29 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Videos

Work vs Life – Why it’s Importance to Maintain a Balance

Maintaining a balance between work and life is very important. Mike Kublin, of President of PeopleTek and Rebecca Staton-Reinstein of Advantage Leadership discuss the epidemic of work obsession and addiction, and it’s negative impact on productivity, innovation, and creativity. What can we do to be more balanced? How do we encourage more creativity and productivity? These are some of the questions that Mike and Rebecca discuss and answer.

Want more tips? Click here

 

27 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Got EQ?

Do you think leaders must be emotionally intelligent? What about being aware of their impact on others? About how their words and delivery may be interpreted? And, what is our responsibility to expose poor leadership?

Can you imagine a leader in corporate America calling any person a “bimbo” or an “idiot”? How would the staff feel? What would peers think? Would it promote a team atmosphere? How would it play with any partner, vendor partner, or customer? How would the stockholders feel? What could possibly be in a person’s mind to degrade another person?  What and why would a person continue to subject people to slanderous rants and raves and then be congratulated because they speak their mind?

If that is viewed as leadership, and strong leadership at that, we don’t want any part of it. We doubt that there is a company on this planet that would tolerate name calling, or allow this kind of behavior to be proudly tweeted around the globe. If it’s acceptable for one person to act that way, doesn’t it give permission for others to act the same way? Regardless of your title, wealth, and known successes, this behavior is unacceptable. Period.

Our thoughts are that a leadership “must” is to give respect and dignity to everyone. Not because they’ve earned it but because they are people. If someone hurts your feelings is there a better way to handle the situation other than throwing around negative terms like “bimbo” and “idiot”? Is this the type of behavior we want to see in our children, our peers, and in society?

Can you imagine what our environment would be like if our bosses called us (or others), dumb, not smart, or slow? How would we feel? We’ve already seen various people downplay this behavior yet they likely would not tolerate it from a co- worker, a friend, or a family member.

All the work that has been done with leadership development can be thrown out the window if we are to view this kind of behavior as acceptable. We think it needs to be talked about. If we don’t, that implies consent/acceptance and that simply is not the case. We need to hold ourselves and others accountable, and speak up, or we are no better than the person who makes disrespectful statements.

We must give feedback in a healthy, honoring, and respectful manner, and it is up to each of us to treat every person on the planet with the dignity and respect they deserve. We strongly support being true to oneself and being authentic, but we must also be emotionally intelligent.

A great place to start is with our words, and our actions.

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for Getting Along With Peers

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

20 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Conflict and Productivity Costs

Conflict In The Workplace – Have you ever witnessed it, been part of it, or tried to manage others through it? We’re guessing you said yes to all 3!

“For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.”
–Margaret Heffernan

Conflict is positive when differences are discussed in a healthy manner but can be devastating when the conflict occurs with ill intentions.

Studies show that 2.8 hours per week, per U.S. employee, are spent engaging in unhealthy conflict. This is equated to losses of $359 billion in wasted wages. (Calculated at an hourly rate of $17.95 / hour.) In the September issue of SUCCESS magazine, Emma Johnson provides 11 tips to prevent these losses:

  1. Recognize that disputes can’t be avoided. Acquire skills to help manage it.
  2. Step in early. Don’t ignore unproductive differences.
  3. Don’t just tell people to get over it. Be prepared to step in and mediate.
  4. Make each person acknowledges the other. Truly listen to opposing points of view.
  5. Focus on expectations. What exactly are the mutual expectations?
  6. Tell them to come up with the solution. Empower them and don’t pick sides.
  7. Assist them in articulating a plan to resolve their differences. Have joint follow-up sessions.
  8. Skirt instincts to separate the warring bodies. Keeping them apart prevents any chance for an improved relationship.
  9. Unite them in solving a crisis bigger than their argument. Have them work together on a project/initiative.
  10. Invest in personality assessments. They increase awareness, understanding, and communication skills.
  11. Create a process for dealing with conflict. Devise a plan that promptly addresses interpersonal annoyances.

Don’t allow the conflicts in your workplace to impact productivity; instead, use them to inspire creativity, build stronger relationships, and improve the bottom line.

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for Getting Along With Peers

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.
If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

13 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Blog

Top 10 Time Wasters

Do you manage your time, or do events and those you work with/for manage it? How often do you mentally have your day planned out, only to have the day “disappear” with most if not all of your plans set aside?

Stop Wasting Time

Tania Khadder says “Time flies when you’re wasting it” and provides the following list of top time wasters:

  1. Instant Messaging – IMing has a time and place, but in most business situations, a phone call, email, or a face to face meeting may serve you better (and ultimately save you time and improve the likelihood of obtaining desired results).
  2. Over-Reliance on Email – Email is a wonderful tool to get information out quickly to many people. The down side is you can’t be certain the message was read, or that the tone and information were accurately interpreted. Do you send emails to only those that need to take action or receive an update? How many unneeded emails do you get copied on daily?
  3. Meandering Meetings – Some meetings go longer than anticipated and accomplish little. Stick to an agenda, control side bars, highlight meeting accomplishments and document takeaways/next steps. Have you ever left a meeting and wondered why you were there or questioned its purpose?
  4. Short Gaps Between Meetings – Schedule your meetings so that your day is as minimally disrupted as possible. If you have the choice, pick either mornings or afternoons to meet, and leave the other open to deal with daily activities and to work on what’s important to you.
  5. Reacting to Interruptions – We don’t always have the latitude, but if possible, schedule a time in your day to answer phone messages and check email.
  6. Ineffective Multi-Tasking – Multi-tasking can impact quality; we don’t listen well, and we may appear inattentive and disengaged since we aren’t focusing on just one item at time.
  7. Disorganized Workspace – Did you know the perception of a leader lacking organization skills impacts the ability for that leader to be trusted? Enough said.
  8. Personal Communications – Try to limit checking your personal emails, text and phone messages to your break and lunch time only.
  9. Web Surfing “Breaks”– It’s great that many have the opportunity to use a computer at work, but similar to personal communications, limit your personal activity/searches to your break and lunch time (if your company allows it).
  10. Cigarette/Coffee/Snack Breaks – How often do you get up from your desk or leave your office? Every time you do, you lose focus on whatever it is you were doing. Sometimes we need a break to stretch our legs or clear our head, but be cognizant of how many times you allow interruptions to delay what you’re trying to accomplish.

Click here to see the complete article and read Tania’s Khadder’s thoughts.

Your Challenge

Remain focused, identify what’s truly important to you, and have the courage to say “no” to tasks that may be important to others, but prevent you from addressing your priorities and using your time wisely!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for Getting Along With Peers

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

06 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Why People Quit

A few months back we shared Joseph Cueto’s top four reasons why employees leave their jobs:

  1. Reward System
  2. Management
  3. Hiring/Promotions
  4. Too Much Work

This month Dr. Travis Bradberry (co-author of The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book) shares his thoughts as to the top 9 things bosses do that lead to an employee’s exit.

Excerpts include:

  1. They overwork people. Per Stanford research, productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops off so much after 55 hours that you don’t get anything out of working more.
  2. They don’t recognize contributions and reward good work. Managers need to communicate with their people to find out what makes them feel good (for some, it’s a raise; for others, it’s public recognition) and then to reward them for a job well done.
  3. They don’t care about their employees. More than half of people who leave their jobs do so because of their relationship with their boss. Smart companies make certain their managers know how to balance being professional with being human.
  4. They don’t honor their commitments. When you disregard your commitment, you come across as slimy, uncaring, and disrespectful. If the boss doesn’t honor his or her commitments, why should everyone else?
  5. They hire and promote the wrong people. When managers don’t do the hard work of hiring good people, it’s a major de-motivator for those stuck working alongside them. Promoting the wrong people is even worse.
  6. They don’t let people pursue their passions. Studies show that people who are able to pursue their passions at work experience flow, a euphoric state of mind that is five times more productive than the norm.
  7. They fail to develop people’s skills. When you have a talented employee, it’s up to you to keep finding areas in which they can improve to expand their skill set. The most talented employees want feedback.
  8. They fail to engage their creativity. The most talented employees seek to improve everything they touch. Don’t limit them (or you!).
  9. They fail to challenge people intellectually. Great bosses challenge their employees to accomplish things that seem inconceivable at first. They set lofty goals and then do everything in their power to help them succeed.

Dr. Bradberry’s findings include what Mr. Cueto stated, and added: relationships, commitment, passion, skill-sets, creativity, and intellectual challenges.

Which of these are most important to you? Are there others you would add as a requirement for the kind of leader you would like to work for?

Let us know!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTip for Getting Along With Peers

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!