Marlene Chism's Blog, page 15

Three Myths of Leadership

MY consulting journey emerged from having spent over 20 years working for a Fortune 100 company. However, my role was not as an executive, business unit manager, or human resources professional. I was a blue-collar line worker in a food processing plant, doing everything from packing product, stacking skids, driving a forklift, and tearing down equipment for sanitation on Friday nights.

My experience–working at the bottom of a large organization to now working with middle to C-Suite managers–has given me this insight: Much workplace drama erupts due to the frontline supervisors’ and middle managers’ lack of leadership development.

New leaders get promoted due to their high performance or technical skills. The benefit is that they know the job, and they have the respect of their peers. The disadvantage is that they have had no leadership experience and very little development or training.

Political Drama: Are You Engaged, Enraged, or Detached?

We’re seeing lots of drama throughout the 2016 political debates. The good news is that we are also seeing some positive results. Those who have never been interested in politics before are getting engaged.

Yet we’re still a country divided.

Four Ways to Make Difficult Conversations Easier

ONE of the biggest barriers to leadership success is learning how to initiate a difficult conversation. New leaders have confessed to me in private coaching sessions that they are afraid the employee might cry or, if it’s a high performer, the employee might quit. Others have told me that they don’t have the confidence or […]

Love: The Power to Shape Culture

Every living thing just wants to be loved. Some people try to get love by proving they are right. Others try to get love by admitting they are always wrong. Some try to get love by saying “yes” when they want to say “no.” Some people believe they will finally be loved when they make […]

Elevate Your Leadership in 2016

When writing No-Drama Leadership which was published in 2015, I had the privilege to interview one of the greatest leaders of our time, Francis Hesselbein, former CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. Frances defines leadership as a matter of how to be, not how to do, saying, “We have spent half of our lives learning how to do, and teaching other people how to do. But we know in the end it is the quality and character of the leader that determines the performance—the results." My January article offers sixteen ways to elevate your leadership, with the emphasis on who you need to “BE” in order to achieve these simple but often neglected “to-dos.”

Stop Holiday Drama

We always have the opportunity to create anew if we stop trying to change others and simply work on ourselves. We can always set a boundary, ask for what we want, give a little slack, or choose how much time to spend with someone. We have the power to speak truth kindly and let other people's emotional reactions belong to them instead of hiding who we are to protect them.

Leadership Lesson: What Resistance Teaches You

You’ve heard the saying that most of us could be successful if we could just get out of our own way. As a leader you certainly see this truth over and over when you see an employee or colleague struggle and you try to help, but they resist your advice, or coaching.

The biggest challenge for a caring leader is coaching others out of resistance. The other person, (the one you lead) has some sort of reoccurring problem that no matter what advice, help or insights you share is rejected over and over again. Yet this person continues to come to you with the problem—recanting various versions of why things won’t work, what everyone else is doing wrong and why they have no choices in the matter. (BTW: this pattern often appears in friendships as well.)

Time to Leave the Workshop!

Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone would just stop their drama? If it wasn’t for county government, your boss, and your employees things would just sail along, right?

But… is it really your boss? Is it really county government? Is it really your employees?

Why Leaders Fail to Ask for Help

When you find yourself dealing with emergencies on a regular basis, surprised by unexpected drama and drowning in a sea of overwhelm look for a common thread: the failure to ask for help.

In my consulting work I’m seeing a cultural trend where people pretend things are OK, when in reality the surprises continue to disrupt productivity, and turnover becomes the hidden leak in the boat.

There are several underlying reasons new and even seasoned leaders do not ask for help. This article explores these reasons and offers practical tips to help build a culture of collaboration and support.

The Power of Words: How to Step into a New Truth

If you want to step into a new truth, you must start talking about yourself differently. I recommend The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz to help you create a new truth. Ruiz says that if you want to experience heaven on earth you must learn to keep the first agreement: Be impeccable with your word. Ruiz says that the first agreement is actually the most important of the four agreements and the most difficult to keep.