#74 Joshua McMillion - My Core Values Respect/Integrity/Duty

I'm on a mission to create a better leader what I like to call a purposeful , accountable leader or a pal . My vision is to positively impact one million lives in the next 10 years by sharing transformational skills and stories and ending toxic leadership . In today's episode , I'm going to be sharing with you a transformational skill .

If you go to McMillianleadershipcoachingcom , article number 32 and I called this RID Respect , integrity and duty All of this is compassed around my core values . We talked about this in the last episode of how you can find your core values .

Now I'm going to share mine with you and inspire you , hopefully , to go out and challenge yourself and find your core values . Make sure you go to McMillianleadershipcoachingcom you can read this blog so you don't need to take notes but also listen to the previous episode of where I talk about how you can discover your core values .

Let's go ahead and jump right in . In the previous episode , I've talked about this . I shared five steps , using the acronym value to help you discover your core values . However , I want to inspire you by sharing what my top three core values are , and I call that RID .

Each value is traceable to my past environment , to organizations I've worked for and the leaders I have worked for within my time in the Army . My core values allow me to make decisions while remaining true to who I am . That's the beauty about core values . They help us when times get extremely challenging .

My top three values I've already said it respect , integrity and duty . Here's a quote that I've developed . Core values are threads that help guide us in life . When you know what yours are , you can be better prepared to take on challenging situations in this world . Number one respect . Let's do a deep dive on that .

Respect is the cornerstone , really , of who I am . It's the cornerstone of what it means to be a MacMillian . I'm part of a mastermind , so I'm not going to go off on a tangent . I'm going to stay to the script , but I've created an acronym for my family's last name of every type of value that we want to be implemented within our family .

What it means to be a MacMillian . I call it to BAM to be a MacMillian . Maybe I'll create an podcast episode where I go deeper into all of that . Respect is my cornerstone . When leaders make respect based decisions , they see no color . They see no different types of race and tis or social economic backgrounds .

They simply make decisions that benefit the whole organization while sharing everyone is heard . A byproduct of respect is diversity . It's just something that will naturally happen . When the leader gives everyone on their team an equal opportunity , they tap into the role of peripheral vision . We all have dead space that is invisible to us .

When we talked about this multiple different times , however , that dead space is clearly visible To almost everyone else who is around us . When organizations create respect , they lead with respect . It results in a more diverse workplace that can see multiple different problems differently and be proactive and not reactive . So here's kind of a counter cultural thought .

Creating a diverse workforce is meaningless unless you give every single person a voice , an equal voice . To do this , organizations must foster a bottom up refinement process that incentivizes individuals To share their ideas . When leaders remove barriers , they are leveraging what I like to call the rule of sledgehammer .

You know me , I love me , sledgehammer , sledgehammer . Tear down obstacles for their team , they create momentum and , most importantly , they Break an obstacle down to the point of where it can never really prevent the team From overcoming it again .

But one of the key things there to and I've covered this before with the rule of sledgehammers that you have to understand there's a balance there . You're not always coming in and rescuing your team . You only need to apply that rule of sledgehammer very rarely Because you don't want to be a rescue or you want to hold people accountable .

Organizations that work collaboratively and communicate freely are more Innovative . They establish deeper relationships and over time , they just become more resilient . Add its core respect comes down to just treating everyone well , regardless of whether they're on your team or not , with dignity . It's , it's really the golden rule , right ?

The rule of treat everyone as you want to be treated , and that's what a transformational leader does . That's what a purposeful accountability leader does . They treat Everyone as well as they want to be treated . So remember that you've ever had a poor leader . If you're under a poor leader right now , how do you want to be treated ?

And I showed a picture of this on Macmillan leadership coaching , of where it really defines Respect for me , and it was a picture of one of the very first combat operations . That was a part of an Afghanistan and I was talking to all these different Afghanistan build village elders about building this road .

And if you think about it right , here's this Westerner who is with a bunch of alpha males and we're going to build this road through farmland and all these different things . You would , you know , be perturbed at least I wouldn't justify so when I was going through that process .

When I talk to people in Afghanistan , I always try to communicate with them and treat them as I would want to be treated . The end of the day , I had a mission . I was going to do this regardless , but I wanted to give them respect and that picture really embodied that core value for me .

Team , let's take a quick break from this episode and I want to share an additional leadership resource with you in . That is , one on one Leadership coaching through Macmillan leadership coaching . So what do I do ? I help leaders discover their purpose , create a long term growth plan and take inspired action .

I believe everything rises and falls on leadership and , regardless of where you are in life , one fact is true you are a leader of others , you are a leader of your family and , most importantly , you are a leader of yourself to lead others . Well , that starts by leading yourself well .

If you want to learn more , you can go to Macmillan leadership coaching dot com and schedule a free call today . Back to the episode . So the next one is integrity . Integrity is the foundational value in every leader's arsenal . Right Like you cannot lie , you cannot cheat , you cannot steal , because if you do that you erode your character .

And once you erode your character , it's over . No one's ever gonna trust you Again . You can't establish trust . With it , leaders create trust and they develop authentic bonds with their teams , and without it they erode their reputation , their position and the organizational reputation . If

you're going to be successful as a leader , you must understand someone is always observing your actions . But it's deeper than that . You simply do not do the right thing because it's the right thing or there's people watching you . You do the right thing because it's the right thing to do , okay . So call it the grandma rule .

If your grandma was in a car with you , would you wear your seatbelt and would you have them put on their seatbelt ? The answer is yes . So just the grandma rule . Would you do this if your grandma was there ?

And that's a way it's a fun way that I kind of communicate that to my kids about being repetitive and doing the right thing , especially getting in a car and putting your seatbelt on . Would you do this if grandma was here ? The answer is 100% . They would always do it . Leaders with integrity command attention and people actively seek them out .

And , trust me , I've seen this more now of where people that I've had the honor and privilege to work with want to work with me again , not because I'm a phenomenal leader , just because I have a high sense of integrity . This is especially important in parenting . 100% , because the standards you set within your family is what's gonna be modeled .

So remember you reap what you sow . Let me ask you a real quick question Do you really want someone on your team who is capable of breaching your trust ? When organizations allow other teams to breach trust , it violates integrity , resulting in a catastrophic effect .

The leader's goal is to protect the team and foster a collaborative environment , not cause fighting with political games to outweigh the team's mission . That's one of the things that I absolutely hate is political infighting , posturing for better position . At the end of the day , if you win , I win , if I win , the team wins and everyone wins .

Right , like Michael Scott , it's a win win win . As a leader , you much build a team that has red lines . My red lines are not cheating , not lying and not stealing , so I call it CLS cheating , lying and stealing . When someone violates my trust , I cannot , in good faith , delegate them authority .

Trust washes away when integrity is broken and it's replaced with a wall . And here's a good example when I was in Afghanistan , I had to relieve a squad leader because I won't go into the full story or the full name but they did something that violated my trust .

I , in good faith , could not allow them to be in charge of a squad that was going to be making decisions every single day in terms of life and death of other people within my platoon , so I had to relieve him .

He was a great guy , he was a phenomenal leader , but he made a decision that just did not set right with me and at my platoon start at the time , and we decided to relieve him . Remember , as leaders , we never really shrink away from challenges . Instead , purposeful , accountable leaders run towards challenges because it creates two specific outcomes .

First , it creates our individual true character . Every team has members who say all the right things , but when it's time to act , they slip away . Second , embracing challenging environments forces growth for you and your entire organization . As I mature , my perspective on delegating has changed dramatically .

First , I believe leaders who delegated because they were lazy I always saw all these senior officers who delegated and I just thought they were lazy . But now I fully understand why they had to delegate . But what I've quickly come to realize ?

That purposeful , accountable leaders embrace individual strengths and they delegate to those individuals To the ability that they can handle it . They stretch them . You're never will understand who you or your team are without embracing challenging Situations , and it all falls under integrity . Purposeful and accountable leaders embrace challenges because they remain committed .

Coach will encourage the rule of three C's all right . So the next key core value for me is duty . And if you go through McBillion leadership coaching and you look at article 23 , you'll see a picture of my ranger graduation . I think ranger school , at least for me , was the best example of integrity , of not lying and cheating and stealing .

You have pure evals . You always have to do the right thing , you have to be a team player and you can say all the right things in ranger school . But it's easy to Identify what we always call a blue falcon someone who says all the right things but they never carry their share of the load . So that pictured me really resonated of hitting that core value .

So the last one is duty , the final value in my core value structure . When I Said out on this journey of becoming the best leader that I possibly can , I filtered everything through the acronym kiss , keep it simple , stupid . It's a methodology that has helped me kind of trace what my core values are .

Any great organization understands it's not about an individual Agendas . As my good friend Joseph Gray says . Leaders must have servant hearts and understand a bigger purpose . As A leader , you must see the bigger picture and , more importantly , help others see it . This is becoming increasingly harder in today's environment .

Today we celebrate our differences and we are conditioned to look out for ourselves , but that's not what pals do . Purposeful , accountable leaders understand they are part of a larger organization and are selfless in their actions . Go be counter-cultural . Go be a good leader .

All right , team , let's take a quick break from this episode and I want to share a leadership resource with you , and that is the resiliency based leadership program . Rblp's vision is to create a worldwide community of practice Committed to building and leading resilient teams . So why do you need to build and lead a resilient team ?

Resilient teams are the key to individual and organizational growth , regardless of being in the military or in the civilian workforce . Building collective teams allows for exponential growth and the teams ability to overcome adversity , adapt and , most importantly , grow . And in bottom line , up front , resilient teams are just stronger together .

And here's the fact 99% of the people who take that course Recommended to others , and I'm one of them . I would just completed my certification and I highly recommend this . And the great news is it's most likely free to you , and if you're in the military , it is a hundred percent free to you .

And if you want to learn more , you can look in the show notes for this episode and find the link and use the discount code . J MCM ILL Iowan , and that is also in the show notes . Back to the episode . My team has no place for individuals who only perform for selfish reasons . Next time you are tasked with the mission , stop and think .

Are you navigating a path with yourself in mind or for others on your team ? Rome , arguably one of the greatest empires that ever existed , was defeated not by outside forces , but from within .

When team loyalty lies with individuals and not the organization , it is increasingly harder to develop a sense of duty and have a higher purpose that you're committed to right .

So here's another example of duty that I pulled from one of the books that I've read , and I can't remember exactly which one it was , but post-World War two , it was common for individuals to work at a company for 40 years or more . Think about that one job for all of your adult life .

Today , according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics and I think this was pulled in 2023 , so it's probably different now it's only four years . As a society , we have lost our sense of duty and purpose and we need strong leaders willing to cast bold visions and Lead well .

Purposeful , accountable leaders create a sense of duty and a mission that demands a response of where people want to stay and I . The photo I selected for this one was my family when I got pinned as a major . I work in Acquisitions within the army . Now I'm no longer an infantryman .

I served in the infantry for 10 years , been in acquisitions now for about six years . I could easily get out of the army Now . I could easily make a lot of money if I wanted to do that , but I'm tied to my mission within the military and Staying in for the men and women so they have a good example of what a leader is .

But also , too , I believe that I can make a bigger impact in Service to my country and that picture really shows that there is sacrifice that comes with wearing this uniform . I've missed some of my daughter's birthdays . I've missed a Christmas . I've missed Halloween's Major holidays , all of those things . I missed life events .

But I'm always purposeful and intentional when I am with my family and at the end of the day , and Something that I miss because I'm in service in my country Sits well with me because I can look at my daughter and I can look at my son and I can look at my wife confidently and said your dad did something important today and that's why I am committed to

the army , that's why I love the army , because I am committed to making this country as Safe and secure as possible , but also working towards something bigger than myself . So here's my final thoughts on this episode .

Everyone has unique core values that define who you are as a leader and in this Episode , or if you go back and read the blog , it's not my goal to convince you to adopt my core values . However , all I want to do is challenge you , inspire you to go find what your core values are . My core values guide me to make daily decisions .

When you discover your core values , it's liberating to leverage the rule of true north . When confronted with a challenge situation and it requires a decisive decision , you will be able to make a quicker decision . Why ? Because you filter those decisions through your core values , preventing decision fatigue .

So think about this if you had to make a tough decision , if I have to make a tough decision , I run through the filter of respect , integrity and duty . Am I giving everyone a voice ? Is my words aligns with my deeds , and are

we working towards a higher purpose ? Those are the three questions I always consistently ask myself . So here is our after-action review , four questions that I want you to kind of think on . Number one is how are you building respect and your organization ?

Number two when confronted with a challenge , do you think of yourself first or others , and why Really explore that ? Number three what makes your organization and inspirational one to work for and flip that on its head ? Why is it not , and what are you doing to make it better . Then the last one are you living your values Once you found them ?

Are you actually living your values ? All right , team , do me a favor if you like this podcast , if you like the content that I push out , share this podcast with someone , rate it on whatever platform you're listening to . Go , follow me on social media linked in Instagram . Join our purposeful , accountable leaders Private Facebook group .

You can also go to MacMillion leadership coaching calm and look at all the additional free resources that I provide to you , because I'm trying to end toxic leadership by equipping you with transformational Leadership skills , getting up to my vision of impacting one million lives . As always , team , I am your host , josh MacMillion , saying every day is a gift .

Don't waste yours . I'll see you next time .