Self-confidence is one of the most admired attitudes in a person. Employers want self-confident employees because they usually get the work done even in tight situations. Self-Confident people are open to new ideas and are willing to discuss them even if the new idea is opposed to their own. They are willing to acknowledge their mistakes and then move on to finish the job.
Have you ever wondered that 2 people can read the same books, get the same leadership training and end up with 2 different results? If the training is the same, then the difference has to be with the person. Most of the time that difference is confidence. Confidence is what allows us to take action.
“Self-confidence is rocket fuel for leaders. Used carefully and ignited under the proper conditions, it propels you and those around you to remarkable heights.” (Leadership Caffeine: Is Your Self-Confidence In Danger of Burning Out of Control? August 30, 2009 by Art Petty)
It is all very well know what you need to do as a leader but if you lack confidence, for whatever reason, it may be hard to deliver. Self-confidence- You won't get to the top without it. While confidence in the economy is down, confidence in leadership, their teams, their ability to execute on their vision, organizations have the right people and skills to move themselves forward. As a leader, you need to cultivate your team’s confidence. Your team should have confidence in what they do as well as confidence in your leadership skills.
Much of a leader’s confidence is from experience. Self-confidence is the fundamental basis from which leadership grows. Confidence is the cornerstone of leadership. Do not confuse confidence with self esteem. The latter relates to how you see yourself fundamentally and how you value yourself. Self esteem is more about how you want others to react to you to raise your self worth - you want people to like you.
Not only does confidence allow you to make the tough decisions that people expect from a strong leader but it's reassuring to your employees. It allows you to lead meetings with authority, to accept candor and open communication, and the greater they perceive your force of will, the more faith they will have in your company and its mission. As a leader, consider how well you deliver a company speech. If you deliver it with confidence it inspires your team as intended, but the same speech delivered with doubt becomes a point of mockery.
How confident are you when speaking to your employees and delivering a presentation that sets the company direction for the future? Are they rallying behind you or can they see through your lack of certainty? This is the difference between a confident leader and one who goes through the motions while lacking core convictions.
You can see confidence in leaders who know what they want. They are decisive. They don't mull long over an issue, but they don't rush to snap judgments either. To most people, a leader always seems like he or she knows what to do, regardless of whether a choice is right or wrong.
Passion is the other characteristic of confidence. Passion comes when you find something you love—the job that inspires you to live. Passion will have all your conversations relating back to your love. It will keep you awake, as you mull the perfect solution. With this passion comes confidence, and when people feel this passion in you—and they will—they'll follow you to the goal.
Confidence or “executive presence” involves the ability to enter a room and instantly take charge, through your strong presence, while forging quick, personal connections with the other members of the team. Leaders with confidence or “executive presence” will always command respect and attention when they speak; and their determination and conviction inspires and motivates those around them.
Confidence is the expectation of success. When you expect success, you are willing to put in the effort to achieve it. It's confidence that attracts investment--not just money but time, energy loyalty and commitment. Ultimately what makes a difference in performance is whether people put in the effort--and often the extra effort--to sustain success. When people have confidence they are willing to invest and it is the investment that leads to action that creates high performance. So confidence is a critical missing link. The reason I love sports so much is that you can see it clearly in games. The winner is often behind… they sometimes fumble… they sometimes lose the ball… they sometimes miss a shot and they keep going. They persist, they learn from their mistakes, they learn from their experience, and that is what confidence makes possible.
When you think of the word confident, what comes to mind? One who is confident is a person who can move ahead in a direction that is new with little hesitation. It may take time to make that initial move, but confidence must be present in order for movement to occur. Without confidence, change and action are invisible. Now take this vision to leadership and visualize this: Organizations and people will stay stagnant or in their “rut” unless acted upon by an outside force, also known as a leader. The leader who acts upon an organization requires confidence in his/her ideas or ability in order to take the first steps to make this action. I think you can now see the importance of confidence.
Confidence in leadership is essential. Leaders effect change and they cannot make the changes needed without some level of confidence in their abilities. Be confident and take action based on your confidence level. Have the willingness to take action that gets the results you want. Now go out there: Be decisive, be passionate, and lead away!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Work with Your Enthusiasm
"Nothing great has been achieved without enthusiasm."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Two people with virtually the same amount of skill and talent can differ vastly in the amount of success they achieve. If you have noticed that employee enthusiasm takes a nose dive shortly after new hires start work with your company, you are not alone. In fact, there is a disturbing and significant decline in employees’ overall job satisfaction after they have been with their employer for six months or more, according to research conducted by Sirota Consulting.
A person can succeed at anything for which there is enthusiasm.
-Charles M. Schwab
What would your company be like if your employees showed up with passion and boundless enthusiasm each day?
Enthusiasm is one of your most important assets. Enthusiasm is one of the key ingredients to making your business work. Before you lay out a business plan, make sure you are going where your passion leads you, as you will need this enthusiasm to keep you going through the rough times. Visualize your goals and where you want to be in two or three years. Also use positive affirmations to help keep your attitude up.
Employees cannot be expected to be enthusiastic about an organization that is not enthusiastic about them.
Not all jobs are exciting or glamorous; in fact, most involve rather mundane tasks being performed again and again
Passionate employees are more effective. They’re more fun to work with. They get more done on a daily basis. They work with greater accuracy and they inspire excellence in others. Passionate employees directly affect the bottom line and influence the company culture in a positive way. So how do we tap into the passion our employees possess?
What's the difference between enthusiasm and gasoline? Maybe, there's not much difference between the two. They both provide the power to drive us forward. (Enthusiasm: The Key to Productivity and Innovation By Don Doman)
Enthusiasm in the workplace, properly ignited, can propel your business into success. Motivated employees work harder. They'll even come with ideas to improve the product or service. Motivated and enthusiastic employees are the best kind of employees to have.
Here are ways you can fire up unmotivated and under enthusiastic workers:
THE TIME IS NOWWhen you see someone doing a good job, the time to tell them about it is right then. Don't wait for tomorrow or next week. Who knows? You might forget about it. If you tell someone they are doing a good job, they won't forget about it.
LET YOUR FEELINGS SHOWDon't be an old stone face. Everyone has feelings. Show yours. If your workers are doing a great job, then shouldn't you be excited? Shouldn't you be proud? Let those emotions show on your face. Share your enthusiastic feelings. Your feelings will boost moral and encourage the same feeling among your workers.
GIVE A PAT ON THE BACKNothing builds enthusiasm like trust. When you give someone a task to accomplish it shows that you believe in them. If you believe in them, can they believe any less? You don't even have to make encouraging statements. The task alone speaks volumes.
“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” -Winston Churchill
You have the opportunity to choose enthusiasm every moment of the day. Rekindle your Enthusiasm and Ignite your spark for reaching your potential and success.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Two people with virtually the same amount of skill and talent can differ vastly in the amount of success they achieve. If you have noticed that employee enthusiasm takes a nose dive shortly after new hires start work with your company, you are not alone. In fact, there is a disturbing and significant decline in employees’ overall job satisfaction after they have been with their employer for six months or more, according to research conducted by Sirota Consulting.
A person can succeed at anything for which there is enthusiasm.
-Charles M. Schwab
What would your company be like if your employees showed up with passion and boundless enthusiasm each day?
Enthusiasm is one of your most important assets. Enthusiasm is one of the key ingredients to making your business work. Before you lay out a business plan, make sure you are going where your passion leads you, as you will need this enthusiasm to keep you going through the rough times. Visualize your goals and where you want to be in two or three years. Also use positive affirmations to help keep your attitude up.
Employees cannot be expected to be enthusiastic about an organization that is not enthusiastic about them.
Not all jobs are exciting or glamorous; in fact, most involve rather mundane tasks being performed again and again
Passionate employees are more effective. They’re more fun to work with. They get more done on a daily basis. They work with greater accuracy and they inspire excellence in others. Passionate employees directly affect the bottom line and influence the company culture in a positive way. So how do we tap into the passion our employees possess?
What's the difference between enthusiasm and gasoline? Maybe, there's not much difference between the two. They both provide the power to drive us forward. (Enthusiasm: The Key to Productivity and Innovation By Don Doman)
Enthusiasm in the workplace, properly ignited, can propel your business into success. Motivated employees work harder. They'll even come with ideas to improve the product or service. Motivated and enthusiastic employees are the best kind of employees to have.
Here are ways you can fire up unmotivated and under enthusiastic workers:
THE TIME IS NOWWhen you see someone doing a good job, the time to tell them about it is right then. Don't wait for tomorrow or next week. Who knows? You might forget about it. If you tell someone they are doing a good job, they won't forget about it.
LET YOUR FEELINGS SHOWDon't be an old stone face. Everyone has feelings. Show yours. If your workers are doing a great job, then shouldn't you be excited? Shouldn't you be proud? Let those emotions show on your face. Share your enthusiastic feelings. Your feelings will boost moral and encourage the same feeling among your workers.
GIVE A PAT ON THE BACKNothing builds enthusiasm like trust. When you give someone a task to accomplish it shows that you believe in them. If you believe in them, can they believe any less? You don't even have to make encouraging statements. The task alone speaks volumes.
“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” -Winston Churchill
You have the opportunity to choose enthusiasm every moment of the day. Rekindle your Enthusiasm and Ignite your spark for reaching your potential and success.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Twelve Keys to Successful Leadership
The effectiveness of the leadership within your organization determines to a great extent the degree to which that leadership will succeed. What makes for strong leadership? We all know it when we see it; the trick is to articulate what the key ingredients are. Here are 12 key elements that I believe form the common denominator among successful leaders in any industry. From the lessons on leadership, we know leaders can be developed. These 12 key components to leadership that are demonstrated by effective leaders provide guidelines for developing an environment that fosters the principles and practices critical to organizational success.
1. Your Self-Esteem: As with effective management, the first key is to strengthen your self-esteem. The more value you see within yourself, the greater will be your ability to influence other people.
2. Attitude is the key to organizational performance: A leader needs to have a positive attitude even when things are not going his/her way.
3. Begin with yourself: Successful leadership begins with the individual. Successful leaders share a set of traits or principles, including a high degree of integrity, authenticity, courage, and curiosity. Effective leaders are congruent. They know what they stand for and they have the courage to convey it and the consistency to live it. Their followers can trust them, as they know who they are and what they stand for.
4. Goal Setting; the Path to Your Focus: By setting goals on a routine basis you decide what you want to achieve, and then move step-by-step towards achieving these goals.
5. Commitment: The key to completing goals and subsequently achieving our life’s focus is commitment. Success often starts with the mere existence of the commitment to change and improve. By committing ourselves to accomplishing the goals that we have determined, we take that first step to the achievement of excellence. Commitment is what transforms promises and hopes into reality. This also puts the leader in the position of having integrity – doing what you say you will do.
6. Communication: When you communicate your vision, your mission, and your goals, be clear and concise for all to understand what you want to accomplish. Think before you speak: As a leader, tailor your messages enough for your audience to see a clear picture of the message you are presenting.
7. Listen Well: Listening to what others have to say and their understanding of what you have said. Listen for more than what’s being said; pay attention to what’s not being said and try to spot unspoken expectations that are not clearly communicated verbally or in writing. It’s about picking up on what people are thinking, how they are acting and what they are not necessarily verbalizing. When ideas are fresh and positive, profits and productivity soars. Communicating and listening complement each other for good leaders.
8. Progression of Achievement: Excellence is best achieved in small steps that encompass a greater whole. A productive and reinforcing method of goal setting involves the breaking of any large task (or our overall focus) into manageable segments, with the easiest parts to be accomplished first. By actually achieving success after success, we begin to establish a repetitive pattern of achievement that leads to even greater accomplishment. Success, like failure, tends to be a trend. Continued successes encourage continued successes. Enough successes eventually comprise ultimate excellence.
9. Leaders must walk the talk. Leaders not only make the rules, they follow those rules. This is harder than you think. Take sales, for example. Most business leaders are good salespeople, and good salespeople often break the rules. But you earn your team’s heightened respect when you make a deliberate effort to creatively accomplish your goals without violating or corrupting policies you put into place.
10. Leaders take responsibility for poor performance. In being a leader, you take on the responsibility of accountability. Leaders also understand that most underperforming employees are the product of a poor hiring decision or poor training. Most managers retain underperforming employees too long because they set unrealistic expectations and lack objective ways to evaluate performance. Good leaders understand that retaining an employee under these circumstances works against the employee’s interest as well as the company’s.
11. Motivation: This involves influencing your people to make more long-term efforts in accomplishing goals. It is not the idea of simply giving orders or making suggestions, but the ability to make someone truly want to achieve the desired goals. It starts with motivating yourself and ends with leading the team all going in the same direction.
12. Having a Vision: Leaders know where their organization is headed, and they constantly communicate that vision to their team. If the vision is strong enough, a good leader can delegate its implementation without having to micromanage the details. With this, having the tenacity to stay the course until the established objective is achieved is part of the key of leadership excellence as well.
Taking this one step farther, navigating with this vision is also important to effective leadership and those at the helm who try to lead without a vision are seriously crippled. Organizational members need to know where the organization is going. Without direction, they flounder. To have direction, motivation, and congruence, employees must see the big picture. Employees need a vivid sense of the future that compels them to action. When they are committed to the vision and align it with their personal objectives, a synergy is created that lifts, fuels, and propels them forward.
Successful leaders are willing to take risks with visibility and vulnerability. They demonstrate and build courage through this willingness. Leaders learn to take complete responsibility for their decisions and actions, while sharing credit. Masterful leaders learn, live by, and communicate these principles. They create confidence, respect, and loyalty by operating with integrity and authenticity.
Good leadership is not just the result of hard work. It also stems from having a clear vision of where you want the organization to go. It results from having a solid knowledge of bringing out the best in the people you are leading.
1. Your Self-Esteem: As with effective management, the first key is to strengthen your self-esteem. The more value you see within yourself, the greater will be your ability to influence other people.
2. Attitude is the key to organizational performance: A leader needs to have a positive attitude even when things are not going his/her way.
3. Begin with yourself: Successful leadership begins with the individual. Successful leaders share a set of traits or principles, including a high degree of integrity, authenticity, courage, and curiosity. Effective leaders are congruent. They know what they stand for and they have the courage to convey it and the consistency to live it. Their followers can trust them, as they know who they are and what they stand for.
4. Goal Setting; the Path to Your Focus: By setting goals on a routine basis you decide what you want to achieve, and then move step-by-step towards achieving these goals.
5. Commitment: The key to completing goals and subsequently achieving our life’s focus is commitment. Success often starts with the mere existence of the commitment to change and improve. By committing ourselves to accomplishing the goals that we have determined, we take that first step to the achievement of excellence. Commitment is what transforms promises and hopes into reality. This also puts the leader in the position of having integrity – doing what you say you will do.
6. Communication: When you communicate your vision, your mission, and your goals, be clear and concise for all to understand what you want to accomplish. Think before you speak: As a leader, tailor your messages enough for your audience to see a clear picture of the message you are presenting.
7. Listen Well: Listening to what others have to say and their understanding of what you have said. Listen for more than what’s being said; pay attention to what’s not being said and try to spot unspoken expectations that are not clearly communicated verbally or in writing. It’s about picking up on what people are thinking, how they are acting and what they are not necessarily verbalizing. When ideas are fresh and positive, profits and productivity soars. Communicating and listening complement each other for good leaders.
8. Progression of Achievement: Excellence is best achieved in small steps that encompass a greater whole. A productive and reinforcing method of goal setting involves the breaking of any large task (or our overall focus) into manageable segments, with the easiest parts to be accomplished first. By actually achieving success after success, we begin to establish a repetitive pattern of achievement that leads to even greater accomplishment. Success, like failure, tends to be a trend. Continued successes encourage continued successes. Enough successes eventually comprise ultimate excellence.
9. Leaders must walk the talk. Leaders not only make the rules, they follow those rules. This is harder than you think. Take sales, for example. Most business leaders are good salespeople, and good salespeople often break the rules. But you earn your team’s heightened respect when you make a deliberate effort to creatively accomplish your goals without violating or corrupting policies you put into place.
10. Leaders take responsibility for poor performance. In being a leader, you take on the responsibility of accountability. Leaders also understand that most underperforming employees are the product of a poor hiring decision or poor training. Most managers retain underperforming employees too long because they set unrealistic expectations and lack objective ways to evaluate performance. Good leaders understand that retaining an employee under these circumstances works against the employee’s interest as well as the company’s.
11. Motivation: This involves influencing your people to make more long-term efforts in accomplishing goals. It is not the idea of simply giving orders or making suggestions, but the ability to make someone truly want to achieve the desired goals. It starts with motivating yourself and ends with leading the team all going in the same direction.
12. Having a Vision: Leaders know where their organization is headed, and they constantly communicate that vision to their team. If the vision is strong enough, a good leader can delegate its implementation without having to micromanage the details. With this, having the tenacity to stay the course until the established objective is achieved is part of the key of leadership excellence as well.
Taking this one step farther, navigating with this vision is also important to effective leadership and those at the helm who try to lead without a vision are seriously crippled. Organizational members need to know where the organization is going. Without direction, they flounder. To have direction, motivation, and congruence, employees must see the big picture. Employees need a vivid sense of the future that compels them to action. When they are committed to the vision and align it with their personal objectives, a synergy is created that lifts, fuels, and propels them forward.
Successful leaders are willing to take risks with visibility and vulnerability. They demonstrate and build courage through this willingness. Leaders learn to take complete responsibility for their decisions and actions, while sharing credit. Masterful leaders learn, live by, and communicate these principles. They create confidence, respect, and loyalty by operating with integrity and authenticity.
Good leadership is not just the result of hard work. It also stems from having a clear vision of where you want the organization to go. It results from having a solid knowledge of bringing out the best in the people you are leading.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Quiet Enthusiasm
The idea of Quiet Enthusiasm from Ralph Marston demonstrates that introverts do have enthusiasm, but it is on the quest side.
Sometimes enthusiasm shouts loudly and is very obvious. Yet many times enthusiasm works quietly, diligently and effectively behind the scenes to make great things happen.
Both kinds of enthusiasm are valid and powerful. Both kinds of enthusiasm can change life for the better.
Noisy, flashy enthusiasm commands great attention and makes many promises. Quiet enthusiasm follows through and fulfills those promises.
You don't have to be loud and boisterous to be enthusiastic. You can be just as enthusiastic and committed by being fully and yet quietly engaged in getting the work done.
Outer actions may be a sure sign of enthusiasm, yet they are not where enthusiasm comes from. Enthusiasm originates in the authentic passion that lives deep within you.
Explore, understand and feel that passion. And express enthusiasm in your own very special way.
- Ralph Marston
For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com
Sometimes enthusiasm shouts loudly and is very obvious. Yet many times enthusiasm works quietly, diligently and effectively behind the scenes to make great things happen.
Both kinds of enthusiasm are valid and powerful. Both kinds of enthusiasm can change life for the better.
Noisy, flashy enthusiasm commands great attention and makes many promises. Quiet enthusiasm follows through and fulfills those promises.
You don't have to be loud and boisterous to be enthusiastic. You can be just as enthusiastic and committed by being fully and yet quietly engaged in getting the work done.
Outer actions may be a sure sign of enthusiasm, yet they are not where enthusiasm comes from. Enthusiasm originates in the authentic passion that lives deep within you.
Explore, understand and feel that passion. And express enthusiasm in your own very special way.
- Ralph Marston
For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com
Friday, August 27, 2010
Soft-Spoken Corporate Leaders
Being honored for his leadership style, David Baker gave a speech in his usual way, soft-spoken, that won him the advanced leadership award of the year. Most people at the dinner thought that David spoke soft because of a leadership secret he found that worked and worked well in his 35 years being the CEO of WXT company. What most people did not realize was that David always spoke softly all of his life. David, an introvert is a tough leader and gets results by the way he leads.
The quiet revolution is moving forward and gaining steam as I write this. According to research, there are between 40-70% of CEOs and other executives who consider themselves as being introverted. With this in mind, even though they are introverted, these
We often read books and articles expounding on leadership traits or skills that a leader should possess. Do not let the cover fool you. There are many people who do not seek the spotlight, even though they are corporate leaders. They do not need the trappings of leadership- they just lead.
Leaders lead not through their loud speeches, but rather by doing what needs to be done, and by example. The gruff, non-nonsense company leader may be just as much a leader as the soft-spoken one. Optimize who you are. Some leaders who are soft-spoken, introverted, and quiet; while others are extroverted and like to be in the limelight all the time. Allow yourself to be who you are even with demonstrating your active listening skills, and look carefully into what your leadership style is. Think about the idea that you can expand your horizons by demonstrating more of who you are through your leadership style and work on how you want that to be.
Kenneth Chase, a 57 year old vice-president never wanted to be president or CEO of the organization he has worked at since graduating from Penn State University. As a self-confident leader is usually soft-spoken, Kenneth’s dynamic leadership brought forth his great insights and vision for his company that demonstrated his creativity as it began as an artist, and then switched his major to business. He did not plan on being a corporate leader, but he has made the position comfortable enough that he has been there for over 20 years.
Many people may look at themselves and say, “I am soft-spoken, quiet and opinionated”. These are some of the same people who notice that almost all charismatic people are soft-spoken.
There are some people who are naturally soft-spoken and it may be part of their emotional make-up. Sometimes it is taught in families as to not raise your voice even when you get angry. Others are introverted so they do not speak up or are slow to respond because introverts have to think first before saying or taking any action.
Some believe that soft-spoken people are creative and mask a hidden agenda. Others believe being soft-spoken is a sign of weakness. When people use their actual strengths, they can be powerful in their own way. Many people do not understand that.
Talking softly actually makes others listen to you more. Some might say that people who talk over others are self-absorbed and have a skewed self-esteem issue that they rarely listen to what others say. They are too busy listening to the sound of their own voice.
Having a brilliant mind which gives her unique ideas, even though she prefers to make policy based on what she observes, Megan Anderson is one of those creative types who likes management by walking around. She likes to talk to employees and get their opinions, suggestions, and feedback because when changes need to take place, Megan wants the buy-in from her workforce as to the changes she wants to implement as it affects them as well.
Megan is soft-spoken and remains quiet when she is in a large group, such as networking events. She prefers not to have attention put on her because she gets flustered and blushes. She prefers one-to-ones instead.
With the quiet revolution taking place within leadership, and more and more quiet leaders demonstrating that they are getting results beyond their expectations. Soft-spoken leaders are not shouting their secret leadership skills, strategies and techniques from the rooftops; they still keep a low profile and look forward to stellar years due to their leadership and how they do what they do.
For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com
The quiet revolution is moving forward and gaining steam as I write this. According to research, there are between 40-70% of CEOs and other executives who consider themselves as being introverted. With this in mind, even though they are introverted, these
We often read books and articles expounding on leadership traits or skills that a leader should possess. Do not let the cover fool you. There are many people who do not seek the spotlight, even though they are corporate leaders. They do not need the trappings of leadership- they just lead.
Leaders lead not through their loud speeches, but rather by doing what needs to be done, and by example. The gruff, non-nonsense company leader may be just as much a leader as the soft-spoken one. Optimize who you are. Some leaders who are soft-spoken, introverted, and quiet; while others are extroverted and like to be in the limelight all the time. Allow yourself to be who you are even with demonstrating your active listening skills, and look carefully into what your leadership style is. Think about the idea that you can expand your horizons by demonstrating more of who you are through your leadership style and work on how you want that to be.
Kenneth Chase, a 57 year old vice-president never wanted to be president or CEO of the organization he has worked at since graduating from Penn State University. As a self-confident leader is usually soft-spoken, Kenneth’s dynamic leadership brought forth his great insights and vision for his company that demonstrated his creativity as it began as an artist, and then switched his major to business. He did not plan on being a corporate leader, but he has made the position comfortable enough that he has been there for over 20 years.
Many people may look at themselves and say, “I am soft-spoken, quiet and opinionated”. These are some of the same people who notice that almost all charismatic people are soft-spoken.
There are some people who are naturally soft-spoken and it may be part of their emotional make-up. Sometimes it is taught in families as to not raise your voice even when you get angry. Others are introverted so they do not speak up or are slow to respond because introverts have to think first before saying or taking any action.
Some believe that soft-spoken people are creative and mask a hidden agenda. Others believe being soft-spoken is a sign of weakness. When people use their actual strengths, they can be powerful in their own way. Many people do not understand that.
Talking softly actually makes others listen to you more. Some might say that people who talk over others are self-absorbed and have a skewed self-esteem issue that they rarely listen to what others say. They are too busy listening to the sound of their own voice.
Having a brilliant mind which gives her unique ideas, even though she prefers to make policy based on what she observes, Megan Anderson is one of those creative types who likes management by walking around. She likes to talk to employees and get their opinions, suggestions, and feedback because when changes need to take place, Megan wants the buy-in from her workforce as to the changes she wants to implement as it affects them as well.
Megan is soft-spoken and remains quiet when she is in a large group, such as networking events. She prefers not to have attention put on her because she gets flustered and blushes. She prefers one-to-ones instead.
With the quiet revolution taking place within leadership, and more and more quiet leaders demonstrating that they are getting results beyond their expectations. Soft-spoken leaders are not shouting their secret leadership skills, strategies and techniques from the rooftops; they still keep a low profile and look forward to stellar years due to their leadership and how they do what they do.
For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com
Friday, August 13, 2010
MBWA (Management By Waking Around)
Why do some leaders quickly implement change and inspire their team(s) to exceed all targets- while others try everything possible and their team(s) barely meet expectations?
For many employees, one of the most popular questions they are asked every morning is “How are you?” By the way, this question is stated not by a co-worker, but by their boss. Many ineffective managers and leaders have distinguishing factors such as not asking good questions or offering little or no help, support or even encouragement or suggestions to their employees to be more productive. Many leaders do not avail themselves to the potentially useful techniques that help them manage better either because they do not know them or do not believe in them.
Management By Walking Around or MBWA for short, was pioneered by the two men who started HP-Hewlett-Packard (Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard) in the 1940’s. The “HP Way” of MBWA was based on the concept that employees are capable of being part of the problem solving process and that a team approach to creating new business ideas and innovating ways to solve problems was far superior to the “top down” approach of management coming up with all the answers and dictating them to their employees.
The idea behind MBWA, according to author Tom Peters who popularized the term, is simple: “Managers can be a lot more effective when they wander around the work site. Companies that perform the best are the ones whose managers actively go out into the trenches and listen and engage with their employees.
Managers can best engage employees by asking how their day is going, what barriers they face, what problems they see, how the organization could do better, and how management can help them do a better job. Some may remember the notion of management by walking around as an old idea that is coming back in many companies.
Some organizations who have used “management by walking around” focused on leading that resulted in productivity improvements of at least 30%. Effective managers have their fingers on the pulse of their projects, their teams, and the organizations. Some of the ways “Management By Walking Around” improves leadership includes:
· Motivates employees to achieve individual and team goals
· Focuses the team’s attention on business priorities
· Increases the ability to drive cultural change
· Builds company spirit
· Reinforces company values
Management By Walking Around builds trust and relationships, motivates the staff by management allowing employees to take an active role in the company they work for, and creates a healthy organization.
Management By Walking Around recognizes and appreciates the employees who help make you successful. Managers who practice this style, take note of the following:
1. Speak with People One-on-One as this builds trust.
2. Get to Know People more on a personal basis as this shows your interest in them. Tell them something about yourself.
3. Be Prepared to hear some things you would rather not hear. Some things may not be going so well. Accept these things as information that may be useful to you without being critical of the employee who presents the information.
4. Always Ask people for their ideas on how their work could be improved. Listen carefully to their ideas.
5. When You Notice something out of line, make a mental note and go back later to address the problem.
6. Practice MBWA with everyone as often as you can. Be humble. Let them show you how to input the data.
7. Try to Catch Employees in the act of doing something right. Notice the things that are right and express your appreciation. This builds loyalty.
These are simple and powerful tools for you to use daily. Today, many business owners and leaders walk the floor only when a crisis occurs. They think their presence will calm their employees. The trouble is, that is not effective if you have been hiding in your office before you notice a problem has hit. MBWA only works (and does work) if you do it regularly and you really want to know what is going on in your organization. So Instead of staying in your office all day, every day, visit your employees on a regular basis, and discover how to improve your leadership with your employees and your company.
“Ninety percent of leadership is the ability to communicate something people want.”
- Dianne Feinstein
For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com
For many employees, one of the most popular questions they are asked every morning is “How are you?” By the way, this question is stated not by a co-worker, but by their boss. Many ineffective managers and leaders have distinguishing factors such as not asking good questions or offering little or no help, support or even encouragement or suggestions to their employees to be more productive. Many leaders do not avail themselves to the potentially useful techniques that help them manage better either because they do not know them or do not believe in them.
Management By Walking Around or MBWA for short, was pioneered by the two men who started HP-Hewlett-Packard (Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard) in the 1940’s. The “HP Way” of MBWA was based on the concept that employees are capable of being part of the problem solving process and that a team approach to creating new business ideas and innovating ways to solve problems was far superior to the “top down” approach of management coming up with all the answers and dictating them to their employees.
The idea behind MBWA, according to author Tom Peters who popularized the term, is simple: “Managers can be a lot more effective when they wander around the work site. Companies that perform the best are the ones whose managers actively go out into the trenches and listen and engage with their employees.
Managers can best engage employees by asking how their day is going, what barriers they face, what problems they see, how the organization could do better, and how management can help them do a better job. Some may remember the notion of management by walking around as an old idea that is coming back in many companies.
Some organizations who have used “management by walking around” focused on leading that resulted in productivity improvements of at least 30%. Effective managers have their fingers on the pulse of their projects, their teams, and the organizations. Some of the ways “Management By Walking Around” improves leadership includes:
· Motivates employees to achieve individual and team goals
· Focuses the team’s attention on business priorities
· Increases the ability to drive cultural change
· Builds company spirit
· Reinforces company values
Management By Walking Around builds trust and relationships, motivates the staff by management allowing employees to take an active role in the company they work for, and creates a healthy organization.
Management By Walking Around recognizes and appreciates the employees who help make you successful. Managers who practice this style, take note of the following:
1. Speak with People One-on-One as this builds trust.
2. Get to Know People more on a personal basis as this shows your interest in them. Tell them something about yourself.
3. Be Prepared to hear some things you would rather not hear. Some things may not be going so well. Accept these things as information that may be useful to you without being critical of the employee who presents the information.
4. Always Ask people for their ideas on how their work could be improved. Listen carefully to their ideas.
5. When You Notice something out of line, make a mental note and go back later to address the problem.
6. Practice MBWA with everyone as often as you can. Be humble. Let them show you how to input the data.
7. Try to Catch Employees in the act of doing something right. Notice the things that are right and express your appreciation. This builds loyalty.
These are simple and powerful tools for you to use daily. Today, many business owners and leaders walk the floor only when a crisis occurs. They think their presence will calm their employees. The trouble is, that is not effective if you have been hiding in your office before you notice a problem has hit. MBWA only works (and does work) if you do it regularly and you really want to know what is going on in your organization. So Instead of staying in your office all day, every day, visit your employees on a regular basis, and discover how to improve your leadership with your employees and your company.
“Ninety percent of leadership is the ability to communicate something people want.”
- Dianne Feinstein
For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Resilient People
How do you react to unexpected difficulties? In today’s workplace everyone feels pressured to get more done, of higher quality, with fewer people, in less time, and with less of a budget. It is more challenging when life throws you a curve especially in difficult times when it is important to be resilient as much as possible.
Healthy, resilient people have stress-resistant personalities. Resilience is the process of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences. Resilient people bounce back from setbacks quicker than others, and can thrive under extreme, on-going pressure without acting in dysfunctional or harmful ways.
Resilience comprises 2 different elements: (1) The ability to keep it together when you are subject to great demands and pressures; and (2) The ability to overcome difficulties, to learn from mistakes and to develop creatively, by turning difficult circumstances into opportunities.
Resiliency is what sets some people apart from others. The traits of resilient people are plenty for people to understand. Here are several characteristics. See if they fit for you!
· Resilient people are connected to what is most important to them in their lives (meaning, direction and purpose in what they do).
· Put things in perspective.
· They understand that emotions are great sources of energy and motivation but are often poor guides for action. They know how to motivate themselves to take action.
· They are focused with having a clear vision of what they want to achieve.
· Resilient people are positive. They are optimistic in their thinking as negative thinking is just a “bad habit”. (Challenge yourself to reframe situations in more positive terms).
· They are flexible especially when responding to change.
· Resilient people are organized as they develop structured approaches to managing change.
· Always exploring their options. If one door closes, they look for another door or window of opportunity. They even create them when needed.
· Resilient people have excellent problem-solving skills. The can brainstorm and negotiate with the best. They think critically.
· Maintain a higher level of quality and productivity in their work.
· Resilient people have the ability to re-frame their experiences to see the positive side of things. They always look for the silver lining. They ask questions like, “What can I learn from this experience?”
· Achieve more of their objectives.
· They look for adversity as a challenge rather than as a threat. They realize that no matter how the present situation turns out, they will learn and grow from it.
· Resilient people respect themselves and others. They have a spirit of cooperation and look for win-win solutions rather than try to win over people or ignore their own wants and needs.
· They know how to let go of things they have no control over. They know the only thing in their control is “Me, Myself, and I”.
· Resilient people use positive self-talk. They spend time thinking what they want versus what they do not have. They understand and use the power of positive affirmations.
· Resilient people let go of the past and learn from past experiences and plan for the future.
· They know how and when to ask for help. They do not try to do everything themselves. They do not expect others to do everything for them. They understand the benefits of tapping into the strengths of others.
· Resilient people enjoy living in the NOW. They do not put important things off for another day.
· Actively seek solutions. Active coping rather than being passive and waiting for things to happen.
Think about how resiliency impacts you and your organization!
Healthy, resilient people have stress-resistant personalities. Resilience is the process of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences. Resilient people bounce back from setbacks quicker than others, and can thrive under extreme, on-going pressure without acting in dysfunctional or harmful ways.
Resilience comprises 2 different elements: (1) The ability to keep it together when you are subject to great demands and pressures; and (2) The ability to overcome difficulties, to learn from mistakes and to develop creatively, by turning difficult circumstances into opportunities.
Resiliency is what sets some people apart from others. The traits of resilient people are plenty for people to understand. Here are several characteristics. See if they fit for you!
· Resilient people are connected to what is most important to them in their lives (meaning, direction and purpose in what they do).
· Put things in perspective.
· They understand that emotions are great sources of energy and motivation but are often poor guides for action. They know how to motivate themselves to take action.
· They are focused with having a clear vision of what they want to achieve.
· Resilient people are positive. They are optimistic in their thinking as negative thinking is just a “bad habit”. (Challenge yourself to reframe situations in more positive terms).
· They are flexible especially when responding to change.
· Resilient people are organized as they develop structured approaches to managing change.
· Always exploring their options. If one door closes, they look for another door or window of opportunity. They even create them when needed.
· Resilient people have excellent problem-solving skills. The can brainstorm and negotiate with the best. They think critically.
· Maintain a higher level of quality and productivity in their work.
· Resilient people have the ability to re-frame their experiences to see the positive side of things. They always look for the silver lining. They ask questions like, “What can I learn from this experience?”
· Achieve more of their objectives.
· They look for adversity as a challenge rather than as a threat. They realize that no matter how the present situation turns out, they will learn and grow from it.
· Resilient people respect themselves and others. They have a spirit of cooperation and look for win-win solutions rather than try to win over people or ignore their own wants and needs.
· They know how to let go of things they have no control over. They know the only thing in their control is “Me, Myself, and I”.
· Resilient people use positive self-talk. They spend time thinking what they want versus what they do not have. They understand and use the power of positive affirmations.
· Resilient people let go of the past and learn from past experiences and plan for the future.
· They know how and when to ask for help. They do not try to do everything themselves. They do not expect others to do everything for them. They understand the benefits of tapping into the strengths of others.
· Resilient people enjoy living in the NOW. They do not put important things off for another day.
· Actively seek solutions. Active coping rather than being passive and waiting for things to happen.
Think about how resiliency impacts you and your organization!
For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com
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