Hi
I’m Brandon, founder of the REAL Values Project
The Relaxed Leader Origins
My name is Brandon Jubar and I’m the founder of the REAL Values Project and The Relaxed Leader. I’ve spent 35 years learning to be a highly effective, values-driven leader – at work, in ministry, and with my family – so I decided it was time to give back even more. I became active in ministry in 1985 and began my career a few years later. After 17 years of supervising and leading multi-national teams in the private sector, I moved into the public sector, where I’ve spent over a decade in various senior staff positions in a Cabinet-level Federal Agency. In 2021, I was selected as one of the Fed 100 by Federal Computer Week – the 100 people who had the greatest impact in Federal IT – for the work I did with the accessibility of IT for people with disabilities.
Over the years, I’ve individually coached and mentored scores of people in the private and public sectors, as well as in ministry. I’ve conducted hundreds of workshops on topics ranging from Career Planning to Social Justice, and I’ve planned and led over 100 multi-day retreats.
Back in the mid-aughts, I first began assessing all the leadership tools and tactics available and it was overwhelming. There are so many approaches and schools of thought, but how do you decide what to use when? It felt like I needed something more foundational – more fundamental – that would be broadly applicable. I wasn’t out to solve every problem. Instead, I wanted to figure out how to more effectively approach every situation and better assess any potential solution.
So I created a simple set of values to measure our choices and actions against. REAL Values. REAL stands for Respect, Engage, Accept, and Lead. It’s a framework that’s easy to learn and implement in our daily lives, but the impact can be absolutely profound.
The REAL Values Project is the “umbrella” covering everything I’ve been working on, including REAL Youth Ministry and The Relaxed Leader newsletter and podcast. It’s all simply my way of using what I’ve learned to help a self-selected group of people level-up their leadership skills too.
RELAX and Lead!
I’ve discovered that being a Relaxed Leader™ is a great choice for many people. A Relaxed Leader is not a lazy leader who just kicks back and doesn’t stress because he doesn’t really care. A Relaxed Leader isn’t the same as a Laissez-faire leader, who doesn’t give much instruction or guidance and basically lets the team members take the lead.
A Relaxed Leader has a systematic approach to leadership that focuses on setting priorities, creating and empowering team members, and leveraging specific gifts and talents. The building blocks of becoming a Relaxed Leader can be remembered using the acronym RELAX:
REVIEW/REFLECT: Keep an eye on your priorities and the effectiveness of your current activities.
EMPOWER: Develop team members who understand priorities and achieve results without constant oversight.
LEVERAGE: Take advantage of day-to-day situations when effective, focused leadership can dramatically impact team performance and multiply results.
AMPLIFY: Promote team members and their ideas, celebrate wins, and have a strong communications plan.
X-FACTOR: Identify that “special something” only YOU can bring to the team… and BRING IT!
My Approach
B
Think BIG
Set your sights high and create an ambitious vision for where you want to be in 3 to 5 years. Don’t think too “near term” and don’t sell yourself short by thinking too small. Go big or go home!
S
Act SMALL
Choose the milestones needed for you to reach your vision. These goals must be clear and measurable, so you can identify specific tasks and know when those tasks are complete.
Q
Move QUICKLY
Create a time-line of actionable tasks for each goal… and start executing! Complete tasks and cross them off the list. You’ll know immediately if you get off track and can quickly course correct.
Content for Your Journey
Whether you’re leading in a traditional organization or in a Christian ministry setting, I have ideas to share with you. Check out my other websites to learn more:
Newsletter
Weekly articles sharing my experience
Weekly podcasts on leadership
Community discussions and collaboration