MLK Jr. and Leadership

No person has the right to rain on your dreams.
–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This week we celebrated the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King was a minister, a civil-rights activist, a Nobel Peace Prize winner (1964), a promoter of equality, an inspiration for harmony and growth, and a great leader. He has been quoted hundreds of times, and we wanted to highlight a few:

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
As leaders it’s up to us to rally team members, ensure shared goals are supported, and to create opportunities for collaboration.

Learn a little about the past, and you may end up with a pretty nice future.
Awareness is key! What worked well? What changes could be made to be more effective?

If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.
Not everything goes as planned, expect and plan for obstacles and be persistent.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. Courage faces fear and thereby masters it.
Successful leadership requires courage. Leaders empower themselves and others to go farther than they ever dreamed possible.

People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.
Clear and timely communication, inclusion, and building relationships eliminates walls.

And, we’ve shared this before but it’s worth sharing again. Professor Wadhwa provides the following insights from Martin Luther King, jr’s “I HAVE A DREAM” speech:

  • Great leaders do not sugar-coat reality
  • Great leaders engage the heart
  • Great leaders refuse to accept the status quo
  • Great leaders create a sense of urgency
  • Great leaders call people to act in accord with their highest values
  • Great leaders refuse to settle
  • Great leaders acknowledge the sacrifice of their followers
  • Great leaders paint a vivid picture of a better tomorrow

May no one rain on your dreams, may you inspire others to never give up on theirs, and may doing “right” always be a priority!

The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.
–Dr. Martin Luther King, jr.

Are You Still Learning?

Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
—Jim Rohn, Author, motivational speaker

Hopefully as a leader you are committed to being a continual learner.  You’ve grown over the years and are in a leadership role but what does that mean? There are numerous ways to define Leadership.  Part of what PeopleTek promotes is:

We believe everyone is a leader, regardless of title or reporting structures since we all have the ability to INFLUENCE others.

Strong and effective Leaders take others where they’ve never gone before and wouldn’t go by themselves.

And, we also believe effective leaders are continual learners.

Author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn shares the need to commit to self-development and identifies 7 “must have” leadership traits:

  1. Learn to be strong but not impolite
  2. Learn to be kind but not weak
  3. Learn to be bold but not a bully
  4. Learn to be humble but not timid
  5. Learn to be proud but not arrogant
  6. Learn to develop humor without folly
  7. Learn to deal in realities

What were your thoughts when you read through the list? How many have you mastered?  Which could you further develop?

Did any names come to mind (colleagues/clients/bosses) where you thought these traits were either consistently displayed or severely lacking?

It’s the beginning of a new year and the perfect time to establish goals and commit to self development.  A simple start is to pick two areas:
– A strength you already have (how can it be further
developed?)
– An “opportunity” to strengthen (which from the list
left you feeling uneasy?)

Are you still learning? Be a life-long learner!  Having the desire to continually grow your wisdom, knowledge and skill-set prevents stagnation and increases the likelihood of success.

Learning is not a one-time event or a periodic luxury. Great leaders in great companies recognize that the ability to constantly learn, innovate, and improve is vital to their success. – Amy Edmondson

 

2021 Needs Versus Desires

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…
these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.
–Confucius

We dealt with the challenges that 2020 provided us, now it’s time to assess if/how our needs and desires have changed from last year or if they have pretty much remained the same.

Things to consider:

From an individual perspective:

  • Where do you want to be more impactful? (personally and professionally)
  • What development area(s) would help most with your growth? (financially or intellectually)
  • Are there relationships that need to be developed or strengthened?
  • How are your communication skills? Do you over or under communicate?
  • Do you schedule time for you? (To use however you choose!)
  • How could your life be more meaningful?

From an organizational perspective, do your colleagues/direct reports:

  • Support shared goals?
  • Trust one another?
  • Engage in healthy conflict?
  • Hold one another accountable?
  • Collaborate on achieving collective results?
  • Support an agile mind-set?
  • Embrace differences? (values/culture/gender/behaviors/styles)

What are your “needs” for 2021?  What about your “desires”?  How are you differentiating them?  We suggest that you:

  1. Write them down
  2. Prioritize them (and add target completion dates)
  3. Consider any barrier that could get in the way
  4. Document any dependencies
  5. Track your progress regularly (at a minimum, monthly)

    May all your wants and desires be fulfilled!

The starting point of all achievement is desire.
–Napolean Hill

Leadership Self-Assessment

You need to assess yourself on a yearly basis and see how far you have gone
and what you still need to work on.
–Sunday Adelaja

For those familiar with our book “12 Steps For Courageous Leadership” you’re aware of our belief that courage is the most important attribute required in order for leaders to be effective and successful.

Below are the 12 “Courageability” factors we’d like you to self-evaluate. Score yourself from 1 – 10
(1 = poor and 10 = superb).

Score

_____ Lives and works with passion

_____ Documents and shares your goals

_____ Commits to addressing and tracking your goals

_____ Understands and leverages your strengths and the strengths of others

_____ Communicates with confidence and clarity

_____ Manages conflict and understands how it can be inspirational

_____ Develops others

_____ Effectively delegates

_____ Continually commits to enriching your skill-set

_____ Remains controlled at all times

_____ Consistently rewards and recognizes others

_____ Learns and grows from failures

How were your scores?  Were any below 7?  What about less than 5?

Are you a courageous leader?

Take time to regularly assess how you spend your time. Be ready to make changes that suit the goals pursued at a particular time.
― Israelmore Ayivor, Shaping the dream

 

Down To The Last Month!

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past.
Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.
—Brooks Atkinson

What a year. December is upon us and as we wrap up 2020, it’s not quite yet time to “let it go” as the above quote suggests. There’s one month left with time allowing us the possibility to achieve more goals, to ensure all accomplishments have been celebrated, and that 2021 planning has been initiated.

With reduced resources due to holiday and vacation time, what are your priorities?

Ask yourself:
1.What’s the number one goal/task I’d like to see completed before year end?

2.Have all major 2020 accomplishments been recognized and rewarded?

3.How are staffing/resource levels? Does anything need to be done prior to 1/1/2021?

4.Are there any major goal/vision/mission changes for 2021?

5.Do budgets include “people skill” development? Should they?

6.What was the #1 obstacle encountered in 2020 and can anything be done to remove barriers?

7.Do any new skills or behaviors need to be strengthened?

8.What about roles and responsibilities – could changes be beneficial?

9.Are relationships in place to discuss and address shared 2021 goals?

Ask your colleagues and direct reports to answer these same questions – ideally you’ll be on the same page to graciously “let go” of 2020 and be ready for 2021.

Life gives us a flair of awareness in the breeze of our daily journey and offers a free reign to explore what we are, to experience what we are not and to find out what we may become . . 
― Erik Pevernagie

Reasons To Be Thankful

Thankfulness breeds success.
– John Hersey

During stressful times, we sometimes need to be reminded of things to be thankful for.

2020 has not been an easy year, and for some it’s been downright awful, so we’d like to share 7
things Success Magazine suggests we focus on:

  1. Appreciate the things you have
  2. Keep a gratitude journal
  3. Focus on being grateful
  4. Show you care
  5. Get in the feeling good habit
  6. Have an attitude of gratitude
  7. Fake thankfulness – if times are tough, think positive thoughts. Take a few minutes to reflect on the positives in your life, both professionally and personally, and may you always have reasons to be thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fun With Yogi-isms

When fun gets deep enough, it can heal the world.
– the Oaqui

2020 has been a unique year and one that we think many are anxious to put behind us. So many have suffered with stress due to the threat of or actual health issues, lay-offs, business failures, and political turmoil.

Because of this we’ve decided to lighten it up and want to share “Yogi-isms” in hopes of bringing smiles.

For those that don’t know, Yogi Berra was an 18-time Baseball All-Star and appeared in 14 World Series as a member of the Yankees. In addition to his baseball excellence, he was known for his memorable sayings because most didn’t make sense. We’re referring to these as Yogi-isms and hope some actually make you chuckle!

  1. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
  2. You can observe a lot by just watching.
  3. It ain’t over till it’s over.
  4. It’s like déjà vu all over again.
  5. No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.
  6. Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.
  7. A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.
  8. Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.
  9. We made too many wrong mistakes.
  10. Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.
  11. You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.
  12. You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.
  13. I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.
  14. Never answer an anonymous letter.
  15. Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting.
  16. The future ain’t what it used to be.
  17. It gets late early out here.
  18. Pair up in threes.
  19. Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.
  20. You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.

Yogi also shared “I never said most of the things I said”, and we’ll conclude by saying “Life is no fun without fun”.

Wishing you an abundance of fun!

There are going to be good times and bad times, but lighten up.
– Chris Pine

Growth, Change and Stress

To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often.
–Winston Churchill

We agree that growth, development, and improvement require change, along with most likely a bit of stress. Until we’re willing to accept that, we may be limiting our opportunities. Note: We don’t support Churchill’s concept of being perfect!

You’ve heard before that what got you to where you are today will more than likely NOT take you to your desired next level of achievement and that’s primarily because things change.

Times, strategies, technology, budgets, skill-sets, customers, partnerships, and shareholders change and as change occurs, it’s up to us to meet associated challenges and swiftly “evolve” and grow. We also need to recognize that discomfort may occur and we should reflect on the “why” and consider options for managing our feelings.

As leaders we need to take time and pay attention to what’s happening to us, and we also need to pay attention to those we work with. So many are currently working remotely but we still need to understand the pulse of our team/organization. Consider: How’s productivity? Enthusiasm levels on calls? Team Collaboration? Attitudes? Communication?

Physical and emotional health suffer when change is not managed and stress becomes unhealthy instead of energizing and motivating.

In late 2019 (pre covid-19), Daily Life reported:

  • 83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress.
  • US businesses lose up to $300 billion yearly as a result of workplace stress.
  • Stress causes around one million workers to miss work every day.
  • Only 43% of US employees think their employers care about their work-life balance.
  • Depression leads to $51 billion in costs due to absenteeism and $26 billion in treatment costs.
  • Work-related stress causes 120,000 deaths and results in $190 billion in healthcare costs yearly.

This year the CDC suggests watching for:

  • Feeling irritation, anger, or in denial
  • Feeling uncertain, nervous, or anxious
  • Lacking motivation
  • Feeling tired, overwhelmed, or burned out
  • Feeling sad or depressed
  • Having trouble sleeping
  • Having trouble concentratingWe need to take care of our own needs and be cognizant of and address the needs of those around us. This will position the workplace to better manage work stress without becoming overwhelmed.  Like the cocoon to the butterfly, we need to grow and change!

Progress is impossible without change and those that can not change their minds can not change anything.
–George Bernard Shaw

What Makes A Good Boss?

A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting.
—Russell H. Ewing

Last week we discussed employee satisfaction levels, servant leadership, and “worst leadership behaviors to avoid”.  Today we’ll provide a list of desired leadership skills and abilities that our clients have shared with us over the years:

  • Great leaders are great listeners. They listen so closely that others feel that they’ve been heard.
  • Great leaders genuinely care about their staff’s careers not just performing a task. They show this by having one-on-ones that focus on their staff or even their peers and by providing mentoring and coaching.
  • Great leaders understand different types of people and how to treat each one as unique and special. They understand and respect if some individuals need space to think and plan.
  • Great leaders stretch their people to excellence.
  • Great leaders are in the boat with you and have compassion for the things you’re experiencing. You can feel their involvement and they make themselves visible during difficult times.
  • Great leaders truly feel PEOPLE really come first because of their actions, not just by what they say but rather by what they do.
  • Great leaders paint and clarify the vision.
  • Great leaders are inspirational and motivate others.
  • Great leaders reward, recognize, train, and create promotional opportunities.
  • Great leaders manage conflict and differences to help individuals and organizations grow.
  • Great leaders are consistent.
  • Great leaders lead by example and focus on the big picture.

We’ll also add one component that we view as essential: TRUST. As Patrick Lencioni says, trust is the foundation for success.

This list could certainly be added to, but are there any that you disagree with? Let us know!

 

Employee Satisfaction

Improving job satisfaction could be the single most important thing a boss can do.
–Tera Allas and Bill Schaninger

If you are a leader, McKinsey Quarterly authors Tera Allas and Bill Schaninger claim there is only one question that you need to ask and resolve:

How do I make my team members’ lives easier—physically, cognitively, and emotionally?

This isn’t easy to answer, and not only do leaders need to take into account their team members satisfaction levels, but they must also satisfy the needs of stakeholders/shareholders and internal/external customers.

Enter Servant Leadership, which per Wikipedia is defined as:
A Servant Leader shares power, puts the needs of the employees first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Servant leadership inverts the norm, which puts the customer service associates as a main priority. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people.

Based on research, this mindset enhances relationships, team performance, and satisfaction levels. And it’s even suggested that managers are happier when they feel they are supporting others in their daily activities.

Conflict arises when workers are viewed as high performers for obtaining goals and possessing technical skills and as a result get promoted into leadership roles without taking into account “people” skills.

It’s probably no surprise that there is a direct link between employee satisfaction levels and the “boss relationship”, and surveys report that 75% of those surveyed said that their immediate boss was the most stressful aspect of their job.

As leaders we need to be very aware of our leadership style and our impacts on others. Dr. Travis Bradberry shares the “Worst Behaviors” to avoid:

  • Making a lot of stupid rules 
  • Letting accomplishments go unrecognized
  • Hiring and promoting the wrong people
  • Treating everyone equally
  • Tolerating poor performance
  • Going back on their commitments
  • Being apathetic

Next week we’ll talk about desired leadership skills and abilities; in the meantime, are there any behaviors you need to avoid to improve employee satisfaction levels?

There is one essential area where companies can create enormous social value: job satisfaction. –Tera Allas and Bill Schaninger

Is Journaling An Art?

A personal journal is an ideal environment in which to become. It is a perfect place for you to think, feel, discover, expand, remember, and dream.
–Brad Wilcox

If you’ve been through the Leadership Journey program you know that we encourage journaling. Is it an art? No. It’s simply a place to record your thoughts, your goals, and even your disappointments.

Studies report that journaling can actually improve your health by reducing stress and negative energy. Interesting!

Getting started can be as simple as writing one sentence. Some ideas are:

  • Capture the behaviors that made your day successful.
  • What made you feel good?
  • What did you accomplish?
  • Where did you add value?
  • Were there any innovative solutions?
  • Did you inspire anyone?
  • Did you learn anything new?

You can also write about things that didn’t go as well as you would have liked. Capture:

  • What was the situation?
  • Why do you think it went “south”?
  • What have you learned from it?
  • What could you change?

You can also write about personal and professional goals.

  • What’s your dream job?
  • Is there a place you’d like to travel to? Write about it!

You can even just doodle or draw pictures. The idea is that you record and explore your emotions. It’s a place where you can get creative, dream, plot and plan, and release negative thoughts or ill feelings.

Give it a try!

Writing in a journal reminds you of your goals and of your learning in life. It offers a place where you can hold a deliberate, thoughtful conversation with yourself.
— Robin Sharma

 

What Do You Think?

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
― Aristotle

What Do You Think about the concept of being a continual learner? That the more you know, the more there is left to learn? You’ve obtained degrees, certifications, licenses, etc, so does that mean you’re done learning? Hopefully not!

Often we need to keep our technical and professional skills up to date, but what about our “people” skills and even understanding our current passion and desires?

Do you devote time for increasing your awareness levels? Is self-development something you enjoy doing? What about being committed to better understanding and communicating with others and helping others do the same?

PeopleTek has created a LEADERSHIP COMPASS which is a combination of leadership skills, traits, behaviors, and talents, along with concepts from the Johari Window to help individuals better understand themselves and relationships with others.

Below is a subset of the components we recommend you assess, explore and develop. For scoring, use a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being best.

  1.  Awareness:   Do you know which of your behaviors and skills are considered strengths versus growth areas? Do you know which behaviors and skills are considered strengths in your colleagues? What about their development areas?
  2.  Magic Dust: Do you have a clear understanding of the value you provide and your natural strengths and abilities?
  3. Vision/Mission/Goals: Are they written, communicated, tracked monthly, and do all of your behaviors support them?
  4. Communication: Are your messages accurately interpreted? Do you know how to use varied approaches and styles to improve results and enhance relationships?
  5. Clarity: Do you (or your team) clearly understand their roles, responsibilities, and desired organizational results?
  6. Accountability: Do you live up to your commitments? What about encouraging others to do the same?
  7. Conflict: Can you manage differences in a healthy, respectful manner?
  8. Influence: Do you have an effective presence that favorably impacts interactions and inspires others?
  9. Relationships: Are you proficient at building & maintaining lasting relationships?
  10. Feedback: Are you open and receptive to giving and receiving feedback?
  11. Inspiration: Do you empower and stretch others making them feel valued?
  12. Change: Do you embrace change and effectively communicate the “how and why”?

What do you think about the need to continually learn, grow and transform? It’s always a great time to invest in yourself and others!

And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?
― Rumi