Susan Scott's Blog, page 52

Smart Leadership: Delegate, Prioritize and Simplify

This week’s Friday Resource was originally published by Business News Daily and discusses why it pays to work smarter, not harder, by prioritizing and delegating tasks successfully. 

In the article, Fallon deflates the myth that a leader’s success is measured by how late they stay in the office or how many emails they answer over the weekend. While it is important to work hard and lead by example, it is not healthy to create a culture of workaholics that feel late nights and early mornings in the office are the only way they will be recognized.

“The job of a leader is exactly that: to lead. As a leader, your primary responsibility is to guide and supervise your employees as they get their work done, not to do everything yourself.”

The truly effective leaders know how to work smarter, not harder. A huge part of this is having trust in your coworkers and delegating tasks to them in order to effectively prioritize and manage your time, focusing on responsibilities that are solely yours. A strong leader has no qualms with letting someone else take the credit where it is due because ultimately, it makes their team stronger. A caveat of this approach is having a deep understanding of your colleagues’ strengths and weaknesses in order to set your team up for success.

It is important to remember, the path of least resistance is usually the best option. Finding the shortest, simplest way to accomplish something effectively doesn’t mean you aren’t working hard –
it means you’re working smart.

Read the article

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Get It Right – Don’t Worry About Always Being Right

Reading the news today, I’m sure you can identify many leaders that seem more worried about being right instead of getting it right – for their people, for their organizations, for their purpose. Last week, we launched our new fierce survey results, and I was not surprised that we found more than 71% of professionals surveyed believe neither their companies nor their government acts in their best interest.

Acting in others’ best interests requires deeper understanding of needs and goals. And when you really step back for a moment as an employee and a voter, you should know that it is not possible for your leaders to know everything on their own. They can’t possibly make the best decisions without engaging and learning along the way. That’s why they must focus outward. They shouldn’t focus on “being right”, having the savviest answer, or the most logical argument. They need to focus on the people affected – directly and indirectly – and getting the results needed for them to prosper.

Short-sighted leaders often feel that their job is to bring the most brilliant ideas to the table and validate why they are in the position they are. We see this in the political debates as well. The issue is that while leaders may want to be the stars, it really shouldn’t be about them.

In fact, when I talk with executives about their high potential programs, one of the hardest transitions for new leaders is to measure self-worth by the team’s accomplishments rather than their own. For high performers, it is a huge transition, because they are used to attracting attention and accolades for their results – now they have to lean on their team. Politicians often measure their worth by poll numbers, and perhaps they should measure by their citizens’ accomplishments.

Leaders today must be comfortable not knowing certain things. They must seek information and differing perspectives from all angles of an issue.

Here are three quick reminders to shift to a “getting it right” mentality in a meeting or conversation:

Use “and” instead of “but”. You may have a very different opinion than someone else in the conversation. Instead of using “but” after validating someone’s opinion, use “and”. Example: “Yes I see your view, and I feel differently” instead of “Yes I see your view, but I feel differently.” Hear the difference? “And” is more inclusive.Take deep breaths. If you find yourself feeling triggered, consciously take more breaths. It helps calm you and think about the larger picture. Your ego might creep in if you feel someone is undermining your position. However, this is when it is critical for you to remember your real job is to understand and get curious – not wave your position around.Ask “what else?” This is a Fierce concept I’ve discussed before. In our coaching model, we instruct people to ask “what else” at least 3 times in different parts of the conversation. Each time you ask, you are going deeper into the question. You are exploring, which is what you need to do to further understand.

I know, I know. It’s human nature to want to be right. It feels good. It is validating. And at the end of the day, being a leader who is respected and makes the best possible decision feels even better than always being right.

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Identify Your Top Time Takers

Most leaders I talk with believe that there are not enough hours in the day. Oftentimes, they talk about a disliked portion of their job and then proceed to delegate it to someone on their team. I have talked about that activity of dele-dumping before. This is not how to approach delegation. It shouldn’t feel like being “dumped on”. And it shouldn’t create a negative connotation with something that can help grow an employee.

Having a responsibility delegated to a team member should feel like a privilege. It is development. So how do you avoid the dreaded dump? You must look more closely at what’s on your plate. Oftentimes delegation is approached with the notion that there are items on your plate that you know are either not your passion or clearly not what you are best at. The complication is that responsibilities that you are passionate about and competent with may still need to be given to someone else.

This week’s tip is to identify your top “Time Takers”. The top Time Takers must have these characteristics: 1. Something you enjoy doing 2. Something you are good at 3. Something that is important to your organization.

This activity is way harder than just identifying items that you are willing to let go. These items could be some of your favorite pieces of your job. However, you must have faith that by giving them to someone else, it will open your time up for other gratifying elements of your job to come to light. And frankly, if you don’t have enough time as it is, you may be able to breathe a little more. Give creative energy and time where you are needed.

Strong delegation is at the core of companies that have strong employee engagement, change management, and performance management. This is not a soft skill. Master this, and you will stand out among your peers.

At the end of the day, your ability to do your job well is directly correlated with how much time and energy you can give to the most important items that only you can do.

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7 Reasons It Always Pays to Celebrate Small Victories

This week’s Friday Resource was originally published by Inc.com and discusses why it pays to celebrate your company’s small victories.

Fierce celebrated its 15 year anniversary this past Monday. While it is important for any company to celebrate big milestones like this – it is also important to celebrate the little victories that take place throughout the year.

In the article, Mochari emphasizes that celebrating these smaller victories is a tool that can be leveraged to keep your team focused and motivated during the tough times. Even when a team does not hit their desired goal or projected outcome, celebrate what worked well. Don’t be fooled by the word “small” – there are some serious upsides to this approach. Through spontaneous team celebrations a company increases its desirability to attract top talent via a healthy work-life balance, it cuts down on office confrontations and provides constant positive reinforcement for all the hard work your employees put in every day.

Read the article

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New Fierce Survey Reveals Lack of Trust in Politics & Companies

Today we released survey findings that reveal people’s sentiments towards leaders in both business and politics. Given that we are in the middle of a contentious, unpredictable election cycle, our goal was to have a better understanding of what people are looking for in political leaders. We also wondered if there would be any difference with desired attributes for politicians compared to leaders in the corporate world. Our nationwide survey of several hundred professionals identifies how their views on leadership compare in the business and political worlds.

In what I deem a “lack of trust”, we found that more than 71% of professionals believe neither U.S. Corporations nor the U.S. Government acts in the best interest of voters and employees. This is not particularly surprising given the climate and dialogue surrounding politicians and corporate America.

However, when presented with a variety of characteristics, 51% of respondents ranked “communicator” as the most important quality for business leaders and 56.18% percent ranked it as the most important quality for politicians. Along with strong communication skills, open-mindedness, respectfulness and transparency all ranked in the top five qualities desired in a leader for both political and business positions.

“What we found is that people want the same qualities in their leaders, regardless of the context. Whether it’s heading a large corporation or the country, leaders need the same traits to be successful,” said Susan Scott, founder and CEO of Fierce.

To read more about our findings, check out the release.

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Celebrate Fierce’s 15th Anniversary with Us Today

Fifteen years ago today, Fierce, Inc. was born. It has been an amazing journey. As Susan Scott, Fierce founder & CEO wrote, “Life is curly, don’t try to straighten it out.” Trust me, we enjoy each twist, twirl, and turn.

I have been with Fierce for almost seven years. I have witnessed how the work changes lives. And I am so grateful that it has changed mine. It has opened my mind and heart to navigate through life more thoughtfully. More courageously. Fierce has given me the skill to lean in and have the conversations that are central to happiness, success, and much more.

So on this beautiful celebration, I want to take the time to thank the people who have been central to Fierce’s success. We would not be here without you.

Thank you to our amazing Fiercelings. Our current employees who are dedicated to making our work possible. You are cherished, and Fierce couldn’t be where it is today without you. To our former employees, you will always be cherished by us. We appreciate your legacies.

Thank you to our brilliant clients. You continue to amaze us with what you achieve. Your successes and stories create so much pride and joy for us. And we learn so much from you. How did we ever get so lucky?!

Thank you to our fabulous Fierce facilitators around the world.  You bring fierce to life. You are the ones who transform the organizations through your hard work and dedication. Our job is to set you up for success, and you are the ones who bring it home. You are creating the fierce wave in this world.

Thank you to our global partners. You share fierce in 11 different languages around the globe. You are critical in achieving our vision of bettering the world one conversation at a time. You give your hearts and souls to this work, and we are forever grateful!

Thank you to our vendors. We consider you an extension of our team. You continue to challenge us. You bring new perspectives to the table. You ask great questions. You are critical in helping us achieve our goals as an organization.

Thank you to the thousands of Fierce champions who write us daily. You inspire us every day. You share your deepest worries and greatest triumphs. You share the failures, and the stories of how you got up and tried again. Please keep your stories coming. We love them.

THANK YOU!

I recognize that this blog is a lovefest to our company. So please, for anyone who has been touched by Fierce Conversations, Susan Scott, or our organization, share your thoughts. We would love to hear about your favorite memory with Fierce.

We are thankful that each of you are part of our tribe. Cheers to the fierce years ahead!

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Friday Resource: It’s Time to Be the REAL You at Work

This week’s Friday Resource was originally published by The Washington Post and explores the benefits of being the “real” you at work.

In the article, Bucklan explains the benefits of ditching the “work persona” many people work years to cultivate. She asserts that although people take on this professional persona to enhance their careers, in the long run it damages it more than it helps.

“When you feel comfortable in your own skin, you make stronger choices — choices your “professional” self might be afraid to make.”

Bucklan explains six easy steps you can take to unleash the real work you. A few of these tips include speaking your mind, staying clear of the water cooler gossip and making yourself vulnerable. Work can be difficult enough when being your true authentic self – don’t make it harder by putting up a façade.

Be you. Be fierce.

Read the article

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Employee Recognition: 3 Simple Conversation Tips

We live in a time where everyone is visible more than ever before — now we can even see how far our reach extends with profile views, shares, tweets, and “likes.” In a world where every failure, frustration, and triumph is publicly recognized online, an unexpected yet poignant result is that conversely, many of us feel less “seen,” both in the workplace, and at home. According to a 2011 Workforce Mood Tracker Survey, 69 percent of employees would work harder if they were recognized more often in the workplace. Recognition is inspiring and if we had more of it, we’d probably work harder with our families and friends as well.

We must make recognition less complicated and more accessible. When you peel it all back, conversations are the workhorses of every organization….and great leader. Conversation is an accessible tool that can continually be honed and used to move closer or further from where the results need to be.

Instead of worrying about the latest and greatest recognition programs, the below tips are consistently used by top leaders. The three act as simple reminders to focus on every day to build more recognition into the workplace.

Stay up to date. Stop delaying, avoiding, postponing, or rescheduling feedback. In fact, don’t let more than 48 hours go by when an issue arises. Avoiding a difficult conversation about performance will only result in a laundry list of complaints, causing the recipient to want to make a run for the exit. Make things easier and much more productive by addressing issues as they arise in a short and sweet manner, free of any emotional load. Rule of thumb: if a manager has more than three positive or negative examples of employee behavior to communicate, this conversation is long overdue and preparation is very important for success.Praise publicly, coach privately. Frequent and sincere praise creates high-functioning work environments and enriches relationships. Be generous and specific with praise, but don’t get overly gushy or take up too much time. Acknowledgement should include: the observable behavior, where it took place, when it took place, and most importantly, what changed or was produced for the better. If the issue is negative, pull the employee aside. Keep employees’ feelings in mind – if the conversation could reflect poorly on the work or their reputation, discuss the issue in private.Ask for their perspective. One of the best ways to acknowledge employees’ efforts is to turn the tables and ask for their feedback on a high-stakes decision. More than anything, employees – especially Millennials – want to play an active role in their organization. Giving them an opportunity to participate at a deeper level not only improves decisions, but also expresses appreciation for the employees’ dedication and commitment to the company. Instead of looking at this investment as a time suck, think about it as a way to further deposit emotional capital into the relationship. Employees who feel their opinions matter will give the organization both their heads and their hearts.

Appreciating employees is one of the simplest, most cost-effective ways to enrich relationships and build a positive workplace culture. Recognition can motivate and inspire employees, leading to higher retention rates, greater job satisfaction, and better bottom lines.

We all truly crave being recognized. And that can’t always be quantified by number of connections, likes, or recommendations. It still needs to come from being authentic and sharing the value you have with another – human to human.

First published on Human Capital Institute Blog on May 26, 2016

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Don’t Fake It

Fake it until you make it. We have all heard this phrase before. This is an appropriate notion when you are letting self-doubt or the imposter syndrome creep in. However, it is not great to fake it when it comes to who you are in situations – whether at work or at home.

I was recently interviewed by Business News Daily about getting “personal” through the interview process. Any time we are in new situations, whether given new challenges or working with new people, there is an inclination to be who someone else wants you to be. The article dives into how the modern workplace has relaxed a bit from the “strictly business” environment of decades past, and the lines between work and play have blurred as the standard 9-to-5 workday becomes less common. It can be challenging to find how to bring your “blended” work-life self into the workplace.

It’s worth being true to yourself though. One study found that the greater employees’ feelings of authenticity are, the greater their job satisfaction, engagement, and self-reported performance. We suggest, then, that the crucial point is finding a balance so that we can be true to ourselves while flourishing and finding success within the company and life.

Given that, this week’s tip is to be yourself in situations that you may act differently. Notice the situations that you are inclined to “fake it” or not be real. Is it at home? With your family? With your friends? At work? With certain team members? During certain projects?

Pay attention and tune in. A lot is at stake.

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Friday Resource: A Great Leader Is a Great Executor

This week’s Friday Resource was originally published by the NY Times and features an interview with Adena Friedman, President and Chief Operating Officer at NASDAQ, and explores what it takes to be a great leader.

In the article, Friedman dishes out some key tips that have helped her become a successful business woman and leader. Starting as an intern for NASDAQ, Friedman asserts that complacency is the enemy of all great companies – and leaders. “Don’t sit in your office and simply do what you’re told. Be intellectually curious, ask questions, walk around; try to learn as much about the business as you can.”

This approach served her well as she rapidly moved up the ranks while still maintaining a healthy work-life balance with her three children. She was able to accomplish this through effective communication and the advent of modern technology. Looking at data and being able to quantify and prioritize tasks allowed her to own her position while working part-time during her children’s early years.

For Friedman, what separates the good leaders from the great ones is execution. She has spent her entire career concentrated on executing at a high level and controlling what she can.

“A great leader focuses not only on strategy and vision but also on making sure the organization is executing as well as it possibly can and doing it in a way everyone wants to come along and is excited about the journey. It’s easy to say but really hard to do.”

Read the article

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