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The 3-Part Process of Leadership Basic Training

April 5, 2018 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

The 3-Part Process of Leadership Basic Training
Featured article by Dave Ferguson in CEOWORLD magazine. Reprinted by permission.

In The 11 Essential Needs of Employees, we noted the top reasons for job dissatisfaction. One of those reasons is that employees are unhappy with management and the way they manage.

This is why the first rung on the Leadership Ladder is “Leadership is a Priority.”

Good leadership doesn’t just happen by appointment.

Granted, there are those who are “natural leaders” to some degree; it is their inclination to take charge. But that doesn’t mean all natural leaders are good leaders. The fact is, some “natural leaders” can be really “bad bosses” if their natural talents are not trained in the right direction.

When an unprepared leader is assigned to a leadership position, it can result in disastrous consequences, leaving unhappy employees in the wake. Unaddressed, it can negatively impact the company’s bottom line.

As a leader of leaders, your main focus must be on training your leaders to be good and effective leaders.

How do you do this?

Here is the 3-Part Process of Leadership Basic Training.

1. Un-train

First, you un-train.

As an Air Force veteran, I can tell you that the first few days in basic training are not intended to be pleasant. They are intended to “un-train.”

We recruits came from diverse backgrounds, each with our own ideas as to how things should be done.

We each brought habits – some good ones, and many bad ones. The first few days were all about tearing down those bad habits – and even some of the good ones – to make room for better habits.

Some of us had attitudes. Those were untrained as well…and pretty quickly, I might add.

2. Train

The bad habits and attitudes were replaced with rigorous training for better habits and attitudes. This wasn’t just a matter of positive thinking. It required action…painful, arduous, push-to-the-limits action.

Creating strong leadership habits and attitudes also required repetition. It meant daily practice until the process of what to do was drilled into us so we could carry it out quickly, strategically, and with confidence.

The results of this un-training and training process transformed us from cocky young teenagers to a strong, confident team.

3. Serve

The problem with leadership in typical organizations is that there is no basic training for it. It is simply assumed that a person who is good at his or her job should be able to lead those who do that kind of work, or that someone who is tested and falls within a certain range on an assessment automatically qualifies for a leadership position.

You have an employee who excels in IT, for example, so you make him or her the IT manager. But soon you notice projects are falling behind, and you hear murmurings of discontent among his or her direct reports.

“He used to be our friend. Now he thinks he’s better than us.”

“She did a good job in IT, but as a manager, she’s out of her league.”

Why is it that this stellar employee now fails as a manager?

It often comes down to one issue: They were trained to do a job, but never trained to be a leader.

For them to transition well from being an employee to being a manager, they need to be un-trained on some practices and trained on some new ones.

Before a leader can serve well, they must be un-trained and trained well.

Your organization is all about people – the people who lead, the people they lead, and the clients and customers they collectively serve.

If your leadership team is functioning well at all levels, your clients and customers will be served well.

Are you, as the leader of those leaders, equipping them with the tools and resources they need to do  their jobs well?

Leadership Training Resources

Leadership training can take the form of books (at a basic level), workshops, retreats, extended leadership programs, or executive coaching, depending on the needs of the organization and individuals.

Where specific issues need to be addressed, executive coaching can help a leader push through personal or professional obstacles that may be holding them back, or get specific help in dealing with a situation. Executive coaching is also good for strategic planning and accountability, while also offering a confidential sounding board for ideas and issues.

Where teamwork is a component of the leadership training, we encourage group platforms such as workshops and retreats.

Where extensive training for leaders and teams is needed, an extended leadership program will give you and your team time to learn new principles, apply them in the workplace, and then review and refine for best results.

Living to Lead offers all of these, plus an innovative new option where you as a leader can lead your team through a 16-week leadership training program. We provide the tools you can take to your team for learning and application. With this option, you are learning and developing your leadership skills right along with your team. This gives you a chance to get to know your team and generate real solutions and ideas for your business.

To discuss and determine the type of leadership training and team development options that best fit you and your team, feel free to contact me at livingtolead.com/contact.


Dave FergusonDave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. Are you interested in talking to Dave about coaching or having Dave speak to inspire and motivate your team? “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

The 3 D’s of Responsible Leadership

March 7, 2018 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

The 3 D’s of Responsible Leadership

Featured article by Dave Ferguson in CEOWORLD magazine. Reprinted by permission.

311…it was posted everywhere on every floor. 311 on the elevator. 311 in the hallway. And 311 on the door of one very determined executive vice president.

“What is this all about?” many inquired.

Those on the top floor knew…all 311 in that division.

This particular company was in bankruptcy. Meetings were held daily as to what parts would be sold and when. Negotiations were ongoing with other companies to purchase different divisions. Some would be dissolved.

But one very adamant executive vice president fought for his people.

He promised them that none of the 311 would lose their jobs, and then he made good on the promise. The division was sold to another company – it had to be, as the “mother ship” was going down. But in his negotiations with the other company, who very much wanted him, he required that as part of his employment agreement, they would agree to hire all 311 of his people.

This is the epitome of a leader who recognized that leadership of his people meant declaring a vision, determining to safeguard his people, and delivering on his promise.

And he did.

As a leader, do your people know you take their interests seriously? Do they know that you would fight for their jobs just as much as you would fight for your own? Are they secure in the vision you have for them and the company?

Leadership is serious business.

Every day, your employees give you their most precious gift – their time. In exchange, though they may not say it, they expect at least some degree of security. It is their right to expect that you create and adhere to a vision that is geared toward the long-term success of the company.

How can you be a responsible leader? There are three very specific tenets.

1. Declare a vision.

Take out a piece of paper, and write down the number of employees entrusted to your care. Post it on your door. Post it in other prominent places. Then declare to your people that will protect every one of their interests as much as your own. That is a big, daring vision.

The Result: You will gain their attention.

2. Determine to safeguard your people.

Vision is key, but vision alone is not enough. It must be followed by determination and a plan. In fact, the bigger the vision, the more fierce determination and solid planning must be applied. Just as you declared the vision to your people, you must also share the plan with them. This gives them security and obtains the needed buy-in from them that you need to carry it out. Big vision is a team effort.

The Result: You will gain their respect.

3. Deliver on your promise.

Vision, determination, and planning require one other component in order to become reality: action. Action is delivering on your promise…and your promise is vision. Deliver the vision.

The Result: You will gain their loyalty.

These principles apply to your employees and team; and they also apply to your customers and clients. Do your customers and clients know the vision you have for them and do they sense your commitment or are they treated like a number? Do they know you will passionately deliver that vision and keep your promises to them?

This is the second article in the Leadership Ladder series. Click here for more.

Boss or Leader - Get Your FREE Chapter or Buy the Book!


Dave FergusonDave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. Are you interested in talking to Dave about coaching or having Dave speak to inspire and motivate your team? “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

Eight Habits of Highly Successful Leaders

October 25, 2017 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

Six Habits of Highly Successful Leaders
Image Credit: Shutterstock

dave-ferguson-forbes-article Featured article by Dave Ferguson in Forbes Coaches Council. Reprinted by permission.

Think of success as a muscle. It must be conditioned to perform at peak levels. The habits you adopt affect how your success strengthens and grows. On the flip side, your habits can diminish your success because they play a significant role in how you feel and approach the day.

In essence, successful leaders are those who consistently practice successful habits.

 

What are these habits? (Hint: None of them require a complete life makeover.)

 

  • Successful leaders read constantly.

This should come as no surprise. Making reading a priority means you are prioritizing your education. Successful leaders always seek ways they can improve themselves. They look to other leaders for advice and inspiration.

Even reading your choice of self-indulgent fiction has been shown to increase creativity, a tool that is essential for staying relevant and innovative in today’s crowded business space.

  • Successful leaders make goals and consistently reassess those goals.

This should be obvious, yet many leaders fail to set clear goals. If you are going to pull long hours and devote your life to a company or product, you should do so with a goal in mind: an idea of where you want to land.

  • Successful leaders celebrate the milestones they reach and question what’s keeping them from reaching others.

Their goals are focused and few. The fewer direct goals you have, the more focus you can put toward achieving them.

  • Successful leaders build positive relationships.

You are who you associate with. Do you tend to collaborate with others who are positive and motivated? Or do you find yourself in toxic environments?

You should never be the smartest person in the room. If you find that this has become the case, it’s time to expand your network. Form positive connections with people by showing genuine interest in your interaction, rather than an “out-for-yourself” attitude. In the same breath, be sure to limit your exposure to toxic people.

  • Successful leaders practice generosity.

Generosity is at the heart of most success stories. Generosity is about being willing to give of yourself to serve others.

Yes, generosity is an investment. But the payoff is huge. Take mentorship, for example. This is a relationship built on generosity — on giving advice and sharing valuable insights. You are giving back to the broader industry by helping to groom someone who will succeed, innovate, and positively change the field. What you give you are bound to receive back in rewarding ways.

  • Successful leaders allow for “me” time.

These leaders understand they have only 24 hours each day and are not so selfless as to give it all to someone else. Time is valuable. Successful leaders are aware of how and who they invest their time in.

By taking time for yourself — to clear your head, brainstorm, organize your desk — you are recognizing yourself as an asset. You cannot contribute fully if you are running on empty.

  • Successful leaders spend time with people who inspire them.

This includes their own teams. They stay connected with what is happening with their employees. It is important to reconnect with the day-to-day details of your company to keep your focus sharp on why your business exists in the first place: your customer. This does not mean, however, you need to stand over people’s shoulders or micromanage. You’ve built a team you can trust. Trust them.

  • Successful leaders are not shy about collaborating with diverse audiences.

In fact, they seek out experts in other fields through reading, interaction and research. They are quick to pour their skills into the lives of others without expecting an immediate return on investment.

How do you stack up against the most successful leaders in your industry?


Dave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. Are you interested in talking to Dave about coaching or having Dave speak to inspire and motivate your team? “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

Time Management vs. Energy Management

September 20, 2017 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

Time Management vs. Energy Management

In the old-school “time management” models, it was all about efficiency, about doing as much as possible in the time allotted.

The problem was, it didn’t work. Just as sure as one thing was crossed off the list, two more tasks took its place. It created a “more-more-more, faster-faster-faster” mentality that now has people working seven days a week, day and night.

Sure, they may be getting a lot done, but at what cost?

I can tell you, the cost is high. They are paying for this “efficiency” in loss of true effectiveness and results, life balance, health, and relationships. The effect on companies is not the higher productivity and profit one would expect, but a high burnout and disengagement rate.

This week, I am privileged to be conducting a leadership retreat.

Our goals are related to planning, goal setting, and problem-solving. But first and foremost, there is a need for re-energizing the leadership team.

Like you and your team, this team is giving it all they have to outpace the competition and create profit. The work never stops. But the fact is, the leaders need to stop – just for a short time – to recalibrate. Without this time for re-energizing and recalibration, a team can lose its effectiveness.

How can you re-energize and recalibrate your team?

In their book The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz make the case for the fact that “performance, health, and happiness are grounded in the skillful management of energy.”

Success is no longer based on a futile attempt at managing time, but a more effective approach of managing energy.

There is a compound effect that occurs when you have a block of time matched with high energy. The results are measurably significant. Studies have also shown that working longer does not necessarily create massively greater results. In fact, the law of diminishing returns kicks in at some point, creating lower productivity. And yet we as employers demand more and more of a smaller workforce…and more and more of ourselves and our leadership teams as well.

How can you as the leader of a company create a high-energy team that gets results without burnout?

Why should you even care about energizing your employees? Here are a few critical reasons.

  • To rebuild employee trust. All the downsizing, lay-offs, rightsizing, and re-engineering in recent years has created environments where employees have lost trust.
  • Employees today must be more self-motivated and self-directed.
  • As our work environments have become more high-tech, the need for leaders to be more high-touch has developed.
  • Work environments today must be supportive and foster the desired behaviors and outcomes.
  • All employees want to feel valued and appreciated for their knowledge, skills, and work.
  • Leaders have limited time with their employees, so it must be positive and meaningful.

How do you truly energize your employees? Here are four ways. 

  • What and how you communicate with your employees is just as important as what you pay and give them.

Well-informed employees are good and productive employees, simply because they feel involved. The positive effects of communicating vital company information to employees are huge. Employees who are “in the loop” are energized and feel like a vital part of the organization.

  • Involving your employees in decisions that affect them will result in overall better decisions.

The collection of employee suggestions is one of the best ways to involve employees and to energize them in the process. Their suggestions can not only help the company but also themselves, by improving working conditions and giving them a measure of control over their jobs. If a company carefully reviews employee suggestions and quickly implements the ones with merit, management is sending a message to employees that they are valued. In contrast, an unattended suggestion box sends a clear message to employees that they are not being heard – and this will de-energize your team.

  • Training employees is essential for their long-term relationship with your company.

The best companies recognize that teaching employees pays long-term dividends. When employees are given opportunities to learn and better themselves, it can electrify an otherwise stagnant workforce. Just the ability to break out of their day-to-day routines can be very energizing in itself.

  • Creating new and interesting challenges can keep employees out of a rut.

These new challenges can reenergize them and restore enthusiasm. If you want your employees to feel excited about coming to work, you have to create interesting new challenges. And by the same token, be sure to recognize their efforts in meeting these challenges. Take time to celebrate the wins with your team before diving into the next challenges. This creates a cycle of renewable energy.

From Millennials to Baby Boomers, people today are looking for much more than a paycheck when they go to work. They are looking for purpose and fulfillment. Many employers still don’t get this, and it shows in their production and turnover numbers.

My suggestion is to give your employees a chance to make an impact, not just a job. Energize your team, and the results will come as a welcome side-effect.

For more ideas on how to energize your employees, get the Emotional Intelligence Matrix.


Dave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. Are you interested in talking to Dave about coaching or having Dave speak to inspire and motivate your team? “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

The Simple Cure for Fence Sitting

May 24, 2017 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

The Simple Cure for Fence Sitting

We have learned what happens when you get stuck on a fence. As a leader, you must be able to lead the charge toward the goals and missions of the company. Sitting on the fence can have serious repercussions.

But how do you get off the fence and start making good progress again?

Here are the actions you as a leader can take, starting today.

1. Stop making excuses.

What have you been telling yourself you are going to do? You know, those things you start out by saying, “One of these days”, or “when the economy gets better”, or “when we get around to it”, or “I’m really going to have to deal with that situation or that person.”

Chances are, if you are goal-driven as most leaders are, things will never settle down. We also know that “one of these days” never comes, and the economy fluctuates like the weather. I can’t predict either one. I coach and consult with executives in businesses that range from banks and hedge funds to automotive enterprises and manufacturing companies, and I have yet to meet anyone who can predict the economy or the weather with 100% assurance.

If professionals with their hand on the pulse of businesses can’t predict an upturn, who can? You can’t base your actions on unknown intangibles, but you can base actions on goals, solid principles, and a strategy for dealing with obstacles.

Waiting for better circumstances is lazy leadership. It is time to get off the fence.

Be a leader who makes no excuses.

2. Face your fears.

Most of my clients know what my biggest fear is. I share it with them, because it’s a common fear that I’ve learned how to manage. By sharing these things, I help them. Will it always be lurking, somewhere inside of me? Yes! Does it prevent me from making decisions anymore? No!

I honestly believe that only fools are not afraid. Especially as leaders, we hate to admit our fears. We hate to admit them because we see that as a sign of weakness. The opposite is true. Admitting that we have fears is a sign of humanity. I can’t recall who said it but they were absolutely right when they said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, it’s making progress in spite of our fears.” Start facing them today, and you will progress.

Be a courageous leader who feels the fear but takes action anyway.

3. Start making progress TODAY.

Not tomorrow, not next week, and certainly not next month or next quarter. Don’t wait for New Year’s either (we all know how most resolutions turn out). You shouldn’t need to plan to get off the fence, it simply requires action. Right now, think of one major decision you have been refusing to make. Take time today to think about the reasons why you are not making the decision. Write them down and visualize them. Make a list of positives and negatives, and then talk to your advisors (totally objective ones if you have any).

As I learned that one day years ago, fence sitting is a very bad practice. The cure is found in recognizing that you’re stuck and taking swift action to get to the other side.

Be a leader who takes action TODAY.

If I can be of help to you or your leadership team, don’t hesitate to contact me. I know a thing or two about getting off the fence!


Dave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. For help in getting off the proverbial fence and on to success, “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

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