What’s Your Leadership GPS?

 How do you navigate through the role of leadership?  Part of being a leader, not only in business, but also in life, is knowing how to move through, around and over the different obstacles that challenge leadership.

 

Leadership is more than a title or a position on an organizational chart.

 

Leadership is a way of being, how you show up, and the actions that inspire and encourage others to follow.

A leader’s GPS involves:

-        Goals

-        People and Processes, and,

-        Systems

 

Leadership goals fall into three levels:

1) Goals for the organization,

2) Goals for the Leader, and,

3) Goals for the Team.

 

Goals are essential as they serve as the navigational point or destination for the team. Leaders then map out the plan and lead the team through, around and over any challenges that arise.

 

Leaders need people to lead. Engaging the people on the team,and tuning up the team will help ensure that the team members are empowered to demonstrate leadership in their work and role.

 

Your Leadership GPS is about how you manage goals, people and processes, and systems in the team. As you move forward into 2013, how can you encourages others to build their Leadership GPS?

 

 

 

Conflict – Get to the heart of what matters – not to who is wrong

Recently I was interviewed by Matt Townsend on Sirius FM Radio. We were talking about conflict resolution and some of the best tips to manage conflict in families. The same principles I shared, work for workplace conflicts as well. A relationship is a relationship. We must be respectful, we must show compassion, and understanding is critical.

One of the listeners called in and asked a question about defusing conflict. Here are the tips I provided:

1) Watch how you show up in the conversation. If you show up to get even or be right, the conversation will take in a defensive and combative tone. If you show up to understand and find resolution the conversation will be more collaborative.

2) Anticipate the “push back” and handle with ease, respect and dignity. The push back is the moment someone reacts, emotionally, for example, a person becomes defensive. Usually this involves “the hook” or the trigger word, and then leads to the back and forth reactions, with absolute no listening or understanding happening.  This is what you want to avoid:

3) Prepare. Sadly people spend more time choosing their outfits or planning their holidays then they do preparing for the most important conversations in a relationship. Prepare and show up to understand and resolve, not to win.

4) When the conversation gets repetitive, let the other person know that you understand or that you heard them.  Remove the sarcasm from the words and the conversation.

5) Negotiate ground rules (I call them courtesies) for your conversations; agree to how you each want to manage these conversations in your relationship. Choose a word that resonates for you both when there is a need to repair and do the “do over” or “redo.” This could be a simple as “ I need a chance to do a mulligan” - a mulligan is a do over. Whether the conversation is about how many times you have had to unload the dishwasher or who did or did not fill up the car with gas, why the report was not completed on time, or why the finances are in chaos, communication is key to getting through it.

 

Get to the heart of what matters, not to the heart of who's right.

Don’t keep score, but if you must and can’t help yourself, keep score of all the wonderful things the person does for you….. I’m sorry.  Two important words that go a long way.

 

Tough Lessons In Leadership

Leadership comes with learning, and some tough learning. Michele Bailey of Blazing the Agency, a marketing company in Ontario, inspired the audience at a recent Alberta Women Entrepreneurs Conference where I was also speaking. Michele shared her story, which included some very difficult and painful experiences and learnings, but were also rich with leadership learnings.


Michele talked about the importance of listening to your gut. This is so important in leadership and in business. I have learned if something just doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t. The trouble often comes from ignoring the yellow alerts that come our way. I think everyone has experienced this as a leader, and in life.

Having checks and balances is a critical component to running a business and leadership stated Michele. What type of checks and balances do you have in your team, in your business, and in goal setting to ensure you are on track? Trusting people (e.g. trusting and believing stuff will get done) simply is not enough. Michele urged leaders to ensure they put in place checks and balances for all aspects of running a business.

I so appreciated Michele’s comments about the importance of giving back. This is something I am proud of in my business; we give back, pay it forward, and serve as champions for others. This creates a cycle of reciprocity in giving, and in kindness. Michele provided examples of how other peoples’ generosity allowed her to give back and pay it forward.

Do you surround yourself with talented people? Michele stressed the importance of ensuring your team is skilled, professional, and that as a leader, you surround yourself with positive people.  I discovered that when you surround yourself with positive and talented people, the solutions to problems surface much quicker!

Michele also spoke about the importance of connecting with your passion and embracing your business. This really resonated with me, as the teams I work with (training, consulting and facilitating) experience higher levels of success when they engage, and bring more purpose and passion into their work. It was evident to me that Michele walks the talk. She is authentic, and an example of a leader, who has turned life and business challenges into opportunities, and despite challenges has come out more than a survivor…. She and her business are thrivers - blazing new trails in leadership- and in doing so, has inspired more people than she probably knows.  Michele is a great example of an individual and business that Bounces Forward!
We learn not only from our successes but also from the business challenges that make us stronger.

To find out more about Michele, Blazing the Agency, and their services, visit:

http://blazingtheagency.com/

Extreme Team and Business Makeover

There are many reality makeover shows on television that relate to fitness, appearance, one's house or yard.  How about a business and team makeover as a way to bring in the New Year and welcome new success?
Years ago, when I had two businesses, I loved the last week of the year.  For me it was a time to clear up old projects and make room for the new.  I used this time to de-clutter and reorganize the office, catch up and clear away outstanding projects, take stock of resources and supplies needed for the coming year, and to revisit values and goals for the team and our company.
Ed Horrell, author of the Kindness Revolution, talks about his idea of an Extreme Corporate Makeover.  He suggests the following steps to your makeover.

• Survey your customers needs - find out their challenges and needs
• Prepare to do what your customers want
• Focus group to plan the changes and set goals
• Develop a customer credo (the Ritz Carlton's is "Ladies and Gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen)
• Talk about customer service every day in the team.  Keep it front and centre, make it important
• Review customer service objectives
• Put your standards out for others to see
• Make our motto and credo a promise and part of your staff's uniform
• Practice kindness in every single conversation and contact

As you move forward in 2012, identify five areas of focus for your extreme team and business makeover.  For example, sales, customer service, team relationships, systems, referral process, etc.  Once you have completed this step, identify five actions for each area.  That will start your year with 25 designated steps toward your corporate makeover.

Wishing you great success!

What Gets in the Way of Communication?

In the book The Orange Revolution by Gostick and Elton, they identify communication barriers, such as:

- Talking in innuendos (and hoping people get the point or read between the lines)

- Finger pointing and assigning blame

- Pushing a negative agenda and building allies

- Minimizing or down playing serious situations

- Withholding information or ideas


What gets in the way of team communication in your place of work?


Teams that don’t fall into these communication traps are much more likely to collaborate, build trust and effectively manage the challenges that come their way.


Three ways to enhance team communication:


- Speak with Respect, Clarity, and Focus

- Question that which you don’t understand

- Avoid assumptions and especially be aware not to act on assumptions

When communication falls off the track, take a moment to refocus. Don’t let emotions or assumptions take you further away from the issue at hand. The extra time you take to communicate with clarity will save you time dealing with bigger challenges later on.