4 Leadership Tactics from Joseph Michelli’s Book, “Stronger Through Adversity” 

In my conversation with Joseph Michelli, speaker, author, and business consultant, we discuss his recently released book, Stronger Through Adversity: World Class Leaders Share Pandemic-Tested Lessons on Thriving During the Toughest Challenges. Joseph shares that as he was consulting through the pandemic, he was working with leaders who had different approaches to leadership, but a common thread was to lead with humanity. As folks have been “leading from the bedroom instead of the boardroom,” we’ve seen how important it is to be authentic, to be you, during the process.

Joseph and I chat about the different sections in his book, and why each section exists. He has written this book in a way that provides insight to resiliency, while thinking through strength plans to get things moving into action.

Help Yourself Before You Help Others

Joseph shares this concept in his book, which he has taken from the airplane analogy that you have to put your safety mask on first before you help others.

After speaking to numerous C-suite leaders, Joseph realized that many of them were failing to actually take care of themselves. They were busy doing what they believed was required of them on the business front to prove their capabilities without tending to their own wellbeing. This has lead to a lot of fatigue and COVID burnout, which doesn’t benefit anyone. He also mentions that in uncertain times, you have to be okay with simply planning for a few days. Understand you may not be able to plan for the next month. Take it one day at a time.

In uncertain times, you have to be okay with simply planning for a few days. Understand you may not be able to plan for the next month. One day at a time -- @josephmichelli #leadership Share on X

Build Connections

Are you speaking to your customers? To your team members? To your business partners? As other leaders have previously mentioned, you have to gather feedback from those around you. Joseph explains that there are times where your plan doesn’t always work. Where you will have to leave aside that carefully planned roadmap and customer journey, to accommodate what the people need in the current moment. He shares that there are times where you will simply have to connect with people in a direct, human, manner—without the prepared speech and carefully planned meeting.

There are times where you will simply have to connect with people in a direct, human, manner—without the prepared speech and carefully planned meeting. -- @josephmichelli #leadership Share on X

Move with Purpose

According to Joseph, moving with purpose is about “innovating at work speed.” It’s about caring what needs to be done today in order to keep a customer or employee. There may be things that you have laid out on your map or journey that you’ve phased out to be done over the next few months or years and you will have to figure out how to get it done over the next few weeks. For instance, during the pandemic, most companies had no choice but to quickly figure out how to accommodate digital and no-touch services, even though it may not have been in their immediate business plans.

Moving with purpose is about “innovating at work speed.” It’s about caring what needs to be done today in order to keep a customer or employee. -- @josephmichelli #leadership Share on X

Engineer Legacy

Joseph and I agree on the fundamentals that when it comes to leadership, you really need to start with the idea of how you as a person want to be remembered and how the organization should be remembered. In this section of the book, he goes on to say, “What do you want to be known for? We’d love to be known for how we are when everything is going smoothly. But the test of all of our character is when the sky is falling.”

We'd love to be known for how we are when everything is going smoothly. But the test of all of our character is when the sky is falling. -- @josephmichelli #leadership Share on X

What Do You Know Now That You Wish You Knew Then?

Joseph Says: 

“I really don’t need to be perfect. It is actually my imperfections that cause people to connect with me. And then we can join together in our imperfections to make a more perfect world together.”

About Joseph Michelli

Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D., C.S.P., is an internationally sought-after speaker, author, and organizational consultant who transfers his knowledge of exceptional business practices in ways that develop joyful and productive workplaces with a focus on customer experience. His insights encourage leaders and frontline workers to grow and invest passionately in all aspects of their lives.

Dr. Michelli is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Nielson BookScan, and New York Times #1 bestselling author.

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