One of the competencies that allows‎ Powerful Leaders to coordinate action with others to generate quality results consistently over time is – they are BOLD!

Powerful Leaders Drive Action by:

Asking BOLD Questions

Making BOLD Requests

Making BOLD Offers

Making BOLD Promises

This week I would like to challenge you to practice being BOLD.

Pick one of the challenges and DO IT:

1. Ask a BOLD Question to drive action.

Powerful leaders make BOLD declarations about how their future will be.

JFK – “By the end of the decade we will have landed the first man on the moon!”

John Hanke – “We will photograph every house in the world and provide Google Earth as a service to the world for free!”

Challenge #1: What is one thing that inspired you from this past weekend that can support you in achieving your goals for this week?

2. Make a BOLD Request to a colleague to drive action.

A request is a commitment to have a future action performed by someone else, made by a committed speaker who is intentional, sincere, and willing to hold another accountable.

Challenge #2: Initiate a ‘Courageous Conversation’ (honest and intentional) by Friday at noon this week with a member of your team who is under-performing and give them feedback such that they leave the conversation inspired to act now.

3. Make a BOLD Offer to drive action.

What is an OFFER? An offer consists of both a promise and request.

Example: Please get me a cup a coffee and I’ll show you how to install that application.

• The Request: Please get me a cup a coffee.
• The Promise: I’ll show you how to install that application.

Challenge #3: Call up a colleague this week and offer to support them in a key project that they are working on.

4. Make a BOLD Promise to drive action.

A promise is a commitment for future action that will be carried out within a specific time frame by a speaker who is intentional, sincere, willing to be held accountable, and competent to deliver on the future (promise).

Additional generative properties (action-oriented) of a promise include:

• A committed listener who is willing to hold the speaker accountable.
• A “by when” (date and/or time) the promise is to be delivered.
• A clear set of “Conditions of Satisfaction” that both parties agree on to fulfill the future (promise); these include specific details or options.
• A shared obviousness or background about shared assumptions, standards, expectations, so that both parties are on “the same page.”
• Complete choice: the speaker may revoke or negotiate a promise and the listener may reject the promise. Any choice ought to occur as close as possible to when a promise is made (and before its deadline) to preserve credibility.

Challenge #4: Tell your boss – My Team and I guarantee that the project will be done on-time and on budget by the end of the month, as you requested.

Be BOLD and Drive Action!