Walt Hampton, J.D.

Creating the Work & Life You LOVE

Be Radical

by Walt | May 16, 2024 | Leadership | 0 Comments

Leaders are often pressured to adapt quickly and make rapid decisions. While agility and responsiveness are crucial, there is an underlying principle that is even more essential for effective leadership: groundedness. The word “radical” originates from the Latin word “radix,” meaning “root.” To be radical, in the truest sense, is to be deeply rooted and grounded. As leaders, your ability to inspire, motivate, and guide others hinges on your own groundedness, which in turn requires daily practices that nurture your emotional and physical well-being.

The Power of Being Grounded

Being grounded means being stable, centered, and connected to your core values and purpose. This inner stability allows you to navigate challenges with clarity and resilience. Grounded leaders exude a calm confidence that reassures their teams, even in turbulent times. They are less likely to be swayed by external pressures or fleeting trends because their actions and decisions are anchored in a deep understanding of their mission and values.

Groundedness fosters authenticity. When leaders are true to themselves and their principles, they build trust and credibility. Teams are more likely to follow a leader who is consistent, transparent, and genuine. Furthermore, grounded leaders are better equipped to handle stress and prevent burnout, which is vital for long-term effectiveness and sustainability in their roles.

Daily Practices for Staying Grounded

To achieve and maintain groundedness, you must adopt daily practices that support your emotional and physical well-being. Here are some key practices to consider:

1. Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation are powerful tools for cultivating groundedness. These practices will help you stay present, reduce stress, and enhance your emotional intelligence. Just a few minutes of mindfulness or meditation each day can lead to significant improvements in focus, decision-making, and overall mental health.

2. Physical Activity

Regular physical activity is essential for maintaining energy levels and reducing stress. Whether it’s a morning jog, yoga session, or a simple walk during lunch breaks, physical exercise helps clear the mind and strengthen the body. It also releases endorphins, which boost mood and overall sense of well-being.

3. Reflection and Journaling

Taking time to reflect on your experiences, thoughts, and feelings is crucial for self-awareness. Journaling can be a particularly effective method for this. By regularly writing down reflections, you can gain insights into their behaviors, recognize patterns, and align your actions with your core values and goals.

4. Healthy Eating and Hydration

Nutrition plays a significant role in our physical and emotional health. Prioritize a balanced diet rich in whole foods and stay hydrated throughout the day. Avoiding excessive caffeine and sugar can prevent energy crashes and maintain steady focus and productivity.

5. Quality Sleep

Sleep is foundational for cognitive function, emotional regulation, and overall health. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night. Establishing a consistent bedtime routine and creating a restful sleep environment can greatly enhance sleep quality.

6. Connection and Community

Human beings are inherently social creatures. Building and maintaining meaningful connections with others is vital for emotional well-being. Make time to connect with family, friends, and colleagues. Engaging in social activities and being part of a supportive community can provide a sense of belonging and reduce feelings of isolation.

Embracing Radical Leadership

By integrating these practices into daily routines, you can cultivate the groundedness necessary for radical leadership. This approach not only enhances your own well-being but also positively impacts your team and your organization. Grounded leaders are better equipped to inspire trust, navigate challenges, and drive sustainable success.

The journey to becoming a radical leader begins with rooting yourself in practices that nurture emotional and physical well-being. By staying grounded, you can remain steadfast in your purpose, lead with authenticity, and create a lasting, positive impact on your organization and the people you serve. Embrace the radical path of groundedness and witness the transformative power it brings to your leadership… and to the world.

Shadow of an effective leader sitting beside a tree with grounded roots while his reflection shows in a body of water.

It Will Hit The Fan

by Walt | May 9, 2024 | Success | 2 Comments

It happens all the time.

Things go wrong.

The car breaks down; the power fails; and the basement floods.

Your key employee gets sick; the copier breaks; and your computers are hacked.

What will you do?

Do you know?

Because here’s the truth: things will go wrong. The shit will hit the fan.

Finland has a government commission. Its job is to imagine everything that could go wrong. It meets once a month and prepares for the imagined disaster: chemical spills; fuel shortages; power grid failures; and natural disasters of all shapes and sizes.

A number of years ago, before 2019, the Finnish commission imagined a respiratory disease pandemic. Finland was ready for Covid.

Fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and blizzards happen with some regularity. Yet many countries, communities, and businesses are blindsided. Again and again.

Ann and I are Wilderness First Responders. Every two years, we re-certify our training. Because when we’re out in the backcountry, deep in the wilderness, high on a mountain, the consequences of not knowing what to do when things go wrong are pretty significant.

We imagine scenarios and talk through how we’ll handle them. We keep a robust med kit in our backpacks and in the car.

In business, we know that the computers will go down, the internet will get wonky, the websites will get corrupted, that the SaaS will go bump in the night.

Do we like it when it happens?

Of course not.

It may throw us off our game. But it doesn’t shock us.

Because we’ve got a plan; and a process.

Because shit happens.

What can you imagine might go wrong in your biz?

What can you do to get ready?

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Growing and scaling a business means creating systems and processes that not only will make your day-to-day life much easier, but also creating systems and processes that will allow you to be prepared for when things go wrong. We can help. We have an extraordinary team of businesses coaches. Email me: walt@summit-success.com

The Final Frontier

by Walt | May 2, 2024 | Success | 4 Comments

I’ve been puttering in my garden. I love my garden. But I find puttering to be a challenge.

You see, I’m a big believer in action: Doing, achieving, accomplishing; moving like a shark lest I perish from inertia.

Steeped, as I am, in the cultural paradigm that, in order to succeed, I need to work longer, harder, and faster, it is difficult for me to slow down.

Puttering sometimes seems aimless; pointless; and wasteful.

But it’s not.

By puttering, I open up space for myself. I allow my mind to relax. I give myself the opportunity to think, reflect, create… and be.

Just be.

Every business leader we consult with, and every professional we coach wants more time; they want – they yearn – for space.

The greatest crisis of our age is not terror in the world; it is the terror that we allow within ourselves.

The greatest crisis of our age is not that we don’t have enough, but that we have too much: too much information; too much noise; too much stimulation; too much to do.

The greatest crisis of our age is that we have lost touch with that place of quiet, that still points within us.

We’ve lost the capacity to sit still, to be still, to know the beauty and the grandeur of the here and now.

We’ve lost the capacity to be: To just be.

When you give yourself the gift of quiet, when you open up that space, your sense of possibility expands. You see the opportunities that you miss when you are racing to that imaginary finish line.

When you allow your mind – and your body – to relax – ideas flourish, insight lights, and you create the ground for moments of “ah-ha.”

Commander Mark Divine, author of The Way of the Seal, teaches that we need the power of silence in order “to set the conditions to win.”

“Silence creates the space for you to think and thus see reality more clearly.”

“If you’ve ever noticed how good you feel after coming out of nature after an extended stay without your cell phone and laptop,” writes Devine, “here’s the reason why: It’s because you’ve slowed down enough to quiet your outer mind, allowing your inner wisdom to poke it’s head out a bit.”

And it is that inner wisdom that truly sets you apart; that allows you to excel and truly succeed at extraordinary levels.

Habit 7 in Stephen Covey’s celebrated business classic, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is Sharpen the Saw. “Sharpen the Saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have—you,” Covey said.

Self-care, self-renewal.

Opening up space.

Puttering.

Lost In The Museum

by Walt | Apr 25, 2024 | Success | 0 Comments

It’s one of the great museums in the world: the Uffizi in Florence, Italy. Filled with some of the most famous works on the planet by some of the most extraordinary artists to have ever lived, like Raphael, Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, and Michelangelo.

I went there and wandered around for an entire day. But I missed a LOT of the good stuff.

Because I didn’t have a guide.

A guide would have made the entire experience so much better. A guide would have known where to go and when to go; where the secret nooks and crannies were; where the underappreciated pieces were hidden. A guide would have had that deep knowledge and perspective that would have enriched and enlivened all of it.

I told myself that I was smart and didn’t need a guide.

I was wrong.

A wise guide is essential.

In a grand museum.

In business and in life too.

A coach is that wise guide who can help navigate the myriad challenges of a busy professional career, the roller coaster of entrepreneurship, and the inevitable upheavals that come in times of change.

A coach knows the pitfalls for the unwary; the scary places to avoid; and where the hidden gems are hidden.

A coach is that sounding board with that knowledge and perspective that we all need.

And when things are bleak, and it all seems dark and foreboding, a coach will light the way for you.

Life is better with a coach.

We have some of the best coaches on the planet.

Isn’t it time you had one?

I should have known better at the Uffizi. Good coaches have coaches. I’ve had a coach for the last 16 years. I know how good it is to have a wise guide. Email me. Want to see if the time is right for you to have a coach? Email me walt@summit-success.com

When The Madness Stopped

by Walt | Apr 18, 2024 | Journeys | 0 Comments

The horrific conflict in the Middle East. Russia. Ukraine. Iran. Climate crisis. Reproductive rights. Racism. Economic strife. Cultural unrest. Political rancor.

Nonstop doom.

Except. For a moment last week. A very brief moment.

It stopped. Across a large swath of the United States, it stopped.

The awe and wonder of the total eclipse of the sun.

In the stillness of the eclipse, the usual cacophony of societal noise—traffic, chatter, the omnipresent buzz of the digital—was overtaken by a collective silence. It was as if the earth itself had inhaled and held its breath, uniting everyone in a spell of tranquility. This pause was not just a break from the sun’s rays but from the relentless divisions that often define our days.

A reminder of our shared home. A reminder that we are all passengers on the same planetary spaceship, dependent on the same air, the same water, and the same fragile sphere.

Despite it all; despite the vast diversity of cultures, languages, and beliefs, there exists a fundamental human instinct to connect, to understand, and to appreciate the mystery and beauty of the universe. The eclipse was a natural magnet that pulled us from our individual orbits into a sacred, shared experience.

The challenge, of course, lies in harnessing that brief unity that we felt into sustained action. If we can stand together and look up in wonder, can we not also face our global challenges with the same solidarity?

Imagine what could be possible if the spirit of the eclipse could inform our everyday interactions. This isn’t about erasing our differences but about emphasizing our commonalities—the dreams, hopes, and fears that we all share. It’s about recognizing that, like the sun and the moon, we too can align in ways that are both beautiful and transformative.

Perhaps we take inspiration from the sky and remember that beneath the temporary shadows, we humans have the potential to find enduring light. Let’s not wait for the next eclipse to find reasons to come together. Every day offers us opportunities to bridge gaps, build understanding, and foster unity. It is crucial, now more than ever, that we lean into this potential, seeing not just with our eyes but with our hearts and minds. Together, under one sky, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.

Peace to you.