The Ryan Leak Podcast - What Credit Can I Give Away?

Episode Date: February 22, 2021

There are moments when you won't get inspiration, direction, or vision from your leader. This is why you need to have some go-to questions you can have in your back pocket to help you lead yourself when you need to the most. The first question you can ask yourself is: Why Am I Doing This? The second question you can ask yourself is: What Credit Can I Give Away? Don’t you love it when you give an idea in a meeting and nobody likes it... And then someone else gives your same idea 3 months later and people think they’re a genius? We're tempted to grab as much credit as we possible can because we’ve all been on the end of not getting credit we deserved. So here’s why this question is so important… So you can be the opposite of what you’ve experienced in the past. Reply all emails are the perfect opportunity to give credit to other people when we're tempted to make ourselves look better.  We have an infatuation with being self-made, but in all reality, every "self-made" person had help along the way. They read a book. They had a friend. They listened to a podcast. They watched a Ted Talk. Would it hurt to give them some credit? Not getting credit is the best thing for our pride. Giving credit is good for our relationships. How much credit do you think you deserve for your department’s success? It's often over-inflated. It's always better to err on the side of giving more credit to others than taking more credit than you actually deserve.  For more show notes and episodes, go to ryanleak.com/followership.

Welcome to followership with Ryan Leak, a podcast designed to equip followers with the tools they need to succeed in the workplace. Hey, I don't know what kind of leader you have. I don't know if they're good, bad, or mediocre. But the good news is the type of leader you have does not have to determine the type of follower you can become. What I found to be true is that a lot of followers are often waiting for their leaders to lead them, to give them vision, to give them direction. So last episode, I started a mini podcast series. Yes, I made that up on four questions that help us lead ourselves well. So you're not waiting for someone to motivate you every morning.

There are four questions that I think can help you lead yourself well. The first question was, why am I doing it? Knowing your why. If you miss that episode, I encourage you to go back and check that out. You can also get the show notes for that episode and this one at ryanleek.com slash followership. Again, that's ryanleak.com slash followership. Now, today's question, the second question that allows us to lead ourselves well is this,

what credit can I give away? What credit can I give away? Don't you love it when you give an idea in a meeting and nobody likes it? Everyone, eh, eh, everybody kind of pokes holes in it. And then someone else gives your same idea three months later and people think that person is a genius. You're like, what? How in the world did this happen? I just said that.

That's that part of us that's on the inside that desires to constantly get credit. But the one thing that is going to be good for you is if a leader were to come alongside you and go, hey, here's deal. You want to get to a place in your life where you're not always looking for credit. A secure person, a secure follower can give credit to anybody. I know most of us have grown up in workplace environments where it seems like the people who are the most rewarded, the people that are the most promoted, the people that have the best titles, the highest positions, are the ones who were given credit for projects, ideas,

and ultimately sales and wins. And so for us, our natural inclination is to try and grab as much credit as we possibly can because we've all been on the end of not getting credit that we deserved. So this question becomes very, very important around what credit can I give away is because it allows us to be the exact opposite of what we've experienced in the past. So this experience we've had in the past of not getting credit, you get to be the person and says, you know what? I'm going to share the wealth. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, going to share credit.

I'm going to fight the urge to try and grab something that I think I deserve. And instead, I'm going to choose to be a person that makes up their mind that says, you know what, I'm going to be the type of person that looks

to give credit to other people so I can be the opposite of the worst that I've experienced in my career. I mean, this is really, famous especially on reply alls. You know those, those emails, like, you know, your whole department's on it, the whole company's on, you know, there's 35 names on there, and people are going back and forth. And then there's just always that one person, you might be that person. And if that's you,

I really apologize for the next few moments. But you just get, they're that person that feels insecure, feels like they've got to kind of got to take jabs at people. And, If something is going really well, it's like they got to get their piece of the pie. If it's going really bad, they disappear. You don't even hear from them. You know these people. And if you are that person, then, you know, you're awesome and God love you. Okay, here's the deal.

Reply all is an opportunity to give credit away. Reply all is an incredible opportunity to highlight. someone in the organization who's been working their butt off that perhaps is unseen. I mean, just think about that for a second. Who is the person's voice that has been silenced the most in your department or your organization? Who is the person that you're going, man, people just don't see them. They overlook them. It's like they're invisible.

Reply all or Zoom or Microsoft Teams meeting is your. opportunity to say, hey, hey, Jill, hey, Julie over there, hey Sam. Hey, I remember you said the other day, man, I thought, I think that was, I think that was great. If you have any kind of influence in your organization, you have an opportunity to give some credit away. And let's just think about that for a second. isn't that the type of leader you wish you worked for?

If you don't already? I mean, isn't that the type of person that you would want to work with? So I think you've got an incredible opportunity today to give credit to somebody. I mean, it's like we all have this infatuation with being self-made. I mean, it's a great headline, but it's a horrible line to live by. I mean, he's a self-made billionaire. Well, is that really true? true, I doubt it. I'm pretty sure anyone who would claim to be quote unquote self-made had help

along the way. They couldn't have done everything. They read a book. They had a friend. They listened to a podcast. They watched a TED talk. I mean, at some point, when can we let go of that infatuation and go, would it really hurt us to give the people? people along our journey some credit? Allow me to do that right now. I start with a guy name, Nate Roosch. He was a VP at the college I went to, North Central University, downtown Minneapolis. And let me tell you, he has made numerous phone calls for me in my lifetime that have birthed incredible opportunities. And he didn't have to do that. And it's interesting.

I've never heard him take credit for any of my success. Never heard him do it. Never. But I know for a fact I would not be in the position I'm in right now, a position to be able to make difference in lives of other people, if it were not for Nate Roos. Nate Roos introduced me to a guy named Justin Lathor. Justin Lathor is also another incredible human being

who has made phone calls for me that I did not deserve. A few people have, well, more than a few people, but quite a few people have actually complimented me on my website. Man, dude, I love, I love RyanLeak.com. Man, that's great. I did make it. You want to know who made it? Guy named Zach Morgan. Zach Morgan has an incredible design eye, and the man just knows what he's on.

He did a great job. I can't tell you how many times Corey Leak, my brother has made phone calls from me and said, man, you need to have my brother speak. He's great. You'd love him. People have said to me before, man, I just love your authenticity. I just love the way that you just, you talk with vulnerability at times and the stories you tell. Yeah, that's Bray Brown. Okay.

Bray Brown talked to me into that a while ago, okay? Like at some point, giving credit, is it really going to hurt us? I'll never forget the first time that I grew up in the church. That's where I cut my teeth. That's where I worked on my craft. And I had never done corporate engagements. I didn't know what I was doing in corporate America. and old woman by the name of Jenna Anderson

walked up to me after church one day and she said, you need to come speak in my company. I was like, I don't even know what that's going to look like or how that's going to work. And she's like, we'll go figure it out together. And to look back now in the amount of corporate work that I get to do on a daily basis, which is about 50% of my time now,

I think I consistently reach out to Jenna and go, hey, Jenna, thank you for starting. something in me when I couldn't see it, see it myself. I have people that see some of the videos that I put out on social media. I made a video. I didn't make that video. I'm in the video. Jordan Stratton made that video.

You might be listening to this podcast right now. I'm going, man, this is really helping me. That's great. Zach Stone edited this. What up, Zach? Matt Sandberg, man, he creates great stuff for me. Lacey Stinson. Lacey is like wonderful.

She just, she, she, she knows how to introduce people better than anybody. Like, Lacey has made so many phone calls, made so many email introductions for me that have just produced incredible, incredible opportunities. People compliment me about some stuff that I'm doing on social media. I ain't even do that stuff on social media. That's Megan, Megan Oliver. She's my social media coordinator. She's incredible. Like, the, I am.

not self-made and I don't want to be. Man, I love the team of people I get to work with. I love the churches I get to work with. I love the companies I get to work with. And you know what? I'm happy to shout out anybody. What would it look like for you to just give some credit? one of the things that I do when I work with leadership teams or a board of directors,

it's kind of a fun exercise. I write a question on their whiteboard or now the Zoom chat. And I say, I want you to write down how much credit you think you deserve for your company's success. I can do the same thing with like a department. Hey, how much credit do you think you deserve for your department's success? I want you to think about that right now. write down a number. Just, hey, in light of what I bring to my organization,

this is how much credit I deserve, okay? You write down your number. You got your number? I'll wait. Don't worry. Let me get something to drink. Let me wait for you to write down your number. All right, you got your number down.

All right, you got your number. It's in your mind. You wrote it down. Okay, cool. The funny thing is, is when I add up all the numbers of the entire team, and if I were to add up the numbers of your entire team, the average number that comes back is anywhere between 130 to 180%.

Which means everyone in the room is probably taking more credit than they actually deserve. And so let me tell you what's going to serve you well. Let me tell you what's going to help you lead yourself really, really well. is if you err on the side of caution

of giving credit away. It's better to err on the side of like, man, I barely was error. I mean, I had a part, sure, is better than it was all me and I don't know what the rest of you were doing. Nobody wants to work with or for that person. You want to be the type of person

that is secure enough to give credit away. Not getting credit is one of the best things for our ego and for pride. And if you want to be the type of follower that walks in true humility that other people want to work with,

you should be looking for opportunities to give credit away. So here's the takeaway from today's episode. I want you to pick one colleague, colleague, one person who you can give some credit to today. Yeah, reply on shout them out on LinkedIn, you fate, TikTok, do whatever you

got to do. And don't be belligerent, okay, but give away some credit. It's so good for your ego. It's so good for our pride, and you're going to find yourself leading yourself way better when you wake up with a mindset that says, you know what, today isn't about me. Today is about other people. That's what I want you to think about today. Today's episode added value to your life in any way, shape, or form. Here's what I'm going to ask you to do. I'm going to ask that you share this episode

with, I don't know, three to four of your colleagues and say, hey, man, I listened to an episode of followership with Ryan Lee and talking about self-leadership. I think you should check it up. Yeah, you should do that right now. It would be awesome. You can also rate it, review it, and always don't forget to you subscribe. We'll see you next time.