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Nathan Pooley is a John Maxwell certified coach. He’s our featured guest today on All Things Business for Physicians.

Here’s what you can expect to learn in listening to today’s episode:

  • Why communication is essential for a successful team, and how to improve it
  • Why business owners need to consciously focus on leadership skills in order to thrive
  • The importance of boundaries, discipline, and self-governance (self-leadership) in order to help others
  • Why Nathan thinks goals are critical within an organization and individual lives
  • How he uses the concept of “employees as owners” to help gain momentum within his business and trust among his staff
  • His 80% rule of delegation
  • What a “succession plan” is and how it helps you scale and leverage your business
  • How great leaders celebrate wins and the one characteristic that every great leader has
  • The importance of owning your mistakes
  • The difference between trainers, mentors, and coaches, and why all three are critical to develop great leadership skills

And here’s a summary of Nathan’s discussion to read at your leisure:

  • Nathan considers himself a “student of leadership.” He believes his love of reading and studying has helped him learn how to identify young leaders in his business or other organizations, help them develop their potential and ultimately help them succeed for the betterment of everyone involved.
  • “Knowing that I could lead and becoming a leader was huge,” Nathan says, a self-described introvert, but being able to own and recognize your own capacity to lead and inspire is key for helping guide a team.
  • Nathan relays an experience that occurred for him while under the John Maxwell certification program. He met and spoke with a surgeon who told him that he realized he was never provided the tools in medical school that he really needed to lead his staff. This was an eye-opener for Nathan, who realized that even highly specialized professionals aren’t necessarily great leaders, at least not without conscious education and reflection.
  • He references motivational speaker Zig Ziglar who said, “When you don’t have a target and you don’t have a goal, you’ll hit it every time.” To this end, setting, sharing and celebrating goals with a team helps establish an environment of cohesiveness, trust, transparency and unified vision. “Goals are putting deadlines on your dreams” and can truly translate into everything from improved profitability to better workplace environments.
  • How critical is delegation? Very. Nathan encourages listeners to zone in on their strengths and have the willingness and ability to delegate tasks that are better suited to someone else on the team. The words he lives by: “Only do what only you can do.”
  • Another concept he believes is the goal-setting theory that if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Nathan advises finding ways to measure change and collect data about goals in order to keep the team both motivated and growing.
  • What defines a good leader? “They value people.” He reminds us that your business, no matter what field it’s in, is ultimately about people, which includes your clients and your staff. He also acknowledges that great leaders have trainers, coaches, and mentors to help them grow with intent.
  • As a leader, owning mistakes isn’t just about owning yours. It’s also about owning the mistakes of your team as well. This is essential in order for companies to survive and thrive in adversity.

As far as the best advice he can give to listeners struggling to establish themselves as leaders? “They don’t really care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Communicate clearly how much you value your employees, clients and even family. It’s essential to establishing trust and loyalty.

Interested in learning more? Contact Nathan via his website at nathanpooley.com.

Resources from the podcast: