Linchpin Behaviors

by Dave Miller

Helping young leaders move towards positive behavior in their journey can sometimes be of moments of feeling stuck. They seem unable or unwilling to move, and as their coach, we are wondering what to do to encourage the next step. Perhaps sometimes we should take a longer view and ask what are the key behaviors that may lead to the action we are seeking. Here’s a quick story to illustrate what I mean:

There’s a guy** I know…a few years ago he got into cycling. One purchase led to another and a whole new world opened up to him. This cycling universe was full of weird clothes, odd shoes, new gear, magazines, podcasts, and websites of advice and coaching. His wife was rolling her eyes at the new obsession. That was in early 2019.

Then COVID lockdown hit Denver. No cars on the road and the whole world was buying bikes. The perfect time for his new hobby to become a full-blown obsession.

One-hour rides, led to two, three, and half-day rides. This led eventually to what’s called a century ride in cycling…one hundred miles in one day, and an eventual ride across Iowa and dreams of traversing the country on a bike.

An interest in cycling led to an interest in professional cycling and reading biographies of cyclists. He’s the kind of guy who is mainly interested in people’s stories of origin and what they were doing between the ages of 18 and 25.

Here’s the weirdest thing though, this led to a general interest in reading anything and everything. He’d never considered himself an avid reader. He was soon consuming a couple of books a month. While this isn’t a lot to many of you, trust me, this was a LOT for this guy!

THIS led to a newfound interest in reading the Bible. Like most, he had started and stopped many times in the discipline of reading the Word. THIS led to a newfound enjoyment of earlier alarms, reading every morning, and watching the sunrise. All of THIS led to just a general engagement of more and more discipline in to his life, hiring a coach, using words like “thriving” and “stewarding” the next decade.

THIS led to a more intimate relationship with Jesus as the Word once again became alive and he’s read the Word through multiple times which has led to great quiet moments every morning.

Now if he misses his early alarm, or an east coast client takes the time he actually misses it.

WHY THIS MATTERS. I tell this story to help you as you lead young leaders.

Perhaps you find yourself asking the question “Why aren’t they _______?!?” Fill in the blank with the behavior you are looking for…It very well could be a different behavior that may unlock it.

In this guy’s example, CYCLING led to READING led to READING OTHER THINGS led to READING THE WORD led to new DISCIPLINE led to A DEEPER ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LORD.

A friend, board member, executive coach, and friend with an ironic name, David A Miller at Novus Global, said to me recently, “Understanding what motivates the leaders that I coach is the key to them achieving their vision. Motivation leads to small actions which leads to larger actions that could change everything.”

So in all of these behaviors of this example, which would you say is the linchpin? If YOU were coaching this guy which would you focus on? Would you continually bring up how his devotional life should be deeper? Would you ask him over and over did you spend time with the Lord today?

OR might a better question be how many miles have you got this month on Strava? It appears as though if this guy isn’t on his bike for an hour or two a day, he may not get to the other positive behaviors that are shaping him.

Without cycling the other behaviors may not happen. Perhaps cycling is the linchpin behavior that should remain in place so the others have a chance at happening.

You are not afforded the luxury amount of time that this guy was afforded to allow new levels of discipline and behavior to take route in that young leader on your team; however, I do think looking for the “behavior BEFORE the behavior” is something to consider.

Too many times we default to “they just don’t get it” or “they just aren’t leaned into the mission” when perhaps they should be making their bed, wearing a shirt with buttons, starting their day and weeks with a simpler behavior…a simple win…to get them headed down their unique leadership pathway that could grow them into all you are hoping they become.

The linchpin is everything.

**Yeah, this guy was me and I’m pretty sure since I admitted all of this I’ll probably struggle to get out of bed and ride tomorrow :)

BY THE WAY David A Miller has coached a few of us here at Lp. Hit him up here