Lead by Example: Red Shoes Living with Lonnie Mayne

Stand Out for the Positive in Everything You Do

What is Red Shoes Living? Quite frankly, it's leading with your heart. With empathy. Putting the human before the title or the circumstance.

"If you could walk in someone else's shoes, would you treat them differently," asked Lonnie Mayne, founder of Red Shoes Living and author of Red Shoes Living: Stand Out for the Positive In How You Work & Live Your Lifeand keynote speaker at ALHI's Back to Business:The Path Forward event on Nov. 11, speaking live at Fairmont Scottsdale Princess and broadcast to 3 other venues and virtually.

Red Shoes Living is a philosophy supported by a framework to develop a high-performance and sustainable leadership model to create standout customer experiences. Lonnie believes that leaders who adopt the Red Shoes philosophy will build a highly-engaged and meaningful culture that empowers people to do their best work and live their best lives.

Essentially, Red Shoes Living is "about bringing everyone to the table, holding others (and yourself) accountable to be the best versions of themselves, and treating every interaction as an opportunity to stand out like a pair of red shoes."

"Three things happen when we face opportunities and challenges," says Lonnie. "We can step in, step through and step up."

Lonnie encourages us to look inside someone and connect in the most authentic way.

"Right now, smaller things mean even more. A text checking in. Little things like that start to matter even more," says Lonnie. "We can't do it alone. Surround yourself with friends and colleagues who make us want to be our best."

He also says that the most powerful form of a Red Shoes leader is someone who performs a Red Shoes moment is quiet way, like writing a note of thanks.

In his presentations, Lonnie often shares a video depicting the private experiences and emotions of people encountered in a hospital situation, making the point that one never knows what another is going through just from looking on the outside.

The Red Shoes Living Framework

Awareness: This is the gateway to everything we do. He encourages us to see the human being before title, and to pay attention to who's in front of us or who's speaking. This conveys the message, "I see you as a human being."

Lonnie also says, as a leader, be aware to take care of ourselves: sleep, get outside, stay healthy.

He shares two rules when it comes to awareness:
1. Witness a Red Shoes experience happening in front of you - see something good and recognize you see it.
2. Make eye contact ; "I see you."

Gratitude: What we're grateful today may be different than what we were grateful for before. During his talk, Lonnie shared that he's often grateful for being able to be outside, for hearing the birds sing. The morning of the event, he was thankful for coffee and nice sheets in the hotel.

Lonnie encourages us to write one thing down that we're grateful for every day. He says that when we practice being grateful, things start to look different.

Everyone Has a Story: Everyone has a different story from yesterday, and Lonnie says to be aware that stories change. "See people for the human beings that they are," he suggests. "When they are seen, people will step in, step through and step up."

Respect (Kindness): Be kind and respectful, and still hold teams accountable. "When you are kind, you create space for people to be the best versions of themselves," says Lonnie.

He also shared a quote from his grandmother that he holds close: "Treat those that have more than you as equals, and those who have less as kings and queens."

Put Yourself Out There: This is the part of awareness where you witness or do something and put yourself out there.

"When we're young, we put ourselves out there all the time, taking risks," says Lonnie.
"As the negative noise gets loud, we stop putting ourselves out there."

He adds that those who step through and step up put themselves out there.

"Continue to learn, connect, be better human beings, better professionals," Lonnie encourages. "Come back to the philosophy, turn mindset on, turn noise down, use these pillars. Your leadership, your human kindness, connection, elevation - it's all needed more now than ever."

To find out more about Lonnie Mayne and Red Shoes Living, find his book on Amazon.