You’re ready and eager to take a more significant leadership role in your organization and want the challenge of a more demanding position. But you’re also keenly aware of the stress, scrutiny and potential burnout you could face.
Everyone will look to you for guidance. Because you’ve watched others lead in a high-stakes environment, you want to enhance and develop your leadership skills before stepping up to the plate.
Preparing To Lead
Leading a team in a volatile, high-stress environment isn’t easy. It takes focus, grit, and determination. But if you’ve been close to the mental and emotional turbulence that goes hand-in-hand with a mission-critical role, you know it takes much more than that to be a successful leader.
Professional leadership development helps you learn how to zoom in and out from the present to the future. It will help you lead more effectively in the moment, and plan for the months and years ahead.
I help aspiring leaders learn what skills they need to develop for the next phase of their career. Because scrambling from one crisis to the next is not a viable or lasting leadership tactic.
Throughout the process, I will lead you through:
- 1:1 coaching
- Professional assessments
- Tools and techniques specific to working in high-pressure environments
- A Skills/Gaps process
Refine Your Skills
You’re driven and dedicated – a born leader. Like a sword, I believe leaders are forged under heat and pressure, but you can’t rely solely on experience to teach you everything about being a successful leader. Knowing how to navigate the present challenges and strategically plan for the future are key parts of successful leadership.
A Lasting Strategy
You got into this line of work because you want to make a difference and leave the world a better place than you found it. You’re also passionate and motivated to land your dream job as a leader in a high-stakes and high-pressure environment. By developing and refining your leadership skills before you enter the arena, you’ll be less likely to fall due to stress and burnout.
Embrace Trust
No leader is an island. It’s imperative to trust, delegate, and build a team that can support you. This is especially important for leaders in mission-critical roles, where things flip from calm to crisis mode like a light switch. Now is the time to develop your leadership approach, find your weaknesses, and know your strengths.
The ResiliencePlus Leadership Framework
You can equip yourself and your team to successfully navigate highly unstable environments while also strategizing for the future. We accomplish this together by utilizing my ResiliencePlus Leadership Framework, which is customized to meet your specific challenges.
This approach is not a checklist or a short-term fix; it is foundational work that will enhance your resiliency and vision as a leader. It is built on the foundation of my executive experience and proven track record of developing effective and resilient leaders while leading in mission-critical and crisis-driven environments. If you are willing to invest in yourself and your team, you can go from reacting in the moment to responding with intention.
Throughout the process, I will lead you and your team through:
- 1:1 coaching
- Professional assessments
- Tools and techniques specific to high-pressure environments
- How to effectively handle short-term crises, while…
- Creating a strategic focus for the future
These three interlocking components of the ResiliencePlus Leadership Framework are mutually reinforcing. Each component is necessary to strengthen the overall leadership structure in the organization.
01.
Variable Focus
Leaders need to know when to zoom in and when to zoom out - effortlessly switching from a swift, decisive tactical focus, to the essential wide-angle view required to see strategically over the horizon for success into the future. The ability to have variable focus is a key to effectiveness.
02.
Look In The Mirror
Looking into the mirror requires a leader to recognize they are not a finished product. They must develop greater self awareness, emotional agility, and resilience. Leaders must also summon a willingness to step back and orchestrate rather than play the instruments.
03.
No Heroes
A leader has an obligation to the organization to proactively lead its leaders. A robust leadership pipeline isn’t just for the future. High-stakes, high-stress organizations count on significant leadership from a wide range of leaders today. In this context, leadership development is about shaping the way you lead and manage every day.
Ready to expand your leadership skills?
Certificates
Commonly Asked Questions
- What Is Your Experience?
I am a certified executive coach and l lead a range of leadership workshops for leaders at all levels. I previously served as the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 12 years. I faced the challenges of leading in a high-stakes environment. I have extensive experience delivering leadership development training in multiple settings, and served as a guest lecturer and mentor in the Executive Master’s Program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
- What If I Don't Have The Bandwidth For Coaching?
You are understandably consumed with today’s challenges and find it difficult to contemplate the future. But if you stretch and build the right leadership muscles and the discipline it takes, the benefits will be invaluable to you, your team, and your organization. It will be time well spent.
- Isn't Leadership an Innate Ability?
Leadership isn’t a trait you are born with like brown eyes or black hair. It is an acquired set of skills and behaviors developed with time and attention. Leaders owe it to themselves and their teams to learn, develop, grow, and thrive. Experience and research tell us that leaders can do just that by increasing their emotional agility and intelligence, along with resiliency. The ResiliencePlus Leadership Framework facilitates your leadership journey.
- What Services Do You Provide?
Executive and leadership coaching for individuals in mission-critical roles who deal with high stress, burnout, short-term focus, and self-doubt while navigating relentless volatility and crises. My leadership framework is designed to enhance your long-term strategic focus, assist you in leading and developing your team, and develop and refine yourself. I also coach individuals who are preparing to lead in a high-pressure environment, and work with teams seeking to increase trust, accountability, and results.
- What Type of Clients Do You Serve?
I coach leaders who work in high-stakes, high-stress environments. If you navigate in uncertain territory that leads to new ground, deal with persistent challenges, face ongoing workplace stress, or simply want to increase your resiliency and vision, you can benefit from the ResiliencePlus Leadership Framework. I also coach emerging senior leaders who want to develop and refine their skills before stepping into a more demanding leadership role in their organization.
The first time I met Brad he was teaching a leadership class to newly promoted leaders from across the country, including me. I immediately took home and implemented in my organization the things I learned. Brad is nationally recognized as one of the top leaders in the country and has a unique ability to share his knowledge in a way that allows you to put what you learn into action.
Brad Livingston is an exceptional leader. I was privileged to have a front row seat observing and endorsing his leadership approach in action. He established and nurtured a leadership culture in the organization while being equally adept at managing routine and crisis responses without missing a step. He led in a most challenging environment under the scrutiny of many stakeholders, developing a reputation for integrity, fairness, and flawless execution in nearly all situations. Further, he built one of the best internal leadership development pipelines I have ever witnessed. In my view, the agency’s headquarters complex was dedicated and renamed after Brad largely in recognition of his legacy of leadership and developing leaders.
Brad Livingston is the quintessential professional who leads by example, never shying from an opportunity, especially a challenge. He quickly dissects issues during high-stress and crisis situations, ultimately executing a plan that works for all involved. Additionally, Brad cultivates, trains, and develops leaders to expand their skills by sharing his expertise with those facing tough decisions. He is a true asset to any organization, institution, or individual.
I have known Brad since 2011 and respect him for his expertise. He has a gift of active listening, and being able to clearly communicate client’s thoughts back to them. Brad is able to facilitate group engagement and structure training that is impactful.