Rick Conlow's Blog, page 29

Making a Wrong Leadership Decision Right

How do you make it right when you’ve done wrong? We all make mistakes. The challenge is; how do we handle them? Consider:

How do you act?How do you react? Who do you tell?How do you communicate? What steps do you take to correct your mistakeWhat mistakes do you make in the meantime?How quickly do you come to terms with the error of your ways?Are you quick to blame or do you resort to shame? How often do you make the same mistake more than once?How do you discover when you’ve gone wrong? How do you treat others when you’re in the process of correcting yourself?

These questions matter. Your answers matter more. Too many leaders don’t fess up, so they cover up and blame others. This causes more problems and mistakes. Classic examples include the smoking industries long disclaimer of the harmful effects of cigarettes. Or, the National Football League’s denial of head injury problems in players. All too often managers in business undermine their effectiveness by their inability to deal with mistakes ethically.

Not too long ago, I stumbled across an article on Michael Hyatt’s blog called “The One Essential Habit of Every Effective Leader” by guest blogger, Jeff Goins. He had a sentence that struck gold – as he put it, “Leadership, as it turns out, is really the act of making intentional decisions and accepting responsibility for them.” 

I couldn’t agree more. Do what you need to do – own it, then genuinely apologize as necessary, correct yourself as quickly as possible when you catch your mistakes, (or, when they are pointed out to you) and get on with the show. The reason the first six words of this sentence matter the most is because too many leaders are afraid of making mistakes so they simply stop making decisions altogether. That strikes me as oddly ironic – we all know things can’t get done when a leader stops taking the reigns. (Well, they can get done – but not as effectively, successfully or efficiently as they can be done with a good leader navigating the way.)

As a leader, you’ll have to make tough decisions, determine close calls, pull out all the stops, and get down to business. Win or lose, it’s essential we take responsibility, learn something and then move on. Leadership isn’t made for the complacent; it’s for the courageous – the bold – those with tenacity and audacity. So, what do you need to risk today to make decisions that will matter tomorrow?

Want to accelerate your career, enroll in this one of a kind complimentary Excellence in Management training for managers.

Rick and his business partner Doug, published these approaches in their book, Superstar Leadership.They created the Superstar Leadership Model as a way to remember and apply the principles.

 

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5 Key Coaching Opportunities for Leadership Success

Coaching is the secret sauce of leadership success for a manager. Why? Because so few do it effectively. Most talk about it, and most don’t do it or don’t do it well. In this leadership video Rick will share five key coaching business opportunities for a manager. Using them well, you can differentiate yourself as a leader. Focusing on these five times in any given month, you will add a personal touch to your leadership approach. Your goal is to bring out the best in your team. It’s not micromanaging, it’s leadership engagement. Done with integrity you will raise your team’s commitment to excellence as well as your own. You will achieve more effective results. You will achieve your goals.

Olympic athletes are the best of the best in their fields. What do they have in common-a coach! Their coaches train and work with them daily over a four year period-10,000 hours-to prepare to win a medal in the games and to represent their country. Their efforts are persistent and relentless. This leadership coaching training video clip will explain how that relates to the workplace and how it can accelerate your career success as a manager.

Rick has used this approach coaching business managers to win 48 quality service awards, improve customer retention by 20+ points, enhance employee engagement by 15+ points, and increase sales 56%, 75% and 122%. WHY NOT YOU?

Rick and his business partner Doug, published these approaches in their book, Superstar Leadership. They created the Superstar Leadership Model as a way to remember and apply the principles.

Want more? Check out this complimentary coach assessment, and guide for you leadership development: Coaching for Results.

 

Rick Conlow International is an eBusiness consulting and training company that coaches leaders to achieve record-breaking performances in sales growth, customer experience improvement, employee engagement and leadership effectiveness. Rick Conlow International serves client online through training and coaching services. Contact Rick at 888-313-0514 or rickconlow@gmail.com.

 

 

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Your Personal Leadership Integrity

Leadership is in a crisis mode. Too many leaders lack the personal integrity to do the right thing. So, distrust is rampant. According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer only 18% of people trust business leaders and 13% trust government leaders. This year there was some improvement but it’s a disaster any way you look at it.

How Would You Rate Your Integrity?

You can distinguish yourself by being different and better. It begins with with your personal integrity. Integrity means doing what’s right, upholding strong moral principles. It creates trust in others. So, what can you do to be trusted on a day to day basis with your team? Check these out:

You do what you say you will do.You follow-through on your commitments.You communicate consistently with your team in meetings and one on one coaching sessions.You genuinely listen to your team’s concerns and issues.You express your views openly, and expect the team to do so as well.You handle conflict constructively.You tell the truth.

 Do you want more employee engagement? Do you want a highly productive team? Do you want a breakthrough in your team’s effectiveness? Lead with these behaviors as the core of your actions and they will inspire your team to achieve more success.  Nelson Mandela said,“As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself… Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”

Do you want to learn how to be a more effective leader, especially in challenging times? If so, I suggest you check out our bestselling book: Superstar Leadership!

Check out our complimentary but comprehensive Excellence in Management training.Over 18 resources for you the managers and 10 resources you can use with your team.

For consulting help on projects or individual coaching contact: rick@rickconlow@gmail.com or call 888-313-0514.

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Communicating Effectively With Employees – Really!

Why is communicating effectively such a problem in companies today, and with individual managers and their employees? It is the most basic skill. The #1 thing CEO’s say got them to the top is their ability to communicate effectively. What do you think the #1 thing employees say needs to improve in their company? Communication! Really, there is a huge gap in perception. This is a major reason for employee disengagement.

Employee Engagement Surveys Fail

We came across a company that had poor communication as their top issue on employee engagement surveys, for five years in a row. Did anything change-no? The company and managers tried a little of this and a little of that but nothing stuck as they would readily swerve to more tangible priorities. So why bother with the survey? It almost seems in many cases, that when a person becomes a CEO or manager they hide. It’s like they become ghosts in the organization. Everyone is afraid of them, employees have heard stories but they never see them, unless there is a problems and then all hell breaks loose.

One company we started consulting with, the employees almost to the person said, “Get him out of his office. He keeps the door shut and sends out inflammatory emails all day.” In another company a manager said her boss stayed in the office all day and only came out to yell at people. She said she had asked him one day if he would hold a meeting. Her boss responded by saying, “I don’t have time for that touchy-feely stuff.”

5 Quick Fire Ways for Communicating Effectively

It isn’t that hard to communicate with your team. What does it take? Some time, oh yes, the precious time. Here are some straight shooting methods:

Hold a weekly staff meeting-actually let others talk.Meet one on one for coaching sessions with each person-yes, it will take time away from another inflammatory email.Praise people in the organization-leaders can say nice things, too.Track goal progress on a dashboard-employees actually perform better if they know the goals. I am not kidding here.Interact with people throughout the day in person, on the phone, or through email if you are separated by distance. Leadership engagement leads to employee  engagement.

Too many managers want to dictate and tell. They want to be center stage rather than listen to, and problem-solve with employees.

Are you committed?

It also takes a commitment to improve. The Management Derailment Study by Hogan Assessments found that 50% of managers fail in their jobs. The primary reason is the lack of people skills. Dr. Daniel Goleman at Harvard calls this Emotional Intelligence. A manager that wants to win the hearts and minds of his team must be trained and educated in such skills as listening, dealing with conflict, handling personal emotions, and giving and receiving feedback.

We all know that communication breaks down in many relationships at home. Look at the divorce rate and domestic violence statistics. The workplace is no different. The same people occupy both situations. The only way to fix it is to invest the time and effort. If you care you will do it with empathy. As some personal relationships need a counselor to solve the problems, in some work relationships managers may need a coach to help them change behavior and attitudes. Otherwise, nothing changes; employees have the same problems with the company and more importantly you, if you are the manager. Team morale and performance will suffer. Communicating effectively leads to 47% better return to shareholders according to a Wyatt Study.

It’s up to you. It always is and will be. Be a student of the game. Research shows that those leaders who are communicating effectively, achieve the highest performance levels with their teams. Why not YOU?

Do you want to learn how to be a more effective leader, especially in challenging times? If so, I suggest you check out our bestselling book: Superstar Leadership!

Check out our complimentary but comprehensive Excellence in Management training.Over 18 resources for you the managers and 10 resources you can use with your team.

For consulting help on projects or individual coaching contact: rick@rickconlow@gmail.com or call 888-313-0514.

 

The post Communicating Effectively With Employees – Really! appeared first on Rick Conlow.