In your role as a front-line supervisor, you will eventually find yourself in the situation of selling a change to your team that you are also having trouble accepting. If you have not had this experience yet, you will. And when it happens, it can create all sorts of negative thoughts and emotions for you: frustration, anger, stress, fear of failure, feeling disingenuous, and … [Read more...]
Praise Matters: The Power of the 4 to 1 Rule
Some of my clients are already in leadership roles, they are tenured or new leaders who want to become better leaders or to improve their team environment. Some are not yet leaders, but they want to develop leadership skills in preparation for advancement. One of my more memorable encounters was with a person in the latter category. This person had recently had a bad … [Read more...]
Leadership Lessons from a Two-Year Old
Over the last two months I have had the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time with my two-year old granddaughter, Lillian. From those interactions, I have been reminded of a number of key leadership points that are easy to forget in the rush of business and life. What I’m about to share with you is probably not new. Rather, it’s likely to be for you what it is for … [Read more...]
Question What You Know (err … Think) Is True
When you know that something is true and someone contradicts that knowledge, you likely reject, perhaps forcefully, what the person said without giving the statement much consideration. After all, you already know that the person is wrong, so why should you listen? In fact, you should actually set the person straight, right? As a new leader, who is trying to build your … [Read more...]
Balancing Compassion and Accountability
Do you like to show compassion to others and struggle with holding them accountable for their actions and results? Or, are you comfortable holding people accountable and struggle to show compassion? My guess is that you answered “yes” to one of the questions above and “no” to the other. The balance between these two apparently contradictory perspectives is a struggle that … [Read more...]
Three Ways to Coach Your Employees So They Don’t Feel Coached
New supervisors often struggle with coaching the employees on their teams, and one of the reasons they often give for the struggle is that they don’t have time for or don’t know how to have the conversation. Many times, the challenge starts with the new supervisor thinking that a coaching conversation has to be a long, drawn-out meeting. The good news is that coaching can … [Read more...]
Turn to Employees’ Hobbies to Understand What Motivates Them
As a new leader, it can be tough to figure out how to motivate your employees to perform at a higher level at work. Surprisingly, a good place to start doesn't have much to do with work at all. You can actually look at employees' hobbies and interests to find clues about what motivates them and apply that insight as you assign and delegate tasks. A bit of background first: … [Read more...]
What to Do When People on Your Team Do Things That Are Irrational or Illogical
At some point in your leadership career, someone you lead will say or do something that seems crazy, illogical, or irrational to you. Maybe you have already had this experience. When it happens, you might be at a loss for what to do next. If their actions aren’t interfering with or limiting team performance in some way, you might choose to let it go without addressing it. If … [Read more...]
3 Communication Strategies Guaranteed to Irritate Others
In workshops and coaching conversations, I receive many questions about the right way to communicate with employees. While I cannot define a “right” way to communicate, particularly during conflict conversations, I can identify definitively wrong ways to communicate, including these three common tactics that are guaranteed to irritate others: Insinuation. … [Read more...]
4 Ways to Improve Your Communication
If you want to become more effective as a leader, more successful in meetings, or more confident while resolving conflicts, become a better communicator. On the high end of the communication skill spectrum, you find that great leaders — like Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King, Jr — are often great communicators. On the low-end, research indicates that … [Read more...]