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The Thoughtful Leaders™ BlogAstound yourself
There’s a theme running through nearly all of my coaching relationships right now. Nearly every client is, in some way, owning how spectacular they are – what great leaders, how much they have to contribute, how successfully they can manage their teams, the contributions they’re making at work and in their lives. It’s amazing to witness. Related Posts:Leave a ReplyWhy your way of leading isn’t working
There is a leadership fact that I always share with clients. The higher up the food chain you go in an organization, the more your job is not about doing specific tasks. In fact, at times it’s not about “doing” anything. It’s about influencing. Influence is the key to getting things done, getting your ideas across, and honestly, getting ahead. Related Posts:2 Responses to “Why your way of leading isn’t working”Leave a ReplyCan bad bosses be saved?
Related Posts:Leave a ReplyWhat people want
My answer generally is, “Find out what motivates your team member, and do that.” For some it may be public recognition; for another it may be a challenging special project; for someone else, an afternoon off to go to their child’s track meet. Motivation is a personal thing, and when leaders take a cookie-cutter approach to dealing with individuals on their team, or worst yet, assume that everyone is motivated by the same things he or she is, they miss opportunities to truly connect with their employees and help them to feel fully valued and engaged at work. Related Posts:Leave a Reply3 reasons you should have a leadership program
Neil Nicoll, President and CEO of YMCA warned us in Finding Leaders for America’s Nonprofits: Commentaries that, “Until [we] become much more intentional about development of internal talent, we are doomed to an ever-growing leadership deficit.” That was three years ago. Related Posts:Leave a ReplyDo you need a reality check?
My office was on the same floor as the customer service center, so I began to regularly walk into the center, greet the representatives working the phones, and observe the goings-on in the center. Being more visible and accessible to team members at all levels helped me to see and hear more of what was not working well in our strategy. What I learned was the managers were ingratiating themselves to me and not giving me the hard facts about our situation. Related Posts:Leave a ReplyPowerful techniques for making changes stick
Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon the Harvard Business Review blog post by Morten T. Hansen “Ten Ways to Get People to Change.” Related Posts:Leave a ReplyOne important question for getting your team on the same page
Related Posts:Leave a ReplySix delegating mistakes you don’t even know you’re making
Related Posts:Leave a ReplyLess is more
How do you share information and pass on knowledge? If you’re like most people, you communicate as much as you can in as short a period of time as you can, and then consider the job done. In keeping with today’s high-tech society, we download. More often than not, that simply doesn’t work. Pouring information into the minds of others does not guarantee that they will understand, learn, or use what we’ve given them. People must be energized and excited by the information in order to truly incorporate it. They need to feel an inner need to learn more, know more, and do more. Unfortunately, we often forget this in all aspects of our lives – as managers, teachers, colleagues, parents, etc. Related Posts:Leave a Reply |
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“How do I motivate people to want to do a great job and perform at a high level?” It is a question that I am often asked from managers and leaders. It seems that figuring out what is needed to get people fully engaged and highly productive is elusive for many.
Why is the process of finding a leader–whether to backfill someone or to fill a new role–often treated as an isolated event rather than an ongoing process? With the cost per hire only 
As a new mid-level executive, I felt somewhat distanced from the front-line work of my customer service team and relied heavily on my management team to keep abreast of day-to-day operations – as it should be. When results began to dip, however, I found that the managers would put up a good front in our leadership meetings, agree with my suggestions, and never offer alternative solutions. While I liked having a very supportive group of managers around me, agreeing with my decisions, I wondered what they may have not been telling me.
Adult human behavior is extremely difficult to change. And yet, helping others change their attitudes, approaches, behaviors, and skills is something that leaders and managers are called upon to do. I am therefore always looking for suggestions to help my clients work with their teams and to add to my personal arsenal of techniques that I use to challenge, coerce, push, and support my coaching clients to change.
Often when we work with an organization, we conduct a data-gathering and assessment process we call the Organizational Effectiveness Assessment™ to further understand dynamics within the organization and dig deeper to discover what is really going on. In interviewing employees or other stakeholders, one of our favorite questions to ask is: “In your own words, what is the mission or purpose of your organization/department/team? Why do you exist?”
Delegating. It can seem like a bad word. Every leader and manager knows they should delegate, but so few of us feel comfortable, or knowledgeable, delegating. We have too much to do, but don’t want to let any of it go – because we’re rightly afraid it will take longer and be more effort to have someone else do it…and they might not do it right! So we plunge ahead and make these five common mistakes:
I my experience, exercising influence (as opposed to exercising authority) involves careful, active listening, a skill often understandably shortchanged by people who are overscheduled and understaffed and who may not feel like they have time to listen vs. issuing directives. This is a common and particularly acute problem for people in organizations experiencing RIFs and other cost reductions which result in increased demands placed on remaining staff. In those circumstances, of course directive managment seems more efficient and often is. But making time to listen, understand and influence will ultimately yield better, more long-lasting results and more motivated colleagues. It’s not easy, but things that make a big difference rarely are. And influence is more versatile than directive management. Directive management usually only goes down the org chart while influence goes up, down and sideways. Plus, ask yourself how much better YOU felt when you have successfully influenced a person, team or situation. My guess is that it was far more rewarding than firing off a few e-mails issuing instructions.
Thanks for your thoughts Dan. It is so true that when we are pressed for time, even if only in our own minds, we’re more likely to exercise authority just to “get things done.” Thanks for calling this out as a reminder. I suppose when we are pressed for time is the exact moment that we need to listen, include, and influence!