Ready_Set_Engage

As an emerging leader, what you leave behind can either make or break you.   Believing that a brand is just for a business or your favorite products is  a myth that can cost you thousands of dollars in sales or countless missed opportunities or both.   Dr. Jay Conger Professor of Leadership Studies, Claremont McKenna College, discusses your brand as an important aspect of great leadership.

 “We’re swimming in advice about how to be good leaders. Bookstores hold remarkable portraits of Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Jack Welch and others. They all have advice for us. But how many people can “play” Donald Trump? It’s hard to imitate these characters. And if you try, it is usually a disaster. The last person who tried to imitate Jack Welsh was Jacques Nasser at Ford, which is one reason why Ford ended up on the brink of disaster. It’s better to be yourself; beware of who you wish to become.”

“You sit in a powerful spotlight that can be used to energize people, align the actions of the people who work for you, and promote change.”

Short and Sweet — The thing is no matter how hard you work at it, there will be complaints from clients. 

How you handle the complaint or concern determines your depth as a business and as a leader. 

One straightforward approach is to really listen to the issue and restate their concerns to them.  For example: ‘Am I understanding you were not happy with this part of our service?’ 

Then of course, you want to find a way to rectify by offering compensation according to your policy.  It may be a gift certificate, or a card sent as a follow-up that says ” thank you! Please give us another try on us!

So what if your service doesn’t involve give backs.  Your responsibility as leader is to find a way to avoid excuses and re-engage the client. 

Until next time,   Stephanie 

Short and Sweet — The thing is no matter how hard you work at it, there will be complaints from clients. 

How you handle the complaint or concern determines your depth as a business and as a leader. 

One straightforward approach is to really listen to the issue and restate their concerns to them.  For example: ‘Am I understanding you were not happy with this part of our service?’ 

Then of course, you want to find a way to rectify by offering compensation according to your policy.  It may be a gift certificate, or a card sent as a follow-up that says ” thank you! Please give us another try on us!

So what if your service doesn’t involve give backs.  Your responsibility as leader is to find a way to avoid excuses and re-engage the client. 

Until next time,   Stephanie 

I Win vs. We Win
What’s Keeping Your Team from Getting the Results You Want?

In some organizations, the individual department goals prevent
teams from focusing on the team mission. What happens when there
are departmental goals that you are dealing with everyday and then
there is the TEAM thing? The group gets together for team meetings
but their individual co-existing and often conflicting departmental goals prevent them
from making decisions in the best interest of the team. Each member
of the group is working on a different agenda.

Individual goals and metrics are important. The team has to be
familiar with other goals of the organization and determine how
they are going to meet the needs of the team, organization and
company.

As the Synergistic Leader, you get to look and leverage.  Look at the all the pieces and leverage for the best results. 

Until next time,  Stephanie

P.S.  In the book, Ready,Set, Engage there is an entire chapter that talks about designing a team to get the results you want.  Click here to get a copy of Ready, Set, Engage

A flock of geese and the leader. 
Each member is responsible for getting itself to where the flock is
going.  Encourage accountability.

Every member knows the direction of the flock.  Share the vision.

Every member is willing to assume leadership when the flock needs
it.  Plan for succession.

Followers honk at leaders to encourage them.  Open up your
leadership style to accept encouragement.

When a goose is wounded, two geese follow it and protect it until
it recovers or dies.  Let empathy balance out excellence.

The members know that flying in a “V” gets the best results.
Reorganize for optimal results.

Until next time,
Stephanie

Maximize Your Mentor Relationship

This is the final strategy in the three part series on maximizing your relationship with your mentor.

Let’s review before we conclude this series on maximizing your relationship with your mentor.  The first two strategies we discussed were:

Strategy 1: Find the right mentoring relationship by asking the right question.

Strategy 2: Don’t look for a mentor that only gives you positive feedback.

The final strategy in this series is:

Expect the relationship to require a lot of time and energy.  It
should.  Be prepared before your meetings.  If you are not ready to devote time and energy to being an active protégé’ then wait before you launch a mentoring relationship.  

A mentoring relationship should both challenge and inspire you.  If you have the right mentor that knows how to give you honest feedback to propel you forward and expand your core capacity.  Then friend, you have a good mentoring relationship.
Until next time,
Stephanie

3 Strategies to Maximize Your Mentor Relationship

This is part two of a three part series on maximizing your
relationship with your mentor.

Strategy 2
Don’t look for a mentor that only gives you positive feedback. If
you have a mentor and you are only receiving positive feedback, you
are missing out on growth opportunities.  When you think about the
coach/athlete relationship the job of the coach is to help the
player see weak areas in their ‘game’.  On the other hand, don’t
buy into the mindset ‘constructive criticism’.  Did you know that
‘criticism’ also means disapproval and condemnation?  What is
constructive about disapproval and condemnation?  Instead you want
a mentor relationship to be realistic, truthful and they should
‘call you on it’ when you make up excuses or don’t deliver on
between meeting actions. Your responsibility is to keep in mind
that you didn’t ask for a mentor so that they could be ‘really
nice’ to you.     

Until next time,
Stephanie

3 Strategies to Maximize Your Mentor Relationship

This is part one of a three part series on maximizing your
relationship with your mentor. You can also use these strategies to
help you find a mentor.

Strategy 1

Find the right mentoring relationship by asking the right question.

Often potential mentors overestimate the amount of time the
relationship will require and sometimes potential mentors don’t
believe they are qualified. Asking a potential mentor, “will you
be my mentor”, could lead a mentor to think how busy they already
are and how they can’t take on one more thing. Instead ask people
you would like to be your mentors if they have time to offer their
opinions on some of your ideas. Be clear on how their strength can
help move you to the next level of professional development.

Until next time,
Stephanie

In our last post we discussed the first 3 pillars for success as shoot for the stars.  Let’s continue our discussion. 

Pillar 4: Encourage “fresh thinking” with your staff.
Discuss where you want to take the organization and let staff create actions to achieve goal.

Pillar 5: Encourage self evaluation and personal goal setting
During the employee goal setting or employee development strategy session, make the requirement that one of the goals be related to personal effectiveness. Allow them to own the goal.   The E-LifePlan system is the ideal tool to compliment performance planning and goal setting for superstars.   

Pillar 6: Give staff the opportunity to make leadership decisions and support their leadership learning journey.  Leaders are made, prepared and equipped. How do you become a leader without having experience to understand your style?As you set out on your journey to shoot for the stars, remember to get out of the light. Some leaders have difficulty in allowing their “stars” to shine. As a leader of purpose, power and passion, your mission is to create “stars” that shine brighter than you.  

Until next time,  Stephanie

Shoot for the Stars: Create Superstars Part 1

A foundational element of the Ready, Set, Engage Path is creating an organization of people in the right place doing the right job.  This doesn’t come by accident; it is premeditated.  The first step is deciding to shoot for the stars. So what do you do after you have decided to create an organization of superstars that is envied by peers and clients?  Create a plan to get there.   In designing your superstar team, there are six pillars for success.  Successfully implementing these strategies positions you for triumph on the Ready, Set, Engage Path. We will just look at three of them in this post.        

Pillar 1: Develop a process for mentoring new members of your organization.
Even if people have been in the organization for years; establish a weekly schedule to meet with them. This allows one-on-one communication of the mission statement and your expectations. 

Pillar 2: Utilize expertise acquired by staff members expertise acquired in previous positions. Have them be the mentor for that subject area both internal to your department and other departments.  This strategy allows people to continue to use acquired skill and starts to create an organization of leaders. 

Pillar 3: Find ways to creative positive exposure for staff.
As a leader part of your responsibility is to market your employees so they are seen as a valuable asset beyond your “four walls”.

 

Until next time,  Stephanie