R.I.S.E. a Framework for Leadership in the Modern Era

R.I.S.E. a Framework for Leadership in the Modern Era

In this podcast episode designed for leaders seeking mentoring and motivation, the focus is on transitioning from control-based leadership to influence-based leadership. 

Erin introduces the RISE framework, which stands for Relationships, Inspiration, Strategy, and Empowerment. The episode covers how control-based leadership, which relies on authority and fear, fails in modern environments. It discusses management-based leadership as an intermediary step, but emphasizes that influence-based leadership is the most effective way to empower teams and create a growth environment. 

Key concepts include the emotional bank account, the power of encouragement, and the importance of self-investment. 

The final part of the episode outlines the RISE framework in detail, providing practical strategies for leaders to build strong relationships, inspire their teams, implement strategic thinking, and empower others to take ownership. 

The episode concludes with a call to action for leaders to evaluate which pillar of the RISE framework they need to focus on to improve their leadership impact.

00:00 Introduction and Purpose of the Podcast
00:34 From Control-Based to Influence-Based Leadership
03:37 The Emotional Bank Account Concept
10:24 The RISE Framework: An Overview
11:02 Building Relationships: The First Pillar
19:59 Inspiration: The Second Pillar
25:53 Strategy: The Third Pillar
28:57 Empowerment: The Fourth Pillar
35:35 Conclusion and Call to Action

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Transcript

0:35

thank you for being here. this podcast is for the leaders who need mentoring and motivation and some encouragement. And a way to create momentum in their leadership, journey. And that's my goal for you, is to talk about topics I hear leaders say they want more information about how to be a better leader because leadership starts with you. And today we're gonna talk about, to me the framework. Of how to shift from a control based leadership to an influence based leadership. we have previously talked about how control based leader, they use authority. They are talking about how I decide, I'm the one that makes the decisions. I'm enforcing the rules, I'm micromanaging, and I am using maybe a little bit of fear to lead the community. if you don't do this, I'm gonna have to write you up. God, how many times have I heard that? And it just doesn't make sense. especially if you're not gonna do it. No creativity. No ownership. No retention, no impact, right? Like you're not going to grow people inside of a control room. And if you're trying to control and tell people what to do, then it's not really gonna happen. The modern day worker is a little hip to control. They're just like, I don't have to be here. I'm gonna go find somewhere else to work. So the leadership has to change. The leadership has to understand we have to do things differently. And so then the next level of leadership is a management based leadership, which is obviously better than a control based leadership, but. It is the next layer. It's the I direct. I don't necessarily have to do the work, but I need to be the one to tell you how to do the work. And we are managing processes and we're ensuring compliance and we're living an average life, but average isn't good enough anymore. Although some of us would like average because it's so bad right now. I get that. you get stability. It's limited and really long-term growth. Management can keep things the same, but leadership needs to be the one that leads people into a new era of work. Management based leadership feels comfortable, and it's where most leaders operate, but It's time for us to shift. From management to influence, because influence based leadership is how we are going to get people to be the best versions of themselves. We're gonna educate, we're going to empower people, we're going to trust them, and we're gonna create a growth environment inside of our community. That's what influence brings. And if you do it right. You create more freedom inside of your community for you and for other leaders. So how do we do it? How do we go from control to management to top of the heap, which is influence based leadership? I'm gonna talk to you about that today, and I'm excited about it. If you've. Bought my course and you've listened to a few other podcasts or read a few of my emails that I send out on Saturday morning, my mentoring emails, you will understand one of my favorite parts of the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. One of my favorite parts about the book that completely shaped my leadership was the emotional bank account. In really understanding that concept and embodying it to understand that my responsibility is to add value into everybody's emotional bank account. Now that goes to families, to residents, to associates, to vendors, to tours. I understand that everybody walking in and out of my community, in and out of my life. I want to add value into their lives. I want the emotional bank account that I am responsible for in their life. To rise. That's what I want it to do. I want the numbers, the deposits to rise, and that is the framework on how you can build influence inside of your community. Before I talk about what the RISE framework is, I want you to understand one thing, you matter. How you invest in yourself matters. If you plan on literally making this framework happen for you and your life, or learning how to be a more influential leader, you're gonna have to invest in yourself. Self-awareness and self-regulation are very important. Why Erin? Why is it so important? Because when you start investing, it's a long term investment. Some of the people in your community will react very quickly to your investment in them. And some people are going to look at you and they're gonna be like, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Are you gonna keep doing this? And really be very skeptical. if you are looking to invest. In people and want them to change, it's going to take time. the thing that's going to stop you from doing this consistently and for long term, is the disappointment and the frustration that you don't see change happening fast enough. But I wanna say to you that change comes subtly every day. Is another day of progress. And you have to look for the subtle signs that people are starting to relax and trust you. They're starting to see what you're trying to do. They're starting to receive the benefits that you're trying to give them. And if you're not self-aware enough, and if you can't regulate your own emotions enough, you are going to find this to be very difficult and you are not going to want to do it. But I'm here to tell you do it anyway. Make it a priority to add value to other people because it adds value to you. Do it anyway. Walk your halls in the morning and say Good morning, and say nice things to people just because it'll actually make you feel better. Tell people how nice they look, show people what they're doing. That's making an impact in people's lives because what you see and what acknowledgement that you give and what you praise in public will be what continues to happen. And if you start planting the seeds. Of positivity, of impact, of commitment, and you start influencing people for that 30 seconds to a minute, to two minutes that they see you, you are gonna start seeing change, but it takes time. Like your 401k, just because you put$50 in a week or$200 in a week doesn't mean. That you're going to have a million dollars tomorrow, but it does mean over time and in the right conditions that you'll have a million dollars 40 years from now if you invest enough money enough physical dollars and enough time to let it compound So think of it like a 401k that actually grows faster than a 401k, but that is going to take time. Okay, so expectations breeds resentment, and resentment kills your joy. Resentments are uncommunicated expectations. So when you start the process of replacing control or management based leadership to influence, know that it's going to take time. it's going to feel uncomfortable. Growth happens in the uncomfortableness, don't quit because it's uncomfortable. Those dip moments, those valleys in between mountains, they still grow flowers, right? They still have value. Don't quit in the dip. Don't quit in the valley. Keep going because the outcomes are worth it. And the other thing. Don't expect a hundred percent of your team to respond. that's an unrealistic expectation, but believe that the people who can make the biggest impact in your community will respond. Always talk to the people who are moving the needle because you want people to rise to the occasion and not lower to a standard that other people set. You want them to rise to the standard you set, and in order to do that, you're going to have to talk to them in a way that it makes it feel worth it. Realistic and important. So this is why investing in yourself matters. This is why understanding human psychology and human behavior, Matters, and this is why making the investment in people's emotional bank accounts matter because you're going to make a mistake. But if they trust you and they see you trying and they see you being consistent with it, then you can get over it and back on the positive path very quickly. So the RISE framework, which is going from. Control based to management based to influence based is a four part framework that focuses on relationships, inspiration, strategy, and empowerment. That is the RISE framework. So if you want to try to start building more influence, less control, less fear, more positive impact inside your community, we're gonna focus on relationships. Inspiring people, strategy and empowerment. our first letter in the framework is R, which is Relationships. Here's what you need to know about relationships, the way that you think about people. Matters, period. You cannot make the other person feel important in your presence. If you secretly feel that they're not important. That energy is felt. The way that you think about people directly affects the way. That you interact with people, it directly affects your relationship with them. when you make comments about people don't wanna work anymore, or they don't wanna work anymore, or I can't find anybody who can do this job, or it's better than I just do it myself. You are communicating. Something very negative to another person, to a member on your team, to a member of management, and then you're poisoning somebody else about the way that they think about somebody or even the way they think about themselves. So it's really important for you to understand that the way that you think about somebody directly affects how close and your ability to connect with that other person. So the way you think. Affects everything you do because the way you think affects your emotions. Your emotions affect your actions and your actions affect your results. People are only influenced by people that make them feel good about themselves in some way. I see what they're doing and what they're saying are aligned. I see that they're actually working in the vision that they're trying to communicate to us, so therefore, I am influenced. The relationships that you have with your team members, with your residents, with your families, with your vendors, with your corporate office, all the things are really important. Leadership starts where trust begins. That's where influence is. It's in the trust. Trust is like the oxygen of leadership. Trust can inspire change. Trust can make people choose you, your community, to work there, to live there. How they feel when they're around you is really important, and that's why what you think about them matters. maybe we can't find anybody to work. I think that's true. It's hard to find people to work in the amount of jobs that we need today and in the future. All of that is true, but if we sit in that frustration, the energy that is created is not going to attract the people that you want in that community. So what you're thinking doesn't serve you. You need to change it. I'm not looking for just anybody to work in this community. I'm looking for the right people to work in this community and the right people are. And that's a question for you to answer because if we just hire anybody, then we dilute the purposeful, meaningful people who are. Really completing 20% of the jobs, 20% of the tasks. But when we look at the people who are doing that 20%, and we figure out the patterns. what is the similarities between them? We can go into each interview and we can find the right type of people by asking the right questions, by being under the right frame of mind, by understanding that I need people that I can build relationships with, who will allow me to connect with them and who want the same things that we want, and honestly be a springboard for people's career. Hire people who need to work in the environment to be a better leader or nurse, or LPN, be a springboard, and that way people will always be coming in and out. That is why relationships are important and the way that we think about our people that we serve is very important. There are three questions that people ask inside of your community, whether they live there or they work there or they're being interviewed there. Can I connect with you and are you going to connect with me? Can I trust you? To treat me well as an employee. Can I trust you to take care of my loved one? Can I trust you to take care of me? And are you committed? And that's a big question with turnover and retention the way that it is. Are you committed to doing a good job? Are you committed to caring for me? Are you committed to ensure that your team is caring for me? And as an associate, are you committed to ensure that I will be treated fairly and with respect? And then do you care about me as a person? So people who are trying to build relationships with you, whether they're coming to work inside of your community, or whether they're choosing to live with you in their community, can I trust you to care for me? Are you committed to this awesome responsibility and do you care about me as a person? And that is why the way that you think about the people that you serve, whether it's employees or whether it's associates matter. If you want to become an influence based leadership and inspire people to be the best versions of themselves, you have to answer yes to all three of those questions. That's what marketing is, that's what leadership is. That's what sales is. That's what a leader has to be able to communicate to the people that they serve. another part of relationships inside of our communities, whether it's with associates or with families, is that encouragement is the oxygen of the soul. Have you ever had those moments where you are so down and no matter what anyone says, you just aren't receiving it, and then out of the blue a stranger says something to you and your entire world just changes. Has that ever happened to you? It has happened to me. And it completely changed the outlook of my life, and it was a simple, kind gesture that didn't have to be said and probably was said to me by lots of people, but I felt like they had to say that to me. But because some stranger who had no context of what was going on in my life looked at something that I had given them and gave me a very. Simple and yet powerful compliment that all of a sudden made my head rise, my shoulders stand up and actually be a decisive, pivotal factor in where the next phase of my life was going. That is encouragement and that is what you get to do when you work on the RISE framework, when you work on relationships, because encouragement is this magical force. That can make you do things that you never thought were possible, it requires a little bit of momentum and so it requires a lot of encouragement for some people to get the courage, to take the first step, and in other people, all it needs is one or two sentences. That's all they needed to be pushed over that courage edge. So don't underestimate the power of encouragement, the way that you think about the people that you serve and how your relationship and your presence and just adding value to them can change so much The changes will be so subtle that you'll feel like all of a sudden everything started working. All the work that you poured in, all the emotional deposits that you poured into, all of a sudden just created this huge boom when there were subtle signs all along the way. the next letter in the rise framework is inspiration. Now to me, Inspiration can get confused with having to be this magnetic, charming, motivated person who can say all the right things at the right time and inspire people to change. And that is not necessary. You don't have to be most eloquent speaker. You don't have to, be the most motivated person in the world and show people how much, you know, you just have to be authentic and committed to the cause. People don't follow tasks, they follow purpose, and if they see you be committed to a purpose, to a vision, to the mission, to the goals, to the core values. They will start doing the same thing again. Subtle shifts, but big impact over time. Personal note, personal story. I wanted more control of my life at a point. I felt like I was working all the time and. certain positions were being turned over a lot and I was having to work in quite a few of them, and I was getting frustrated. one of the ways that I dealt with my frustration was shopping, which is not appropriate. I had this moment where I got so frustrated that I had to tear down the Amazon boxes I did not even want the added responsibility of tearing down the Amazon boxes, which is a real poor problem to have. talk about privilege. I had the money at the time, I was dealing with my stress. by becoming addicted to shopping because I could at the moment, and then I got frustrated that the shopping that I did was coming in boxes that I had to break down and fold up and put in a bag than the joy of actually getting the purchase. very ashamed of that, but it's true, but it triggered me to realize, Erin, you have a real problem. And we need to go the opposite way. so I made a commitment to myself to become debt free. And that commitment is hard if I want more control of my life and I wanna be able to walk away from the thing that was bringing me the most stress I had to relieve any dependency that I had. On that thing, which obviously was that job. So I decided to pay off every bill that I had and live a debt-free life. Now, that did not happen overnight. It happened over a course of a year, but I was committed to it. I budgeted out things for lunch. I said no. I told, people within my community why I was saying no to things I'm not buying anything anymore. and I was living the life that I said that I was committed to, and I wasn't selling it to anybody. I was selling it to me and I was just like, there is something so joyous. About paying off a credit card bill and to be so excited to pay off the next one, pay off the car, pay off all the little small things that were lingering out there, student loan debt, and people started asking me questions, and then people started to do the same thing. Managers within my community started doing the same thing, all because I was committed. To making my life better. And honestly, it's the biggest raise that you can have, right? To be out of debt. and it was an amazing goal to accomplish and it's really hard to stay out of debt, But the point of that story is to tell you that people don't follow tasks. They follow purpose. They follow what you're committed to, and they see the benefits of what commitment does. And they want part of that. Not everybody can go and buy all the things that they want, but they can take control of their life. They can feel accomplished. They can feel joy. They can feel the positive effects of not having a bill to pay for. So inspiration comes in many different forms when somebody's on a diet and you see the results that it's working for them. If somebody goes to a class and then they implement what they learned and they see the benefits of it, right? If somebody has new eyeshadow and it looks really good on them and you want. That, that's inspiring other people to take the same action. So it's not a Tony Robbins type motivation. It's understanding what the preferred outcome is and taking the steps to make it happen. So be authentic. Talk about the why, talk about the struggles and how you're overcoming them. Nothing is more inspiring then listening to someone talk about the fear that they had, and they did it anyway. that's inspiring. It was uncomfortable. but I did it anyway. I know that when I go and add value to this person, they're gonna look at me, they're gonna stare at me, they're gonna make me feel really small, but it doesn't matter. I wanna do it anyway. And that's inspiring. S in Rise is strategy. Okay. Influence isn't accidental. It's intentional strategy is really deciding who you are becoming. I think that we get confused, and I still get confused honestly, with strategy and tactics. And I've been really listening and investing in some of Seth Godin's books about breaking down strategy and understanding what our tactics, what strategy actually is. And this is how Seth Godin defines strategy. It is a philosophy of becoming and a chance to create the conditions to enable the change that we seek to make in the world. It's not about a specific plan with guarantees, but rather a way of thinking that guides long-term direction and makes deliberate choices to shape the future. So if you think about it, control based leadership is a strategy. I'm going to tell people what to do and they're going to do it. But that's not a successful strategy. influence based leadership is this philosophy of I'm going to add value to everyone I can because it makes me feel good and because it's going to help them rise to the potential that I see in them. That's my strategy. It answers this question. If I value people, will they value the job more? That's the strategy. People like us are doing this for this outcome. It's focusing on who we want to become. So my tactics of this strategy of adding value to people to create a good place to live and work, my tactics are being present, being positive while I'm being present, calling out people for doing the right things, and then discussing things that may not be the best of benefit. Making consistent action across the board and making communication a number one priority because I want to add value to people. We're becoming valuable because value adding is what I am doing as a leader. It's deliberate choices. Strategy is about clarifying who you want to become. And the impact that you want to make, and then building a culture that resonates with people that you aim to serve. And that's why knowing who you want when you go into an interview is really important. It is being intentional. Being intentional with who you hire. That is strategic because you know who you are, you know who you want to become, and you know the outcome that you're looking for. And so you provide the conditions to make that happen inside of your community. Strategy is very important. And then we have the final letter, which is empowerment. Empowerment is simple. Empowerment is like this. You don't rise by lifting your team. You rise by letting your team rise. Empowerment allows you to. Offload some of that responsibility in a very strategic and controlled way by empowering people. We want them to try. We want them to learn and we want them to grow. If I had a sales director, I'm going to empower them to make all the past due calls inside the database first. Now, they're not gonna like that. but it's really very empowering exercise because now all of a sudden they're going to have the experience of making all those phone calls, learning their database, and understanding what the next steps are for each one of them. When you empower people, you realize you are not the hero. You want them to be the hero. You want them to be able to run their department without you. You want them to be independent. You no longer want to be codependent. You no longer say, I decide, or I direct. You Say, I delegate. One of the hardest parts for me was to allow my really good managers. To make decisions without conferring with me first. When they get to the point where they can do that. It's almost like this bittersweet growth to it where I'm not needed. And I like to be needed. It's like this codependent relationship we have with being needed. We don't wanna be needed all the time, but yet we really like to be needed. And it's important to understand the goal is to not be needed. The goal is to be able to go on vacation and for your team to be able to handle all the problems. Your goal is to be able to have your department head go on vacation and her department run smoothly because she's empowered other people to make those decisions as well. Empowerment is walking in front of beside and behind your leaders in every part of their growth process. Empowerment happens when you create a growth environment inside of your community. Empowerment is what we need more of inside of the senior living industry. We train, we trust and then we let go, and that's hard. Letting go is hard, but allowing the organizational chart to speak for itself. Is really important, allowing your sales and marketing director, if you're a sales focused ed, run the tours and take the deposits and you're only there to be a support system is hard whenever you're used to being the one that everybody needs to turn to, to answer the questions. But there is no greater joy than seeing someone that you've invested in, that you've trained do a great job. It's a lot of fun to watch that happen. So empowerment is delegation. Empowerment is adding enough value to people that their self-worth rises and that they want to do the hard work to get better. Empowerment is investing in your people with leadership coaches or strategy sessions that help them become more self-aware and more self-regulated. Empowerment is leadership of the future. It's what the modern day superpower is for leaders empowering your team. Have you ever felt empowered? By somebody. I have, and it was a unique situation. It was during a very tumultuous time inside of a community and the vice president of operations. We had to do this media, response to some things that were happening that was all over the news. And as an executive director and a corporation. you're not really involved in the media strategy. there's people to handle that, and there were certainly people to handle that, but I was given the opportunity to craft a statement, the executive director, to craft a statement for the local news, whereas the marketing PR person crafted the first statement and signed my name to it. Clearly, I read it. But the second statement I was able to make myself and they approved it, and that moment and that hellish moment was this little glimmer of empowerment by somebody who never really made you feel empowered. But that person gave me an opportunity. Trust, she trusted me to make a statement to speak for my community, and that meant the world to me. I still think about it and I'm like, wow, I can't believe that person. Let me do that. and for all the negative things I could say about a lot in that person. That particular circumstance stands out to me above anything else is that I got that opportunity and a time was at the most vulnerable at the community level. That was the most vulnerable, and I was able to be a spokesperson for my community and I love that. So allow your team in these moments to. Add context to step in and handle a situation that maybe you might handle, but because you trust them and you train them and you're willing to let them go and support them in their decisions, allow that experience for your team member and watch how they repay you with strength honor commitment, and hopefully doing the right thing consistently. It's important for you to understand in the closing of this entire episode, Influence communication, consistent communication. Being committed to adding value to people is what you're going to have to make an effort on moving forward. when you add value to other people and you make those emotional deposits in their bank account, people will rise. their self-worth will rise. Their trust levels will rise. Your occupancy will rise, and hopefully your retention will, rates will lower. We don't want those to rise, right? But when you focus on relationships, relationships, inspiring people to change with your words and your actions. And the successes and why you're doing it. And even though it hurts, you're still doing it. The strategy of knowing who you want to become and the tactics that you're using inside that strategy, and empowering people with encouragement and the ability to shine, the opportunity to prove to you that they understood the assignment, right? These four pillars. Will increase your influence, increase your occupancy, and hopefully increase the right amount of the right hires inside of your community. It's important. So which pillar do you think that you need to double down on right now? On your community or inside of your company? Is it relationships? Is it being able to communicate the struggle and yet still doing the work to see the outcome? Is it your strategy, which is knowing exactly who you want to become and how you're going to do that? Or is it empowering other people to do the work, trusting them? I talk more about all of this in my leadership course and my new, leadership accelerator tied into the course, which is called the ED Launch Lab. If you want to become an executive director, if you're a new executive director or if you are an individual owner that needs a little bit more support for their executive director, this course and this leadership accelerator is for you. join my email list. Email me, find me on LinkedIn. I'm really excited about connecting with you and making an impact on your community. Sometimes we just need a little bit of mentorship, a little bit of perspective to make it work, and as always, aspire for more for you and own your story so you can create your future.