29 Oct
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Learn to Say No

We all want to learn and succeed, our pace never slows down, we know we can juggle and accomplish amazing things, and because of this, we’re sometimes guilty of over committing.

So what could we do? We need to learn to say no.

To be truly successful:

  • We need to have balance.
  • We need to set boundaries.
  • We need to have clear priorities.
  • We must never compromise our ability to deliver high-quality work.
  • We must be able to say “no.”

The Consequences For Saying Yes

Saying “no” is difficult for many of us, but this simple word must be incorporated into our vocabulary. We need to understand why it’s difficult for us, and the ramifications for not saying no.

There’s a need to realistically assess if other equally important tasks may be negatively impacted if you say “yes”, and you must consider how many more work hours you’re willing to commit to. (Or how many additional hours you’re willing to be away from our family/personal life).

Learn to Say No

When someone makes a request of your time you can counter-offer: I’d love to support that initiative; can you look at my current workload and help assess what could be reassigned elsewhere or postponed?

If necessary, make sure your boss understands your workload and ask them to help you assign priorities. What falls to the bottom will need to be reassigned, or the level of commitment and due date changed.

If someone wants your time now, learn to say “now is not a good time,” and then respond with a few times that are good. Or say “If it must be now, I can give you 5 minutes,” and then set a date and time for a more in-depth discussion.

Time Mastery

Have a plan in place to handle distractions and interruptions, and to master your time.

1. Know how to prioritize, be willing to re-prioritize, and commit to your decisions
2. Set boundaries based on your priorities and say no to those outside your boundaries
3. Be open and flexible, but realistic
4. Practice your responses!

Be true to yourself and your priorities and don’t compromise quality. Remember that over-using a strength (our desire to achieve), could result in a weakness, and it will likely increase stress levels!

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22 Oct
PeopleTek Coaching Change, Communication, Leadership

Action Learning

We’re pretty sure you’ve heard the quip that learning never stops. What about that there’s a need for ongoing development regardless of your current job or desired career?

Effective and successful leaders (remember, we’re all leaders) adopt the mindset of being committed to continual learning. This better positions them to manage, communicate and lead through change, address problems and issues, make informed and timely decisions, and more strategically influence their team/organization.

Continual and Action Learning

“For an organization to survive, its rate of learning must be at least equal to the rate of change in its external environment.”

–Professor Reg Revans

Professor Reg Revans (1907-2003), was an Olympian, physicist, professor, author, and management consultant who pioneered action learning.

He created a formula: L = P + Q (learning = programmed knowledge + questioning insight)

The scope for action learning is limitless; it could address work load management, technical skills, soft skills, “people” problems, process issues, the handling of difficult situations, or simply being an advocate for enabling and empowering people to learn with, and from, each other.

One of Professor Revans’ beliefs was that the key to improving performance was not exclusive to the thoughts/opinions of ‘experts’, but that practitioners must also have a say. It requires that each team member not only study their own actions, experiences, and behaviors, but also the actions of those they interact with. Action learning frequently includes having a coach who is responsible for promoting and facilitating new learnings, and encourages and helps the team become self-managing.

Once again, we’re circling back to the need for awareness (of self and others); we need to identify and leverage individual and organizational strengths, and we need to address/minimize and develop any gaps that impede progress, profits, products, or services.

Are you committed to action learning? Have strengths and gaps been assessed, and what development needs have you identified for your organization to address prior to year end?

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15 Oct
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

21 Bad Habits

Bad habits – we all have them. What’s key is that we’re aware of them, and make efforts to minimize or eliminate them.

“One of the greatest mistakes of successful people is the assumption ‘I behave this way, and I achieve results. Therefore I must be achieving results because I behave this way.’ This belief is sometimes true but not across the board.”
–Marshall Goldsmith

21 Bad Habits

Marshall Goldsmith, a renowned “Business Thinker” and author, identified the following 21 bad habits that challenge leadership success.

  1. Winning too much: the need to win at all costs and in all situations-when it matters, when it doesn’t, and when it is beside the point.
  2. Adding too much value: the overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion.
  3. Passing judgment: the need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
  4. Making destructive comments: needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty.
  5. Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However”: The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone, “I’m right. You’re wrong.”
  6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.
  7. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
  8. Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work”: The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren’t asked.
  9. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
  10. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to praise and reward.
  11. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.
  12. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
  13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
  14. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
  15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.
  16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
  17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
  18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attach the innocent who are usually trying to help us.
  19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
  20. An excessive need to be “me”: Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are.
  21. Goal obsession: Doggedly pursuing tasks or goals instead of paying attention to relationships or the personal needs of others.

If you’re like us, when you read through the list you either identified with the bad habit, or recognized the behavior in a fellow co-worker, client, or business partner. You can only change you; what bad habit do you no longer want to “own”?

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08 Oct
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Millennials as Leaders

Leadership has evolved over the years and continues to do so. We’ve shared that the dictatorial style is a thing of the past. Effective leadership now focuses on individual and team development, increasing awareness, leveraging strengths, promoting camaraderie, and building trust which ultimately grows the bottom line.

Leadership styles are likely to change again as the “millennials” thrive and assume leadership roles.

Millennials as Leaders

Dan Schawbel, founder of WorkplaceTrends.com shares “Millennials want to help others succeed, which contradicts the stereotype that millennials are narcissistic.” In fact, nearly 50 percent of the millennials surveyed say that want to become leaders so they can “empower others to succeed“, with 5 percent saying that want to be a leader for the money, and 1 percent because of the power the title provides.

Millennials also say they want to do “meaningful” work, and “challenge and inspire others to have a sense of purpose.” Sounds pretty healthy to us!

Below are quotes that inspired some millennials (excerpts from Fortune Oct.1, 2015):

You don’t fail until you stop trying.
–Charles Falzone

Think about your actions.
–Taylor Swift

There are a few people that will change your life forever. Find those people.
–Kayvon Beykpour

Focus on one thing and do that really, really well.
–Sean Aggarwal

Relationships matter.
–Sheryl Sandberg

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.
–Eleanor Roosevelt

Prioritize. Figure out the few key things that are most important in your role for you to have an impact.
–Melanie Whelan

Listen more and talk less.
–Julian Steinberg

Stop trying to please everyone.
–Julia Hartz

Whether you’re a millennial leader, or a more “mature” leader, what leadership quote inspired you? One of ours is “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” -Benjamin Franklin

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01 Oct
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Boss Vs. Leader

Being a boss has evolved over time. Gone are the days of being a “dictator” or micro manager, and having little understanding of how individuals feel, not leveraging individual and team strengths, and putting little if any time and resources into development planning.

The best bosses aren’t bosses – they are leaders.
—Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D.

Differentiators – Boss vs. Leader

Praveen Challa provided us with the following differentiators:

A Boss…                                     A Leader…
Drives employees                         Coaches employees
Depends on authority                 Depends on goodwill
Inspires fear                                  Generates enthusiasm
Says “I”                                           Says “We”
Places blame for breakdowns    Fixes the breakdown
Knows how it’s done                   Shows how it’s done
Uses people                                   Develops people
Takes credit                                   Gives credit
Commands                                    Asks
Says “go”                                        Says “let’s go”

In our interactions with individuals and teams, we’ve had the following thoughts shared about what a great leader is. Some include:

  • Great leaders are great listeners. They listen closely and make others feel that they’ve been heard.
  • Great leaders genuinely care about their staff’s careers and not just about performing tasks. They conduct one-on-one sessions with their staff and provide mentoring and coaching, and review each individual’s progress against development plans.
  • Great leaders understand and appreciate differences and respond to individuals in their preferred style. They accept that everyone is unique and special, and adapt their styles as needed, ultimately strengthening relationships and improving results.
  • Great leaders stretch their people to excellence and provide meaningful feedback.
  • Great leaders are “in the boat“ with you and have compassion for the things you’re experiencing. You can feel their involvement; they make themselves visible and available during difficult times.
  • Great leaders truly feel PEOPLE come first, and their actions and behaviors reflect this. They’re authentic, mean what they say, and deliver on what was committed to.

Are there any behaviors you could change to become a stronger leader?

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