Chances are if you're interested in this post, you're looking for a few tips to take your leadership and/or your life, up a notch or two. Read on for a few things that have really helped me make my leadership more explosive after first defining what C4 is.

First what is C4 the explosive: C4 is a high quality, very high velocity military plastic explosive. Your life and your leadership should be like C4: it should be of high quality and be high velocity.

Quality means taking the time to be authentic and to be there for your team, whatever that means to each person in your life and on your team. I make time for a one-on-one meeting with each member of my staff as often as they feel they need it to be. For some, it means a weekly meeting. For others, it's every 2 weeks, and some only want to check in every month. I make the time at the end of the year and set the whole year's schedule in early December, before projects and other fires take over my calendar. You have to make the time, it won't magically happen. It's so worth it though. I learn more in those meetings than I can observe the rest of the year combined. We talk about how they're doing on their goals, what's going well on the team, what tools are missing, and what we need to improve on. I have a weekly sheet that I ask that each person complete at least once a month, whether we meet that month or not, just to check in and make sure we're not missing anything important.

I couple this with real time feedback about things that are going well and things that I observe to need improvement, and my review process is nearly complete for me, and no surprises happen for anyone on my team. I review the statistics every week to look for trends and talk openly and honestly with each associate to ensure we're working towards our common goals together.

Velocity means being willing to change your style as needed to meet the needs of your team and the other people you serve. To change now and then is not enough in today's world anymore. It's important to change BEFORE you think you need to change, and remember that it's not all about you! You need to change for the good of your team, of your clients, of your spouse, and for anyone else you serve. Don't be afraid of change, expect it, and change quickly. The quicker you change things, the easier it is because you've spent less time doing that which needs to be changed.

Now I admit, living life while embracing the velocity of change is one of the hardest things for me to do. I know I need to change things, however sometimes I don't, and it ends up hurting worse and for longer than it needed to. Nobody is perfect, but knowing what needs to be done is half the battle. You might have the same problem, so hopefully together we can hold each other accountable to uphold the standards we need to uphold.

Take the challenge to Make it Great! Be explosive! Increase your velocity and your quality today!