The Nischwitz Group

Do you know the history of Native Americans in the United States?   Do you know their story and stories?   Have you invest time in learning more and knowing more about Native Americans?   Daily Shake Up No. 985 is an invitation to invest some time learning more about the history of Native Americans in the United States. To read books, read articles, listen to podcasts … wherever you can learn more and understand more. Instead of relying on the skimpy and likely inaccurate “story” you learned about Native Americans in school, and certainly choosing not to rely on the depictions of Native Americans in television and movies, invest some time in learning more of the truth about Native Americans and their experience. Native Americans are largely invisible in our culture, and it’s time to shine a light on these amazing people, incredible stories, rich history and profound resilience in the face of acute marginalization and systematic sweeping away of people and cultures. I’m grateful to my dear friend Robert Schepens who taught me about Native American history and the Red Road, as well as fueling my curiosity to know more. In honor of Native American Heritage Month (November), invest some time in learning more, understanding more and empathizing more. Native American history in the United States is often uncomfortable and painful, but that history is also filled with a richness of a beautiful people who are often unseen and forgotten. Choose to see. Choose to know. Choose to never forget. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

Do you believe in the power of gratitude?   Do you regularly practice gratitude?   Does your state of mind and being typically reflect a practice of gratitude?   Daily Shake Up No. 984 highlights the positive impact of gratitude in our lives, including the fact that practicing gratitude is an all-in state of mind and being. If you’re all in with gratitude, then you’ll experience lower stress and anxiety … along with greater peace and joy. If you’re talking about gratitude but experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety (and lower levels of peace and joy), then you’re likely talking gratitude without embracing gratitude. Gratitude is an all or nothing thing. You’re either grateful or not, and being mostly grateful (as opposed to fully grateful) leaves you open to experiencing life as if you were not grateful. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #Gratitude

How often do you hear others say things like, “I don’t know what to do which is why I’m not doing anything?”   How often do you tell yourself something similar – “I don’t know what to do, but as soon as I know I will take action?”   Are you aware that “not knowing” is not the reason for inaction but actually an excuse for inaction?   Daily Shake Up No. 983 is a reminder of the ways that not knowing are holding you back. First, you don’t need to know exactly what to do (or the outcome) in order to take action. Second, not knowing is often an unconscious way of protecting yourself from risk and failure. You don’t allow yourself to know, which in turn justifies you not taking action. What if the issue is not that you don’t know, but that you’re not willing to know. When you’re feeling stuck in trying to figure things out (to know), ask yourself if you’re willing to know. There’s a good chance that your “not knowing” is just another form of fear and resistance. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #KinkyBoots #Change

Who or what is responsible for changing your mind?   Do you believe that you can change another person’s mind?   Do experiences change your mind?   Daily Shake Up No. 982 is focused on the concept of changing your mind and argues that each of us can rightfully take credit when we do choose to change our mind. Seth Godin argues that we don’t have as much to do with the intentional act of changing our mind as we think … that experiences change our mind. I don’t agree. My life has been filled with experiences that didn’t change my mind. Many people have life experiences yet never change their mind, their perspectives or their actions. I think changing out mind is very much about being open to change, being curious, and very intentionally assessing our experiences that leads to changing our mind and action. Quick Note – I forgot to explain the Kinky Boots background in the video. It's because of this line from Kinky Boots: “You change the world when you change your mind.”] Change is not an outcome of experiences. Change is the outcome of what we choose to do with and take from those experiences. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #KinkyBoots #Change

How often in meetings or gatherings do you think that someone or several people are talking too much?   What opinions do you have about people that you perceive as talking too much?   Are you perhaps that person?   Daily Shake Up No. 981 borrows a line from the Broadway musical Hamilton to make a point about leadership, speaking up and potentially talking too much. Several times in Hamilton Aaron Burr suggests that Alexander Hamilton should “talk less, smile more.” In the play Burr is encouraging Hamilton to not be so outspoken (to not speak his mind), which is bad advice in that context. But there’s a point to be made about the importance of not speaking too much to the detriment of others in the room or meetings. The person who talks the most is not the leader – the leader is the person who asks the most and listens the most. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #Hamilton #TalkLessSmileMore

How often do you invest time in order to save money, whether personally or professionally?   Do you realize that you’re trading time (our most precious asset) for money?   I wonder, are we being penny wise and time foolish?   Daily Shake Up No. 980 asks a simple question – does trading precious time for reduced costs and, if so, when does it make sense and when is it foolish? Money is a reality. Time is also a reality. Money matters. Time also matters. It often feels like there’s not enough money, but just as often there’s not enough time. Are we being penny wise and time foolish? It’s not a matter of deciding which is more important … money or time … but it is about being more intentional and discerning when deciding to trade time for savings. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #Time #PennyWiseTimeFoolish

Are you a check a box leader?   Are you checking a box in your leadership, communication and execution?   Do you understand the difference between being all in with your leadership versus skimming the surface by checking the boxes?   Daily Shake Up No. 979 is a challenge to raise the bar on your yourself (and your personal growth), on your leadership, and on your impact. To go beyond checking boxes to fully vesting yourself in your leadership, communication, relationships and execution. Fully vesting – going all in – is another act of leadership vulnerability, which means it includes risks. Checking boxes is low risk and low impact. Going beyond the boxes is higher risk and potentially epic impact. It's time to decide what type of leader you will be – are you checking boxes or are you making an impact? #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #Impact #CheckingBoxes

Do people around you tell you that they experience you as harsh or overly harsh?   Do you feel like people can’t handle your feedback because you’re “too direct?”   Do you find yourself saying that people just don’t like directness?   Daily Shake Up No. 978 invites an inquiry into the differences between being direct and being harsh. Direct is not harsh, but the style of directness and the content of directness can absolutely be harsh or even shaming. We generally don’t do well with so-called constructive feedback because it’s often not actually constructive. Most feedback is judgments of the other person rather than healthy perspectives to help them learn and grow, which is the point of leadership. Growing your people. If you see yourself as simply direct, I invite you to look in the mirror and reassess whether you’re only direct or if, instead, you’re actually harsh, demeaning and shaming. Direct is good leadership – harsh, demeaning and shaming is no leadership. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #Feedback #Direct

How often do you share your information and how often do you share you story?   How often do you ask others for their information and how often do you ask others for their stories?   Are you a committed and effective story inviter and listener?   Daily Shake Up No. 977 highlights two key elements of stories in our relationships. First, learning your information helps me know about you … learning your story helps me to know you. Second, we connect and form relationships based upon knowing each other (not knowing about each other) and stories are the pathway to knowing and relationships. In a way too busy and fast-paced world we often skip over the stories to get to the information, but it’s a costly skip personally and professionally. Whether talking to people inside or outside your organization, never underestimate the power of your stories and the stories of others. Leaders invite others to share their stories as the pathway to knowing and relationships. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #WhatIsYourStory #StoriesMatter

How open are you to feedback?   What factors determine your openness to feedback?   Do you sometimes say that you’re open to feedback when you really aren’t open?   What’s in the way of your openness to feedback?   Daily Shake Up No. 976 addresses one of the most important leadership tools and mindsets – feedback. The fact is that impactful leaders are always learning and growing, and one of the most critical elements to learning and growth is being open to, encouraging and fully receiving feedback. While nearly everyone says that they’re open to feedback, many of us aren’t really open to feedback – either in a given moment or situation, from a particular person, or in a form that we don’t agree with. You don’t have to agree with feedback to learn and grow from it, but you do have to be truly open to it. Leaders grow the most when they are fully open to and receive feedback. Without feedback leaders are left to their own self-perspectives, and these self-perspectives are often misguided and biased. #SnowGlobeLeadership #NischwitzGroup #SnowGlobeLiving #Leadership #Feedback