Leaders developing leaders.

Leadership

Conversations That Keep You Up

Your ability to speak up about issues that weigh you down is crucial to your success at work and life.—Maggie Warrell

As leaders we need to excel in communication, and that includes having difficult conversations. Have you ever been in a situation where you know you need to address negative behaviors or missed deliverables, and you feel it will be so uncomfortable it actually impacts your ability to sleep? If yes, you’re not alone.

Conducting a difficult conversation is quite frankly, difficult. As a result, we frequently let it fall to the bottom of our “to do” list, which only makes the situation worse (and allows our own anxiety to grow!).

Here are some tips:

Be specific and objective about the behavior or  situation you wish to discuss

Address the issue as soon as possible

Explain the impacts of the situation
1. Was there an impact to colleagues, business
partners, or clients? If yes, what?
2. Were any goals or desired results missed? Be
specific.
3. Is this a one-time issue or a re-occurring
problem?
4. Focus on the specific behavior/issue, NOT the
personality of the person

Allow the person to share their perspective
1. Actively listen and respond to what is being
communicated
2. Offer suggestions, solutions or development
opportunities if applicable
3. Was it a simple and isolated mistake? Was there
ill-intent?

Avoid conducting the conversation in the midst of emotions and conflict
1. Deliver your message in a healthy, respectful
manner
2. Stay focused and clearly state desired changes
3. Manage your emotions (remember, the delivery is
as important as the message!)

Expect and plan for objections/detours/obstacles; restate your expectations
1. Stay focused on what needs to change and why
2. Are consequences appropriate?
3. Provide feedback; share that the bottom line is to
help the person be more effective, improve
performance, relationships, etc

After you conduct your conversation, remember to summarize your specific agreement, and if appropriate, schedule a follow-up session.

What kinds of conversations keep you up at night? Make conducting them a priority!

Conversations create change . . .
–Ellen Page

You Have To Be Genuine

It’s not enough to just go through the motions, trying to demonstrate qualities that are associated with emotional intelligence. You have to be genuine.
—Travis Bradberry

We’ve talked about the need for Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and how some consider EQ to be the single biggest predictor of high performance in the workplace as well as the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence.

Author and provider of EQ testing Travis Bradberry adds that “Emotional intelligence won’t do a thing for you if you aren’t genuine.” Genuine, Real, and Authentic = what people want in leadership.

Bradberry provides the following:

1.Genuine people don’t try to make people like them: Genuine people are who they are. They know that some people will like them, and some won’t.

2.They don’t pass judgment: Genuine people are open-minded, which makes them approachable and interesting to others.

3.They forge their own paths: They do what they believe to be the right thing, and they’re not swayed by the fact that somebody might not like it.

4.They are generous: Genuine people are unfailingly generous with whom they know, what they know and the resources they have access to.

5.They treat EVERYONE with respect: Genuine people treat everyone with respect because they believe they’re no better than anyone else.

6.They aren’t motivated by material things: Their happiness comes from within.

7.They are trustworthy: People gravitate toward those who are genuine because they know they can trust them.

8.They are thick-skinned: They’re able to objectively evaluate negative and constructive feedback.

9.They put away their phones: When genuine people commit to a conversation, they focus all of their energy on it.

10.They aren’t driven by ego: They simply do what needs to be done.

11.They aren’t hypocrites: Genuine people practice what they preach.

12.They don’t brag: Genuine people know who they are. They are confident enough to be comfortable in their own skin.

Think of the best leader you’ve ever worked for. How many of the behaviors above did they exhibit? Were they “genuine”? What can you learn from them?

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
–Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Desire To Be Lead

We need to be the type of leader we would follow.

What type of leader would you follow? Do you possess the skills and behaviors of what you describe? What about during times of crises?

Fortune Magazine’s Geoff Colvin writes about 3 Keys To Leading In A Crisis and shares that leaders will benefit by following a few principles; excerpts include:

People Want To Be Led
No group accomplishes much if no one is in charge. In a life-threatening historic crisis, we want direction more than ever.

We want a leader who has the power we do not, and we look to the leader to assume part of our burden allowing us to sleep at night. If you’re in charge – be in charge.

Be Decisive
In a crisis, even people who would normally be at one another’s throats accepts that major decisions must be made quickly (and possibly debated after the fact).

The difficulty is that just when decisions are most easily accepted, they’re hardest to make. Decisions are made with incomplete information; stakes are high, yet firm (and timely) decisions must be made.

Define Reality and Give Hope
People hunger for the unvarnished truth about their organization and prospects and they can sense evasion a mile away.

The leader’s art is outlining reality unflinchingly and framing it as a challenge that can be met, not as a disaster that must be endured. Effective leaders never make a promise that can’t be kept with 100% certainty; they do offer realistic reasons for hope.

Followers want to trust their leader; they want their leaders to be authentic and lead with integrity.  They want their leaders to communicate and keep in touch, they want re-assurance, and they want to know what plans are in place for dealing with the change(s).

Tall orders, and as John Maxwell says “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

Are you the type of leader you would follow?

There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or influence. Those who lead inspire us.
-Simon Sinek

Stay or Go? How To Retain Talent

We can’t stop employees from leaving unless we have a plan to make them stay.–  Soumyasanto Sen

How much time do you dedicate to your direct reports or team members? Do you have documented goals and have you shared them? Do you have regular monthly one on one update sessions to discuss progress and obstacles? Are you aware of desired career paths and do you leverage individual strengths? Do you provide development opportunities that support career goals? Is your reward and recognition process consistent? Is your work culture desirable?  

If you said no to any of these, you may be at risk of losing essential talent.

The Work Institute’s study provided the following reasons for employees leaving voluntarily

22 out of 100 employees left for Career Development

12 out of 100 left for Work-Life Balance

11 out of 100 left because of Manager Behavior

9 out of 100 left for Compensation and Benefits

8 out of 100 left for Well-Being

8 out of 100 left for Job Characteristics

5 out of 100 left because of the Work Environment 

Gallop surveyed 100,000 employees and found the top reasons for staying:

Employees felt their job is important to the company.
Employees felt their boss cares about them and provides regular feedback.
Employees were clear on job expectations.
Employees felt their opinions count.
Employees have opportunities to do their best work daily.
Career development is encouraged.

As leaders, we can strongly influence the reasons to stay. Business consultant Greg Smith defined a five step process to serve as a reminder: P.R.I.D.E:

P    Provide a Positive Working Environment
R   Recognize, Reward and Reinforce the Right Behavior
I    Involve and Engage
D   Develop Skills and Potential
E   Evaluate and Measure

Are any changes needed to impact the “stay” or “go” decision for essential talent?

Research indicates that workers have three prime needs: Interesting work, recognition for doing a good job, and being let in on things that are going on in the company.–Zig Ziglar

7 Cs For Coronavirus Survival

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.
—Abraham Lincoln

John Quelch, Dean and Vice Provost at University of Miami Business School and Professor Emeritus from Harvard Business School, provides “7 Cs” he feels are essential leadership capabilities, especially during times of change, uncertainty, and stress. We think you may find them useful and wanted to share the following excerpts:

Calm. You are going to be looked to as a leader to project a sense of calm through this difficult, uncertain situation.

Confidence. Project confidence that you will help others see this through successfully.

Communication. Relentlessly communicate, communicate, communicate. Develop a strategy for communication, making it timely as well as a priority. Silence is absolutely the worst possible thing as that’s when the rumor mill can run rampant.

Collaboration. Utilize the strengths of your “people” resources; bring them together in taskforces, sub-taskforces, and create roles where everyone can contribute to overcoming the uncertainty. This will also reduce the rumor mill and increase confidence levels.

Community. We all live in communities; work, home, schools, etc  The idea is to lead by example and model behaviors across all communities that others can learn from.

Compassion. As leaders we are depended on to listen and allow others to express their concerns. This includes both work and home concerns. The virus is potentially affecting the most vulnerable, and time away from work may be needed to care for others. Compassion at a time of crisis is a very important manifestation of leadership.

Cash. The most obvious commercial C of the 7 Cs is Cash. Cash is king at a time of crisis, and everything needs to be done to look at both the short term and long term financial health of the organization. You are being depended upon to lead, not just emotionally but also prudently with respect to the long-term finances of the organization.

During this time of change (and stress), have you adapted your leadership capabilities when interacting with colleagues, direct reports, business partners, clients and community members? (Don’t forget about family members; they need your support too!).

What could you change to be more effective?

We cannot escape crisis situations. Although unable to avoid them, we can learn to lead people through them.—John Maxwell

12 Steps For Courageous Leadership Recap

CourageAbility – The ability to live your dreams and professional life the way you desire, while achieving your goals and exceeding in your ambitions and objectives. It is taking and empowering yourself and others to go where you or they have never gone before!

In 2011 we wrote our first book: 12 Steps For Courageous Leadership – Start Your Journey Now and thought that this is a good time to revisit the steps.

It’s not easy being a leader. It takes courage and commitment, the willingness to step out of our comfort zone, the need to readily adapt to change, and the obligation to develop our skill set and the skills within our organization. Below are 12 essential steps:

Step 1)   Have and live YOUR dream. As leaders we need to have the courage to acknowledge and leverage OUR passion.  If you are living someone else’s dream, have the courage to say it; it’s not a problem to accommodate others, but realize and acknowledge that it’s your choice.

Step 2)   Document your goals. Put your goals in writing, communicate them, and enlist others to help track your progress.

Step 3)   Commit to your goals.  This can be difficult and requires taking action. Schedule the time in your calendar for what you’re committing to do. Saying you’re going to do something is not commitment; DOING it is.

Step 4)   Understand your strengths and the strengths of others. You can’t do everything yourself; allow others to help you.  Bring the experts into your life. Take a risk. Understand the strengths of others, help them grow, and allow them to take ownership.

Step 5) Communicate with Confidence and Clarity. This is our most important task and we’re continually working on it.

Step 6)   Understand and manage conflict with a purpose.  Without conflict there is no leadership. Conflict must occur for there to be growth, and it must be done in a healthy, honoring, respectful manner.

Step 7)   Grow and Develop others. As leaders our job is to help others achieve their goals and objectives. Are you mentoring others to help them grow?  Do you and your team have Individual Development Plans?  Do you track their progress?

Step 8)   Effective Delegation. This, combined with number 4, is critical. If you are doing everything yourself, you’ll get burned out. You may be surprised and find others can do it even better!

Step 9)   Regularly solicit feedback and commit to developing a skill.

Step 10)  Remain Controlled; composure is critical for a leader. Emotional intelligence is a skill that can be measured and developed.

Step 11)  Reward and Recognize. Do you reward others based on goals, or just randomly? Rewards need to be consistent and based on the actions/behaviors/results you would like to see more of.

Step 12) Succeed and Learn from Failure. Risks need to be taken or very little change will occur.

Be courageous and take action on the 12 steps!

Stay safe!

We challenge you to live your life with courage, leverage it to achieve success, and make a difference!

What NOT To Repeat

We don’t need new ways to fail… the old ones are working just fine! Our task, in business and in life, is to observe what they are, and never go back to doing them again.—Dr. Henry Cloud

We all make mistakes; hopefully we learn from them and take measures to not repeat them.

Dr. Henry Cloud, psychologist, leadership consultant, and author, shares the following about what successful leaders learn from, and commit to not repeating.

Successful people never again . . .
1. Return to what hasn’t worked.
Never go back to the same thing, expecting different results, without something being different.
2. Do anything that requires them to be someone they are not.
Be authentic and ask: Why am I doing this? Am I suited for it? Does it fit me? Is it sustainable?
3. Try to change another person.
You cannot force someone into doing something they choose not to do; allow them to experience possible consequences if necessary.
4. Believe they can please everyone.
It’s impossible to please everyone, live purposefully, and try to please the right people.
5. Choose short-term comfort over long-term benefit.
Accept that painful steps may be required to obtain long-term benefits.
6. Trust someone or something that appears flawless.
Pursue people who are great at what they do: colleagues, employees, friends, etc
7. Take their eyes off the big picture.
Look for the big picture; no one event is ever the whole story.
8. Neglect to do due diligence.
Take a deeper, honest look to understand what is truly needed.
9. Fail to ask why they are where they find themselves.
Ask yourself: What part am I playing in this situation?
10. Forget that their inner life determines their outer success.
We are happy and fulfilled mostly by who we are on the inside.

High achievers recognize the patterns impacting success and take strides to never repeat them. Would you say you do a good job of not repeating behaviors that impede desired results?

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.—Colin Powell

Connecting and Leading Remotely

Leadership has challenges, and it becomes even more challenging when leading from a distance.

Leadership challenges are not new, nor is the need to be adaptable, understand those we lead, and above all else, stay connected.

Especially now, leading remotely is commonplace for many leaders. Team members formerly together in the same workplace are now working from home, in addition to those already working virtually.

Staying connected is more important than ever as readiness levels for working “solo” varies greatly.

So what does this mean to you as a leader?  

Check in regularly with each team member. You’ll find that some are happy to hear from you only if you/they need something, where others may want more frequent contact (perhaps multiple times each day) for a simple “check-in”.

Expect the “unusual” when on calls/video and be flexible; examples include barking dogs, children wanting to be on camera, package deliveries, background noises, unstable connections, etc

Allow flexible work hours. Unless there’s a reason to have carved in stone hours, let each team member set their own schedule.

Regularly communicate. What are the current priorities? Are there any obstacles when supporting them from home? Share individual expectations and ensure all interactions end with closure. This means that everyone involved knows who is going to do what, by when.

Ask how team members are feeling. Have weekly “open forum” team sessions. Invite each person to share their opinion and thoughts about:
– What’s working well and what is not
– What do they like best about being home; what do they like
least?
Also discuss:
– Team needs and dependencies
– Suggestions for best practices
– Workload and bandwidth (too much work? Too little work?)

Your team members may not be onsite, but they must have a sense of being connected and feeling valued!

Take the bull by the horns. You are the bull.

What Makes A “Best Company”?

Dreams can come true, but there is a secret. They’re realized through the magic of persistence, determination, commitment, passion, practice, focus and hard work. They happen a step at a time, manifested over years, not weeks.–Elbert Hubbard

Any idea if your company made Fortune Magazine’s list of the best 100 companies to work for?  Their March 2020 issue features “The Best In The Business” where they not only list the top 100 companies, but also provide some common themes as to why they were selected:

1.    37% of “the best” had a workforce greater than 50% female
2.    49% was the average millennial population
3.    2% was the Gen Z population
4.    12% pay 100% of healthcare benefits for full time employees
5.    44% offer onsite medical care
6.    78% provide subsidized access to fitness facilities
7.    Almost all provide resources to help employees “learn and grow”
8.    84% offer tuition reimbursement
9.    Some have Leadership Academies that:
·         develop future managers
·         focus on talent retention
·         develop “high potentials” for all levels
·         explore and identify core values and translate them into impactful leadership skills
·         understand diverse views and have a less polarizing work culture

A new focus on staying “psychologically healthy” is growing. Some options include depression and anxiety screening, individual and family counseling, mediation and yoga, and even on-campus treatment centers.

And, the biggest commonality? Employees want leaders who will listen. Wegman’s has been on Fortune’s list for 23 years and have been identified as the best of best with their “Ask Bob” initiative. This program is an open line of communication between the 50,000 employees and the Senior Vice President of Operations, Bob Farr. Since 2002 Farr has reviewed and personalized responses to more than 16,000 messages.

As leaders, we likely can not address all the key points listed but we can help our staff with what we call “learn-grow-transform”. We CAN help individuals and teams strengthen their skills. We CAN work to create a better functioning work culture. We CAN practice listening more. We CAN link core company values with desired skills. We CAN address divisive actions and behaviors.

Did your company make the top 100 list? What change(s) would make your company become one of “the best”?

I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.–Abraham Lincoln

Relationships – They Matter!

Your ability as a leader to create and develop powerful relationships is
fundamental to success.—Sallie Sherman

Relationships really do matter. It could be with colleagues, customers, business partners, vendors, direct reports, senior leaders, and anyone else you interact with on a regular basis in the workplace.

Roger Trapp, a Forbes contributor on leadership shares key points made by Sallie Sherman in her book Five Keys to Powerful Business Relationships. They are:

Stay true to yourself
Sometimes leaders promoted to a higher executive position struggle to grasp new roles. “Those who are able to stay true to themselves and manage their initial anxiety listen more and seek feedback. That allows them to increase trust and develop powerful relationships.”

Manage multiple relationships
So many people will want your time; prioritize your list of your most important working relationships, don’t neglect established relationships, and do allow time to invest in new ones.

Build an organization where relationships thrive
By aligning your culture around values and goals while promoting trust and collaboration, workers are more inclined to take risks, learn from mistakes and adapt quickly.

According to Sherman, the most effective leaders are particularly good at:

Listening rather than talking
Being transparent
Connecting with others

Relationships improve the bottom line, increasing levels of effectiveness, desired results, and satisfaction levels. They can also make work fun!

Leadership is having a compelling vision, a comprehensive plan, relentless implementation, and talented people working together.–Alan Mulally