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...
There’s no app for this
Busy leaders may wonder how we ever got along before Apple. We have a device in our pocket that replaces the alarm clock, the sticky note, the stopwatch, the CD player, the daily planner… and oh yes, the telephone. It has never been simpler to save time and create accountability. BUT… There is one thing that no app can replace. And it is the cornerstone of your company’s performance. This last week, I read a post from Gary Vaynerchuck about sales that said something thought-provoking… A stunning amount of people are not going to be successful in sales, because they’re not willing to work hard enough. They love automation. They love all these tools, bots, auto-replies and apps and services, and startups and CRMs that they think are going to solve the problem. Automation is not the answer, sales is about people. You have to build relationships first. You have to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and empathize with their position. No app is going to teach you that. And I thought...
When was the last time you washed a rental car?
When was the last time you washed a rental car? It’s a funny thought. Probably, your answer is, “Well, never!” Most people do not go the extra mile to take care of things that they only have a transactional relationship to. You have probably also never bought decorations for a rental car or had its oil changed, and you have definitely never paid to have its repairs done. After all, there is no reason to. It is not your car! You have no inspiration to spend your own resources on its well-being. Now that we have gone through that little thought experiment, let me ask you another question… Do your people see your company as a rental car? Are they invested in your organization? I am not asking if they have invested in it financially or if they have equity in it. I mean, do they have a sense of belonging to your organization? Do they feel connected to its mission and vision? Do they feel like they are an integral part of a larger whole? Are they leaning in and applying themselves as...
The greatest way to spend your time
I was wondering… are you free on Thursday, April 28th? Because I want to talk to you about a great investment opportunity…. Wait! Don’t go! Before you stop reading, know I am not asking for your money. Just a little of your time. One of the first things any organizational leader or business owner learns is that you must be intentional with your resources. And your time is one of the most precious resources you can invest. It is limited and irrecoverable, so you must spend it where it will pay off the most. And I can promise you that the time we spend together on Thursday, April 28th, will pay you permanent dividends. I want to talk to you about the greatest way to invest your resources as a leader: your team. The employees are the first customers of any organization. In fact, billionaire businessman Richard Branson says that “Customers come second, employees first.” How you take care of your team is how they take care of your clients. Their direct relationship with your end user...
Most leaders don’t know the answer to this question
Tell me if you see what is wrong with this scenario… A leader notices that many of their team members are disengaged. They perform their roles, but they are not achieving their real potential. Because of this, results have been muted. The leader has already tried to inspire their team with flexible hours so that they can spend their time as they wish as long as they meet their deadlines and goals. Then, the leader decides on a new plan: a monthly challenge week where team members compete to hit the best numbers. The leader thinks this will surely spur his team to action. And sure enough, two or three team members rise to the challenge. But the next month, the leader finds the same few employees are leaning in and winning - and the month after that, and the month after that. The rest of the team remains listless. What seems to be the problem? And what would you do next? One important thing to keep in mind is that a team is a group of people working toward a common goal. In moments of...
Feedback: how to give it and receive it
Imagine with me for just a moment… (if you have been leading long, it won’t be too hard - you have probably been in a similar situation before…) You are managing a team that is working on a critical project. Your team is heads-down, all-hands-on-deck at all hours. One team member, Jim, approaches you and asks to be removed from the project. When you ask why, he tells you that he does not like working with another team member, Mary, because they do not get along well. Then, at the next team meeting, you notice Jim and Mary’s dynamic. They are not cooperating and others on the team take notice. You know morale will suffer if you do not act. How do you proceed? It is an age-old problem that leaders face. Confrontation feels like conflict, so we think it is awkward and we often like to avoid it. But for the sake of our team member, our team, and our organization, we must engage. But how? How can you empathetically, but effectively, communicate feedback to your team? Keep these...
5 Steps to Masterfully Handle Conflict
As leaders, we celebrate the differences among our team members. A well-performing machine needs all kinds of parts to function properly. If the world only had one way of thinking, communicating, working, problem-solving… nothing would ever get done. Variety is the spice of life, as they say! But wherever there is difference, there will eventually be conflict. It is unavoidable. And in fact, it is not even a bad thing! We consider conflict an obstacle to overcome, but it can actually be an incredible opportunity to model your organization’s core values and even improve team morale. But in order for that to happen, conflict must be managed properly. Otherwise, it is more likely to be what we all usually think of when we think about conflict… messy and morale-killing. So, if you want to manage conflict to your advantage or avoid it to begin with, how should you approach it? 1. Set the tone for how your team should interact with each other. Leaders connect their teams to the...
The first thing high-performing teams need…
As a leader, you have no doubt heard it said that your people are your greatest asset… but that is not true. Your people at their most engaged are your greatest asset. Your team is the hands and feet of your organization, as well as its eyes and ears. They represent the traction toward your company’s strategic vision, and they offer a unique perspective about the organization’s day-to-day. Equipment ages and breaks down; software goes out of date and needs replacing; but when your people lean in, they not only bring insight to the table you cannot get anywhere else… they can only increase in their capacity to contribute. Needless to say, your team is well worth taking care of! Does your team have the number-one thing they need in order to function at their peak? According to one major study at Google, major factors for high-performing teams included team dependability, structure, clarity, and meaning and impact of work… but the most crucial thing teams needed? Psychological safety....
A leader’s least favourite part of the job
In a way, leadership is like parenting… It has shining moments when we get to inspire our teams – motivate them, speak into their growth, watch them succeed, and then celebrate with them. And then it has not-so-shining moments… difficult conversations, disciplinary meetings, and – especially these last few years – moments of crisis where they need us more than ever. This is one of those moments. Militaries, economies, and businesses worldwide are responding to the war in Ukraine. As they plan their support, leaders are beginning to ask themselves, “How does this situation affect us at home? How do we discuss this with our teams?” These moments that are not just uncomfortable, but crucial – and for many, dire, even – are when our leadership truly reveals itself. Your next step is a very telling one. Max De Pree said, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality” – and that is exactly what leaders must do now. Personally, I tend to be too optimistic. It is my nature as a...
5 Things Leaders Must Do In Crisis
On February 24th, Putin made history. Since then, the world has been off-kilter, and the people of Ukraine have been fighting to keep their homes and defend their lives. All our eyes are on the news now for daily, even hourly updates. It is like we are on the edge of our seats, waiting to see which way it goes from one moment to the next. As we think of and pray for and support those in Ukraine, our thoughts begin to slip toward our own homes, jobs, and futures, and we wonder what is in store for us. In times like these, leaders have a distinct responsibility to their people. We must do more than just lead as we would any other time; we must lead our people through crisis. The situation cannot go unacknowledged. When the world is watching so closely, to fail to discuss it with our people would communicate that we are not concerned - and that would convey a denial of their own concerns. As you bring up the tense situations unfolding in the world right now, keep in mind the 5 things...
The supreme leadership ability
If you have heard of Mark Cole, you probably know that he is John Maxwell’s successor and right-hand man. They have been working together for more than 20 years now - wherever John goes, Mark goes. And within the last few years, John has begun passing the baton to Mark in different areas of John’s legacy. When the time came for Mark to take over the John Maxwell Team, one of John’s main areas of focus, Mark says that he had to exhibit the “supreme leadership ability.” The JMT’s numbers were in decline. Trends were not looking good. John said to Mark, “This is your ability test as a leader - to turn the momentum of the company around.” John challenged Mark to overcome one of the leader’s most daunting obstacles: lack of momentum. I wrote to you about this idea a few weeks ago: the Law of Big Mo. It is one of John Maxwell’s 21 irrefutable laws of leadership: momentum is the great exaggerator, and it is more difficult to start than it is to steer. Momentum is the driving force behind...
Is your leader limiting your growth?
Last week, I wrote to you about “bad leaders” - or, the symptoms of bad leadership. We covered the three big indicators of growth-limiting leadership and I asked you to look in the mirror to see if you found any in yourself. But our own “bad leadership” is not the only thing limiting us and our team. John Maxwell’s Law of the Lid says that everything rises and falls on leadership. The leader’s lid limits the growth for all those who follow them. That means that unless you are the CEO of your organization, someone else helps set the standard for your growth. That can spell bad news for you if you see symptoms of “bad leadership” in your leader! It can be easy to get frustrated when we are in that position. Maybe we start thinking we could do better and imagining all the things we would do differently if we were sitting at their desk. But, there is good news: if you are experiencing that right now, there is something you can do about it! Remember the three ways that leaders hinder...
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