24 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Living Your Values

We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.
—Aristotle

Not much has changed since Aristotle, Greek Philosopher and scientist, recognized strong values were required to achieve excellence. (And this was back in 384 B.C. – 322 B.C.!).

Since we all want to excel, we need to be clear about what we feel strongly about, and exhibit the behaviors and actions that support our values. We must be true to ourselves and have the ability to live our values.

Coupled with possessing strong values is the need to be perceived as trustworthy and authentic.  To achieve excellence and be successful we need to:

  • Be open about our personal beliefs and feelings
  • Be receptive to the personal beliefs and feelings of others
  • Be approachable and easy to get to know
  • Admit mistakes and short-comings
  • Share, and ask others to share, non-work information to build relationships
  • Be open to feedback
  • LISTEN!

We also recommend practicing PeopleTek’s 5 P’s for success: Passion, Persistence, Process (includes Planning), People, and Profit, and we must want to positively influence others.

Questions to reflect on:

  • Do our actions support the ability to achieve our goals?
  • Do we exhibit appropriate behaviors and address those that we view inappropriate?
  • Are our behaviors consistent?
  • Do we “practice what we preach” and “walk the talk”?
  • Do we believe in and live the golden rule where we treat others as we want to be treated?

Living our values can take courage. Take the time to assess your ability to live your values in both your personal and professional life and let us know your success stories!

18 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Taking Charge

Leaders take charge; remain positive, are encouraging, aggressive and decisive.
–Bret Johnson, Camp Quarterback

Dear Leaders,

Not everyone follows American football, but for those that do, do you equate the quarterback with being the team leader?

The quarterback doesn’t obtain team wins alone, but they certainly take charge, make tough decisions, exude confidence, are skilled, knowledgeable, and inspire the team.

Yes, quarterbacks are leaders.  They are commanding in the huddle, strive to be role models for team members and fans alike; they promote strong work ethics, prepare for each game by studying their opponents plays, continually develop and hone their skills, and learn how to best relate to their teammates as a team, and as individuals.

They earn the respect of the coaches, players, and broadcasters, tend to have an innate ability to lead the team down the field, and generally maintain the “we can do it” attitude regardless of the score.

Think of the some of the most winning quarterbacks – Warren Moon, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, Peyton Manning, and Brett Favre. Every play in every quarter is played with passion and a goal – to score!

They get results by enabling teammates. Granted not all quarterbacks call the plays, but they do sometimes have to resort to “plan b”.  The quarterback must play consistently and be a visionary as well as a strategist.  They must be controlled, play with courage, communicate clearly, provide feedback, and at times take risks.

Successful quarterbacks are strong leaders. Enjoy the football season and decide who you think the strongest leader on the field is!

The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert.
–Vince Lombardi

11 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Communication

Asking Key Questions

Key Components of Leadership

Asking questions to engage others, listening, and acknowledging what you heard, are  key components for leadership success.

Dear Leaders,

Do you truly know what’s happening in the workplace?  You may be on top project plans, deliverables, customer rosters, and status updates, but what about having a sense of how and what employees and staff are feeling and hearing?

As a leader, it’s important to be aware of the pulse on the floor.  We’re not talking about gossip, (although that will impact behaviors and attitudes), but rather how the staff feels about the work environment in general.  Some key areas of impact include:

  • Workload management
  • Team support
  • Matrix management
  • Deadline dependencies
  • Personal issues impacting work
  • Critical skills/knowledge
  • Workplace conflicts

Some leaders have a gift for “being in the know”; they may have an open door policy that invites informal exchanges, they may be viewed as a good listener, or they may just have team members that want to keep them informed.

Not all leaders are as fortunate and could benefit by taking advantage of break-room and hallway chats.  This doesn’t come natural for some, so John McKee, author for IT Leadership, shares his favorite 7 questions to engage others to “get in the know”:

  1. What’s the biggest issue on your plate right now?
  2. If I could do just one thing to make you more successful, what would it be?
  3. What’s the dumbest thing the company (or department) is doing (or working on)?
  4. If you had my job what would you focus on?
  5. What’s waking you up at night?
  6. Do you have the tools and resources you need to do your job in the best possible way?
  7. How can I help you to be more successful?

Another idea is to ask each team member to give a 60 second update during staff meetings; the intent is to share their opinion of the pulse of the business, and provide them with an opportunity to share something about their personal life.

Make sure you’re “in the know” – open lines of communication builds trust, promotes success, and grows the bottom line!

09 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Communication

Dealing With Difficult Situations

Does this sound like a familiar problem?

I’m having difficulty dealing with a person:

  • who just won’t listen
  • they dominate meetings
  • they refuse to give others a chance to talk
  • they reject any recommendation other than those they propose

Simulation:

Q. Have you spoken to them in a healthy, honoring, respectful manner?
A. No. I am not sure how to approach them so they won’t be offended (or ignore me!). I am waiting for their boss to deal with them.

If you can relate to these situations, or know someone that may be experiencing a similar issue, PeopleTek’s Leadership Journey program will help.

Not only will it provide you with a map that can be used throughout your career, it will also change your business and personal life forever.

Guaranteed!

Sincerely,

Michael W. Kublin
[email protected]
888.565.9555 ext 711

“This training guided me through a series of self discoveries that hold the secret of improving my effective leadership behavior, techniques and processes. I learned tools that can connect them to the work I am doing today.”
–Lakshmi N Mahate, Engagement Manager, Syntel Inc

04 Aug
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Defining Leadership

Leadership: ability to lead: the ability to guide, direct, or influence people
–Encarta World English Dictionary

Dear Leaders,

The term “Leadership” can be defined in many ways.  At PeopleTek, one of our favorites is “Taking others where they’ve never gone before and wouldn’t go by themselves”.

Chris Millington, IT leader, Writer, and Coach shared a poem with us as to his thoughts about leadership.

Leadership is Love, it’s My Heart and it’s My Soul
Leadership is the wisdom to know
Leadership is passion
Leadership is joy
Leadership is knowing what to say and when
Leadership is planning the work
Leadership is working the plan
Leadership is knowing when to be out front
Leadership is knowing when to be in the rear
Leadership is listening to hear
Leadership is stepping back so others can grow
Leadership is extending a hand
Leadership is sharing a tear
Leadership is having a fear
Leadership is an open mind
Leadership is courage and being brave
Leadership is being quiet
Leadership is all about listening for understanding
Leadership is being open and honest
Leadership is being humble
Leadership is going with the flow
Leadership is knowing when to say No
Leadership is a circle of traits we develop and evolve

Least we ever forget,

Leadership is about Life!!!!!!

What does leadership mean to you? Do any of the statements truly resonate, or are there any you have difficulty relating to?

Please let us know what leadership means to you.  We’d like to compile your thoughts and publish them at a later date.  (If you prefer to remain anonymous your name will be excluded).

21 Jul
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Leading With Heart and Skill

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
—John Quincy Adams

Dear Leaders,

For those of you that followed the Women’s World Cup games (soccer to some, football to others), you witnessed, as expected, that the players played with heart and skill.

Heart and skill helped the U.S. team make it to the finals, but they also had another element on their side, Coach and Leader, Pia Sundhage.

Coach Sundhage credits advancing to the finals a result of the teams ability to deal with adversity. The players on the other hand attribute a good portion of their success to their coach’s ultra-positive outlook.

Coach Sundhage is frequently heard saying: “My glass is half full”; “I coach what is healthy”; “if you have positive expectations, it very often happens”, and a favorite motivator “Excellent!”

Player Heather O’Reilly says Sundhage “is the most positive coach I have ever had,” and another player, Julie Foudy says “she’s always positive, her glass is always full and that helps to stabilize the team in moments of crisis and adversity”.

Sundhage has a calming influence, is an extreme optimist, and readily sings a song to help her team combat stress. She even sang “Feelin’ Groovy” during a news conference!

Included in her leadership strategy is reviewing videos of previous goals, and highlights from past games.  She uses these to provide feedback and build confidence by reinforcing successes.

Sundhage says: “That feedback, I hope, will make them stronger, gain some confidence, and I’m also telling them, ‘This is good, do it again’.  She concludes by saying “It’s fun for me to coach like that.”

In addition to playing with heart and skill, the U.S. team played with class. After losing the title to Japan, (many say because of missed opportunities), U.S. Goalie Hope Solo summed it up by saying. “The Japanese showed a lot of passion and a lot of fight. I don’t say that about many teams but I have an awful lot of respect for them. They played for a lot more than sport. They played for so many good and wonderful reasons.”

They all deserve being credited for playing and leading with heart, skill, and class.

18 Jul
PeopleTek Coaching News

PeopleTek Coaching Announcement

Having the courage to document your goals is step 2 from our book 12 Steps For Courageous Leadership!

Do you struggle with putting your goals on paper? Do you encourage others to put their goals in writing?

If yes, we want to hear how easy or difficult it was for you, and then the success stories for achieving that written goal.

Step 2: The Courage To Document Your Goals

  • Have written goals moved you along?
  • How has your team or organization benefited?

For those of you with direct reports, does your staff understand how they personally contribute to team goals?

Do you help them document their supporting goals and regularly review the progress against them?

Does everyone understand the impact to the customer or client if they goal is NOT met? And more positively, how have relationships, job satisfaction levels, and the bottom line grown when the goals ARE met?

We look forward to hearing your success stories and the benefits derived from having documented (and shared) goals!

14 Jul
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Mid Year Check-In

Leaders must know where they are going if they expect others to willingly join them on the journey.
–Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge

Reviewing Your Goals

Can you believe we’re halfway through the year? They say as we get older time goes more quickly and we’re beginning to believe that!

It’s that time again; we’re half-way through the year and we need to take a checkpoint on our year to date successes, identify our struggles and what we’re losing sleep over, and prioritize our desired year-end results.

Hopefully, you’ve been reviewing your goals and development plan regularly. Have you missed or neglected any of them? Don’t let urgent issues derail you from “actioning” important issues.

While reviewing your goals do a mental check-in to determine if all of your behaviors are supporting the attainment of your goals. PeopleTek’s formula for success is VMGM=B  (Vision, Mission, Goals, Measures = Behaviors). Behaviors are the key to success!

While reviewing your goals validate that:

  • Achieved goals have been recognized and celebrated
  • Your organization has a talent retention plan
  • Leadership bench-strength exists
  • You are keeping abreast of changing times by developing and updating skill-sets (yours and others!)
  • Relationship enhancements have occurred as needed
  • Team members are intent on becoming more courageous leaders

How to Involve Your Team in Achieving Goals

  1. Conduct a review of how your organization is doing, and meet with direct reports to assess progress (or lack of). This includes having a formal one on one with each team member to review their goal accomplishments and update individual development plans. Address what training is necessary for individual career advancement, and what is required to create organizational bench strength.
  2. Provide feedback about how each employee can better help the company achieve its goals, and ensure all behaviors are aligned with realizing positive momentum.
  3. Make your one on one meetings a true dialogue; ask for opinions and advice for growth and how to attain goals. Discuss ideas for cost savings and waste elimination. Ask what they feel is working well, and why. Ask what is not working well, or what is impacting results and growth.

“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.”
–John QuincyAdams

Tips to Stay on Track With Your Goals

As a reminder, IMPORTANT issues contribute heavily to our goals and objectives and have high value. URGENT issues require immediate attention but may or may not contribute to the success of meeting our goals and objectives. Here are some tips to help you stay on track with goals during the second half of the year and beyond.

  • Invest the time to assess what’s important; you will almost always have sufficient time for these.
  • Start your day with the important tasks instead of the “fast, enjoyable and easy to accomplish” ones.
  • Distinguish between urgent and important; help your team and organization understand this and engage other leaders if in doubt.  (Or help them understand the difference!)
  • Don’t let the priorities of others replace your own top priorities; learn to say no firmly and tactfully.
  • Recognize that readiness levels and skill-sets may need to be developed and honed.
  • Be willing to invest the time and resources that will enable you to be a highly successful leader and have a high performing team.

Don’t wait! Now is the time to set realistic expectations for what you wish to accomplish in the second half of the year. Wishing you success!

07 Jul
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Commitment For Excellence

What does the word commitment mean to you? Reliable, trustworthy, dedicated, loyal, devoted, obligated, and responsible are some of the words that may come to mind.

Now think of “excellence.” Perhaps you think of superior, perfect, brilliant, distinct, and quality.

What about when you combine the two words: Commitment and Excellence? They’re pretty powerful words and before we can make them work for us we need to understand what we’re committed to, and then put a plan of excellence into place.

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
–Vince Lombardi

We regularly talk about the need for having written vision, mission, and goals in order to achieve success.  In addition we need to consider how we can provide exceptional value to our customers, shareholders, and business partners (ex. optimal service or quality products and deliverables).

Are you part of an organization that is committed to excellence? Assuming yes, how would you rate the work that is performed or the product or service that you deliver?  Do you take the time to review those results and take note of what has been done well (so it can be repeated) and identify any gaps (so they can be improved upon)?

What about you personally? Do you have short and long term goals? Are you as committed to excellence at home as you are at work?  Could your life improve and perhaps your levels of happiness and satisfaction grow if you took the time to assess what worked well and what caused friction?

We can all benefit by identifying the areas we excel in and understanding the reasons we excel, as well as knowing what causes resistance.  Having a commitment for excellence and allowing it to become a habit will serve us well!

30 Jun
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Empower Your Employees

“An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success.”
—Stephen Covey

When you think of empowerment what comes to mind? Do you view it as something that can be given or do you view it as an opportunity or process to enable an individual or team to become better and stronger?

“ Empower Your Employees To Greatness. ”
—Al Goodman

Empowerment does not mean relinquishing control, but simply stated it’s utilizing the strengths of individuals and teams to make decisions, implement process improvements, improve results, and perform in an autonomous way.

Empowered employees have indicated they have increased loyalty to their organization, enjoy working hard, feel they contribute to the overall success of the company, and are happy in their position.

We are all familiar with the term return on investment (ROI), but what about “return on recognition” (ROR)Ô? (Al Goodman of Albert James Associates coined this term).

RORÔ is how we as leaders can improve the performance of our team and empower them to greatness.  To begin with, we need to define the behaviors we desire; Mr. Goodman has identified the following 6 areas:

  • Talent Management
  • Accountability
  • Collaboration
  • Efficiency
  • Strategy
  • Customer Focus

These dimensions may be replaced with some that may be more meaningful or useful to your organization but the intent is to make your staff aware of them, and the associated behaviors you view as critical for success.

The next step is for you as leader to provide feedback and encouragement for the behaviors exhibited, and to create a work environment conducive for employees to act in empowered ways.  The benefit will be higher performance, an increase in results, and lower attrition. Do you want to empower your employees to greatness?

23 Jun
PeopleTek Coaching Interpersonal Skills

Understanding Your Customer

“If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.”

Almost all of us have customers; they could be internal or external to our company, they could be within the public or private sector, or they could be investors and shareholders.

Regardless of who are customers are, we need to not only provide them with an excellent product or exceptional service, we must also understand their needs and expectations, and build a valued relationship.

Customer Service = Providing quality and value

How committed are you to providing customer service? Do you have a means of knowing if your customers are satisfied? Do you have a measurement system that rates how effective you are? What about a process for reporting and tracking issues and complaints, and for soliciting feedback?

Providing quality and value is huge. Most often we think in terms of a service, a deliverable, or a product, but what about cost saving recommendations, ideas for increasing revenue, or assisting with the attainment of goals? Or what about enhancements for how they service their customers?

We need to understand what’s expected of us and take the time to validate that we’re meeting (and hopefully exceeding) those expectations. We need to understand the critical roles and processes that best support each customer, and we need to anticipate the needs and expectations of our customers.

What Happens When You Don’t Deliver

Another key dimension that is sometimes overlooked is understanding the impact to our customers when we don’t deliver. Other than diminished satisfaction levels, there could be penalties assessed for non-delivery, expenses for non-productive workers, and of course losing the customer overall.

Last week a major airline had a 5-hour computer outage resulting in canceled flights and thousands of stranded passengers; the fall-out will be experienced for several more days and the true impact (loss of repeat business) may never be known.

We once saw a department of 500 individuals sitting idly for several hours because of non-delivery of a product. If we truly know our customer, we understand their dependencies on us, can equate our lack of service to their loss of revenue and other downstream impacts, and have an awareness that they could look elsewhere for service or product providers.

Knowing our customer, being customer focused, delivering what we commit to, and listening and responding to their needs will lend itself to a sustainable customer relationship  – isn’t that what we all aspire for?

16 Jun
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Leadership Key Cause For Attrition

“A Gallup poll of more than 1 million employed U.S. workers concluded that the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss or immediate supervisor.”

Key Cause For Attrition – Lack of Strong Leadership

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.

Have you ever had a boss that made you feel demoralized? What about that “ruled by intimidation”? What about that made you want to quit?

People Quit Their Leaders, Not Their Jobs . . .

This same Gallup poll also 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.

These numbers build a compelling case for ensuring your leadership team has the skills, behaviors, and respect to ensure your organization is successful.

Badbossology.com also conducted a leadership survey of 1,100+ individuals and found some very interesting results:

50 percent said they would fire their boss.

Almost 30 percent would have their boss seen by a workplace psychologist.

23 percent would send their boss for management training.

Do these numbers surprise you? They did us!

What Do Individuals Want in a Boss?

We’ve been told a good leader:

  • Appreciates them as an individual and as a professional
  • Wants to help them grow and succeed
  • Provides meaningful feedback
  • Rewards and recognizes results
  • Can be trusted
  • Is Authentic
  • Listens

Do you possess these skills?  Do you know others in leadership roles that could improve in these areas? We’d love to hear your thoughts and stories about “bad bosses”.  (Please do not provide names but do let us know the behaviors and skills that are lacking, and the associated impacts).

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