Getting impatient? Time to get over yourself

Leaders can develop a "Gold Medal Mindset" when they switch from Whiner mode, where they blame others and doubt that goals can be achieved, to a Winner mode that overcomes challenges, writes Ryan Millar, the founder of Gold Medal Mindset and an Olympic gold medalist in volleyball. Gold medal leaders also communicate well, are clear on the goals that matter and create a powerful team mindset, Millar adds.

Put it into practice: Build a level of trust with your team that allows them to communicate with candor and openness so they can share their ideas and learn from one another, Millar recommends. "This trait takes a lot of effort to successfully adopt within a team or across an organization."

Things often don't go as planned, so instead of becoming impatient, plan for delays and frustrations and notice what triggers you and if you tend to blow the situation out of proportion or blame others, writes speaker and consultant Marlene Chism. "Instead of talking about what others are doing or not doing, focus on what choices are available to you. Take responsibility for your experience, and your experience will transform," Chism advises.

Put it into practice: The best advice Chism offers may be to "get over yourself" when you begin to become impatient in a situation. "When you see others as an obstacle, it means you aren't respecting them or the reality that their goals are just as important to them."

Instead of assuming that your team knows what you want or how to solve a problem, be clear about your expectations by communicating them clearly five times in five different ways and check that they understand, write Karin Hurt and David Dye. "Clear communication cuts through the chaos, reducing misunderstandings and setting the stage for less stress, more calm, and better collaboration," they write.

Put it into practice: Don't leave it to chance that projects or other tasks will magically get done, but instead be proactive by "scheduling the finish," Hurt and Dye write. That means following up with your team to get all the work completed.

Turnover is natural and healthy. Seventy-two percent of respondents believe turnover is healthy, natural and can improve the organization. For the 22% of you who see turnover as an indicator that something is wrong, that can absolutely be the case too. People don't leave jobs -- they leave bosses.

If turnover is rising, don't be content to simply say it's natural and healthy. At least question why people are departing. If it's because they're being presented with great opportunities or because of life changes in their personal lives, your assessment that things are okay is probably accurate. But if people are unwilling to share the reasons for their departure or they point to issues with culture and leadership, it's time to take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself what you're doing to contribute to an environment they're departing from.

The faster you can make any required changes, that faster the bleeding will stop.

-- Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, which includes TITAN -- the firm's e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: "One Piece of Paper," "Lead Inside the Box" and "The Elegant Pitch."

The most successful CEOs have the capacity to blend empathic listening and a sense of collaboration as they carry out the more cut-and-dried components of leadership, writes serial entrepreneur Neil Senturia, citing the work of Harvard University professor Raffaella Sadun. Being persuasive without being dictatorial is the "magic nexus where the real gold lies," writes Senturia.

Students in professor Jonathan Losos' course "The Science of Cats" at Washington University in St. Louis have turned in projects on subjects as diverse as the pros and cons of how living with cats affects human health to "sexism and the crazy cat lady trope." "I'd lure students in with their love of felines, and then, when they weren't looking, I'd teach them how scientists study biodiversity -- ecology, evolution, genetics and behavior," Losos says.

When it comes to the utility-scale and residential solar sectors in the US, Daniel Cruise, partner at Lium Research, says current trends tell a tale of two markets. While the utility-scale market is booming and enjoying record construction starts, the residential market is struggling. Cruise also notes a change in where a major industry player is sourcing modules for its large scale projects and makes a bold prediction about the amount of solar that will be connected to the grid in the US during the next two years.

We all may have heard the prayer, "Lord, give me patience ... now!" It's easy to get upset when we're delayed or feel like whatever process we're in needs to speed up. Marlene Chism has some excellent advice for those of us ready to get on with it: Get over yourself.

I've been working on internalizing this piece of advice for a long time. My biggest trigger is traffic, especially when slow drivers (or what I consider to be slow drivers) are in front of me. I used to get really frustrated and angry until I heard a spiritual teacher who I admire talk about gamifying such situations.

Whenever you're behind a slow driver, he instructed, first laugh about it, then bet with yourself on just how slow they can go. "You're going 25! Can you do 20? 15? C'mon now, let's see!"

It sounds like a silly game, but I've tried it, and it's a far better experience than getting angry or grumbling about the situation. Most times that I have played this game, the person in front of me either speeds up, or turn at the next intersection. Part of me is sad the game is over, but the other part of me is amazed at how this game completely changed my experience with impatience.

The next time you're feeling impatient, try making a game out of it. How long can the person in front of you take to check out? "Oh!" you may say to yourself. "They're writing a check! You don't see this much anymore. This is fun!"

Observe your world instead of judging it, and you might find you're too wrapped up in the wonder of it all to be impatient.

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