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Category Archive: Career Development

4 Things To Do Before A Tough Conversation

Posted by on January 23, 2019

One of the hardest things to do as a church leader is to talk to people when you have to deliver bad news. It could start out at the beginning as a quality of work issue that eventually leads to a chronic lack of performance. Eventually, you begin to ask yourself the real question, Does this person really belong on our team? This HBR post is very helpful:

I was in denial for about a year and a half before I admitted that I needed to fire Randy.

His work performance had made the conclusion inescapable for years, but he was so darned nice and likeable that I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Not only did I like him, I also knew his income was crucial to his family. Furthermore, over the nine years he worked for me, his income had grown to the point that he would find it difficult to get comparable compensation.

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Five Great Leadership Practices

Posted by on September 19, 2018

Leadership is a life long journey where we reinforce the basic principles we already know and constantly add new ones that will help us be more effective. This Forbes post hits on all of the critical practices that should be in the tool box of every great leader:

“Who is a leader? Although the concept of leadership keeps evolving over the years, one thing stays true: We’re all leaders. You don’t need 10, 20 or 100 people on your team to be a leader. You’re always leading at least one very important person: you. And if you’re ready to hit your biggest goals and put your life and business on the fast track to success, you need to be more than just a good leader. You must learn to be a great leader.”

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The Most Successful People Do These Four Things

Posted by on August 27, 2018

I passionately believe that every person is a leader and the most important client you have is yourself. Until you accept this responsibility to lead yourself and own your personal character development, you will never reach your potential. It is also no longer effective to lead only from positional authority at work and this Forbes post tells you why:

“I would argue that at one time leadership, in the traditional sense, was linear, one-dimensional and strictly focused on a managerial approach. In business, the term “leader” was used to reference someone in a position of authority, without consideration of the many attributes that we now find important in our great leaders.”

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Management Today

Posted by on August 22, 2018

There is a lot of confusion and even tension between the disciplines of management and leadership. Both are extremely important but distinctly different. Management is where execution lives and therefore must be incredibly effective for any strategy to be successful. This Forbes post is an informative read:

The idea of management comes from the military because that was the first time in human history a diverse group of people who did not know each other were organized to work together towards a common goal. That structure gave us a few principles:

Hierarchy
Command and control
Incentives for achieving the goals
Division of responsibility based on function
Centralized decision making

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The Importance Of The Employee Feedback Loop

Posted by on August 17, 2018

In my executive coaching we deal with a lot of best practices: human capital, process improvement, productivity, teamwork, alignment and strategic priorities. Regardless of how well you do in all of these areas, if your organizational culture does not value ongoing feedback, you don’t stand a change in long term success. This Forbes Communication Council post is a must read:

“In the employee recognition business we are always stressing the importance of clear and honest communication between employees and managers. We do this for a couple of reasons. For one, the employee-manager relationship is consistently ranked as a top driver of employee satisfaction. In fact, a Gallup study found that managers alone account for 70% of variance in employee engagement.”

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How Trust Accelerates Success

Posted by on August 15, 2018

Every day we have limited data to use to evaluate people and situations before we reach conclusions and make decisions. It is critical when working with your people to be able to place trust in that gap both ways. The team needs to be able to trust the leaders and the leaders must believe in the team. This Forbes post is a great read:

“Trust is one of the hottest topics in today’s global conversations. Whether we’re talking about so-called fake news or benchmarking a company’s reputation for integrity and ethics, the importance of trust to an organization or business is undeniable.

It may seem obvious that a misuse of trust is bad for a company’s bottom line. We’ve read enough about data leaks, shareholder deception and corporate scandals in the news to understand how a company can damage its reputation and relationships through bad behavior.”

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Nine Steps To Develop Leadership Discipline

Posted by on August 3, 2018

Great leadership is a combination of having the discipline to execute daily on major priorities while at the same time keeping one eye on your market and competition. Operational excellence is demanded but you must create a culture where strategic innovation can thrive. The Forbes Coaches Council always delivers:

“Business leaders have a tough job. They must manage themselves, lead others and keep the organization heading in the right direction. They are ultimately accountable for the organization’s success. With this comes stress, fear and other emotions that can get in the way of leadership discipline.

Working with CEOs and entrepreneurs, I have the joy of working with some fantastic leaders. I see and experience their wins — their satisfaction of doing a good job. With that, I hear and see the personal struggles, the burden of people issues and the overall frustration that comes with leading.”

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3 Rules For Successfully Leading Other Leaders

Posted by on July 30, 2018

Human capital is the most important asset any organization has to make a difference. The company or team that can attract, train and retain the best of the best will accomplish great things. The leadership skill set required to lead these high potential leaders is different than leading front line management. This Forbes post is worth the read:

“Many of us get to manage others at some point. If we’re lucky, we’ll get to manage leaders who manage others. This adds a different dynamic.

When presented with this opportunity, leaders shouldn’t assume that the ranks will blindly follow them given their placement on the org chart. Sure, you’ve worked hard to climb the corporate ladder and earned your leadership position. But make no mistake; carrying this attitude too far when making hiring decisions can backfire.”

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How To Build A True Following As A Leader

Posted by on July 25, 2018

The greatest need I see for leadership development among my clients is to learn how to effectively lead others without positional authority. I have seen a consistent pattern where leaders are ranked higher in all skill areas on 360’s by their direct reports than by their peers or corporate shared services partners. If you don’t build relational trust and sincerely want to invest in others you are in trouble. This Forbes post was excellent:

“Leadership is hard enough. Why make it harder trying to be all things to all people, hustling to be someone you’re not?

In reading Dr. Brené Brown’s book, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, my mind went to my clients and when they lead with their authentic leadership style. I’m always amazed by the freedom many of them feel when they let go of who they “should” be and show up as they are, creating a greater sense of belonging with their team.”

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You're Never Going To Be Caught Up At Work

Posted by on July 24, 2018

I will never forget the days when best practices productivity told us to plan every minute of our days for maximum effectiveness. The primary discipline then was stick with the plan and make sure you got everything done. Today, I block at least 20% of my day as open for new inputs that I know are going to blow up my best planning for the day. This HBR post helps take the guilt away:

“Most people I know have a to-do list so long that it’s not clear that there’s an end to it. Some tasks, even quite important ones, linger unfinished for a long time, and it’s easy to start feeling guilty or ashamed about what you have not yet completed.

People experience guilt and its close cousin shame when they have done something wrong. Guilt is focused internally on the behavior someone has committed, while shame tends to involve feeling like you are a bad person, particularly in the context of bad behaviors that have become public knowledge.”

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