a breath, asking a clarifying question, and then responding, that turns instability into trust. This was actually one that came up for me today when I was talking with somebody who's working alongside me. For the past really 15 years. And somehow, uh, in, in the course of our conversation, she had made a statement like, yeah, you are a much different leader in the office today than you were 10 years ago. And I'm aware of that. And I asked her, what do you mean? And the first thing she went to was the, the calmness in which I operate today, which by the way is not all that calm, but relative to the way I operated, say, 10 years ago It is quite calm. And what she was saying is, you know, you have more control, you respond with composure. And she let me know that as a result, in today's environment within my office, we do have a calmer, more stable environment because I'm not flying off the handle. Now, I was never necessarily a hothead, but I was quick to reaction. Number 7. Of the 8 total. Clarity of priorities. I think most leaders operate in chaos because they, they truly haven't defined what matters most. So, write down your top priorities. Call it your top 3 priorities or 5 priorities each day. Make decisions against those. When everything feels urgent, nothing feels stable. So, priorities are what create order out of all that noise. And then lastly, number 8, we've talked recently about debriefing, like having a debrief after a project or a contest or a run or an appointment, whatever it may be. Debrief, then move on. If you want stability, debrief and then move on. What do I mean? Mistakes happen. Mistakes happen and unstable leaders stew on them. Unstable leaders replay them. And then they let them leak into everything else. Stable leaders process quickly. They process what happened, what's the lesson, how do we fix it? And then they move forward. That stability gives your team permission to keep executing instead of dwelling. For you personally, you're going to make mistakes. And if you're unstable, you're going to replay them again and again in your mind. So what we want to work on to create more personal stability that then influences the stability of your team or your office is make mistakes, but don't stew on them. Don't replay them. Just process what happened and what's the lesson and how do I fix it. So as we start to wind down for, for today, I want to give you a couple action items. Number 1, I want you to pick an area of your life in the coming days— finances, health, relationships, whatever it is. And do a stability audit. In other words, where are you lacking stability or steadiness in your world? After you pick that area, the next thing I want you to do is maybe choose one— let's call it stabilizing ritual— something you can commit to for the next month. Maybe it's setting a bedtime, becoming stable with your sleep. Maybe it's setting a Sunday Financial review to create more stability with your finances. Remember, these small acts create big ripples. So, let's start chipping away on our personal stability or creating more personal stability, knowing that that will, will, will process itself or work itself into the office culture. Maybe a few questions to ask yourself. You know, I always love these big whiteboard questions. Where am I unintentionally projecting instability onto my team? Where am I unintentionally projecting instability onto my team? Maybe another great question. What's one chaotic element in my life that, if cleaned up, would make me a steadier leader? Whether it's nations or it's businesses, stability starts at the center. It starts with the core. It starts with you. If you want your company to be steady, your culture to be consistent, your team to be confident, you have to embody that first. So remember, you're the thermostat, you're not the thermometer. You're the thermostat, you're not the thermometer. So set the temperature. That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.