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”!

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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.

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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!

17 Dec
PeopleTek Coaching Communication, Leadership

Better People, Better Employees

 “Everything we do is personal and emotionally driven. If you can help people feel competent, significant, and appreciated, you are fulfilling their basic human desires, and they become happier and more productive.”
–Edgar Papke, Leadership Psychologist and author.

Bottom line, employee engagement is critical for growth and success, yet per a Gallop Poll, we are experiencing an “engagement crisis” where only 13% of employees are truly engaged. That means 87% are emotionally detached, with passion, creativity and enthusiasm severely lacking, all negatively impacting results.

So how can you make your employees feel better?

Realistically assess daily interactions. Are dignity and respect a “given”? Are ideas and skills valued?

Communicate. Ask for input, truly listen, and acknowledge what you’ve heard. (That doesn’t necessarily mean you agree).

Role definition. Clearly define roles and expectations and honor contributions.

Create time for learning. Personal development needs to be budgeted and time allotted to make it happen.

Cultural evolution. Senior leaders supporting a healthy work environment will reap the most rewards.

As a leader do you ensure your staff is emotionally connected with their work? Do you understand and leverage their passion and skills hence fueling enthusiasm and growth?

What are you doing to increase employee engagement and help your company thrive? Could you do more?

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!

10 Dec
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

The Big 5

Many of us are familiar with self-assessment tools that increase our awareness for our preferences and our basic styles for interacting with others and achieving results.

Some of the most common include Myers-Briggs, DiSC, Communication, and Emotional Intelligence.

Another one that may interest you is “The Big 5″ which describe basic traits and are considered by some to be the building block of our personalities. (There are many free assessments available online.)

Think of the word “OCEAN” to remember the components of The Big 5.

  1. Openness – This trait takes into account imagination, insight, and having a broad range of interests. High scorers tend to be original, creative, curious, and complex; Low scorers tend to be conventional, down to earth, with narrow interests, and not especially creative.
  2. Conscientiousness – Common elements include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. High scorers tend to be reliable, well-organized, self-disciplined, and careful; Low scorers tend to be unorganized, and may be viewed as undependable and negligent.
  3. Extroversion – Characteristics are associated with excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness. High scorers tend to be friendly, fun loving, and talkative; Low scorers tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, and quiet.
  4. Agreeableness – This includes dimensions such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviors. High scorers tend to be good-natured, sympathetic, forgiving, and courteous; Low scorers tend to be critical, rude, harsh, and callous.
  5. Neuroticism – Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness. High scorers tend to be nervous, high-strung, insecure, and worriers; Low scorers tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, and hardy.

Your results will be impacted by situational variables and plotted on a scale having a range of extremes. This is only one of many tools that increase awareness levels with the ability to enhance levels of influence and build stronger relationships.

Try it out and let us know what you think about your results!

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!

03 Dec
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Motivate!

Some say that motivation is only “self-inflicted,” but as leaders we can certainly lend assistance to motivate others and improve results.

Tony Jeary, strategist, adviser, and author, provides the following 6 tips:

  1. Invest your time in your team.
    • Understanding personal goals, values and aspirations will help foster loyal and motivated team members.
  2. Communicate to others as they wish to be communicated to. 
    • We’ve stated before that communicating in a style understood by the recipient is a win-win situation.
  3. Define how each person fits within the group.
    • Understanding, appreciating, and leveraging individual strengths builds relationships, makes the team stronger, with results more readily attained.
  4. Measure progress.
    • Make sure your team knows what’s expected of them; reward success, discuss obstacles, and provide regular feedback (minimally monthly).
  5. Teach your people how to win. 
    • Align expectations, show that you care about individual developmental needs/wants, and how achieving goals impacts the team and the person.
  6. Do favors in advance.
    • This is really about building trust and relationships, and knowing that you can be counted on, and have the ability to count others.

As a leader, what you do on a daily basis impacts your team? Providing a clear vision, connecting emotionally with each team member, and sharing your passion for success will also help motivate others.

What motivating behavior is most effective for you?

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 Others and Be A Better Leader

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!

25 Nov
photo of Thank You medal; reward the positive
PeopleTek Coaching Communication

Have an Attitude of Gratitude This Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to those in the U.S.!

The holiday season is wonderful, chaotic, and often stressful. Sometimes this takes a toll on us and we forget to show appreciation and be thankful for those in our personal and professional lives.

Take a moment to reflect on the positive and encourage others to do the same:

  • Do you have good work and personal relationships?
  • Are you healthy? Is your family healthy?
  • Are you in a position to influence others and add value?
  • Are you appreciated by others?
  • Are you appreciative of those you interact with? Do you let them know that?

“Of all the “attitudes” we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing.”
–Zig Ziglar

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”
–Brian Tracy

If you’ve been fortunate enough to have things go well for you, consider your friends, family or co-workers that may not have been as fortunate. Let others know you appreciate them.

Wishing you a happy and safe holiday season with hopes that it’s filled with “attitudes of gratitude”!

19 Nov
PeopleTek Coaching Communication, Leadership

Remote Leadership Tips

Leadership has taken on new challenges with the need to lead not only those that are in the same location, but to effective manage time zone differences, have an understanding (and appreciation) of cultural differences, and keep onsite and remote team members engaged, informed, and productive.

Global Workplace Analytics conducted a survey and summarized the following trends for working remotely:

  • The non self-employed working population has grown by 103% since 2005 and 6.5% in 2014.
  • 3.7 million employees (2.5% of the workforce) now work from home at least half the time.
  • 50% of the US workforce holds a job that is compatible with at least partial telework and approximately 20-
  • 25% of the workforce teleworks at some frequency.
  • Fortune 1000 companies around the globe are entirely revamping their space around the fact that employees are already mobile. Studies repeatedly show they are not at their desk 50-60% of the time.

Leadership has challenges, and it becomes even more challenging when leading from a distance.

What does this mean to you as a leader?

As a leader, regardless of where your staff is located, common goals must be clearly understood, team members must value one another’s strengths, roles and expectations must be clearly defined, with communication skills continually honed.

  • Don’t communicate just the bare minimum.
    • Share what is expected of each individual and each location and include the “big picture” and desired results. Ensure all interactions end with closure. This means that everyone involved knows who is going to do what when.
  • Become tech-savvy.
    • Utilize the latest technology to keep in touch and better position your team to build relationships, synergy, and become a high performing team.
  • Check in regularly with each team member.
    • You’ll find that some are happy to hear from you only if you/they need something, where others may want more frequent contact (weekly if not daily).
  • Revisit the team goals and objectives.
    • Use “here’s where we are” statements, ask questions, and invite everyone to share their opinion and thoughts about the progress that is being made.
  • Ask your direct reports what they’d like to hear about and ask for their feedback as to whether you are keeping them adequately informed.
  • Create a checklist detailing what information needs to go to whom.
    • Determine how the team will work together. What are the dependencies?
    • Expect conflict and encourage healthy differences.
    • Establish best practices; set and communicate expectations and reward and recognize accordingly. (This could include a list of characteristics associated with high-performing teams, and development planning to address any gaps).
    • Leverage email to communicate general information; use your checklist to aid with identifying whether the entire team needs to be in the loop or not. When in doubt, over-communicate.

Support and “sell” your team! Keep your boss and other leaders informed of your teams’ accomplishments and successes! Your team members may not be onsite, but their presence and value must be known.

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Develop Others and Be A Better Leader

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!

05 Nov
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership, Success

The Soft Stuff is the Hard Stuff

Geoff Colvin wrote in Fortune magazine (October 28, 2013) “The Soft Stuff Is The Hard Stuff.” The premise? That skills can be developed, and are certainly required to achieve success, but it’s each individuals personal traits that truly make the difference.

Can a person be inspirational? Does a person have global sensibility? That’s the hardest thing to find.
—Anand Mahindra

What type of talent are you looking for? What will it take to round out your organization to build bench-strength and promote growth? On the flip-side, what are you doing to control attrition? Are people truly the most valuable asset you have? Does your staff believe that to be true?

The Soft Stuff Is The Hard Stuff

Integrity, empowerment, trust, and energy were identified as key components for retaining talent at Mahindra, and there was one more: developing people. Mahindra’s philosophy is to “develop talent from within and provide global exposure” so they are better positioned to compete, and succeed, in a global marketplace.

We have always believed that ethics and good governance coupled with vision and grit are fundamental to being a successful business, and our leadership team embodies these beliefs.

With more than 155,000 employees in over 100 countries, they demand performance, but provide freedom and opportunity for growth, they support innovation and risk taking, and they will not compromise on ethical business standards.

They also “value individual dignity, uphold the right to express disagreement and respect the time and efforts of others. Through our actions, we will nurture fairness, trust, and transparency”.

How highly valued are integrity and dignity in your organization? Is development planning meaningful? Are personal traits viewed as a priority? Don’t ignore the “soft stuff”!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Getting Everyone On-board

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!

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!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Knock ’em Dead!

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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