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You are here: Home / Archives for leaders ladder

Five Ways Leaders Can Show Appreciation

November 21, 2018 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

Five Ways Leaders Can Show Appreciation
Image Credit: Shutterstock

 

Those of us who grew up in the sixties and seventies may remember Rosie the Robot on the Jetson’s cartoon series. Or Star Trek, with its magical ability to transport people through space and time, and make food appear out of thin air. Back then, the idea of instant access, talking face-to-face via a TV-like screen, and having a robot do your work seemed like an out-of-this-world impossibility.

Today, most of these are daily occurrences.

We talk with people all over the world at the drop of a hat. Our refrigerator orders food that appears “out of thin air,” delivered by drones. And our appliances do our work, much like Rosie, but without the attitude.

We have come a long way in a few decades.

Or have we?

This automation comes as a two-sided sword. While it may bring convenience and time savings, it also pulls us more and more into a virtual world, where, if we’re not careful, we can lose touch with the reality of people and relationships.

This phenomena is evident in the business world as well.

According to Ranstad research, technology is having an impact in the workplace, with “over half feeling technology makes them feel less connected” and “more than 90% believing that a face-to-face meeting is the best way to interact with someone.”

To leaders, this can present a challenge, unless you realize that, at the core, the needs of people really have not changed. The mechanisms have changed, but the underlying needs are the same. Perhaps the generational gap is not quite as wide as we might think. This is why, when asked how to lead millennials, I say, “You lead them like you lead everyone else.”

The 11 Essential Needs of Employees apply just as much today as they have for centuries.

Despite increased autonomy, humans still have need for feeling valued. Feeling valued comes from having self-respect and being recognized for your contribution to society.

This is why people hang plaques and certificates on the wall, and why they will carry a tattered handwritten thank you note for years…or even decades. Sincere appreciation and recognition are not only “nice to have’s”…they are essential needs.

Leaders, let that register in your mind for a moment.

Your people NEED you to appreciate them and recognize their efforts.

When was the last time you registered more than a cursory “thank you” for a job well done? Do you want to create a team that is loyal to your cause and works well together? You can do this by simply meeting those 11 essential needs of employees, one of which is sincere appreciation for a job well done.

Here are some ways you can provide recognition:

  1. Write a handwritten thank you note.

Be specific in recognizing the individual’s value to your team. What did they do, and what impact did it have? What is different about them that makes them a special part of the team, and what unique gifts and perspectives do they bring to the workplace?

  1. Tell them thank you, and be specific.

This not only underscores what you appreciate, it also reinforces great behavior.

  1. Tell someone else.

Sometimes, the best compliments are indirect ones. “Mr. Smith talked about you in our Executive Team meeting this morning. He said your work on the ABC project was extraordinarily organized, creating efficiencies that saved considerably on the overall project cost.”

This approach has dual effect – it makes the employee feel valued; and it raises the estimation of their value to other leaders as well.

  1. Find a way to reward deeds well done in the workplace.

Employee of the month programs, special amenities, team lunches to honor those who have done well on a project…these things go a long way toward meeting an employee’s need for feeling valued. With these, be sure to look for and reward each person on an individual basis so as not to cause division. These are especially effective for group efforts, as it sends the message that working together well creates rewards for the entire team.

  1. Give each person an opportunity to shine.

As we’ve talked about before, “set your people up for success.” And then, recognize them for their efforts. Your accomplishments as a leader are gratifying; but seeing your team members accomplish great things under your leadership is legacy. And it doesn’t get any better than that.

It is really not so hard after all, is it? Help your people succeed, and then thank them for it.

Take a look around at your team today. Who NEEDS a thank you? Who NEEDS a little recognition for a job well done?


Looking for a leadership development program you can use with your team? Check out the Boss or Leader: Lead and Learn Kit. It is affordable, effective, and provides high impact. Be a leader who makes a difference! Click here for details.

Boss or Leader | Lead and Learn


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 Ways Leaders Can Set Their Teams Up For Success

November 7, 2018 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

Eight Ways Leaders Can Set Their Teams Up For Success
Image Credit: Shutterstock

 

She was an awkwardly shy teenager. An introvert by nature, she retreated even deeper into silence when her parents went through a particularly nasty divorce. It was her only safe place. Those who knew her began to worry about her.

But one truly influential leader took action.

He asked her to be on a team and put her in a position that showcased her strengths. In doing so, he set her up to win.

As she worked to develop those strengths even further, the team began to recognize her value. As they worked together to win championships, the experience of being valued by others on the team and the achievements helped her to heal.

She went on to have a successful corporate career and now owns a thriving business.

What made the difference?

A leader who set her up…to win.

As a leader, are you setting your people up to win, or are you just setting them up?

We all know leaders who, perhaps inadvertently, set their people up for failure. They…

  • Don’t take the time to see the potential of each person and position them accordingly
  • Put them in positions that don’t match their strengths
  • Promote them into leadership positions without leadership training
  • Fail to equip them for the work required
  • Don’t communicate clear vision and expectations
  • Set goals that are too aggressive
  • Focus on how the team can serve them and not on how they can serve the team
  • Don’t do and say things to help the team see the value of each individual

Full Circle Leadership

When it comes down to it, beyond career advancement and high levels of income, what most leaders really and truly want is to make a difference.

One of the most significant ways to make a difference is to actively seek ways to set your people up for success.

To do this, you simply reverse the failure formula above.

1. Take time to see the potential of each person, and position them accordingly. See them as they can be, not as they currently are. Often, leaders look outside the organization, when the potential best employee is already in the organization. We have become accustomed to treating employees as expendables rather than focusing on long-term career development. There is a need to reconsider this approach.

2. Put them in positions that match their strengths, but challenge them to expand the boundaries of their comfort zones. This powerful “strengths plus growth” strategy builds not only businesses, but, more importantly, individuals.

3. Promote them into leadership positions, but provide training, coaching, and personal mentorship so they can climb the leadership ladder to its highest and most meaningful point: legacy.

4. Equip them for the work required by providing the team, tools, and training they need. If they have ideas for improvements, give them the power and the tools to make those improvements.

5. Communicate clear vision and expectations. The best teams are those who know the game plan and their role in getting there. Assessments show a distinct correlation between lack of clarity, and low productivity and job dissatisfaction. In short, if you aren’t clear on goals and roles, your productivity, profit, and attrition rate will be impacted.

6. Set goals that are challenging but attainable. Don’t set impossible goals for your team and then disappear, leaving them to make it happen. Bosses everywhere do this, leaving a wake of frustrated employees destined for failure. It is better to reach a challenging goal than to miss an impossible one.

7. Focus on how you can serve the team, not on how they can serve you. Set the example of servant leadership as the way you do business.

8. Do and say things to help the team see the value of each individual. Help each team member find their place of achievement and value on the team. If you are looking to minimize conflict, this is one of the best ways to do it.

When your people succeed, you as the leader succeed.

But when you build your people, you succeed beyond the norms of career and financial rewards. You succeed to a level of significance. This is legacy-level leadership.

Here’s the bottom line.

Building your people builds your legacy.

Tearing down your people tears down your legacy.

Failing to build your people is failing to build your legacy.

——

It is your choice, and you make it daily. Will you set your people up failure or for success?

 

 


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 Core Role of a Leader

September 12, 2018 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

The Core Role of a Leader
Image Credit: Shutterstock

What is the job of a leader?

“Get things done.”

“Produce results.”

“Set and achieve goals.”

All these are great, but they are not the core role of a leader. In fact, “getting things done” can actually keep a leader from leading.

The Core Role of a Leader

The core role of a leader is to develop the team that…gets things done, produces results, and achieves the goals that have been set.

If you are trying to do it all yourself, you are limiting yourself, your team, and your organization.

If you develop others, there is unlimited potential to what can be achieved.

How can you develop others?

1. Create a system of support.

Founders of companies very quickly realize there is more work than time, and so they hire a team. But if they have not taken the time to build a system for their business, they only make more work for themselves.

Team members will rely on them to answer questions, explain procedures, and direct them at every turn. Many leaders throw up their hands in despair and utter something like, “I can do it faster and better myself!”

And they begin a cycle of looking for the “perfect” team member to solve all their problems, not realizing it is not a people issue, but a systems issue.

Make it a priority to have systems in place to support your team – processes and procedures, the tools to do the work, and a centralized knowledge base. If you don’t have time to build it yourself, enlist the help of your current team to do so. You relay the big picture of what needs done and have them help you build out the details. If you have done your due diligence and hired dedicated employees, you can build the necessary systems together in this way.

2. Create a culture of respect.

You as the leader set the tone for your organization. If you hire people for their strengths and respect those strengths enough to seek their advice, you create a culture of respect. And you can bet the rest of your team will follow your example.

The fact is, no one knows everything. And the good news is, you as a leader are not expected to know everything.

To succeed, you must identify “experts” in those areas in which you do not excel.

Here’s a real life litmus test.

Have you ever noticed how a leader treats his or her assistant? It is a good indicator of their leadership. Do they show respect to their assistant as a qualified professional in their area of expertise, or do they treat him or her as a commodity that is easily replaceable and of little value.

Three things happen when you respect each member of your team: they respect you as the leader, they respect other members of the team for their individual gifts and strengths, and they commit to using their strengths to help build the organization.

Do you want to lose credibility fast in the eyes of your employees? Show disrespect to just ONE of them.

The choice is yours. One action will build a team that builds a strong organization; the other will tear it down.

3. Create a path for growth.

“The only way to advance is to leave the company.”

Sadly, some of the best talent in an organization goes right out the door, taking their experience, skills, and strong work ethic with them. This is often because they have outgrown a role and are ready for a new challenge, but they get overlooked or don’t have the opportunity to grow within their current company.

A wise leader will create a path for growth and will encourage each team member to advance along the path that best fits them.

Before you spend thousands and thousands of dollars on recruiting outside candidates, take a look around your current team for qualified candidates.

Think about it. When you hire from within, you save the costs of advertising and recruiting, save the time of an extensive interview process, and save considerably on the time and cost involved in new client onboarding and training.

If you have created a clear path for growth and identified qualified candidates from within, you can invest in more targeted growth training. This not only saves enormously on costs, but yields a higher return on investment.

4. Create a means for accountability.

Ah, the once-a-year annual review. Most leaders dread it; and most employees hate it.

Think about it. You go through the year working with someone, essentially saving your feedback, comments, and accolades for one time a year. Where is the real value in that?

Instead, consider that you are not in a leadership position to fill out paperwork. You are there to develop people. And consider that this should be a daily process, not a once-a-year process.

As you go through each day, observe your people. Are they doing a good job on something? Tell them immediately, and be specific in your compliment. This helps them grow. If you wait until the end of the year, you will forget about it.

If they are doing something incorrectly, or you notice they are not performing up to their normal high level, take the time to guide them into correct procedure or to determine and deflect issues that may be undermining their performance.

Here’s a point many leaders miss: Accountability goes both ways. Let your people know that you want and value their feedback as well. Be open to listening to their point of view. There is room for growth in every leader.

5. Create a network for sharing.

Through decades of coaching and executive level leadership, I have noticed a common characteristic that tends to prevent leaders from reaching their greatest level of achievement. That characteristic is the tendency to “hold things back” from their people.

For some, it is out of consideration and concern: “I don’t want employees to worry that their jobs may be impacted.”

For others, it may be out of pride or ego: “I don’t want anyone to know I’m failing here!”

Either way, you are limiting your greatest power – the power of a network.

There was a company that was struggling. Creditors were breathing down the proverbial neck of the organization. Some savvy employees knew there were issues. In fact, as they gathered for lunch one day, they identified, in a matter of minutes, a few small changes that would have saved several million dollars for the company – enough to turn the tide.

But, sadly, the leader of the organization wasn’t listening.

He went to great lengths to put out a “We’re doing great!” message.

All the while, many could see, “The emperor was naked.”

This failure, rooted in pride and evidenced as lack of transparency, resulted in the loss of a company – a company that could have survived if only the leader had tapped into the power of his network.

Don’t be a naked emperor.

Encourage communication across your entire organization – from the corner office to the field office. Keep your ear to the ground to learn of problems before they become crises; and to elicit new and profitable ideas from those on the front lines. Listen to the accountants who see where costs can be contained, and to customer service representatives who know the needs of your customers.

If you want a company that is sustainable, create a network of individuals who openly share their thoughts and ideas across your organization, and to you as their leader.

Taking Action

I encourage you as a leader to take out a 3 x 5 card or a sticky note, write “Develop Others” on it, and do that every day. As you go through the day, ask yourself, “Does this help to develop others?”

Use that as the lens of your effectiveness. If you apply these five tenets for developing others, it will solve a large percentage of your organizational problems.

Beyond that, this practice will help you create the one thing that becomes very important as you progress through your life and career: it creates legacy.

 

 


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.

Five Ways the Best Leaders Connect

August 1, 2018 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

Five Ways the Best Leaders Connect
Image Credit: Shutterstock

 

It is the source of common frustration: a bad cell phone or Wi-Fi connection.

When this happens, you can’t hear the other party clearly. You each waste precious time moving around randomly, and asking, “Can you hear me now?”

Conversations are fragmented. The message conveyed may not be the message received.

A bad connection can lead to missed appointments, wasted time, miscommunication, misunderstandings, and an overall impact on productivity. No wonder a bad connection is frustrating!

This is what happens when a leader has a bad connection.

When we as leaders do not clearly connect with our people, it creates frustration for everyone involved, and it impacts results.

The good news is, you can restore the connection by following the example of those who connect well.

Here are five ways the best leaders connect.

  1. They prepare themselves.

Good connection starts from within. The best leaders take time to connect well internally, with themselves. They also seek outside coaching and mentorship to stay sharp.

It is easy to perceive that everyone else is the problem, and this inward-outward growth approach helps the leader gain full perspective. Most find it easy to see problems with others, but overlook areas wherein they need to improve. The most successful leaders recognize they must understand, prepare, and correct themselves, in order to establish the best connection with others.

  1. They connect well with others.

This can be a challenge for many in leadership positions. Unless conscious effort is made on the part of the leader to connect, a position can be a barrier to connection. As we talk about in The Leader’s Ladder workshops, being appointed to a leadership position is a first rung, but it does not have the impact that comes with higher rungs.

Climbing requires effort on the part of the leader, and those efforts are all about making great connections with others.

Beyond its effect on the leader personally, actively connecting with the team leads each team member higher as well. This is leadership development, which is yet a higher rung on The Leader’s Ladder.

The best leaders ask great questions, listen, and show they care about others. They strive to find common values or interests that connect them deeper. A team that has a common vision aligned by common values, where a leader is effectively orchestrating connection, is a winning team.

  1. They build trust.

Trust, as a verb, means “to believe.”

When you believe in something or someone, you have confidence in them.

To build trust, leaders must be believable so those who follow will have confidence in their ability to keep their word, do their part, and follow through on expectations set.

The best leaders…CARE.

  • Clarify who they are from within
  • Are sincere in their reactions
  • Remain open to feedback
  • Ensure their actions match their words
  1. They manage conflict.

If you have worked with people for even a short time, you know that nothing goes as smoothly as you would like when interacting with people. The best leaders embrace this, knowing that some tension can be healthy for a team. They also know it must be monitored and guided.

When a conflict arises, these leaders don’t hesitate to jump in and make sure morale and productivity are not adversely affected by it. They open up communication, and make sure that everyone involved in the conflict has a voice. And they guide the individuals in bringing solutions that fit the goals and restore the team to singleness of purpose.

  1. They merge the team.

The best leaders know that a team of individuals who work well together will be more productive.

They find ways to constantly connect the team members to each other, the mission, the vision, and the results needed. They look for ways to cultivate relationships within and outside their team.

The right connections, when merged to work in sync with each other, have the potential to create phenomenal results.

As a leader, do YOU have a clear connection – with yourself, your team, and your mission, vision, and goals?

The choice is yours. You can have fragmented connections that produce less than stellar results, or you can have crystal clarity and connection that produces results that extend well beyond your expectations.


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.

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