Category:

Leadership

Employees Don’t Quit Their Job; They Quit Their Boss!

by IPowerIdeas May 1, 2018

Do you develop your employees or are you more focused on developing yourself? Do you consider yourself a humble and empathetic leader? Are you energetic or have integrity? Some great questions right?

The post below will provide some nuggets or seeds (I Power Seeds) to encourage you to stop and reflect and hopefully provide some knowledge to help you become a better leader.

A key element of an effective and successful manager is developing your employees so they grow, thrive, and stay engaged.

I really enjoyed this article and why I am posting it. The insights in the article can enhance the what managers and leaders do for their employees. The first part is about developing employees and the second part is directed towards traits and habits exhibited by effective and caring leaders.

I am a firm believer in developing employees and the ROI is very clear and apparent and the time and effort put into their overall development as they are happier and their quality and productivity is quite evident. For example, in my current role I spend an average of $1,000 per year per employee on development such as seminars, workshops, conferences, and training and professional development.

The other component are the traits and habits the author highlights below, and when you pause and reflect on them and compare them to what you experiences as an employee or as a manager, it will be clear they are accurate and true.

I have utilized these traits and habits in staff development meetings where I provide insight and fun exercises to help employees recognize them as well as help increase their skills and knowledge as they grow and develop their management and/or leadership skills. It takes a lot of effort and time from you to develop the topics and then present them to your team. I will be posting some PowerPoint slides as seeds (I Power Seeds) to give you some ideas.

Here are a couple other related posts that will provide additional insight into employees development and engagement.

The Ideal Team Player (Humble, Hungry, Smart)

Leadership Development – Humility as Leadership

“Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.”

Simon Sinek

Employees Don’t Quit Their Job; They Quit Their Boss!
Brigette Hyacinth

Employees might join companies, but they leave managers. Too many managers view their position as one of entitlement rather than one of responsibility. In days past, managers would focus on developing their employees. Today they are more focused on self-promotion and securing their position. A managers’ job is to facilitate a good working environment for his/her employees. The focus should be to help everyone around you succeed. Managers define culture, and culture under-girds the lasting health, success and sustainability of an organization.

The biggest danger of leadership: Arrogance

According to research from the University of Washington Foster School of Business, humble people are more likely to be make the most effective leaders. It turns out, humility offers a competitive advantage.

So why has arrogant or narcissistic leaders become the norm:

It has been historically perceived that humility is a sign of weakness and an antithesis to leadership. There is still an expectation that successful leaders are more arrogant than humble. Narcissism is mistaken for self-confidence and toxic leaders seem to be in control of everything. They are able to provide short-term results but the truth is they leave a trail of destruction in their path. Organizations pay heavily for such managers with low engagement, high turnover and reduced productivity. Arrogant leaders have a shelf-life within their organizations. They may “rule the day” but eventually people tire of them and their tactics, which lessens overall commitment from the team. Intimidation and threats of punishment can only work for so long.

“The x- factor of great leadership is not personality, it’s humility” – Jim Collins

The Power of Humility in the Workplace

Leading with humility means focusing on others and practicing servant leadership. Humble leaders:

1. They put people first.
Their focus is on serving others. They do not get consumed by seeking out more power. Instead, they seek more ways to help others.

2. They admit their mistakes.
All leaders make mistakes. Humble leaders own up to them. They don’t play the blame game when things go wrong. Instead they hold themselves accountable. Vulnerability builds trust.

3. They share information and delegate.
Humble leaders are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. They realize that they cannot do everything. They delegate because the work is more important than their ego.

4. They listen.
They are approachable to employees and this allows them to create an environment of open communication and effective feedback.

5. They do not hesitate to give credit where credit is due.
They appreciate the contributions of others. They are quick to recognize and reward the efforts of team members.

6. They are empathetic to those in their charge.
They genuinely care about employees and employees can feel this sincerity. Empathy allows them to build healthy relationships and bond with team members.

7. They are authentic.
They are the same person in every situation. This makes them trustworthy. Authenticity goes hand in hand with integrity. They are individuals of integrity.

“No matter how educated, talented, rich or cool you believe you are, how you treat people tells all. Integrity is everything.”

Humility doesn’t mean that leaders can’t make tough decisions. A humble leader should not be mistaken for a weak one. It takes strength, courage, and wisdom to practice humility. I have learned that the best leaders are selfless and more concerned with the well-being of their team than with personal titles or status symbols. Easily offended leaders with inflated egos don’t build strong teams. You cannot be an effective leader if you feel that you are better than your subordinates. No one likes dealing with egomaniacs. Arrogance is a deterrent, it destroys relationships and lowers employee morale whereas genuine humility has a way of winning others over.

Good leaders empower. Bad ones micromanage. It is dreadful to work under a manager who is more worried about pushing their weight around than building relationships. The role of any leader within a corporate framework is to build up the team and to encourage growth. If we want employees to feel commitment to the organization, we need to show we respect and value them. This takes humility. For loyalty, there has to be a relationship that develops between employee and employer and this develops over time through trust that gets built and sustained. Once people trust you, they will follow your lead. You won’t need to flaunt your title to get them to do the best possible job.

People might tolerate a boring job or long commute, but they are more prone to leave if their boss treats them poorly. Humble leaders get the best from people. They have more influence, they retain top talent, and they earn more respect and loyalty than those who rely upon ego and power. Want to be a good boss? Start by taking a slice or two of humble pie!

Please leave comments or feedback.

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Leadership

3 Communication Habits to Make You a Better Leader

by IPowerIdeas April 26, 2018

Ponder and reflect on this question – do you have good habits as leader?

Being a good leader consists of many things. A key ingredient in being a great leader is effective communication. A great leader has the skills to provide motivating, influencing, and energizing communication that spans all skill and communication levels and encompasses communicating via verbal, written, and body language.

Of course we each have our own style of sending and receiving communication and part of a strategic and compelling leader is one who will find creative and inspiring ways to communicate that create desired results. The author provides several habits below that can help create better results through changes in communication methods.

A communication habit the author presents which I do like and relate to is having a hard time saying “no”. I have personally seen instances where I regretted not saying “no”.

For example, it is sometimes difficult for me to say “no” because I like to offer and provide as many offerings and services from my department as we can by providing powerful technology-related devices and software to effectively align and meet the goals of the organization. However, there are times I did not say “no” and bit off more than my department could effectively manage and produce desired results.

Another way to avoid the negative impact of saying “no” would be to help the requestor feel that they have been heard and rather than saying “no”, let the requestor know you need some time and then give it serious thought and reflection. At least then the requestor feels you have given their request its full and due diligence and consideration. This will have a far reaching effect for the requestor and for those they share their positive experience with around your organization. You will soon gain the trust and reputation to be known as a consistent, strong, and considerate leader.

I would also flip it and offer that saying “yes” can provide vast opportunities for you and your team to grow in your skills, knowledge, and experience. I have many personal experiences where I said “yes” to requests and they turned out to be incredible life-long learning skills and knowledge which provided me and my team incredible experiences that would always be remembered and treasured.

The author also talks about better communication through using different words. I will use her suggestion of utilizing the word “focused” rather than “busy” as it resonated with me that I can be perceived as a better leader by saying “I am focused” rather than “I am busy”. As I reflect on it, and if I was the receiver, I would rather hear “I am currently focused on …” rather than “I am currently too busy on …” I think you can agree it sounds better. Read below for additional details.

My hope and goal is that this post will provide seeds or nuggets (“I Power Seeds”) to inspire you to ponder and reflect on how the thoughts in this post will increase your knowledge on ways to communicate more effectively with your audience (small or large).

Enjoy the article and reflect on the three useful habits Julia Bonner offers and incorporate them into your daily processes.

Please leave your comments and feedback.

themuse.com

3 Communication Habits to Make You a Better Leader
By Julia Bonner

Regardless of your role, having great communication skills only improves your ability to lead. It helps you better motivate your team, create a culture of open and honest feedback, and keep people organized and on the right track.

As someone who works in public relations (and loves language), I spend a significant amount of time figuring out the most effective ways to convey messages. I’ve noticed some of the bad habits people adopt in the workplace, and the impact that changing these habits has on both the outcomes of conversations and leaders’ credibility and confidence.

Here are three you can fix today to be a stronger leader at work:

1. Use “Don’t” Instead of “Can’t” When Turning Down Projects

For many people, saying “no” can be one of the most difficult skills to master—and yet the most important. How you say it is almost as crucial as saying it at all.

Most people often use can’t or don’t when turning opportunities down, but one of the two is exponentially better than the other.

When people say they can’t do something, it shows limitations to their abilities. By using don’t, it expresses power in the choice.

For example, if you’re presented with a new business opportunity that serves an audience not in line with your target demographic, instead of saying, “I appreciate the opportunity, but we can’t take on this project now,” say, “We appreciate the opportunity, but don’t serve clients outside the entertainment industry.”

By phrasing your response in an empowering way, you reinforce the value of both yourself and your business.

2. Stop Writing “Sorry for the Delay” in Emails

In 2016, journalist Marissa Miller tweeted, “Adulthood is emailing ‘sorry for the delayed response!’ back and forth until one of you dies.”

Since then, tens of thousands have liked, retweeted, and shared her post across other social media platforms. To say it resonated would be an understatement.

I’ve had people apologize to me for a delayed response within the same day of receiving my initial message. Crazy, right?

Why are we so eager to apologize for being a reasonable communicator? It ultimately makes people sound weak and undermines their authority.

Let’s ban the phrase. Instead of writing, “Sorry for the delay,” say, “Thank you for your patience.” You can even elaborate, if appropriate, to include why you were delayed in responding: “Thank you for your patience while I gathered the information required to provide you with clear next steps.”

This one small change will enhance your perception as a competent, confident leader.

3. Tell People You’re “Focused” Instead of “Busy”

How often do you hear colleagues talk about their busy schedules?

While I don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon, we can improve the way we characterize our activities so our language honors our priorities.

When people say they’re busy, it sounds like their lives are out of control and they don’t know how to manage their time.

Instead of saying you’re busy, clearly state your priorities. That means “I’m so busy” or “Work is crazy right now” becomes “I’m traveling for an event” or “I’m focused on developing two new client proposals.”

Putting yourself back in the driver’s seat immediately makes you feel calmer and more in control.

People often don’t realize how the seemingly trivial things we say can significantly impact the way others perceive us. Making these small changes will increase your capacity to effectively lead others as well as work alongside them. Let’s start empowering ourselves and, in turn, those around us by honoring our intentions, priorities, and full lives.

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Leadership

What’s Your Face?

by IPowerIdeas April 19, 2018

This is a good article and one that does not, on the surface, sound that important. But it is. Let me give you a personal example.

When I get into deep thought or something is on my mind, I have a “face” too. It is not that I am upset, angry, or agitated, but when I am in deep thought, my face morphs into “my face”. I remember being in a meeting and someone asked if I was upset and I said “no” but rather I was in deep thought regarding the subject of the meeting.

I did some self-analysis and realized that was not the first time I heard this about my face. The next time I was in deep thought, I tried to keep the same face and looked in the mirror and sure enough, I looked agitated. Not good I thought.

But the good news is I am now aware of it and can adjust accordingly. For example, when I am in deep thought, I tend not to walk down the halls so people walking by don’t think I am agitated or upset. This awareness has helped tremendously. And of course we all get lazy now and then and just the other day I was walking across the parking lot at work and someone said, “Hey, tough day?” and I said “no” – but then it hit me that I had something deep on my mind and turned and let them know. And then I reminded myself not to be in deep thought and walk at the same time.

Here is an I Power Seed for you and try it yourself – the next time you someone calls you out, take some time to self-reflect and become aware of “your face”. Knowledge is power.

Good luck and happy face hunting.

Please leave comments or offer feedback.

What’s Your Face?
By Patrick Lencioni

Years ago, my wife told me that I had a “face,” but I didn’t believe her. What she meant was that I had a particularly unattractive facial expression that I unintentionally displayed when I was feeling frustrated by my inability to be understood by someone. What the face actually displayed was that I was disgusted with the person who didn’t understand me, and that I thought they deserved to be flogged for their stupidity.

Since that time, I’ve come to learn, with the help of my colleagues at The Table Group, that I do sometimes have that face. Even though I have a difficult time conjuring up the face on demand (it seems to require an emotional prompt), I am well aware that it evokes an unwanted reaction from those who are unlucky enough to witness it.

To that end, I’ve recently come to the conclusion that everyone has a face. It is usually the product of a strong emotion that is difficult for us to articulate, and so it is portrayed in a less-than-accurate way, and often more extreme than we want it to be. For instance, one of my colleagues often feels frustrated that she can’t adequately verbalize her concern for others in the moment, so her face portrays a level of pity that borders on patronizing. This is not what she wants to portray, but it happens nonetheless. It’s her face.

Another colleague, when she feels let down by someone, takes on the look of judgmental disappointment. It’s as if she’s thinking, “so that’s the best you can do, huh? How sad.” She doesn’t know that she’s conveying this, but her colleagues—and her husband and children—certainly do.

Why is it important for all of us to know what our faces are, and when and why we show them? Because if we don’t, we will find ourselves puzzled by the reactions of our employees and team members who have no choice but to respond to the emotional content of what they see. And their reactions are only going to exacerbate what our faces are already exaggerating, leading to further misunderstanding. If that sounds trivial, understand that this can lead to broken trust and unnecessary division among people who have no real reason to be at odds.

The solution to this problem is for every one of us to identify, most likely with the help of our colleagues and loved ones, what our faces are. Once we do this, we need to not only invite those colleagues and loved ones to call us out when we display that face, but to exhort them to do it! We need to beg them to alert us when we are inadvertently expressing an emotion that is unintended, so that we can stop and explain what we are really feeling and allow others to help us address those feelings.

My wife inadvertently came up with a fun way of identifying and staying aware of our faces in a team or family environment. It happened the other night when I was a little grumpy and judgmental, and she said, “You’re a little harsh, aren’t you?” And then she laughed and said, “Hey, that should be your rapper name. ‘Li’l Harsh’.” After I got over the initial sting of her accurate nickname for me, I realized that it was a good way of describing my face. So I went to work, announced my new moniker, and helped everyone come up with their respective rapper names. We now have Li’l Sour, Li’l Dismissive, Li’l Annoyed, Li’l Denial, Li’l Disappointed, Li’l Prickly, Li’l Condescending, Li’l Patronizing and Li’l Tense. That might sound silly, but within the day we were using those terms to describe one another in moments of stress, and it brought real clarity, not to mention humor, to situations that could have otherwise been unnecessarily tense.

So, what’s your face? And what’s your rapper name?

Peace Out.

Li’l Harsh, aka…

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Featured Leadership

There Is Always Time for Courtesy and Professionalism

by IPowerIdeas April 12, 2018

This is a really good article and it reminded me that many times we are constantly working and thinking in the weeds and overwhelmed with work that we don’t always pay attention, or that we are not in-tune, with how we are acting or behaving as well as what our body language is displaying.

We can all take a moment, every day, and stop and smell the roses and remember we can be courteous and professional. These are our team members, our peers, our staff, our colleagues we as posted in other posts, we need to show that we care. As manager and leaders, our team members look to us for strength and control of our emotions (or how we display them). Most of all, they look to us as an example. If we act kindly, genuine, courteous and professional, it will breed like an “infection” to others in your team (and those around you). And we all want to work in a happy and healthy environment.

I know with my staff, I routinely remind them to take one hour out of their day to respond to emails, phone calls, and tickets, but most of all to get outside the “work” and build relationships with those around them – those they work with and those they serve – with kindness, sympathy, understanding, and now adding courtesy and professionalism. So far, the feedback I have received has been incredibly positive and reflective of what we talk about every month in our team meetings.

Enjoy the article below and I hope you stop and reflect on the meanings in the article and implement the ideas in your work place.

Author:
Molly McGee Hewitt

There’s Always Time for Courtesy, Professionalism …

We’re all busy. I get it. I’m busy, too, and so is my staff. Every member leader of CASBO is busy with their jobs, their lives, their families and their responsibilities. While our calendars and activities may ebb and flow, we’re all busy.

Even though we have deadlines, reports and a wide variety of assignments, we always have time for courtesy and professionalism. They are a choice we make each day when we come to work. We can be an asset to our organization, or we can allow our personal issues to take us off course.

In one local education agency where I worked, one of my colleagues refused (yes, I said refused) to say hello or good morning or, basically, to have any social interaction with colleagues. Apparently, before I arrived, there was a feud between departments, and this person took it very personally. Their way of dealing with the issue was to become discourteous, sullen and unresponsive. The tragedy for me was that their supervisor allowed this to continue! The entire division was considered rude and unprofessional — not a description that I would want applied to myself or any of my colleagues.

Some folks excuse their behavior with statements like, “I’m having a bad day,” or “I have way too much to do,” or “I do not get paid to be nice.” Each of these statements has a ring of truth to them. You may be having a bad day. We all do. It’s when your bad day turns into multiple days, weeks, months and years that I begin to worry. Even on your bad day, is it OK for you to negatively affect your colleagues and coworkers?

“I have too much to do” — true, most of us work hard. But is that a valid reason for not being a professional with good social skills? “I don’t get paid to be nice” — huh? Do you get paid to be a surly public servant with no self-awareness or understanding of your effect on the team? I think not. Customer service, both inside and outside of our organizations, is part of every school business official’s job.

We live in a world that’s experiencing many divisions and disagreements. For the first time in my life, I find it hard to debate or discuss with some folks any issues that we don’t agree on. I don’t understand where this failure to communicate and share our differences and reasoning comes from. It’s almost like the old Hatfield and McCoy feuds. You’re either on one side or the other, and you refuse to listen to or consider another side.

Along with this division comes bullying, name-calling and a derisive attitude toward anyone who challenges or questions authority or motives. Instead of sarcasm being used for comedy and light-heartedness, it’s used as a weapon! How can this be happening in 2018?

For years, I’ve worked to adhere to the cliché, “Disagree without being disagreeable.” Critical thinking and strong leadership demands that we consider all options, opinions and concepts before making a decision. It empowers us to make better decisions and lead with dignity. Joining in mudslinging or name-calling doesn’t advance our intelligence or our society.

It’s as true today it has been for centuries — respect breeds respect. If we’re courteous to each other, that level of civility creates a positive environment. The very simplest things — like saying hello, thank you, please, nice to see you, how can I help you, or simply acknowledging the presence and effort of others — make an enormous difference. When they’re not present in the workplace, many folks will say they’re in a “hostile work environment.” While that phrase describes an uncomfortable situation, it’s actually a legal term that does not refer to climate!

How do you feel when you enter a place where you are not welcomed? How do you feel when someone slights you or fails to acknowledge you or your efforts? Would you want to work for someone who is discourteous or unprofessional? Would your colleagues describe you as courteous and professional?

The reality today is that the only way we can change our workplaces or homes is to change ourselves. We need to make sure we’re part of the solution and not part of the problem. We need to keep our bad days in the parking lot and not bring them into the workplace. We need to be beacons of courtesy and professionalism. It all starts with us. Will you join me?

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Leadership Stories

Letting People Go

by IPowerIdeas April 3, 2018

This post ties into a recent post of mine regarding of The Ideal Team Player and what the fable shares with employee engagement as well as employee motivation.

I want to share a personal story along similar lines to the story below.

I care deeply about my staff and their well-being, not just at work but also outside of work as their personal lives have a significant impact on their work and their attitude while at work (which can be infectious). I want them to be happy at work and happy outside work (as much as possible). I believe my staff would see me as being sympathetic and empathetic.

I had a manager that I liked. The CEO suggested I fire him for a specific issue the manager created. It was not heinous nor one that involved other people but an issue that cost the company money. This manager had a young family and needed the job so I warned him and let it go. The CEO trusted me and my judgement and did not overrule my decision (something I have always appreciated about Rich Willis). What I did not do was put aside my caring feelings and look at the bigger picture which was he was not a good fit for the culture and he hired employees to be part of his team that were like him and before I knew it, the culture in his area became worse than I had thought. When I left the company, I saw it more clearly and I should have made the tough call and let him go as soon as I was told of the issue. My entire department/team would have been much better off and progressed in a more positive path if I had trusted my initial instincts (and Rich’s suggestion).

To highlight this point, I heard this quote recently, “When there is doubt, there is no doubt.“

Please comment and offer your thoughts and similar stories. These examples are an excellent way for us to personally relate and learn from.

This is a great story that I really liked as it tied into a thought I was having about how leaders need to “cut bait” sooner than later when they have doubt. Enjoy.

The Founder of Panera Bread: ‘I Wish I’d Fired More People’

Entrepreneur Media

I was the CEO of a public company for more than 26 years — that’s longer than Cal Ripken, Jr., played baseball. And I wasn’t the only one who stuck around Panera for a long time. Many of my colleagues did, too. In one case, a senior executive grew up with me there for more than 20 years. His job eventually outgrew him, and he totally checked out. He knew it, too, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell me. He just kept showing up to work. I pushed him and waited for him to step up. For years. But I didn’t fire him.

Looking back, I understand why: I was too obsessed with being a caring leader. What I should have done was let him go sooner, and many others like him.

CEOs like me come from a model called servant leadership. The idea is that we’re there trying to serve our teams and focus on their well–being. I thought of my team as a family, and the folks who worked with us as we built the organization were phenomenal. There’s a lot to be said for servant leadership, but there’s also a downside that took me years to recognize. As the complexities and challenges of our business got bigger and bigger, some team members weren’t able to keep up. But instead of confronting them, I’d find ways to cover for them. I was willing to do their work. Time and time again, that hurt the organization.

Why did it take me so long to let these people go? Experience comes from banging your head against a wall, and if I’m being honest, I didn’t come fully into my own as a leader until the past 10 years of my career. Now I see my mistake. I didn’t understand that a leader can’t put up with employees’ baloney. If someone isn’t producing, a leader has a right and an obligation to fire them.

Eventually I learned that servant leadership isn’t about being nice at all costs. It’s about being helpful at all costs. A leader should be as brutally honest as possible — and you can do this in a kind and loving way. Let the chips fall where they may, and remember: Honesty is helpful. When you tell someone why they’re doing a bad job, you’re transferring the responsibility. Maybe they improve. Maybe they leave. Whatever the outcome, they own it.

And let’s be clear. You’ll lose people this way — and that’s fine. You can’t teach a pig to sing. Some leaders think, Oh, I’m going to train the employee to become this; we’re going to develop them into that . It just doesn’t happen. People are who they are. A leader’s responsibility is not to make a person succeed. A leader’s responsibility is to create a direction for the organization and share with their team the opportunity of what they all can be. A leader provides the space to perform. After that, each employee owns their career and chooses their path.

So, about that longtime executive whose job had outgrown him: After two years of bad performance, I finally confronted him. We mutually agreed he should leave the company. As I matured as a leader, I had many more experiences like that — the honest conversation that leads to a departure. Employees have actually come back to thank me. People who have been fired or were asked to leave have later told me that they learned more about themselves and their capabilities during that process than at any other time in their career. And that makes me feel good. It means I succeeded in being a servant leader.

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Leadership Stories

Personalities – How Will You Respond

by IPowerIdeas March 30, 2018

I had a recent situation where I asked a simple clarifying question and one of my employees came back with a snarky response. Something to the effect of ‘this is a waste of time and why are we even discussing it.’

As I sat back and thought about it, always starting at looking at myself, Steve (not his real name) was grumpy one day, aggressive with snarky remarks some days, and other days incredibly friendly such as joking with me saying ‘you are a handsome man, don’t let anyone tell you differently’.

So how do you deal with it?

For me, I stop and use “stop and reflect” – something I came up with for myself to stop myself from taking the response personally and look at it from their point of view such as taking into account they might be having a bad day, I might be over-sensitive today, or any other personality hiccups that might be in play.

This practice of “stop and reflect” has really helped me slow down and put things into perspective. As we know, we always want to show our staff we are in control of our emotions and that we are strong but not over-bearing. In the situation above, I let this staff member know why I was asking the clarifying questions so he understood why I was asking them (my set of lenses) and then I went over to see him and had a couple of laughs and it lightened the communication mood and things progressed in a positive way. It also helped reiterate what I have been sharing about healthy conflict and trust (from “The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni).

A good quote I like:
“Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means”
Ronald Reagan

Remember, you are the manager or leader, your staff looks to you for strength, direction, guidance, wisdom, and most importantly – example. Lead by example, it is a foundation for success.

Please leave any comments and successes you have had on the Comments section of this post – let others learn from you.

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Leadership

Leadership Development – Humility as Leadership

by IPowerIdeas March 29, 2018

Leadership expert Dan Rock well says the “secret sauce” ingredient that makes great leaders great is humility. Here are Rockwell’s suggestions for practicing humility as a leader.

1. Turn outward and celebrate others.
2. Actively seek and act on feedback.
3. Tell people what you’re learning.
4. Honor those who influence you.
5. Enable others to do what you do.
6. Focus on giving.
7. Acknowledge frailties and weaknesses while still reaching for new heights.
8. Listen.
9. Build relationships.
10. Bring compassion and empathy to challenge.
11. Say “thank you.”
12. Laugh at yourself.

“Think of humility as a practice,” Rockwell says. “Sometimes you feel it. Sometimes you practice it.”

Really good suggestions, Hard to add to things that work. Being humble not only means not being conceited and expressing it, but it also means you do not sell yourself short on your own skills and experience. As leader you need to express your thoughts and ideas, that is also being humble.

I do not like being the focus of attention nor a lot of fanfare on myself. Partly because I am humble and partly because I am successful because I surround myself with productive and dedicated team members and when I am successful, we are all successful.

When I won an award for Administrator of the Year – Technology Leader I was not anxious about being in front of a lot of people and giving a speech. But I was truly grateful and humbled that someone recommended me and I was selected. It is also because I am an introvert.

And in my other posts on being an introvert and reading people as well as being humble, hungry, and smart I go into more detail about them – please read the post as they are insightful.

Adapted from “Secret Sauce Sunday: One Secret from Five World Class Leaders”
by Dan Rockwell. Leadership Freak Blog. December 2017. http://leadershipfreak blog. (Creative Commons BY 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0.)

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Leadership Stories

Leading Organizational Change

by IPowerIdeas March 28, 2018

Do you want to be a transformational leader?

Have you been charged with leading your company through a major change?

Have you wondered how you would get it done and worry about if it will be successful?

These are extensive and challenging questions. But if you build a an amazing team and instill a trusting and committed culture, you can accomplish anything.

This an adaptation, with my comments in italics, from Stan Slap author of “Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers”, which offers these tips as you embark on your journey:

1. If we can’t sell the change inside, we can’t sell it outside. Before rolling out our plans for change, we need to work closely with our staff and get emotional commitment and buy-in from them.

This is key. If you have buy-in from staff, the implementation and process mitigates major hiccups. A quote from H.P. Lovecraft says, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

For example I was asked to help lead the company I worked for to relocate the corporate headquarters from California to Texas. When I got a call while I was at home on a Sunday night at 7 pm from the CEO to immediately come into his office, there was an instant fear of “what did I do?”. And I knew that it was serious for me to get a call from the CEO of a $220m company on a Sunday evening. I had a lot of fears and figured it had to be serious because obviously he felt it could not wait until Monday morning. As it turned out, they asked me to help lead a massive project to move the company’s headquarters from CA to TX. That initial fear of the unknown turned into one of most rewarding and exciting projects I have worked on, once the plans and details were made known and explained to me.

As the process of moving the company’s corporate headquarters, I quickly formulated a plan and brought my team in and explained the move and all of the details. It was very transparent. I involved each team member in the process and made them feel like a key component of the team and of the decision making process.

I can tell you that this was the most positive and smoothly run project I have been part of. I attribute it to my amazing staff and their buy-in and being an integral part of the move. And it was verified when move than 50% of my department moved their families from California to Texas – more than any other department in the company.

2. Plans don’t count. What matters is implementation. Nothing can kill a new initiative faster than a “thumbs down” from the employees. Realize the power of the culture. Tell them clearly what is not going to change, and that your organization remains focused on implementing strategies that support the mission.

The process of transparency in what is going to change also has to be applied for things that are not going to change. Adding on to the story above, my staff wanted to know and feel and have a sense of job security in their future and what they do at work will not be changing. Once their fear and concerns were mitigated, they were on board and committed to the project with joy, vigor, and commitment. Their drive and dedication was very noticeable and made the project enjoyable and completed early and under budget. Incredible results.

3. Your organization will be branded both for its performance and how you deliver the products or services. What is the customer-friendliness quotient of staff and to each other? How does your organization solve problems? What is your capacity to treat each and every customer humanely and with respect? For instance, think of stressful, emotional situations when it is hard to maintain your cool, like dealing with angry customers.

Using my example above, our department was well known for its excellent customer service and technology products and service delivery. This culture and pride speaks volumes when new projects are being considered and that my department can handle what is needed to meet the business goals and objectives.

Here is an example of this. Our VP came into my office and casually sat down and with a big smile said, “how realistic could you migrate and consolidate the different data systems and “re-open” our office in Ireland so they can handle all the business in Europe and Asia while using the company’s ERP system ?” I said that with enough time and resources, we can do anything. She said they were just floating the idea and left my office.

She came back 15 minutes later after talking to the CEO and said, “ok, it’s a “go” and you need to be live on July 4th.” and she walked away. Now as the shock began to take effect, I realized it was only 2 months away, we were just starting to move our corporate office from CA to TX, and they had just fired the office manager and I took on the role of not only moving the IT department but also doing all the construction build-out of our new office in TX. To add to the pressure, there was no room for failure. It had to work.

I share this story as I had started with the company about 3 months prior and the executive leadership had already seen the shift in culture and attitude in our IT department and we had now won the trust of our VP and CEO to give us the opportunity to embark on this really challenging but rewarding project. Needless to say, we did meet the deadline and were live July 4th and I spent my 4th of July holiday in Ireland as we flipped the switch and the migration and opening went off without a hitch. I could have only done it with the amazing team I had.

4. People do not follow negativity. You must remain positive, even in the face of great challenges. For example, labor negotiations can be a negative experience. While you cannot alone determine the course or the tenor of the experience, what you can do is remain upbeat and positive. When dealing with negative behavior, it is hard to remain above the fray. It takes energy, but it is the right course. Have passion for what you do. If you don’t have that passion, find something else to do.

Very true. I recently came through unsuccessful union contract negotiations for teachers that ended up resulting in a week-long strike, which had not been heard of in CA for many years. Through it all we had a great team that kept calm, planned for every scenario we could think of, and took action accordingly. It went smoothly. At the same time I was involved in another union negotiating their contract and all the bargaining unit members from both sides took a different tact and approach – one of trust, professionalism, and common goals. The negotiations proceeded smoothly and without incident or even anyone getting frustrated in any way. At the end of the negotiations both sides were very happy with the results. We were only able to do this as we focused on realistic goals and staying positive throughout the process.

In “Bury My Heart in Conference Room B”, Stan Slap says, “The irreducible essence of leadership is that leaders are people who live their deepest personal values without compromise, and they use those values to make life better for others – this is why people become leaders and why people follow leaders.”

Slap stresses that the true purpose of leadership is not to increase the value of the organization or to improve the productivity of teams. The true purpose of leadership is not what leaders do, but why they do it. Leadership is a purpose before it’s a practice.

Check out his book on Amazon.

Adapted from “Leading Organizational Change” by Erin K. Green, MBA, RSBA. School Business Affairs, November 2010, p. 4.

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Leadership

Reflect on Shared Vision

by IPowerIdeas March 24, 2018

This will be the third post regarding shared visions.

This post I wanted to reflect on an inspired shared vision

Part of my reflecting on a shared vision is searching for opportunities by seizing the initiative and by looking outward for innovative ways to improve.

Such as:

• Listen to own staff, see how they want to hear and learn about the vision (verbally, visually, project or task based learning). This is important as we all interpret and process information in different ways. I got into this in more detail in my post about Reading People. It is also a key point brought out in ITIL – he is more information about it on the Axelos site.

• Talk and listen to other leaders in organization – gleam what has and has not worked from them (learn and grow from errors and successes)

• Take classes and read leadership books and take away things you want to try and be innovative. Some of the books that have really helped me are in my books forum.

• Fun team building exercises. These provide to be helpful and fun if done right. Having a well-thought out team building exercise can be a lot of fun and then having a well-prepared message can leave lasting memories and thoughts. I also always ask what can we learn from this experience (facilitate consistent and small wins)

Here are some other ideas I have learned about that I will incorporate and I offer them as ideas for you:

• Let one idea grow from another one. This has helped me many times in the past and why I firmly believe in meetings where people can open up and share ideas – true brain-storming. An example that I heard at a recent workshop was someone had received a printed receipt from the sales person who was out on the floor interacting with the customer at an Apple store which then triggered a discussion of this employee and his team at the DMV on how to get people who are waiting in line and how to process their requests at the DMV faster so all the customers had to do was pay at the counter.

• Another example and one that makes me think of Scrum and the very quick morning meetings was what someone called “Morning Huddle”. No one likes meetings that go on and on. Meetings should be quick and to the point. They should really be swift, even just 5 minutes. They should have clear and simple agenda and goals with clear action items that are summarized at the end of the meeting so everyone is clear on what needs to be done. But the morning huddle was a great way to get quick and easy answers, updates, and collaborate.

I encourage you to experiment and take some calculated risks and constantly generate small wins and learning from these experiences.

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Leadership Leadership Videos Videos

Make an Impact – Rick Rigsby Ph.D.

by IPowerIdeas March 23, 2018

My wife “forced” me to watch this video. She felt inspired and was moved by it, so I figured I had to support her and watch it. Well, it was an amazing video.

You need to watch it. Period.

It will inspire you, those around you, and just make you feel good. We need that now and then.

Enjoy!

Overview
Make an Impact: Rick Rigsby delivers a powerful speech on how his father’s teachings have guided him through the most troubling times of his life. Are you Inspired?

From FaithWire

Maybe you remember the commencement speaker from your college graduation; maybe you don’t. But it is safe to say the spring 2017 graduates of the California State University Maritime Academy will never forget the wisdom award-winning journalist, author, and—most importantly—son of a ship’s cook Dr. Rick Rigsby shared with them on their graduation day. In an homage to his late father and wife, Rigsby said that the best advice he ever received was from his father, who was a “third grade dropout” and a “simple cook,” and he proceeded to pass it along to those in attendance with the hope that they too would come to understand that while times might get tough, it is vital to wake up every morning in search of greater knowledge and go to sleep every night asking oneself: “How you living?”

His Book on Amazon
Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout: How the Timeless Wisdom of One Man Can Impact an Entire Generation

After his wife died, Rick Rigsby was ready to give up. The bare minimum was good enough. Rigsby was content to go through the motions, living out his life as a shell of himself. But then he remembered the lessons his father taught him years before – something insanely simple, yet incredibly profound.

These lessons weren’t in advanced mathematics or the secrets of the stock market. They were quite straightforward, in fact, for Rigsby’s father never made it through third grade. But if this uneducated man’s instructions were powerful enough to produce a Ph.D. and a judge – imagine what they can do for you.

Join Rigsby as he dusts off time-tested beliefs and finds brilliantly simple answers to modern society’s questions. In a magnificent testament to the “Greatest Generation” which gave so much and asked so little in return, Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout will challenge you while reigniting your passion to lead a truly fulfilling life.

After all, it’s never too late to learn a little bit more about life – just ask the third-grade dropout.

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Leadership

Inspire a Shared Vision

by IPowerIdeas March 23, 2018

I wanted to continue my thoughts on creating and sharing a business or company vision.

A vision, as noted in my other post, and sharing your vision and making it clear and transparent is a key ingredient to its success.

To share it and make it clear and transparent, here are some of the things I have done to inspire my shared vision.

• Every year I assess and analyze what we accomplished the previous year and create an executive summary and share with staff and company stakeholders.

• Then I look at the outcomes and look for what gaps remain as well as what I feel we need to create as goals and create a new vision.

• This year, based on our current vision, our team motto is “Higher Achievement”. Last year was “One Extra Degree”. One extra degree was about going one small step further than they did before. The responses from our customers have been phenomenal. This year “Higher Achievement” is to build off the small extra steps or measures from last year and take them to the next level. It is a little more challenging, but the results and responses have been overwhelmingly positive.

• I then provide details of the vision and how we can get there – the goals and objectives, both strategic and tactical.

• Part of my vision is to not only have a year over year vision, but also include a five-year rolling vision and plan that gets updated and slightly modified each year. This provides the team a long-term plan they can hold on to and work towards as they plan and strategize in their own work areas. One of the keys is to parallel my vision with the goals and objectives of the business. We must all be working towards the same company goal.

During the process of creating a shared vision, I open it to my staff for feedback and suggestions as I want their buy-in and ownership.

I also bring in other key stakeholders, such as other directors or leaders, so they can offer their support and reinforcement of the outcomes or results of the shared vision.

To help reinforce and stay on track with the vision, each month during staff meetings we update the team on the status of our goals and where we are and how we are doing on the vision and all of its components.

Remember:
Vision is what you want IT to look like.

Goals are tasks to GET you there

Please comment or offer feedback, they are always encouraged and welcomed.

I hope you enjoy the experience of creating a shared vision and realize how it helps your team, business or organization.

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Leadership Management

SWOT Analysis

by IPowerIdeas March 23, 2018

A very useful tool to be used as a manager or leader is a SWOT Analysis. Many workshops and certifications I have participated in highlight and recommend utilizing a SWOT Analysis as a key ingredient in large and small projects as well as planning for long term strategies such as your vision.

Let me share a little with you to get you started (“I Power Seeds“).

SWOT stands for:
Strengths,
Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and
Threats

A SWOT analysis allows you to examine your organization’s internal and external elements that define successes and challenges. As you use a SWOT analysis, you ask and answer questions to generate meaningful information for each category or element to identify a competitive advantage. The analysis will assist you to move forward and effectively begin to strategically identify key areas of growth in order to create a plan for future development.

Frequently Internally-Related
• Strengths
• Weakness

Frequently Externally-Related
• Opportunities
• Threats

Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others

Weaknesses: characteristics of the business that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to others

Opportunities: elements in the environment that the business or project could exploit to its competitive advantage

Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble or issues for the business or project

The degree to which the internal environment of the company matches with the external environment will be realized by the outcomes of the analysis and ensuring there will be a strategic fit. By analyzing a SWOT, you (and other stakeholders or decision-makers) should consider whether the project or business objective is attainable. If the project or objective is not attainable, then you must select a different project or objective (or revise them) and repeat the SWOT process.

One way for you to try a SWOT Analysis yourself can be to identify:
• 3-5 strengths of your organization
• 3-5 weaknesses of your organization
• 3-5 opportunities of your organization
• 3-5 threats of your organization

Then create a visual of your SWOT Analysis using a web 2.0 tool or creating one in PowerPoint. Here is an example of one I did to give you an idea. Also notice the relevance of the colors.

Here is another example from Competitive Futures:

Also check out MindTools for additional templates and information. Here is one of their templates for SWOT: SWOT-Analysis-Worksheet-MindTools

Please comment or offer feedback, they are always encouraged and welcomed.

I hope you enjoy this tool and experience the insights it can provide to you and your team, business or organization.

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Leadership Quotes

Leadership is About Taking Responsibility

by IPowerIdeas March 21, 2018

"Leadership - leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses"

Mitt Romney

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Leadership

Creating a Shared Vision

by IPowerIdeas March 21, 2018

I was recently in a workshop and we were talking about creating a shared vision. We know as leaders having a clear vision is important and share that with your team.

From that discussion and collaboration, a couple questions came out of it and I felt they would be helpful as you think about creating your vision, sharing your vision, and carrying out your vision.

How do you collaborate and build a shared vision?
What skills and knowledge do you incorporate into your vision and how do you evaluate these skills?

My thoughts are:
One of the ways I like to collaborate is semi-informal sessions where stakeholders can come together to discuss the various topics presented to the team. Then we brainstorm (truly brainstorm) and come up with the main points we agree to and we create a shared vision. Conducting the sessions in this way, we can hear each other’s ideas and goals and come together to incorporate them into a shared and focused vision as well as having buy-in and ownership by all stakeholders. With buy-in and ownership from key leadership, we significantly increase the success of our collaborative vision through our joint and various processes.

As a leader you can provide the foundation to provide a successful building and sharing of a meaningful vision. You can also provide a wide and narrow focused view to help look at topics from different angles and depths to ensure you really explore the team’s thoughts and thought processes to help ensure you come up with the best possible vision and ways to implement it to reach a successful outcome.

I utilize the teams around me for inspiration along with my own skills and knowledge to help me communicate to all stakeholders in a clear and concise manner. I consistently provide updates and feedback to comments to help keep the vision on track as well as any adjustments that might need to be made can be executed in a methodical and precise way. The feedback and comments, coupled with successes and any areas of opportunities from others, helps me keep focus as well as an opportunity to evaluate my own skills to learn and grow from all these experiences.

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality"

Warren Bennis

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Leadership Quotes

People Will Never Forget How You Made Them Feel

by IPowerIdeas March 15, 2018

"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel."

Maya Angelou

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Leadership Stories

Dig a Ditch – Need Some Help?

by IPowerIdeas March 14, 2018

As I write in my blog, I Power Ideas, I like to post things I feel are going to help a manager or leader learn and grow through small learning nuggets or seeds to inspire the reader to think, reflect, and dig deeper into the subject.

One story my wife recently shared with me was a story by Chip Gains from his book, “Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff.”

My wife is a huge fan of Joanna and Chip Gains and she has thoroughly enjoyed this book, and more importantly it inspired her to explore and think in new and different ways. Her enthusiasm was contagious and infectious. She was thoroughly excited to try new things, all from Chip’s book.

One of the stories she shared that has a great parallel with management and leadership is relationships. It really is all about relationship. If you have a strong relationship with someone or a group, collaboration and open dialogue are much easier to facilitate.

I am going to paraphrase the story.

Chip talks about digging a long ditch on a hot summer day. If someone comes along and offers to help, you’re not going to ask him questions about his political views or other things that have nothing to do with the task at hand, you’re just going to be happy for the help. Then as you work side-by-side, you’ll get to know him because you are actually working together – you’ll be interested in his story. You will actually listen with intent and bite your tongue if you strongly disagree because the point is to hear him, get his perspective. And vice versa. You’ll respect him regardless of whether or not his views differ from yours. You may even become friends. That’s the world I want to live in.

So very true and his story hits home in so many ways. Enjoy exploring and building deeper relationships with those around you.

Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff
From Amazon

The funny and talented Chip Gaines is well known to millions of people as a TV star, renovation expert, bestselling author, husband to Joanna, and father of four in Waco, Texas. But long before the world took notice, Chip was a serial entrepreneur who was always ready for the next challenge, even if it didn’t quite work out as planned. Whether it was buying a neighborhood laundromat or talking a bank into a loan for some equipment to start a lawn-mowing service, Chip always knew that the most important thing was to take that first step.

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Leadership Quotes

Leadership is the Ability to Decide What Has to be Done

by IPowerIdeas March 11, 2018

"Leadership is the ability to decide what has to be done and then get people to want to do it."

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Leadership

Leadership Thought

by IPowerIdeas February 21, 2018

This thought was passed along to me to think and consider my efforts with those who resist change or something that I firmly believe in – continual service improvement.

As you asses what you are doing as a leader, consider these thoughts:

1. Are those on your team making a conscious decision not to something and with their own internal reasoning? (I.e. what I am doing is good enough, I am satisfied with my minimum effort, I just do not want to).

2. Do they have the capacity to understand? (we sometimes presume those around us have the capacity to understand, maybe try a different approach).

3. Do your tea members not know how to move in the current system but want to or have a desire to? (such as are they lost or do they need help to understand the systems available to them).

Food for thought.

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Leadership

Leadership Is More Than Leading – Show You Care

by IPowerIdeas February 21, 2018

One of the things that drives us is the need to serve others. It is in the roots or DNA of human beings as well as it makes us feel so good.

As a leader, we need to serve others within our team. We should not just think of them as employees doing work for us, we need to show them we care and are interested in them as well as having sympathy, compassion, and empathy.

This will bring your team members closer together as well as build a foundation of trust that will only increase efficiencies, productivity, and quality in their work. In addition, we all want our team members to be engaged and happy to be at work.

Being happy at work only proliferates or ripples as they go and spread their happiness in their job to their family, friends, and colleagues, which then increases the interest, and drive to want to work for you and the company or organization.

My wife passed this along and it really is true – Simon Sinek said, “Truly effective and inspiring leaders aren’t actually driven to lead people; they are driven to serve them.”

I truly hope we can all see this and embrace it to make it a natural part of our leadership DNA.

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