Do Leaders Value Growth in Practice or Just in Theory?
If we have learned anything since the start of the pandemic, it’s this: we live in a world that refuses to sit still. Change is the only constant. What worked yesterday must change to work today, and it will have to change again for tomorrow. In a world like that, those who adapt, survive; and those who adapt well, thrive. So as leaders, we must learn to master growth if we want to keep leading. And what’s more, we must prioritize growth if we want our people to grow - at all. Sounds like a lot of pressure, I know, but that is the leader’s lot! Leaders represent the organization to their team. They establish the tone. They set the standard for what is important and what is not. Your team is taking their cues from your behavior; they are using the framework that you put in place. Leaders do not have the luxury of saying, Do as I say, not as I do. Your people will, for better or worse, “follow your lead.” (It’s in the title: leadership!) So, do you value growth? Sure - if someone were...
The way all great things get built
If I were to ask you if you want to be wealthier, healthier, and more skilled, what would you say? (No, this isn’t a sales pitch… well, maybe it is, in a way.) You would probably say yes. Most people would. There is a universal desire among the human race to do, be, and have more than we do. It is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, quite the opposite. To endeavor to improve is a noble pursuit. But let’s say instead of asking you that, I asked you something else - “Do you want to spend your time learning how to invest your money, and then sacrifice your vacation or new car to invest it? Do you want to get up before work, while it’s still dark outside and you’re sleepy, and go to the gym? Do you want to give up some of your recoup time at the end of the day to practice and improve your skill level?” …you would probably think a little longer about your answers to those questions. What’s funny is that they are basically the same questions. If you invest wisely, you will increase your...
Are you consistent?
Before a leader can lead anyone else, they must first lead themselves. As I write this article, I am the owner and operator of my own business - Become Your Best Version (maybe you have heard of it? haha!). These last several years of entrepreneurial life have certainly shown me that self-leadership is the most important kind - and character is central to self-leadership. However, this was an idea that solidified early on in my leadership career. Long before starting my own consulting business, my first leadership position (with a title) led a team developing software in the auto industry. Not only was I new to the responsibility, but I had been promoted directly from among the team - so I was stretched and pushed into growth. I had to learn to see a leader’s role very differently from how I had before becoming one myself. As that team’s leader, much of my time was spent behind my desk. Occasionally I would enter the workshop to discuss progress. Meanwhile, my team’s time was divided...
Attitude – the Deal-Breaker in Leadership
If you are following my emails, that is probably because you want to grow in some way. In these notes I share different leadership insights I have picked up in study and in experience. No matter if you read these perspectives to achieve a higher level of professional results, a new title in your organization, or a greater legacy of impact, you have to do some growing - and that is my goal in sharing these insights. So today, in pursuit of growth, I want to walk you through an exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down the name of someone you really admire - it could be your favorite artist, inventor, business mogul, or change-maker, or a mentor… anyone you aspire to be like. Below their name, write down five reasons why you respect them. What about them endears you? Are they inspiring? Accomplished? Innovative? Kind? Once you have those down, look at those five things and assess what they have in common. I’m willing to bet they all have to do with the person’s attitude. Pastor...
Six keys to Leadership
Before we jump to the six keys, let's look at what is leadership? Yes, it seems like a simple question. After all, it’s only three words. And leadership is a very common topic of discussion - we should have no trouble defining it. Yet, maybe that’s just the problem. There are so many voices out there adding volume to the conversation, it can be easy to stray from the things we know. So, what is leadership? Of all the philosophers and thought leaders expounding on leadership, one that has contributed greatly to the conversation is John C. Maxwell. As one of the world’s foremost leadership experts for the last 40 years, Maxwell has defined leadership simply and powerfully: “Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less.” How does it help us? Influence, as I am sure you know, is not just for the CEOs or project managers of the business world - it allows us to achieve our own goals and help others achieve theirs at the same time, regardless of anyone’s position or title. How do we...
The M-word
Today, I want to talk to you about something that makes many people uncomfortable… something that has caused many sleepless nights, countless conflicts, and so much strife… Money. There is so much of an anxiety around this five-letter word. In the employment interview, the air gets so still and cold when the time comes to talk about compensation. Team members stress about raise requests; leaders anguish over budget line items. No one wants to talk about it. But oddly enough, money drama is rarely about money itself. Money is not just the number we see as our bank balance that lets us pay the bills. It is a metric - a measurement of value - an expression of worth - one that we can easily compare and contrast and assess and understand. That is how your top performer sees money. Imagine yourself in their shoes. Maybe you are not motivated by money; maybe instead, you like what you do, and you appreciate the chance to do it. You have been with your company for a few years now. Because...
The assumption holding many managers back
We have been talking about retention lately - one of the greatest hurdles of the modern corporate manager. You know the pain of turnover. It’s hurting your morale; it’s slowing the process down; and it’s costing you, too. In fact, voluntary turnover is costing businesses so much money, I had to double check how many zeros were in the number! (It’s twelve zeros in $1 trillion, in case you were wondering.) The pressure to solve a problem on that scale can present an intimidating challenge - but all it takes is a bit of expanded perspective. I only know what it’s like to be me - that’s my limited perspective. Yours is that you only know what it’s like to be you. And because that is the only perspective we have ever had, we naturally assume everyone else is like us - thinks like us, works like us, likes like us. We see our team members showing up day after day, sitting in meetings, working at their desks, collaborating, communicating, and bringing their talents together to mobilize the...
Is no news good news?
They say that no news is good news… do you believe that? As leaders, our goal should be to develop our teams and build them up. We want to keep our eyes on the horizon and empower our employees to run the day-to-day themselves. The most diligent leaders make themselves dispensable. With a goal like that, it seems like the less you hear from your team, the better. BUT… to know there is really no news, we still must check. Let me explain… No doubt your tasks are often interrupted by your team. Some players need more guidance than others. And given that a leader’s schedule is so packed, we often appreciate those who (we feel) know their roles and simply perform them. But consider that those who need your time the most are those who are not asking for it. In the workplace, silence is not golden. Silence is an early warning sign of disengagement - and it is not a far walk from disengagement to resignation. No, I am not saying that every independent employee is planning to quit. What I...
Leaders, it’s time to do this for your employees
It was author, speaker, and business consultant Marcus Buckingham who said, “People leave managers, not companies.” That can be hard to hear if you are a corporate leader. It might even sting a little. Or maybe you just think to yourself, “Ah well, he doesn’t know my organization,” and wave it away. But he’s not wrong. A Gallup poll taken in 2019 uncovered some startling facts about voluntary employee turnover in the U.S. To sum it up, the poll shows turnover to be: 1) expensive, 2) preventable, and 3) largely, if not wholly, the leader’s responsibility. Employees transitioning to other companies were asked if their former leaders had inquired about their job satisfaction or career development in their last three months at that job. How many do you think said yes? Yes, that their leaders had checked in with the hands and feet of their company? Yes, that their leaders showed them that they cared they were fulfilled in their roles? Yes, that their leaders projected a future for them at...
How to keep your top talent in-house
Many leaders live, work, and lead in fear of one word… “Retention.” It is one of the corporate world’s greatest struggles - trying to hold onto top-performing talent. “Retention” is a feared and dreaded world. It carries with it a bad connotation. It can feel less like retaining and more like detaining, like we are holding onto our people as tightly as we can. Understandably so. It can cost a business anywhere from 50% to 200% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them. And that does not even take into account the lost potential in ideas and insight, and turnover’s dramatic hit to morale. But this fear-based approach is actually killing retention! Even with so much to lose, leaders cannot fear losing their top performers. Especially with so much to lose. Fear blinds, deafens, and distracts. Fear keeps us from asking questions whose answers we may not want to hear, even if they will build an important bridge. And if we are going to keep our best team members leaned in, we must be...
The quickest way to gain leadership influence
I have a question for you! Do you know what’s the quickest way to gain influence? Influence is the leader’s best friend. The ability to affect change or inspire action in someone else genuinely, naturally, without use of force or fabrication - influence and leadership go hand-in-hand. In fact, author and leadership expert, John Maxwell says that leadership is influence - nothing more and nothing less. The more profound your influence, the more effective your leadership. So, do you know the fastest way to increase your influence? (Hint: if you joined my live training session yesterday, you already know!) Well - I mentioned in my last email that all commerce can boil down to solving problems for a profit. That would make problem-solving the most valuable skill on the market. And that’s true in more ways than one! Problem-solving is also the fastest path to increased influence in your team and your organization. The more problems you can solve, the more influence you gain. And the...
3 Keys to Developing the Leader Within You
Let’s say you want some nice, fresh tomatoes, so you decide to grow a tomato plant. What is your process? First, you plant the seed. And then, you leave it alone for a while, and eventually, it grows, and gives you some beautiful, ripe tomatoes. No maintenance necessary. Right? Of course not! That would be nice! But unfortunately, there is some more to it than that - you have to plant the seed where it gets enough light; water it; and then, only after great care, will you see results. Growth takes intention! We don’t get better by accident - growth must be on the schedule to take place. Even the unexpected experiences that help us become better teach us things that we must implement by choice. Are you growing? When we are in school, we have our teachers to create our learning plan for us. They create lesson plans and quiz us to be sure we have retained the right information. When we get a job at a new organization, they train us and equip us with the insight we need to complete our...
Leaders: Can you read what your team isn’t telling you?
You have probably heard it said that only 7% of what we communicate is in the words we say! Body language and vocal inflexion make up the vast majority of what we convey. But when you heard this, it was probably being applied to you, your leadership, and your communication. And yes - we must be mindful of what our nonverbal cues are telling those we lead. However, we can forget that this rule applies to everyone. Leading is just as much about listening as it is about teaching, coaching, or redirecting - listening with our ears as well as with our eyes and emotional intelligence. Your team is always communicating! In fact, they are a treasure trove of important insight. But they will not always use their words to share. As their leader, you must be able to “read between the lines” to understand what is really going on in your workplace. In my years coaching corporate leaders, I have found there are 5 things your team will not tell you… 1. When you have confused them. They say no news...
Overwhelmed? Three Ways to Add More Value to Your Time
Picture this… A team leader is carrying stacks of folders home with her. She drags a heavy wheel-bag behind her full of more folders. In her home, she eats her dinner by the computer, looking over reports until her eyes glaze over. This is just a normal Tuesday night for her! The next morning, she wakes up tired already. But as she gets dressed, she resolves to get more done today than the day before… she says, “Today, I’ll catch up.” She gets to the office, sits down, and ten minutes later, there is a knock at her door. A team member enters with his crashed PC. “Oh, no problem,” the team leader says, “I’ll call IT to have them fix it.” Later that day her colleague comes to her and asks for help with the department meeting presentation. She drops her work and agrees. Then, some supplier concerns are brought to her attention, and she must smooth things out before her team can make any progress…. …and then before she knows it, the day is over, and she has to lug all those folders home...
“Don’t play boss with us!” they said
I still hear these words loud and clear… Come on Florin - you know how things work. Don’t play boss with us! I had just asked them to prioritize a task I needed them to complete. Their response told me they did not see me as a leader. There was one big problem, though: I was literally their leader! Or at least I was on paper. I had recently been promoted to lead the team of engineers that I had used to work with. These people were my friends, and I was their friend. I had been next to them on the organizational chart for a long time. And now that I had shifted, I had no influence with them. In leadership circles, we talk often about the need to connect with your teams. I have written many articles on this topic myself - after all, there is no way to move beyond “positional” leadership without it! But the rapport I had with my team did not translate to influence. In fact, it was hurting my efforts to lead my team efficiently. When I asked them to complete a task or put their focus on...
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