Living to Lead

by Dave Ferguson

  • Home
  • About Dave
    • TESTIMONIALS
  • Coaching
  • Speaking
  • Books
    • DAVE’S RECOMMENDED READING LIST
  • Retreats
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Archives for leadership development

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.

The Two-Part Leadership Development Formula

June 21, 2017 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

The Two-Part Leadership Development Formula

In any given company, few people are leaders; so it tends to reason that we are primarily a society of followers.

Why is this?

The simple answer is twofold: first, there is no such thing as a “natural born” leader, and secondly, leadership skills are rarely taught in our classrooms. Leadership, if offered, is an elective rather than a requirement.

As the leader of a company, you know your best path to success is not to create a team of followers. It is to create a team of leaders. And you also know that leaders don’t “just happen”.

This puts leadership development high on your list of priorities. But many corporate training programs address only half of the equation.

What is leadership, and why does it escape so many of us?

  • Leadership is the art of making possibilities a reality. This is accomplished via personal leadership, where you are leading in your field of expertise, and via team leadership, where you are tapping into the expanded expertise of each leader on your team. Leading a team of leaders compounds the results.
  • Leadership is also truth. You have to be true to the man or woman in the mirror before you can be true to your team.

The Two-Part Leadership Development Formula 

Your followers can become effective leaders with the right training and mindset.

  • Leadership Training

    The good news is, all the skills necessary to be a good leader are learnable. Initiative, vision, empowerment, attraction, modeling, and directing are skills that can be taught and applied systematically.

    But knowing how to lead is only half the battle.

  • Leadership Mindset

    Leadership development starts, not with training, but with mindset. You can offer your employees the best leadership training available. You can spend thousands of dollars sending them to seminars. And you could still end up with “followers” if you do not first address mindset.

    Even those who apply the training will hit a wall of ineffectiveness if mindset is not well established.

    The reality is, leadership is more of a mind game than a skill set.
    (Click to Tweet)

    As an executive coach, I see this every day at all levels of an organization – even amongst those at the top. Limiting beliefs are the traitorous betrayers of leadership.

The key is to know your own personal limiting beliefs and to develop tactics ahead of time to deal with them. Having a plan and an accountability partner will keep you on track when limiting beliefs attempt to derail you. And rest assured, they will.

To lead successfully, there are four critical elements of mindset that must be in place.

  • Character

    Character is what activates and empowers your leadership ability. There are no “gray areas” when it comes to character. Leaders cannot afford to cross the line between right and wrong. Many who do are overwhelmed by the stress of their success or actually on the brink of disaster. If this is you or someone on your team, don’t think unaddressed cracks in character will just go away. Get help!

  • Commitment

    Commitment inspires and attracts people to leaders because it shows they have conviction. While commitment means something different to each person, it almost always comes from the heart. And we all know that heart is what separates the good from the great. Unfortunately, most people set goals but quit when the going gets tough. To go from “dropout” to “all-out”, a business coach can help guide you.

  • Courage

    Courage is about taking risk, especially at challenging times. Courage is setting the ultimate example for your people. It means you’re willing to take a stand, or draw a line in the sand, and to encourage others to do the same. Courage comes down to one thing: principle, and whether you’re willing to stand up for it, or not. Do you stare fear down, or do you hide from it?

  • Passion

    Passion makes it possible for ordinary people to create extraordinary results. Passion is the fuel that increases willpower. You can never lead something you don’t feel passionate about. If you don’t have passion for what you’re doing, consider digging down deep and searching for what you’re truly passionate about, then bring that passion back into your work. Sometimes loss of passion is a symptom of burnout, in which case re-balancing the other areas of your life could result in renewed energy for your work.

Do you and your team have solid leadership skills? If so, you’re halfway there.

But don’t miss the second – and most important part – of the equation. Get the mindset right as well.


Dave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. For help in creating a solid leadership mindset plan for yourself or your team, “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

Dave's Recommended Reading List
Dave Ferguson
Tweets by AskCoachDave

Quick Links

About Dave
Coaching
Speaking
Book
Retreats
Blog
Media
Contact

Dave’s Recent Posts

Two Steps to Start Creating a Leaderstyle that Fits Your Lifestyle

The Tripod of Success

Five Landmarks of Leadership

Leadership Island

Schedule a Consultation

To schedule a consultation with Dave, click here.


Email: Dave@LivingToLead.com

Copyright © 2021 Dave Ferguson · Living To Lead · Contact · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Disclaimer