26 Apr
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Always Be An Owner . . . Even When You’re an Employee

Owners display passion and make positive differences

Last week we started talking about “what do leaders really want from their staff”, and came to the conclusion that they want their staff members to act like owners.

Now we want to take it to the next level and link the 5 P’s of Leadership with the 5 P’s of Ownership.

As a reminder, they are:

  • Passion
  • People
  • Plans
  • Persistence
  • Profit

Today the topic is PASSION.  This is the P that provides a sense of purpose and drives all direction.

Do you think loving what you do impacts your ability to act more like an owner?  Too often people are in jobs, and equate that with a paycheck, versus nurturing a career, where growth, opportunity and a sense of accomplishment is felt.

Have you ever been in a meeting where the leader lacks passion and you’re uncertain as to what their purpose is? We have! The dispassionate leader comes across as performing a routine task, perhaps seems a bit disinterested, and appears like they don’t really want to be there.

This impacts all participants.  When attendees are not engaged they “zone out” and look for other tasks to complete.  We’ve observed emails been done during meetings, and even when noticed by the leader, nothing was said.

Is this because they lacked passion? What if multiple leaders in an organization lacked passion? Is time being wasted? Are results weaker than expected?

Let’s face it; we’ve all lacked passion at one time or another. They key is to recognize when and why this is occurring.  Are we tired, frustrated, overwhelmed, more focused on personal issues, or perhaps unhappy in our current role?

If you’re experiencing low levels of passion, ask yourself “why”.  Next, assess how you plan to address it, and if you’re open to change.

If you want help resolving these questions, contact us.

On the larger scale, if our culture permits passion to be low, what are the ramifications?  We’ve seen it where an entire organization became transactional and uninspired, compared to being creative and transformational.

Are we as the leader of such teams willing to be open? Receive feedback? Change and lead others through change?

If you wish to discuss how to achieve greater results for yourself, your team, and your organization, click here.

We welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions!

23 Apr
PeopleTek Coaching Blog

PeopleTek Partners with E-Coach Associates

PeopleTek is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with E-Coach Associates, a leader in online coaching solutions for individuals and organizations.

We will soon offer a new set of on-line coaching tools specifically designed to give you additional ways to pursue and achieve workplace performance excellence.

These new on-line products — tailored for our PeopleTek customers — provide a confidential and highly effective way to get immediate answers to frequently asked questions about workplace issues and challenges.

Because these tools are technology based and always available, using them is easy and convenient, with their usage fitting anyone’s schedule.

As you become more familiar with these new online offerings, we are confident that you will share our enthusiasm for this partnership, and recognize the value provided.

Please watch for more details in upcoming communications.

19 Apr
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Lead As If You Own It!

Consider yourself an owner; utilize your experience and commitment to make positive differences.

I was jogging the other day and asked myself “what do leaders really want from their staff?”

My answer was: leaders want their staff to handle issues, make informed decisions, be customer sensitive, be great managers, plan, deal with delays, resolve problems, sell more and more, reduce expenses, be a team player, create growth for the company, plus hundreds of other things, all while staying out of their hair. (And, more importantly, keeping others out of their hair!)

Lead Like an Owner

It boils down to one concept; they want us to perform and act like OWNERS! This hit me hard because after working with leaders, teams and organizations for over 15 years, it makes total sense that leaders don’t want to be hand holders or be involved in everything their team does. This means that leaders must lead, coach, and train their staff to be effective and clearly understand their roles, responsibilities, and expectations, and be empowered.

To lead like an owner means taking full responsibility and being accountable for all that happens. Leaders that are owners know their brand, know how to use and promote the brand, understand how to relate to others, and how to be a team player. They understand sales and how to grow their business; they understand customers and how to interact with them. They look at the company as if it was their own, and remove the “monkeys” from the true owners’ back. They eliminate waste because it impacts money in their pockets (at least they feel it does). They manage expenses like it is their own money. They deal with customer complaints and treat them as royalty because they know how important customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention are.

For this reason, we are starting the next series of leadership tips to focus on what it takes to:

  • Be an owner
  • Deliver as an owner
  • Be rewarded like an owner

We will need real life examples so I would be very pleased to reach out and speak to anyone directly who has examples of where they’ve witnessed this “ownership” type of behavior, and why and how it helped with performance and results.

What type of workplace ownership behaviors have you observed?

12 Apr
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Top Causes for Attrition

“At least 75% of the reasons for voluntary turnover can be influenced by managers”.
—Gallup’s James K. Harter

The lack of strong leadership skills contributes significantly to attrition. Employee satisfaction levels become low, performance suffers, absenteeism is high, and the inspiration and motivation to be an achiever and obtain results becomes close to non-existent.

A Gallup poll discovered that poorly managed groups were 50 percent less productive than those with strong and respected leaders, and that profits were reduced by 44 percent.

Poor Leadership Is #1 . . .  

Many people think money is the key driver for job retention. Certainly money is a factor, but management skills, growth opportunity, and recognition for a job well done have been found to be more important.  Have you ever heard “people quit their leaders, not their jobs”?

Attrition research by authors Bud Haney and Jim Sirbasku (40 Strategies for Winning in Business) found the following:

  • 30% were unhappy with management and the way they managed
  • 25% felt they got no recognition for good work
  • 20% complained of limited opportunities for advancement
  • 15% cited inadequate salary and benefits
  • 5% were bored with the job.
  • 5% cited other reasons (retirement, career change, sabbatical, and travel)

We’ve been told that employees want bosses that:

  • Appreciate them as an individual and as a professional
  • Want to help them grow and succeed
  • Provide consistent and meaningful feedback
  • Reward and recognize results
  • Can be trusted
  • Are authentic
  • Listen
  • Invest in employee development

Does your leadership team satisfy the “wants” of your staff? What areas could be improved upon?

Investing in your leadership team is an attrition counter-measure and a sound investment!

05 Apr
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Adapting To Challenges

The number one action leaders should take to restore confidence in 2012 is to be open and honest about the nature and scale of the challenges ahead.
–Ketchum Leadership Communication

Journalist Fareed Zakaria wrote the book The Post-American World.  One area of concern that was addressed was the belief that organizations are not adapting well to emerging challenges. (This is only one of many themes but one we feel readily applies to leadership skills and styles).

Zakaria supplied the following guidelines for success:

Choose
Choose priorities rather than trying to have it all

Our comment:
Have clear goals, ensure all behaviors and tasks support those goals, and understand you can’t be everything to everyone.

Build broad rules, not narrow interests
Recommit to international institutions and mechanisms

Our comment:
Set goals and standards, and then let your people excel – they don’t need (or want) to be told HOW to do something, but they do need clear expectations and the desired outcome. Also, whenever possible, practice the old maxim of “Think globally; act locally”

Be Bismarck, not Britain
Maintain excellent relations with everyone, rather than offset and balance emerging powers

Our comment:
Build relationships, address differences in a healthy way, listen, and take more time to think of what “could” be done differently. Make an effort to relate and communicate to others in their terms and style. Not all relationships have a positive impact on your goals, but all relationships bring a learning opportunity.

Order à la carte
Address problems through a variety of different structures (e.g. sometimes UN, sometimes NATO, sometimes OAS)

Our comment:
Understand the needs and goals of others. What are their strengths? How do they best add value? What end result are you looking for?  Do you have the right resources in place?

Think asymmetrically
Respond to problems (e.g. drug cartels, terrorists, etc.) proportionately and do not respond to bait (i.e. small attacks meant to draw attention)

Our comment:
Expect and plan for conflict, be emotionally intelligent, know your hot buttons, remain controlled.  Think about what could de-rail you, and have a plan in place to address those challenges. Build strategies for win/win, as opposed to win/lose situations.

Legitimacy is power
Legitimacy creates the means to set agendas, define crises, and mobilize support

Our comment:
Leaders are authentic; they build trust, truly listen, communicate openly and consistently, and don’t have hidden agendas.  A complaint that we frequently hear is that leadership lacks integrity. Ensure your integrity and ethics show clearly and unambiguously in ALL circumstances. You can afford to lose a battle/case; you can’t afford to lose the trust of your team.

All professions, all industries, and all positions are faced with challenges. It’s up to us as leaders to help anticipate and respond to them before, or as they occur. We must maintain confidence levels, and communicate honestly about expectations and possible impacts. Things don’t always go as planned, but we can make a positive difference!