24 Mar
PeopleTek Coaching Communication, Leadership

Quiz – Part 2 – Your Leadership Style

Last week we featured part 1 of a quiz that helps with the discovery of your leadership style. It was called “Lead Yourself.” This week the quiz topic is “Lead Others.”

Writer/author John Addison from Success Magazine published this quiz which is broken down into 3 parts: Lead Yourself, Lead Others, Lead From The Inside Out.

First Lead Yourself, Then Lead Others

This is a topic PeopleTek has been sharing for years, and one of the reasons we found the quiz especially interesting. To be a highly effective leader you must first increase your “self” awareness levels, which positions you to better understand and relate to the styles of others. This brings us to how you Lead Others.

Quiz – Part 2– Lead Others

How do you shine your light on others?

  1. I work every job in our company, so I’m sure to understand what people need and want.
  2. I try to let people know I appreciate their hard work, and I hand out yearly awards.
  3. I give people the autonomy and trust they need to do their jobs without micro-managing, which gives them a sense of ownership and pride.
  4. I spend time daily talking with my team one on one, and I give out a lot of praise around the office.

How do you build new leaders?

  1. As I work on projects with people, I help develop their unique skills and talents.
  2. I talk to people about their goals regularly and help them make a plan of action.
  3. I entrust people with their own teams, so they can learn leadership skills firsthand.
  4. I point out people’s unique strengths and build their self-confidence by giving them challenges I know they can meet.

During a difficult time, how do people know they can count on you?

  1. I don’t go home until everyone goes home.
  2. I ask for help and do the best I can with the resources at hand.
  3. I work on top-level needs and trust that others take care of their responsibilities.
  4. I communicate with everyone regularly, so they know where we stand and how they can help.

Mr. Addison explains that there are 4 leadership styles:

  1. The Hands-On Leader
  2. The Developing Leader
  3. The Lone Wolf Leader
  4. The Inspirational Leader

If your answers were mostly “1”, you’re likely a Hands On Leader.
If your answers were mostly “2”, you’re likely a Developing Leader.
If your answers were mostly “3”, you’re likely a Lone Wolf Leader.
If your answers were mostly “4”, you’re likely an Inspirational Leader.

Here’s an excerpt of Addison’s style definitions:

  1. The Hands-On Leader – Humble, hard-working, willing to be a member of the team
  2. The Developing Leader – Genuinely concerned for others, a willingness to learn
  3. The Lone Wolf Leader – Great delegator, strategist, visionary; may struggle with people skills
  4. The Inspirational Leader – A good communicator, makes people feel good, creates a friendly culture

*Note: The complete style definitions may be found in Success Magazine – April 2016.

How did your style compare to last week’s? Are you an A, B, C, or D leader? As a reminder, we’re likely to use all styles, but we generally have a preference. All styles have strengths, and when over-used, or used when another style could obtain better results, can become a weakness. Stay tuned for part 3 next week!

How Does Your Workplace Compare?

We want to invite you to take a short survey that looks at some important aspects of your workplace. We are gathering responses from Journey graduates and others so that we may paint a better picture of the workplace today. Here at PeopleTek we are interested in using the data to improve our curriculum and our collective workplace performance!

Please join us in this research. We will provide you with your own individual feedback, which you can use as you continue your individual leadership journey.

Take the Survey

17 Mar
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Quiz – Part 1 – Your Leadership Style

First Lead Yourself, Then Lead Others

This something we’ve been sharing for years. To be a highly effective leader you need to increase your awareness levels by:

  • Fully understanding your styles, preferences, and behaviors
  • Developing the skills required positioning you to utilize alternative styles that would better fit the situation/person

Writer/author John Addison from Success Magazine published a leadership quiz that is broken into 3 parts: Lead Yourself, Lead Others, Lead From The Inside Out. Because of the categories, it obviously caught our eye and we wanted to share it.

Part 1 – Lead Yourself

How do your values impact your work?

  1. I’m too busy working to sit around thinking about my values
  2. I try to stick to my values but I find myself backing down occasionally to avoid conflict or get ahead professionally
  3. I’m contradicting my values regularly, but I believe the rewards are worth it
  4. I rarely, if ever, do something I feel contradicts my values. I’d rather risk losing my career than be someone I’m not

What are some of your main strengths?

  1. I’m a team player with a strong work ethic and a willingness to go the extra mile
  2. I’m skilled in my industry, willing to learn and open to new ideas
  3. I’m a driven person with the ability to work alone and solve problems quickly
  4. I’m a friendly person who is creative and compassionate    

What part of your work motivates you?

  1. I get great satisfaction from working shoulder to shoulder with my team and meeting a goal together
  2. My motivation seems to shift depending on what I’m working on and whom I’m working with
  3. I want to fulfill my leadership potential and move up in my field as quickly as possible
  4. I feel it’s my obligation to help others become their best selves and live their best lives

Mr. Addison explains that there are 4 leadership styles:

  1. The Hands-On Leader
  2. The Developing Leader
  3. The Lone Wolf Leader
  4. The Inspirational Leader

If your answers are mostly “1”, you’re likely a Hands On Leader.
If your answers are mostly “2”, you’re likely a Developing Leader.
If your answers are mostly “3”, you’re likely a Lone Wolf Leader.
If your answers are mostly “4”, you’re likely an Inspirational Leader.

Here’s an excerpt of his style definitions:

  1. The Hands-On Leader – Humble, hard-working, willing to be a member of the team
  2. The Developing Leader – Genuinely concerned for others, a willingness to learn
  3. The Lone Wolf Leader – Great delegator, strategist, visionary; may struggle with people skills
  4. The Inspirational Leader – A good communicator, make people feel good, create a friendly culture

*Note: The complete style definitions may be found in Success Magazine – April 2016.

Remember, we’re likely to use all styles, but we generally have a preference. All styles have strengths, and all styles, when over-used, or used when another style could obtain better results, can become a weakness. Stay tuned for part 2 next week!

How Does Your Workplace Compare?

We want to invite you to take a short survey that looks at some important aspects of your workplace. We are gathering responses from Journey graduates and others so that we may paint a better picture of the workplace today. Here at PeopleTek, we are interested in using the data to improve our curriculum and our collective workplace performance!

Please join us in this research. We will provide you with your own individual feedback, which you can use as you continue your individual leadership journey.

Take the Survey

11 Mar
photo of empty desk representing time lost to meaningless meetings
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Meaningless Meetings?

How much of your day is spent attending meaningless meetings? What percentage of them would you say were a good use of your, and the other attendees’ time? We won’t go through Robert’s Rules of Order as most of you are familiar with them, but here are a few suggestions:

  • Have an agenda, a clear purpose, and identify desired outcomes
  • Determine if attendees should be limited to your team or if a guest speaker or business partner could help you better meet your objective
  • When possible, provide advance notice for invited attendees (preferably 1-2 months as schedules fill up quickly).
  • Keep a “parking lot” log of issues or items that require follow-up with dates and the “owner” of the task.
  • Don’t hold a meeting if an email or phone call will suffice

When unnecessary meetings are held:

We destroy creativity, initiative, optimism. We extinguish the fire that fuels exceptional work.
–Achim Nowak, author/trainer

Achim Nowak says 80% of all meetings are unnecessary and that they are “spirit killing” and the attendees “bad meeting victims.” He says, often attendees want to speak up about the meeting not being meaningful, but generally fail to do so because they:

  • Don’t want to be the one who always rescues the team
  • Don’t feel safe speaking up
  • Don’t want to be attacked for their opinion
  • Don’t want to create tension in the group
  • Are not the meeting leader
  • Feel it is futile to speak up

It takes courage!

Another meeting idea is to take your leadership team off-site for an afternoon, a day, or even longer as needed. It’s a great way to strategize, encourage creativity, strengthen team relationships, and re-energize your team with reduced distractions and interruptions.

There have been meetings of only a moment which have left impressions for life.
–J. B. Miller

Wouldn’t it be great if all meetings (and conference calls too!) left lasting and favorable impressions?

Announcements

Leadership Journey I

  • Session 1 – in Phoenix – kicks off April 14
  • Session 1 – virtual – kicks off April 21

Journey II – Moving Beyond The Barriers

  • Session 1 – in Phoenix – kicks off April 14

Enroll Today

How Does Your Workplace Compare?

We want to invite you to take a short survey that looks at some important aspects of your workplace. We are gathering responses from Journey graduates and others so that we may paint a better picture of the workplace today. Here at PeopleTek we are interested in using the data to improve our curriculum and our collective workplace performance!

Please join us in this research. We will provide you with your own individual feedback, which you can use as you continue your individual leadership journey. Click “Take the Survey” below to get started!

Take the Survey

03 Mar
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership, Team

Inspire and Build Your Team

Feeling that you belong, that you are listened to, and that you add value enables individuals to thrive and teams and organizations to succeed.

Pat Summit, a highly successful female basketball coach, an author, and a former motivational speaker provided the following tips about leadership. (Extracted from Reaching For The Summit; SUCCESS. In Business. In Life. Summer 2006)

“A sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have.”
– Pat Summit

  1. Coaches/leaders require 2 major skills.
    • The ability to convey practical information in a clear and concise way that enables others to learn quickly.
    • The knack of motivating your team to put in the necessary effort to achieve success.
  1. For successful motivation, you need to transmit your passion, enthusiasm, and attitude. “It’s the ability to see in other people more than they see in themselves, and to bring it out of them.”
  1. Learn about the backgrounds and families of your team members. Discover what precisely makes them tick. This will help you understand what motivates them, and fosters an openness that may pinpoint reasons for under performance.
  1. Be approachable and demonstrate empathy. This is needed in order for your team to better listen, learn and develop. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.
  1. Transfer responsibility. Personal responsibility and accountability increase enthusiasm, drive, and lead to more effective performance.  Act as a guide and mentor your team but remember you can’t do the job for them.
  1. Surround yourself with bright, talented people with creative minds that will challenge you.   Listen closely to their ideas and methods; they’re likely to provide options you have not explored yourself.
  1. Evaluate yourself before you evaluate others. It’s possible you as a manager failed; be honest about what you could have done better.

How many of these seven tips do you practice consistently? Which two would you and your team benefit from if they became a daily activity?

Something new!

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QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – develop yourself!

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.

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18 Feb
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Improving Accountability

Holding ourselves and others accountable is not a new topic in the workplace, or at home for that matter, and is often a struggle for leaders.

Henry J. Evans, author of Winning With Accountability says:

  • Accountability is about high performance and not fear or stress.
  • It’s about holding yourself (and others) to a standard that improves performance.
  • When holding someone accountable we must recognize and respect the power of intention (this allows all staff to hold one another accountable regardless of title or level)
  • Continually ask “How am I doing”?
  • Set crystal clear expectations.
  • When things don’t go as planned, ask yourself:
    • Where did I fail to clearly communicate?
    • Who did I forget to include in the process?
    • What solution can I provide?
    • What can I do to obtain more information to make a sound decision?
    • What could have I done better or differently to improve the results?

“A culture of accountability makes a good organization great and a great organization unstoppable”.
–Henry J. Evans

Sometimes we just get stuck, sometimes we make excuses, and sometimes we fall into an “if only” mode where we justify our lack of action by saying things would be different “if only…”

So, what else can we do? John G. Miller (author of QBQ!) suggests answering the following questions:

  1. What can I do today to move forward?
  2. How can I change me?
  3. What can I do to be my best?
  4. How can I solve this problem?
  5. What can I do to let go of what I cannot change?

Do any of these questions resonate for you or perhaps could be asked of a team member? What are you doing to make your organization unstoppable?

Something new! Subscribe to PeopleTek’s free leadership videos.

Announcements

Journey II – Moving Beyond The Barriers!

  • Session 1 – in Pheonix – April 14th

Leadership Journey I

  • Session 1 – Virtual – March 24
  • Session 1 – in Phoenix – April 14

Enroll Today

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Want to improve your problem solving skills?

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.

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

11 Feb
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

What Do You Want In a Leader?

If you had the opportunity to pick a leader to work for, what would you base your decision on? Do you have a set of criteria that you view as critical leadership skills? What about a list of behaviors a leader must NOT possess?

Remember, teamwork begins by building trust…
–Patrick Lencioni

We conducted a very informal poll and asked: Besides trust, what’s another behavior/trait you want your leader to possess?

Even though we said “besides trust,” 30% of the respondents provided “trust” or “honesty” as their #1 want.

Think about your work relationships. How many of those relationships have trust as its foundation? How would your business partners/peers/direct reports respond if asked if they trusted you?

Here are the other behaviors/traits that were provided:

  • Integrity
  • Kindness
  • Humility
  • Intelligence
  • Personable
  • Gracious
  • Extraordinary
  • Approachable

Here are a couple of comments they provided:

True leaders know that leadership is not power, but rather a responsibility
Leaders don’t lie, they provide the facts not B.S.

After reviewing the list and comments, what’s missing?
Let us know what should be added to the list of desired leadership traits and behaviors.

Something new! To subscribe to PeopleTek’s free leadership videos, click here.

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Want to improve teamwork?

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!

28 Jan
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Encourage and Innovate

Innovation. What does that mean to you? Do you actively seek (and solicit) ideas for enhancing products, services, and processes? Do you encourage collaboration and seek input from those that are impacted by the services/products you provide? What about those involved in the process?

“Innovation is anything but business as usual.”
–Anonymous

Innovation is considered the driver for growth and change. In order for this to happen, employees (of all levels) must be encouraged to generate ideas. One common obstacle is that employees don’t feel listened to and therefore do not speak up.

A McKinsey study found that more than 70% of senior executives say that innovation will be at least one of the top three drivers of growth for their companies in the next three to five years. It also found that 84% of senior executives said that people and corporate culture are the most important drivers of innovation.

Why? A culture built on trust encourages interactions. The “fear factor” for making suggestions that may possibly not net favorable results will be lessened, and it will not inhibit future ideas from being provided.

Add innovation as an agenda item at your staff meetings. Restate your strategic objectives and build in time for brainstorming. Gather ideas, think about trends, list what your competitors do that you don’t, identify processes that seem obsolete, and also consider how technology helps/hurts.

Ask your team to think in terms of what could change. Ask them how your products, services, and/or processes could be improved upon, and most importantly, listen and acknowledge when contributions are made.

It’s helpful to have a “champion” within your organization. Someone that can help answer questions when ideas are suggested. They must have a thorough understanding of the organization’s strategic business objectives, know who the “right” people are to build on ideas, and also assess the associated benefits and costs.

Encourage, innovate, and wishing you “anything but business as usual”!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

 

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Getting Everyone On-board Click to read how

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!

14 Jan
PeopleTek Coaching Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership

Difficult Conversations

Conducting a difficult conversation is quite frankly, difficult. As a result, we frequently let it fall to the bottom of our “to do” list, which only makes the situation worse (and allows our own anxiety to grow!).

Studies show that avoiding these conversations impacts productivity, morale, and retention rates, yet little is done it build the skills needed that help.

Our preferred styles and behaviors impact our skill level, but we’ve found that regardless of the leadership style, almost everyone struggles with this.

As you become a more senior leader, you spend more time having difficult conversations.
–Sheila Heen

Here are some tips that will help:

  • Avoid conducting the conversation in the midst of emotions and conflict.
  • Stay focused and identify your objective.
    • What do you want to accomplish as a result of your conversation?
    • How do you want the relationship to proceed?

Describe the behavior/situation objectively.

  • Use concrete terms and be specific about the issue you’re addressing.
  • Focus on the specific behavior, not the personality of the person.
  • Include the specific time(s), place, and frequency of the behavior.

Share the impacts of the issue (on products, services, co-workers).

  • Remain calm and deliver your message in a healthy, respectful manner.
  • Are consequences appropriate?

Expect and plan for objections/detours/obstacles.

  • Don’t get off track; restate your desired goal and expectations

Communicating in the midst of emotions and conflict requires effort.

  • Stay focused and avoid becoming combative (we know how difficult that can be!); actively listen, and respond to what is being communicated.

After you conduct your conversation remember to summarize your specific agreement, and if appropriate, schedule a follow-up session.

What kinds of conversations keep you up at night? Make conducting them a priority!

“PeopleTek’s Leadership Journey – The Gift That Keeps On Giving!”
–Radha N. Krishnan, 2015 Leadership Journey Alumnus

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Develop Others!

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!

11 Jan
PeopleTek Coaching Videos

Magic Dust

Magic Dust aligns us with our strengths, abilities, and talents. It’s knowing how we deal with conflict, motivate and inspire others, and communicate. The more we know about our Magic Dust, the more aligned we are with our vision, purpose, and career. Knowing this is crucial for all leaders.

Discover your magic dust today!

 

01 Jan
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Welcoming 2016

It seems 2015 flew by, and now it’s time to prepare for and welcome 2016. Do you have any unfinished business from 2015 that will spill over into 2016? What about any New Year’s resolutions?

Abraham Lincoln said:

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.”

If you are one of many that do make resolutions each year, we suggest reviewing your vision, mission, and goals (VMG) and making sure they are aligned with your new resolutions.

Is your Vision: A dream or aspiration that you as the leader have for yourself and your organization? Does it provide direction and guidance for achieving your new resolutions?

Does your Mission: Represent what you want done and help you carry out your vision? It ideally will add clarity to your vision, make it more personal, and support the attainment of new resolutions.

Are your Goals action driven? They should bring 100 percent clarity to your vision, mission, and resolutions and they should require action. Think in terms of what, when, how, and by whom.

Lastly, do you measure your progress? In order to succeed we need to know if we are on track, or if our direction and supporting behaviors require modification.

Take a few minutes to assess your 2015 accomplishments.

  • What went well?
  • What would you like to see repeated?
  • What would you like to do differently?
  • Is there one single thing you would like to change?

Wishing you a Happy, Healthy, and Successful 2016!

“PeopleTek’s Leadership Journey – The Gift That Keeps On Giving!”
(a quote shared by a recent journey graduate)

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Develop Yourself!

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!

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