Leaders developing leaders.

QwikCoach

Advancing Coaching

My best investment, as cliched as this sounds, is the money I’ve spent developing myself, via books, workshops and coaching. Leadership begins within, and to have a better career, start by building a better you.– Robin S. Sharma

When you hear the word “coaching”, what comes to mind? Perhaps sports coaching is the most familiar. What about life coaching, business coaching, executive coaching, e-coaching, and group coaching?

All have a purpose and all make a difference.

As leaders, we must commit to continual learning for ourselves (workshops, seminars, reading, mentors, etc), and if we’re lucky, we’ll have the opportunity to have our own coach.

We must also commit to providing meaningful feedback and coaching support for our staff. The simplest way is via consistent and timely feedback, but more may be needed.

Consider team/group coaching (where the focus is on inclusiveness, trust, collaboration, and leveraging strengths), and it may also include individually developing the skills of high performers and/or helping those that are less proficient realize their potential.

Sometimes our skills are sufficient, and sometimes we must recognize that the help of others is needed to support the attainment of business goals and career aspirations.

For those of you that participated in the Leadership Journey program (within the past 12 months), you have many tips and exercises available to you via QwikCoach.

Another option to get started is to use the GROW Model originally developed in the 1980s by business coaches Graham Alexander, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore.  GROW standards for:

  • Goal
  • Reality (where you want to be)
  • Options or Obstacles (that must be overcome)
  • Will (What’s the skill-set and desire for growth)

This model is useful in coaching sessions since it provides both the coach and coachee the opportunity to share what they want to take action against, and make plans to overcome possible challenges. It is then used in follow-up coaching sessions to identify ongoing action steps, and to review progress.

What are you doing to advance coaching in your workplace? How are you helping others GROW?

Leaders empower individuals by building trust and coaching competence in their job roles and networking skills. –Kenneth H. Blanchard

Accomplishments / Updates

A great accomplishment shouldn’t be the end of the road,  just the starting point for the next leap forward.
–Harvey Mackay

2017 was a great year for PeopleTek and we look forward to what 2018 brings!

We’re thankful for the relationships that we have with you, and will continue to share leadership tips and increase the number of leadership solutions available for individuals and organizations.

Many of you are familiar with our banner Leadership Journey and custom programs, but there’s more that you may not be aware of.

A new addition to our Journey offerings is the Journey To Mastering Agile Leadership. The focus is for leaders to become acutely aware of their environment, adopt and support the Agile framework, and obtain an understanding of the processes that foster innovation and creativity.

Journey alumni are now eligible to take an exam and become CPL1 certified (Certified Professional Leader).

Many teams and companies leverage our surveys to obtain perceptions and increase their awareness regarding strengths and growth areas identified by their team members. When is the last time you solicited input from your team/organization?

Our 363 plus program remains strong – (it includes feedback/tips/techniques/coaching debrief session).

We have a new online, self-paced class utilizing Everything DiSC Workplace.

We are certified not only for the Everything DiSC tools, but also for 5 Behaviors Of A Cohesive Team.

Our strategic partnership with E-coach has grown even stronger with Leadership Journey and 5 Behaviors content on their new website, along with hundreds of tips, techniques and videos geared towards strengthening leadership skills and behaviors.

And, we’ve expanded our focus for culture transformation/preservation and mergers and acquisitions.

We’re experiencing exciting times and hope you are as well. Please take a moment and reflect on your accomplishments, and click here to access some of our favorite (and simple) leadership challenges.

All the best to you in 2018!

THIS WEEK’S QWIKTIP!

Read about CHANGE AND SUCCESS

Do You Delegate?

The first rule of management is delegation. Don’t try and do everything yourself because you can’t.–Anthea Turner

Is delegating work part of your role as a leader?  We hope so. Effective leaders are effective delegators. Why?

**Delegation frees time and provides an opportunity to  develop others**

As leaders, we frequently spend too much time doing tasks; we are working in the business instead of on the business.   As leaders we need to step back from the tactical work and spend more time on strategic thinking and innovation, and more time coaching and developing others.

There are numerous reasons for not effectively delegating.

The most common are not trusting that the job will get done to our satisfaction, discomfort with assigning a boring task, or feeling guilty that the workload will be too great.

Here are some tips to help:

Plan your delegations – Assess the strengths of your delegate, match the assignment accordingly.

Provide clear, documented instructions and due dates.This prevents misunderstandings and if the task is new to your delegate, they can refer back to your instructions.

The best delegators provide the “what and when”, and leave the “how” to the individual which is more empowering and motivating.

Assess how long the task would take you and build in extra time for your delegate; obtain buy-in that the deliverable date is realistic.

Ensure your delegate has the appropriate resources they need to be successful. Inform staff, co-workers, business partners, etc of your delegated role.

Follow-up and monitor the progress; you may be needed to add clarity to the task or be nothing more than a sounding board.

Acknowledge the contributions of your delegate and provide constructive feedback for areas of growth.

Effective delegation increases morale, builds your talent pool, and strengthens trust within your organization.

Are you an effective delegator?

QWIKTIPS –

Click to read about CONFIDENCE AND COMPETENCE

If you delegate authority, you will build leaders.–Craig Groeschel

7 Leadership Traits

Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
-Jim Rohn, Author, motivational speaker

Leadership. Many of you have heard this before, but we define leadership as:
Taking others where they’ve never gone before and wouldn’t go by themselves.

We believe everyone is a leader, regardless of title or reporting structure since we all have the ability to INFLUENCE others. And, we also believe effective leaders are continual learners.

In order to be a strong leader, Mr. Rohn feels there must be a commitment for self- development and identifies 7 “must have” leadership traits:

  1. Learn to be strong but not impolite
  2. Learn to be kind but not weak
  3. Learn to be bold but not a bully
  4. Learn to be humble but not timid
  5. Learn to be proud but not arrogant
  6. Learn to develop humor without folly
  7. Learn to deal in realities

What were your thoughts when you read through the list? How many have you mastered? Which could you further develop?

Did any names come to mind (co-workers / bosses) where you thought these traits were either consistently displayed or severely lacking?

Pick two areas for development:
A strength you already have (how can it be further developed?)
An “opportunity” (which from the list left you feeling uneasy?)

Add them to your development plan, make a commitment, and check your progress monthly. Let us know how you’re doing!

QWIKTIPS BONUS:
Follow this link for more on Leaders Are Continual Learners

Passion is Energy

Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.
–Oprah Winfrey

We talk about passion a lot; what we enjoy doing, what we do well, what comes easy to us, what behaviors/actions we get most recognized for. (For those that have attended the Leadership Journey®, we call this our “magic dust.”)

When you’re doing something you like or want to do, does your level of energy increase? Ours does!

Passion = Energy!

Things that increase energy levels in some leaders include:

  • Problem resolution
  • Creative/innovative thinking
  • Technical advancements
  • Customer/client interactions
  • Team building
  • Developing the skill sets in others
  • Providing feedback; mentorships
  • Enhancing relationships
  • Driving results
  • Cost savings
  • Meeting goals/completing tasks
  • Quality deliverables & process improvements

The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American dream.
–Tommy Hilfiger

In most situations, time seems to fly by when you’re engaged in an activity you enjoy doing. We need however to be realistic; rarely can all of our time be dedicated to our passion. (Even when you’re self-employed there are tasks that MUST be done, despite feeling like drudgery).

Give thought to what brings you enjoyment at the workplace. Can this be incorporated to a greater extent in the position or organization where you currently work? Create a plan, talk to your boss, make a case for how the organization/business will benefit if your role changes.

Sadly, too many individuals are in jobs they don’t like, let alone love. Only you can decide what career/job truly energizes you.

Be realistic, determine your preferred balance of roles, and consider what sacrifices you are willing to accept if you choose to make a career change.

Are you passionate about your job? Does it energize you?

Focus on your passion! View the inspiring video below.

Tell Us – How Does Your Workplace Compare?

We want to invite you to take a short survey that looks at some important aspects of your workplace. We are gathering responses from Journey graduates and others so that we may paint a better picture of the workplace today. Here at PeopleTek, we are interested in using the data to improve our curriculum and our collective workplace performance!

Please join us in this research. We will provide you with your own individual feedback, which you can use as you continue your individual leadership journey.

Take the Survey

Do you Have VMGM=B?

For those that have graduated from the Leadership Journey program you know that: VMGM=B.

For those that have not attended the program, VMGM=B stands for Vision, Mission, Goals and Measures = Behaviors. Our vision is what we imagine for ourselves, our mission brings our vision closer to us, while goals help us accomplish our mission, and measures are the actions we take in order to accomplish the goals. All of this together determines our day to day behaviors and actions.

Having clear and documented vision and mission statements and supporting goals are also critical for having a successful business or organization. They help identify the key behaviors that will facilitate meeting your goals and also identify behaviors that are non-productive. Metrics are also required so progress may be monitored.

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.
–Stephen A. Brennan

Mike says more about VMGM=B in the video below.

Key Processes & Vision, Mission, and Goals

All key processes MUST be linked to your vision, mission, and goals. Key processes include:

  • Hiring
  • Training, coaching, and development
  • Performance Appraisals
  • Rewards and Recognition
  • 3 C’s:
    • Communication
    • Change
    • Conflict

Vision, Mission, and Goals Checklist Questions

In a nutshell, ALL of our behaviors should support attaining our vision, mission, and goals. Below are some steps to help with preparing and planning your vision, mission, and goals.

  1. What services do you offer? What differentiates you from your competition?
  2. Who is or could be your customer? Describe an ideal customer.
  3. Consider and understand your customer’s viewpoint. What do they really want?
  4. Why will the customers buy your product or service? What value and/or unique service are provided to the customer?
  5. You must assess the intent of your business or department. Is it:
    • Customer focused? Customer Intimacy focuses on the needs of the customer and building relationships and is usually higher cost/less volume.
    • Operations focused? Operations Excellence focuses on the process and is volume driven and is usually low cost/high volume.
    • Product focused? Product Innovative focuses on the product. Expenses are geared towards research and development.
  6. What accomplishments would you like to celebrate this year? Next year? What targets will you aim for? ex. financial, marketing and sales, staff, operations, human resources, engineering, R&D, other.

VISION, MISSION, GOALS, and MEASURES dictate all of our leadership, team, and organizational behaviors. By creating them with purpose, rather than by chance or mistake, we will be more successful and deliver better results for our customers, shareholders and ourselves.

Tell Us – How Does Your Workplace Compare?

We want to invite you to take a short survey that looks at some important aspects of your workplace. We are gathering responses from Journey graduates and others so that we may paint a better picture of the workplace today. Here at PeopleTek, we are interested in using the data to improve our curriculum and our collective workplace performance!

Please join us in this research. We will provide you with your own individual feedback, which you can use as you continue your individual leadership journey.

Take the Survey

Inspire and Build Your Team

Feeling that you belong, that you are listened to, and that you add value enables individuals to thrive and teams and organizations to succeed.

Pat Summit, a highly successful female basketball coach, an author, and a former motivational speaker provided the following tips about leadership. (Extracted from Reaching For The Summit; SUCCESS. In Business. In Life. Summer 2006)

“A sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have.”
– Pat Summit

  1. Coaches/leaders require 2 major skills.
    • The ability to convey practical information in a clear and concise way that enables others to learn quickly.
    • The knack of motivating your team to put in the necessary effort to achieve success.
  1. For successful motivation, you need to transmit your passion, enthusiasm, and attitude. “It’s the ability to see in other people more than they see in themselves, and to bring it out of them.”
  1. Learn about the backgrounds and families of your team members. Discover what precisely makes them tick. This will help you understand what motivates them, and fosters an openness that may pinpoint reasons for under performance.
  1. Be approachable and demonstrate empathy. This is needed in order for your team to better listen, learn and develop. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.
  1. Transfer responsibility. Personal responsibility and accountability increase enthusiasm, drive, and lead to more effective performance.  Act as a guide and mentor your team but remember you can’t do the job for them.
  1. Surround yourself with bright, talented people with creative minds that will challenge you.   Listen closely to their ideas and methods; they’re likely to provide options you have not explored yourself.
  1. Evaluate yourself before you evaluate others. It’s possible you as a manager failed; be honest about what you could have done better.

How many of these seven tips do you practice consistently? Which two would you and your team benefit from if they became a daily activity?

Something new!

Subscribe to PeopleTek’s free leadership videos.

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – develop yourself!

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Improving Accountability

Holding ourselves and others accountable is not a new topic in the workplace, or at home for that matter, and is often a struggle for leaders.

Henry J. Evans, author of Winning With Accountability says:

  • Accountability is about high performance and not fear or stress.
  • It’s about holding yourself (and others) to a standard that improves performance.
  • When holding someone accountable we must recognize and respect the power of intention (this allows all staff to hold one another accountable regardless of title or level)
  • Continually ask “How am I doing”?
  • Set crystal clear expectations.
  • When things don’t go as planned, ask yourself:
    • Where did I fail to clearly communicate?
    • Who did I forget to include in the process?
    • What solution can I provide?
    • What can I do to obtain more information to make a sound decision?
    • What could have I done better or differently to improve the results?

“A culture of accountability makes a good organization great and a great organization unstoppable”.
–Henry J. Evans

Sometimes we just get stuck, sometimes we make excuses, and sometimes we fall into an “if only” mode where we justify our lack of action by saying things would be different “if only…”

So, what else can we do? John G. Miller (author of QBQ!) suggests answering the following questions:

  1. What can I do today to move forward?
  2. How can I change me?
  3. What can I do to be my best?
  4. How can I solve this problem?
  5. What can I do to let go of what I cannot change?

Do any of these questions resonate for you or perhaps could be asked of a team member? What are you doing to make your organization unstoppable?

Something new! Subscribe to PeopleTek’s free leadership videos.

Announcements

Journey II – Moving Beyond The Barriers!

  • Session 1 – in Pheonix – April 14th

Leadership Journey I

  • Session 1 – Virtual – March 24
  • Session 1 – in Phoenix – April 14

Enroll Today

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Want to improve your problem solving skills?

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

What Do You Want In a Leader?

If you had the opportunity to pick a leader to work for, what would you base your decision on? Do you have a set of criteria that you view as critical leadership skills? What about a list of behaviors a leader must NOT possess?

Remember, teamwork begins by building trust…
–Patrick Lencioni

We conducted a very informal poll and asked: Besides trust, what’s another behavior/trait you want your leader to possess?

Even though we said “besides trust,” 30% of the respondents provided “trust” or “honesty” as their #1 want.

Think about your work relationships. How many of those relationships have trust as its foundation? How would your business partners/peers/direct reports respond if asked if they trusted you?

Here are the other behaviors/traits that were provided:

  • Integrity
  • Kindness
  • Humility
  • Intelligence
  • Personable
  • Gracious
  • Extraordinary
  • Approachable

Here are a couple of comments they provided:

True leaders know that leadership is not power, but rather a responsibility
Leaders don’t lie, they provide the facts not B.S.

After reviewing the list and comments, what’s missing?
Let us know what should be added to the list of desired leadership traits and behaviors.

Something new! To subscribe to PeopleTek’s free leadership videos, click here.

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Want to improve teamwork?

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Encourage and Innovate

Innovation. What does that mean to you? Do you actively seek (and solicit) ideas for enhancing products, services, and processes? Do you encourage collaboration and seek input from those that are impacted by the services/products you provide? What about those involved in the process?

“Innovation is anything but business as usual.”
–Anonymous

Innovation is considered the driver for growth and change. In order for this to happen, employees (of all levels) must be encouraged to generate ideas. One common obstacle is that employees don’t feel listened to and therefore do not speak up.

A McKinsey study found that more than 70% of senior executives say that innovation will be at least one of the top three drivers of growth for their companies in the next three to five years. It also found that 84% of senior executives said that people and corporate culture are the most important drivers of innovation.

Why? A culture built on trust encourages interactions. The “fear factor” for making suggestions that may possibly not net favorable results will be lessened, and it will not inhibit future ideas from being provided.

Add innovation as an agenda item at your staff meetings. Restate your strategic objectives and build in time for brainstorming. Gather ideas, think about trends, list what your competitors do that you don’t, identify processes that seem obsolete, and also consider how technology helps/hurts.

Ask your team to think in terms of what could change. Ask them how your products, services, and/or processes could be improved upon, and most importantly, listen and acknowledge when contributions are made.

It’s helpful to have a “champion” within your organization. Someone that can help answer questions when ideas are suggested. They must have a thorough understanding of the organization’s strategic business objectives, know who the “right” people are to build on ideas, and also assess the associated benefits and costs.

Encourage, innovate, and wishing you “anything but business as usual”!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

 

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Getting Everyone On-board Click to read how

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!