Tag: leadership development

Many Managers Are Not Natural Leaders, So Help Them

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Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

Not everybody who deserves to be in a leadership role, is a natural leader. What this means is, someone who is really good at their job, can manage their time well, get their tasks done quickly and effectively, may not be someone who leads from the front. You as a business owner have probably come across someone who is so talented yet, they aren’t in a role that helps them to make key decisions and help others. Many managers are like this. They are in a leadership role, they are great at managing their responsibilities, except when it comes to leading the team.

Should we give up on them?

You might be thinking that, if someone isn’t a natural leader then they should not be a manager. However, if you took this approach with every role in your business, you would run out of managers. No, we should not give up on people who don’t seem to be natural leaders. What we should do is to bring their leadership qualities out. If they already have great skills in time management, attention to detail in projects, great communication skills, but they can’t energize and motivate their team as well, then let’s not shy away from this task.

How to help them

The best way to help a manager become more assertive and be able to read his team better is to give him leading training. If you don’t have an in-house training program, then seek to put your managers through a leadership empowerment program like that on the Learning Bank – digital learning. They will learn how to properly delegate tasks, motivate their employees to take on tough challenges and also improve each employee’s productivity. Developing employees for the future is a task that managers have to pick up with gusto. Making employees more resilient to sudden changes to tasks, and having quick recovery processes in place to prevent projects from slipping behind schedule, will all be taught to your managers in the program.

Give them time

Philosophers often say you should give power to the person who says or acts like they don’t want the power. This is what makes them a good leader because they’re not in it for the power, or the pay, they know the seriousness of leadership and so they want to get it right. They also don’t have an ego, so they’re much more likely to grow over time instead of hitting a wall of personal growth and then decline. So, give your managers time to become used to their role. Give managers encouragement in areas of their people skills that need to become better, etc. Check up on them every week to see how they are doing and get updates of how they are improving in their role, after their leadership training.

Not everyone is going to be a great leader naturally, but that does not mean that you cannot bring out the true leadership qualities in them. So if your managers do everything well except motivating and leading their teams, you can fix this issue with a leadership program.

How to Further Your Management Career

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If you have dreams of managing hundreds or thousands of employees at a large firm or want to eventually run your own big business, it’s important to grow yourself as a leader. This is the case whether you’re currently in a management position, or want to be in the future.

The people who further their careers in management don’t stay static. Instead, they keep developing new goals to achieve and look for promotions to pursue and additional skills to learn along the way to make them more desirable as leaders. If you want to further your management career over the coming weeks, months and years, read on for some key steps you can take to make it happen.

Know Where You Want to Go and Create a Plan

To begin with, you need to know where you want to go with your management career. Take time to become clear about your goals, so you don’t inadvertently find yourself stuck in a dead-end job. You should have both short-term and long-term aspirations in mind.

The goals you set could relate to the size of the team you want to lead, what type of business you want to work at, how much you want to earn per year and other factors. Regardless of what you wish for, by getting clear on your desired results, you will be better able to come up with strategies to make them happen and avoid wasting your time and energy on the wrong paths.

Once you have a direction to head in, create a plan for your career. Think about what kinds of activities you can do now and into the future, which will help you get where you want to go. When designing your plan, consider elements such as your values, interests, experience, skill set, special talents and mission, as well as the industry you’re in and the trends you can see in it.

Keep Learning and Growing Your Network

To be the best manager possible, you must also find ways to keep learning. Top achievers are always those people who improve and don’t rest on their laurels. You must develop new skills and keep broadening your knowledge over time. This will help to make you much more appealing to businesses that are after top managers.

To grow yourself, consider enrolling in a relevant management degree, such as an AACSB-accredited online MBA. During this kind of study, you’ll not only learn about different management styles and techniques, as well as tips on running an organization, but you’ll also likely meet a variety of interesting, like-minded people who can be key contacts for you during your career. Growing your network is vital if you want to get to the top of your industry.

On top of university studies, also consider developing yourself and your relationships by attending relevant trade shows, conferences and other industry events; joining business associations and clubs; attending short courses and talks; and networking on social media. You can also grow by finding a mentor to guide and teach you and by reading magazines, books, papers, blogs, newsletters and the like.

Find Ways to be Proactive

When it comes to becoming a well-respected, sought-after manager, you must demonstrate plenty of initiative. To get to the top as a leader, you need to go after opportunities and continually think about ways in which you can be proactive to make things happen.

For example, don’t be too scared to ask for what you want. If you are eyeing a higher management role in your current company, make sure your bosses understand that you’d like to be promoted. Bring up your aspirations and ask them what you need to do to get there.

While you might worry that being bold like this could be taken negatively, such as you being pushy, the fact is that as long as you are assertive rather than aggressive and have been working hard and seem committed to the firm, your superiors are likely to be relieved to hear you want to advance. Many employers are often searching for people they can promote and develop and will be thrilled that you are putting your hand up for new and more challenging responsibilities. Once they know what you want to achieve, they can keep you in mind for future positions and other career-making opportunities.

4 Life Lessons Millennials Learn From Childhood Sports

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Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

Trying to be a leader in the company that you work for is not always an easy thing to do. You have to stand up and be the guiding force for a number of employees; stress, much? Millennials want to have it all and then some, and rightly so, as long as they are willing to work for it, the world is their oyster. The thing is, not everyone necessarily knows how to be a good leader, and that’s where you need to look back into the past to work it out.

Almost every single child between the ages of five and fifteen participates in some kind of organized sport. Participating in sport can offer many different lessons to those involved. There are just certain values that sport teaches you that you carry into your adulthood without even realizing it most of the time. Millennials who want to be great leaders should look back on their past and draw some inspiration from their time on the field. Below, we have some of the life lessons that participating in sport can get for you, so that you can be a far more effective leader in the office today.

Discipline. One of the things that you would have learned on those weekends at the baseball diamond is what is a fungo bat used for. You’d remember how it was used to practice, practice, practice and your coach would always use it to help you to learn how to hit a fly ball. The discipline that you would teach yourself by being determined to hit every one of those poppers can carry over to your current role. You need to remember to push yourself toward success, and that’s exactly what baseball teaches.

Respect. Playing in a team includes respecting those around you and your leaders. You may be the person in charge of your team, but you’ll have a whole management board above you that you need to listen to. Their inspirational effect on you will teach you how to have respect for their leadership and help you to learn how to be a better leader yourself.

Overcoming Adversity. Sports are hard. Not many people could get up and do what an athlete could do on a daily basis. Everyone goes through hard times with their career, athletes included, and you can really bring your skills of overcoming adversity to the office to help you get out of your own rut.

Resilience. As with the sports field, you cannot always win at work. There will be times that you will fail, but a failure is nothing but a first attempt in learning. You can overcome whatever you need to with the right level of resilience.

We’re not suggesting you hunker down with the latest video game in the hope of learning sporty life lessons, but there is so much that sports could teach you. Drawing on old inspiration can reignite the fire that you feel in your job – don’t be afraid to grab it with both hands.

How To Spot A Secure Leader

Scott Asai1 Comment

The title leader can be given to anyone.

But the term leader and manager are worlds apart.

Most managers were promoted because of seniority or selected because of their technical prowess. Two of the many wrong reasons to become a manager.

Micromanagers are so rampant because the wrong skill sets are glorified. Individual performance isn’t a clear indicator of potential leadership. Using a sports analogy, the best player on a team isn’t automatically the MVP.

The difference between a secure leader and an insecure manager is encapsulated in the following statement:

How willing are they to implement other’s ideas?

Working with youth was my first introduction to leadership development. I remember planning a 6-week summer camp. I came prepared to share the weekly topics I felt were best, but then it hit me, “in order for the youth to feel empowered I should choose their agenda (ideas) over mine.”

At the time I thought it was a subtle gesture, but it turned out to be the difference between recruiting teenagers and developing young leaders. Because I let them choose the topics, they put way more effort, creativity and were much more motivated to run a great program.

Back to the sports analogy. Imagine you’re the coach of an individually talented team. You’d think your job is to throw your team out there and just let them figure it out. Although that’s not a bad strategy, the better one is to identify the strengths of each player, then put them in a system that allows them to shine in a customized role. The coach’s job is less about managing talent and more about governing egos. Leaders allow their people to thrive because they’re focused on eliminating distractions so they can maximize performance.

A manager’s role isn’t to puff his/her chest out trying to be the best. It’s about serving the people under them by trusting their ability to make the best decisions. In the age of infinite information what gets lost is people are your greatest asset, not data.

The simple act of hearing your team out and choosing their ideas over yours will increase morale and retention tremendously.

Why is this act so powerful?

Because it takes a secure leader to know he/she doesn’t need to be the smartest person in the room, only smart enough to empower the ones who make you look good.

Why Coaching Trees Don’t Work

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coach-k-phil-jackson

There’s a belief out there that leadership can be taught. Skills yes, but replicating no.

Take for instance two all-time basketball coaching greats: Phil Jackson & Mike Krzyzewski.

Both have disciples trained under them, yet given head coaching duties the success rate isn’t nearly as high. Why is that?

First of all, people can’t be scaled. You can have a mentor, but the goal of the mentee should never be to clone their model. Leadership is grounded in self-awareness so your style needs to be conducive to your personal strengths. You can’t be anything you want. You can only be the best version of you.

Second, there’s an art of leadership that is instinctual. Almost impossible to teach. Both Jackson and eventual Coach K successors have huge shoes to fill. Their replacements will be forever compared to their career success. Unfair as it is, each leader has to create their own legacy. Leaders are less focused on who came before them and more locked into where they want to go. As technology improves so does the sharpening of people skills. In sports the truly great coaches have a sound strategy, but what sets them apart is their ability to manage superstar egos. No book, online resource or manual can teach you that. You learn best through experience and since each individual is unique there’s no formula for optimal results.

Third, confidence in vision. Many would argue charisma, but that comes from a strong belief in self. The confidence in vision needs to be strong enough to take the team to a level even the leader hasn’t reached before. A leader’s vision should be bigger than themselves which further defends the idea of focusing on the future instead of looking back. Vision casting can be taught, but the size of the goal is directly tied to the confidence of the leader. Most successors aim to maintain past standards, but that’s peering in the rear view mirror. Beyond prior records, data and research, leaders must push on regardless of the struggle. That type of perseverance is a character trait developed over time.

Leadership development is real, but not as simple as following a set number of rules. Great coaches create a legacy that can’t be caught. Besides observing and having a deep appreciation for great leaders, it’s about identifying your greatest strengths and leveraging those on a daily basis for maximum results. Coaching trees don’t work because humans are too dynamic to be simplified down to a system. Train up leaders, but give them autonomy to spread their wings in the way they choose. That’s how a tree really blossoms.

 

The Future Of Leadership

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george-jetson

You may think this is about a new type of leadership, but it’s not.

The future of leadership has more to do with “where” than “how.”

It’s remote.

Flex-time or working from home is here to stay for many reasons: less distractions, no commute and becoming new parents. But the heart of remote leadership lies in trust.

Think about it. What people hate is being micromanaged. That usually happens when your boss is “looking over your shoulder” expecting you to do the work a certain way.

Working remotely completely diminishes that. Responsibility and self-discipline becomes a two-way street. Bosses need to be clear about what needs to be done. Workers need to make sure tasks are accomplished.

Being stuck to a location limits your talent community and allows for two extremes: micromanaging and hands-off leadership. Neither are beneficial for the company.

Not being in the same physical space forces both sides to focus on what matters: finishing the work while leaving out what doesn’t: how it’s being done.

A great way to test out remote leadership is at your office before you make the transition. Working remotely saves time and money, but most of all it provides what we all want more of: autonomy.

Are you a part of the future?

Why Artists Make Terrible Producers

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coachella-2016

Listen up aspiring/current entrepreneurs.

Imagine you’re a singer. You don’t write the songs or create the music, you just sing the song. The producer on the other hand never performs on stage, but they definitely run to the bank every time you open your mouth.

Neither is better. Just different.

For some reason 9 years ago when I took the leap from working for a boss to being my own, I thought I had to be an artist. The irony is while being employed I was a much better conductor than performer. Why did I make the shift: ego, naivety, achievement-oriented? All of the above.

Most of us do one role really well and the other one not so much. In my case I love coaching individuals, I’ve gotten much better at speaking and heck I even wrote a book. But I got away from what I do best and makes the biggest impact.

The latter matters more than the former. I’m a huge believer in strengths. Figure out what you’re great at and do more of that. The artist in me strayed away from the advice I’ve been giving, but the producer is aiming to get it back.

What I love most is: leadership development. Most of the time it happens through an organized program. As much as I love being directly involved, the biggest impact happens when the effort is multiplied through other leaders (think Uber driver vs. Uber, the company).

In a society where personal branding is mainstream it’s hard to step behind-the-scenes. But if you’re truly a producer, want to scale your idea and desire greater impact the shift from artist to producer must happen.

So choose the role that better fits you: artist or producer. Then proceed and make sure to stay in your lane.

3 Ways Leaders Are Willing, Not Ready

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LEADERSHIP

Are leaders born or made? That’s a debate this article can’t cover (in under a 1000 words) so I won’t go there. Everybody wants to be a leader, but if you knew what it really entails you might change your mind. In previous positions I’ve held, I learned over time that leadership isn’t as glamorous as advertised. In order to be an effective leader you have to be willing to absorb the following 3 things:

1) Willing to Take The Blame – If you want to lead, you have to accept being the goat. Not the “greatest of all time,” but pointing the finger at yourself when your team fails. It may not be your fault, but when something goes wrong people usually point “up.” I remember a time one of my staff members said something insensitive during a presentation and one of the audience members expressed their displeasure to me immediately. It wasn’t my mouth that this inappropriate comment came from, but after discussing it with my colleague, I decided to publicly apologize to the crowd. I wasn’t thrilled about it, because it wasn’t my “fault,” but it was under my watch so I took the fall for my team.

2) Willing To Deflect Praise – If you love getting credit for success, get out of leadership. Books, media and social networks paint a different picture, but rarely do leaders get praised when things go well. In fact, the better you get at leading and the longer you do it, it becomes an expectation (not appreciation). It’s like the obedient, older brother who gets overlooked by the prodigal son by his father. “Hey, I’ve been doing great all this time, but now this delinquent boy comes home and you give him a party?” Thanks for noticing. Not only do you have to take responsibility for your team’s blunders, but you also don’t get rewarded for achievements. Leadership isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be.

3) Willing To Follow – Maybe the hardest lesson to learn as a leader is managing your ego, not the egos of others. I learned this as a coach. Sometimes you’re right and they’re wrong, but you still go with their decision even when it turns our bad. Why? Because leadership is about developing people. If you make all the decisions, followers become dependent on the leader and never learn to soar on their own. When you delegate responsibility/let your team make decisions and live with the outcomes, they become leaders during the process. It’s not about telling people what to do and enforcing it. That’s called dictatorship. It’s why we hate micromanagers. The best way to illustrate this concept is an inverted triangle. The leader is at the bottom and his/her job is to support the people “above” them. Serve up and you’ll never fall down.

The better question to ask when it comes to leadership is: are you willing? Leadership is not for everyone and that’s okay. There can only be so many chefs in the kitchen, then it becomes too chaotic. Leaders are thrown into situations where they aren’t prepared all the time. It’s about knowing yourself, knowing your values and knowing your role. You don’t need an official position to lead, you just have to be willing to do the tough things and not get applauded for it.

Winsight Episode 44: Developing Potential

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nba draft lottery

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/winsight/44_Winsight_Episode_44_-_Developing_Potential.mp3]

With the NBA Trade Deadline passed and the Draft ahead of us for all major sports what’s our fascination with young, untapped potential?

In this episode, we’ll talk about developing potential and how to do it through the following example:

When does potential get realized? Is there a time limit?

Potential is based on expectations, but you can also change the trajectory by your work ethic & teaching

During the recession in late 2008 the first thing to go was training & development. What was the long-lasting effect of this decision?

When it comes to developing our own potential, how much responsibility is our own?

For the answers to the above questions, listen to the podcast! After you do, we’d love for you to leave your thoughts below!

Winsight Episode 42: Succession Plan

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succession plan, leadership development, pass the baton

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/winsight/42_Winsight_Episode_42_-_Succession_Plan.mp3]

 

Have you thought about who your “replacement” is? It doesn’t matter if it’s a formal position or just someone you see potential in. What matters is that you want to invest in someone.

In this episode about succession planning, here are the points covered:

– In sports, teams are always rebuilding with new talent

– Similar to the corporate world, building your talent pipeline is crucial because the knowledge will eventually “leave the room”

– At the heart of leadership development, who will take your place?

– This is bigger than you, so who are you investing in?

Think about who is your successor. What will you do this week to engage that relationship further?