Can a manager learn to be an effective coach? Yes! But they
have to be willing to let go of some assumptions and pick up some new skills.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015
You Don’t Need a Position or a Title to be a Great Leader
You don't need a formal position or a title to be a leader. Read Scott
Edinger’s guest post over at About.com to find out what it takes to be a
"hidden leader".
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Don't Expect Your Employees to be Mind Readers!
All employees want to know “what’s expected of me”, and any
manager should be able to answer this question.
Read my latest post over at About.com Management and Leadership to learn a simple yet effective way to develop employee performance expectations so they don’t have to be mind readers.
Explaining performance expectations is important to employees,
it improves productivity, and it doesn’t cost a dime.
So then why are so many employees still being kept in the dark
when it comes to figuring out what’s important to their managers? Why won’t
managers do it?Read my latest post over at About.com Management and Leadership to learn a simple yet effective way to develop employee performance expectations so they don’t have to be mind readers.
Labels:
employee,
expectations,
performance standards
Monday, February 16, 2015
11 Essential Employee Questions That Every Manager Should Know How to Answer
There are 11
basic, fundamental, essential employee questions that every manager should be
able to instantly answer.
Go to About.com Management and Leadership to find out what they are.
See if you can, and if not, maybe it’s time to find out for yourself!
Go to About.com Management and Leadership to find out what they are.
See if you can, and if not, maybe it’s time to find out for yourself!
Labels:
employee questions,
management answers,
policies
Thursday, February 12, 2015
8 Ways to Decisively End Indecision
Guest post by Scott Mautz:
In this
increasingly more with less business world, we can’t afford to let our
employees be more or less checked out.
And yet an astonishing 70% are just that, disengaged at work, according
to Gallup polls. It’s almost impossible
not to disengage when toiling in the paralysis of indecision. It’s hard to imagine anything more meaning
and motivation draining, more bereft of a sense of significance, or anything simply
more frustrating.

Deciding not
to decide has a price. A big one.
It can
create doubt, uncertainty, lack of focus, and even resentment. Multiple options can linger, sapping an
organization’s energy and killing a sense of completion. Timelines stretch while costs skyrocket.
But none of
us are indecisive on purpose. We’re not
evil. Indecision can be borne from a
pragmatic desire for more data, which when overdone can cross over into
perfectionism. Some of us are unwilling
to compromise until we see an option that contains no trade-offs. The failure
of a deciding body to feel a sense of accountability can grind things to a
halt. Fear of making a wrong decision
can come into play as well. We can lose
sight of what the objective behind a decision is in the first place, confusing
ourselves in the process and overcomplicating the choice to be made. Some
of us lack confidence to make a firm decision.
Whatever the
cause, the corrosive effect is inescapable.
As leaders, we can do better.
Here’s how to put an end to indecision, with authority.
1. Meter your emotions
Sometimes
our emotions can get in the way of making a decision, causing us to gloss over facts
right in front of us or creating a desperate search for information to support the
decision we really want to make.
Countering indecision may require accepting inevitabilities much sooner while
refusing to let emotions cloud the realities at hand.
2. Step back and evaluate the true
impact of a wrong decision
Fear of
making an incorrect decision can paralyze the well-meaning manager. At such times, step back and ask “What is the
worst thing that could happen in the long run if this decision turns out to be
wrong?” Such a question may unveil that
the consequences aren’t that dire after all, and may well net much more
decisiveness. Getting comfortable with the possibility of being wrong can
actually help the right decisions happen faster.
3. Consider the risks/costs of not doing
something
Asking the
question, “What are the risks/costs of not making a decision?” may create
awareness of the pitfalls that would otherwise be glossed over. It may become obvious that budgets will run
over, competitors will gain precious time for counter plans, or that resources
will have to be further stretched and kept from working on some other
priority.
4. Act with self-assurance
Acting with
self-confidence and a “you have to break some eggs to make an omelet” mindset
is one of the greatest enablers for making a decision. Self-doubt or worrying about what others
expect you to decide can cripple a decision in progress. Self-confidence helps bolster the internal
fortitude to make the tough calls, as well as the external reception of the
decision once made. Ever watch someone
arrive at a decision, but they do so in a manner riddled with visible
self-doubt? These are the decisions most
unlikely to stick.
5. Rediscover the plot
Sometimes
simply stepping back and getting some distance from a problem and refreshing
yourself on the importance or objective of a decision to be made can be
tremendously helpful. What seemed like a
huge call to be made might reorient itself and shrink vastly in size. Revisiting the objective behind the decision to be made may provide a useful
reorientation and illuminate a very clear choice amongst a set of options. And granting some time, space, and distance
can help the fog of being too close to clear, making way for a re-energized and
decisive point of view to emerge.
6. Don’t vacillate in a vacuum, step
back & seek advice
Indecision
can arise from the constant rehashing of the same set of data, input, or
experiences. Therefore, indecision can
be conquered with exposure to new perspective from other stakeholders or from
someone not as close to the decision.
Having someone else to play devil’s advocate, counter your biases, and
bring different experiences to the table can help break the stalemate.
7. Set time bound parameters for making
the call
When left to
our own device, it is only natural for us to take as much time as we can to
decide something. Establishing tension in the form of time limitations can help
stimulate decision making. Concrete,
time bound parameters (with some teeth to them) can force the perfectionist or
those who want it all to compromise and let go a bit.
8. Sharp discussions net sharp decisions
We’ve all
been in meetings where a decision is supposed to be made but in fact you are
left with no sense of tangible forward progress. The discussion seems circular, someone hijacks
the meeting and launches into an unfocused or politically motivated soliloquy,
or everyone and anyone jumps in with points that aren’t even fully on
topic. Free-for-alls like this distract
the decider and throw the decision making process off course. The deciding manager needs to be prepared to
run a disciplined and pointed meeting that drives towards a decision by asking
the right questions, controlling the discussion flow, reigning in where necessary,
and expanding discussion where appropriate to get all the information, options,
and points of view out on the table.
Scott Mautz is author of Make It Matter: How
Managers Can Motivate by Creating Meaning (March 4th, 2015), an
award winning keynote speaker, and a 20+
year veteran of Procter & Gamble, having run several thriving,
multi-billion dollar divisions along the way.
Connect with Scott at www.makeitmatterbook.com.
Labels:
decision making,
decisions,
employee engagement,
Scott Mautz
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
A Guide to Management and Leadership Assessment Centers
What is a
management or leadership assessment center? Do they really work? Who does them?
How much do they cost? Are there less expensive alternatives? Read
more over at About.com Management and Leadership to find out.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Burning Questions About Leadership
What exactly is
a leader? How do you define leadership? What are the qualities of a leader? Is
leadership the same as management? Read
more over at About.com Management and Leadership to find out.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
I See Clearly Now
Guest post by S. Chris Edmonds:
I got new reading glasses this week. I can see!

I’d gotten used to those glasses. They worked pretty
well at my computer desk but weren’t so good with my iPad - my arms just
weren’t long enough.
I finally broke down and got an eye exam this
month. The right prescription works wonders! The clarity of the written
word and images, up close and 20” away, is astounding.
Why did I wait so long?
I think I waited because I was so comfortable with my
viewpoint. My vision was “good.” I tolerated poor sight up close because I
thought that was OK.
The reality was I was missing the details. I was misreading
what was in front of me too often. If I couldn’t quite read it clearly, I made
assumptions about what it said.
I think us leaders do that all the time.
We get comfortable with our viewpoint. Our understanding of
our team environment is “OK.” We tolerate missing the details and making
assumptions because that approach has worked “OK” for us for years.
Yet our great bosses didn’t get comfortable with their
viewpoint. They used a variety of activities to stay connected to what was
really happening with their team. They observed meetings and
interactions with colleagues. They watched interactions with customers.
They held numerous two-minute check in discussions with players at all levels.
These connection and observation activities enabled our
great bosses to get reliable, valid, accurate information about how the team
was operating and how the team was performing, every day.
They sought out perspectives of many different players, even
customers and suppliers, to gain as clear and as accurate a picture of what was
happening day to day.
Our great bosses rarely assumed anything. They got up from
their desk, engaged people, and learned what was “real” from those dozens -
maybe hundreds - of conversations over time.
They knew which team members were putting in the time and
effort to move the organization forward and to serve customers effectively.
They knew which team members were not.
Our great bosses engaged us frequently to learn where our
pain points were - and they acted to reduce or remove those frustrations if
they could.
They invited our ideas about improving the workflow,
increasing efficiency, and eliminating dumb practices. They acted on those
ideas of ours that made sense.
We could see our great bosses’ efforts to ensure they were
seeing things “as they were” as opposed to how they assumed things were
operating. Their efforts to understand our reality boosted our engagement, our
service to others, and our performance.
Don’t get too comfortable with your viewpoint. Get away from your office and engage. Learn pain points and remove them where you can.
And, get an eye exam every year. I can see clearly now!
S. Chris Edmonds is the founder and CEO of The Purposeful Culture Group. After a 15-year career leading and managing teams, Chris began his consulting company in 1990. Since 1995, Chris has also served as a senior consultant with The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is the author or co-author of seven books, including Leading At A Higher Level with Ken Blanchard. Learn how to craft workplace inspiration with an organizational constitution in Chris’ latest book, The Culture Engine. His blog, podcasts, assessments, research, and videos can be found at http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com. Join Chris in Denver for his Culture Leadership Roundtable starting in March ’15.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Workplace Professionalism
What does it mean to demonstrate workplace professionalism?
What does unprofessional workplace behavior look like?
While it may be hard to define in a simple sentence, we know
it when we see it. And we sure as heck know it when its missing, and you can
even lose your job for not having it.
What can a manager do to create and maintain a professional
workplace environment? Plenty!
Read
more to find out how.
I hope your favorite team won the Super Bowl, you won your
squares, enjoyed the commercials, or just had a good time watching with friends
or family!
Labels:
culture,
professionalism,
unprofessional behavior
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