Remember that house all the trick or treaters just had to get to? The people who lived there not only had their porch light on, they put Halloween decorations up that invited you to come to their door. When you got there, the owners asked you about your costume, and how much candy you’d gotten. And to top it all off, they handed out the regular sized candy bars!! I remember having neighbors like that when I was growing up. Boy, I couldn’t wait to get to their house. Not just because of the “big” candy bars, also because it was just plain fun to see how they’d be dressed up and have the chance to tell them all about my Beggar’s Night.

Now think back to that other house down the street. You know – the one with the porch light off. They were the people who left the lawn chair on their stoop with the bowl of penny candy and the sign that said “Take ONLY one.” You wondered if they really just put the bowl out to show some attempt at handing out candy so their house wouldn’t get TP’ed! Wow, what a bummer…I can tell you I never went back to that house again!

If you asked your employees, am I the leader with the porch light on or off, do you know how they’d answer? It’s an important question. Being an approachable leader, one who is focused on talent, connects with employees and recognizes and rewards strong performance leads to a more engaged team. And employee engagement is important.

There’s lots of research that directly links employee engagement to organizational performance outcomes such as productivity, employee retention, customer retention, and profitability. Gallup consulting has identified twelve key questions that determine associate engagement. Think about how you could influence your employee’s responses to these questions by the type of leadership you practice.

1. I know what is expected of me.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work.
3. I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important.
9. My fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

So, if you want better performance from your team, higher employee and customer retention, and increased profitability, ask your associates about their work and their day, recognize their performance, give them opportunities, and by all means, hand out the “big” candy bars instead of the penny candy. Be sure to let your leadership porch light shine!

Happy Halloween!

A gentle reminder for myself and my friends in these hectic, fast-paced times…

As I just finished a grueling, and at times frenzied, three weeks completing a project, I’ve been thinking a lot about these questions:

• What gives me peace?
• How does having a sense of peace influence my productivity?
• Am I a better leader when I am at peace?
• How does being peaceful help me be a better partner, parent, and friend?

I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers. I do feel these are some pretty important questions every person should ask themselves – and work toward finding their own answers.

Here’s why it’s important to discover and practice what gives you peace:

When you are at peace, your mind is at its clearest.

The typical noise and mental clutter we all experience throughout the day is at a minimum. During these times, solutions come more fluently and opportunities seem to dance in front of you.

When you are at peace, your calm influences others.

Ever have one of those days when the deadlines pile up and your heart rate is ever increasing? Then, you encounter that person in a meeting who takes the jacked up energy in the room down just enough for everyone to take a deep breath and approach the work with a renewed sense of calm and focus.

When you are at peace, you are less likely to behave in destructive or self-defeating ways.

You approach others with the tranquility and confidence to be collaborative and authentic. You are also even-tempered and centered enough to approach relationship issues with self-awareness and an open mind.

There are real pluses to increasing the peace you experience in life. And you don’t have to be a “Zen Master” to be at peace. Nor do you have to be perfect at being peaceful.

What’s important is that you make the space in your mind to find the answers to the question “What gives me peace?”

Then honor yourself enough to take some time each day to practice doing those things that work for you.

In peace and productivity,

Be well!

Often those who develop strategies are not the same people who are responsible for executing them. How do you ensure that your strategy will be executed well by others?

You take specific steps to ensure your strategy has meaning for the people who will make it happen. Here are 3 crucial steps leaders often miss that they should take before executing strategy:

1. Develop A Focused Communication Plan

When you communicate your strategy to those who need to make it happen, it may be the first time they have ever heard your approach. Build all the questions, concerns and second thoughts you worked through as you developed the strategy into your communications. Otherwise, you’ll hit a roadblock when others bring up those same issues.

So, if you’d like your team to focus their energy on executing your strategy instead of second guessing it, answer those questions up front.

• Provide the basics on What, Why, Who, When and How in that order.
• Point out what IS changing and what IS NOT changing.
• Be transparent and call out the risks and mitigants to the strategy’s success up front.
• Tell your team how this strategy helps them achieve their goals and what’s in it for them.
• Finally, lay out how this strategy will make a difference for your external customer. If you can’t, you may want to think again about what your intended outcomes really are. Be clear about how this improves your customer’s experience of your brand and values.

2. Recruit Informal Leaders to Promote and Support The Strategy

Identify who your influencers are within your organization. This isn’t the time to rely on hierarchical structure. Now’s the time to talk to those who are the informal leaders among your teams – the people who are at the hub of the brainstorming, the conversations and the information to get things done.

Share the communication plan with them and ask them to support the strategy. If you don’t connect with them first or they don’t buy into your strategy, they will continue to be at the hub of information but without helping your strategy succeed.

Informal leaders can make or break the success of your strategy.

3. Clarify Roles

Be sure that everyone knows what his or her role is in making the strategy happen. Identify the informal leaders publicly. Clarify the executive sponsors. Let people know who controls the budget for implementation and who develops the action plan.

Finally, don’t forget to clarify for all associates how they’ll each play a role in the success of the strategy through their day-to-day work. Go back to your communication plan!

Now you’re ready to begin executing the strategy. Give your strategy meaning to those who mean the most!

1. “Help me understand.”

   Using this phrase reduces defensiveness and creates space for sharing perspectives. Rather than asking “why” which can result in defensiveness, “help me understand” asks for partnership and indicates to the other person that you want to learn from them. This phrase bridges differences.

2. Replace the word “try” with the word “practice”.

   Particularly when you are committing to changing behaviors. The definition of the word “try” is to make an effort to do something or attempt something. The definition of the word “practice” is to perform something repeatedly in order to acquire and improve a skill or to carry out in action. Trying implies room for failure and quitting. Practicing implies continuous improvement and striving for accomplishment.

3. Replace the word “but” with the word “and”.

   Stop and think. We use the word “but” when we have two competing ideas. Competition inherently creates a winner and a loser. It’s much more collaborative to communicate, “this is true and this is true”. When we recognize both perspectives, we can decide how to move forward to accomplish a mutually beneficial outcome rather than staying focused on which version of reality wins.

   Additionally, using “and” doesn’t negate the first part of our statements. “I think what you did was good and…” feels much better than, “I think what you did was good but…”

4. Rather than saying, “I know”, practice using the phrase “I can imagine”.

   When we use the phrase “I know”, particularly during a conversation in which people are hearing difficult news or there are strong feelings, a common reaction for the listener is to respond with, “No, you don’t know. You are not the one who…”. And rightly so – no one feels exactly as the next person, we all react differently. The phrase “I can imagine” communicates empathy and relationship rather than telling someone you know their circumstances perhaps better than they know them themselves.

5. Practice getting confirmation by asking a clarifying question that specifically relates to at least one of these: What; So What; Now What?

   Asking these questions indicates not only that you heard the other person, it paves a path to further clarity, moves the discussion toward action oriented outcomes, and results in co-creating opportunities and change.

6. Practice saying “no” with accountability.

   I can imagine that saying “no” is difficult for you. It can be for me. And at times, it can be the most responsible thing to say in a relationship. When we say, “yes” without conviction, we are not likely to keep our commitments. Saying “no” authentically and honestly and providing reasons why you can’t comply with a request, honors people much more than a quick “yes” to spare feelings.

   It’s also important to recognize that every time you say “yes” to something, you are also saying “no” to something else. When you commit to take action in any relationship, realize what you won’t be able to commit to when you make your choice. Yin, yang will prevail and the balance of opportunity costs will exist with every yes and every no you utter.

7. Use the phrase “I observe” rather than making an evaluation statement.

   “I observe that you’re raising your voice and interrupting” is a statement that specifies behaviors that have a direct impact on the conditions of the conversation, rather than making a judgmental statement such as, “You sure are angry!” that may or may not be accurate and can misdirect the conversation

8. When making requests, use the phrase “I would like”.

   Ask for what you would like, clearly and specifically rather than stating what you don’t want. This shift keeps the conversation and relationship focused on positive actions rather than communicating negativity and blame.

9. Make a point, every day to say, “I appreciate you because…” to at least one person.

   This statement doesn’t have to be in exactly these words. It can be as simple as offering to get another person an unexpected cup of coffee, telling someone their smile just brightened your day or that the way they formatted that report makes it easy to understand the data. Expressing gratitude will lead to increasing happiness in your life and the lives of others you touch.

I appreciate you taking time to stop for a moment and read my post! Help me understand your perspective – I would like you to leave a comment if you have feedback or more suggestions for my readers!

Simple truth is, if you practice all of these competencies without humility, you will not be a person people want to follow. If you lead with humility, you will actually be a stronger, more powerful leader.

Historical connotations of humility bring images of weakness, lowliness, and indigence. However, if we consider the true meaning of humility, as defined through most philosophical and spiritual definitions, humility is about a state of “non-self” or letting go of your ego.When you come from a place of non-self, you are free from self-deception and grow in compassion and wisdom to build a better team as well as see risks and opportunities more clearly.

Here’s what leading without humility can result in:

• Following through on bad decisions so you don’t have to admit you were wrong.
• Alienating employees and shutting them down, perhaps while never realizing it!
• Not asking for help when you need it.
• Lying, (smoke and mirrors and omission count!) to ensure that which serves your self interest best. This, by the way, is always detected by employees, and in the end destroys trust.
• Creating cliques where the employees who align with you are a protected, insular group, while those who are not from your mold are marginalized, regardless of the talent they bring to the table.
• Loosing all diversity of thought, approach, and style on your team because your dominance is stifling.

Here’s what leading with humility can result in:

• The ability to correct course because you’re willing to admit and learn from your mistakes.
• Asking for help when you need it. Humility enables you to recognize that you can’t do it alone and need others to succeed.
• Employees who are empowered and skilled because you’re stepping aside when appropriate, to let them learn to lead.
• Always telling the truth, even when it’s difficult – which shines like a beacon in today’s business environment. Employees will trust you for it. People are willing to follow someone they believe in.
• Leveraging all the the skills, views, creative thinking, and styles on your team to arrive at innovative solutions and new ways to serve your customers.
• Serving your team. You are thoughtful of their needs and willing to do what is necessary for them to succeed.
• Creating an inclusive environment. Humilty enables you to consider others to be as important as yourself, creating an environment where all your employees feel like they belong to something greater.
• When great things are accomplished, humility reminds you to be thankful instead of boastful. Recognition and appreciation motivate associates to deliver on the promises your organization makes to your customers.
• When the noise of your own ego is quieted, you begin to hear others – you can truly listen to what needs to happen next for your employees, your business, and your customers.

Choose to lead with humility – now that’s powerful!

I’d love to hear your perspective and always welcome comments!

1. Consciousness

The Zen dictionary defines consciousness as a quality of the mind generally regarded as subjectivity, self-awareness, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one’s environment.

Transparent leaders are conscious. They know who they are — their strengths and weakness, and their unique, best way of relating to others. To be a transparent leader, tune in – be conscious of – how you are impacting your teams and customers. Know what’s really going on in your organization, who’s making your strategy happen, what needs fixed, and how associates truly feel.

2. Listening

There are moments as a leader when nothing you have to say is as important as listening to what your associates are telling you. Here are a few tips to help you listen effectively:

Relax: Turn off your own thoughts and the need to make your point. You became a leader by speaking your mind, solving problems, and driving for results. Let that go for a moment.

Focus: Focus on the process of listening rather than the outcome. You will become aware of all the messages a person is sending you – non-verbals, tone, words, context and environment.

Desire: Tap into your genuine interest to learn about the other person’s perspective. The auditory process of hearing involves registering the literal meaning of the words a person uses. The emotional process of listening means wanting to know the thoughts, feelings and ideas of others and using all your senses to gather this important information.

Ken Donaldson wrote a great article with more tips on how to be present when listening at Relationship Success Strategies – Zen Listening

3. Emotional intelligence

Transparent leaders are tapped into their emotions and those of others. I’m not talking about falling apart when the Kodak moment commercials air. I’m referring to the ability to recognize how you are feeling in certain situations so you can channel your emotions rather than allow them to influence your reactions, decisions and behaviors in unconscious ways. It’s not okay to allow your feelings to manage you. It is okay to leverage those feelings when intuition is telling you something important. It is okay to connect emotionally with your employees when the right thing to do is recognize their feelings before jumping into the business at hand.

We are emotional beings. Shutting that part of yourself off shuts off a source of important information that can serve you as you lead.

4. Authentic

The people you trust disclose their honest thoughts and share information without pretense. So, as a leader, if you want people to trust you, be authentic. Honor the real you and share that person with others. Associates will be inspired to follow you — not just execute your directives. They’ll give you the extra effort you’re looking for because they believe in you.

O.K. now, I finally get to put my Shakespearian Lit class to good use. We’ve all heard it and it’s the best way I can sum up authenticity: “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” — William Shakespeare in Hamlet

5. Real

Transparent leaders are willing to admit mistakes so they can address problems. Great leaders don’t sugar coat or ignore the negative. If your goal is to have a team of employees who genuinely want to follow you, acknowledge the reality of each situation, good and bad, yin and yang, so that together you and your team effectively respond to the big picture to make your customers happy and your strategy successful.

Transparency only really builds trust if you’re always transparent; not just when it’s convenient. CLEAR leaders engage the passion of their employees and leverage their commitment to deliver on the values and mission of the organization.

Many of us go day to day without being aware of a particular performance behavior, mannerism or habit that is holding us back or perhaps even annoying the living daylights out of our co-workers. These are commonly called our blind spots – what everyone else can see but we are oblivious to. Opening our eyes to our blind spots (and we all have them) is essential to making breakthroughs in our professional development and can ultimately lead us to greater career success.

The traditional approach is to get feedback from others. Let’s face it, there are only a few people you can count on to give you honest feedback.  So here are 10 non-traditional approaches to help you identify the blind spots that inhibit your personal effectiveness:

1. Look at the worst thing that happened on your last project

   Even if overall it was a smashing success, identify the problem spots, why they happened and what role you played in it. Don’t just ask what you did that led to that undesired outcome, also consider what you didn’t do that could’ve prevented the situation.

2. Look for consistent call outs in your performance reviews

   Do you even know where last year’s performance review is?  Have you ever taken time to compare your reviews from year to year? Look for common themes or patterns that supervisors call out regarding your opportunities to improve.

3. Listen to your boss instead of tuning him or her out

   Creative, huh? Truth is, our first tendency can be to attribute repetitive feedback from bosses to their own pet peeves or insecurities. But they could be on to something. They may indeed be idiosyncratic or insecure, AND they may also be right.

4. Be aware of your style and notice your surroundings

   Start to notice, I mean really notice how others are reacting to you.  Don’t just announce your brilliant idea during a meeting and move on without noticing people’s non-verbal reactions to you and what they say in response. If you’ve never taken a personal style inventory, do so! For simplicity and effectiveness, check out Personal Styles and Effective Performance by David Merrell and Roger Reid.

5. Step outside your personal context – see the world a different way

   Be willing to put a different pair of glasses on and look at your performance from the outside in. How would YOU view you if you could see a video tape of your behavior during a meeting, when giving a presentation or coaching an employee? What would your best friend tell you after viewing the video? How about what your grandma would say about your behavior?

6. Examine the running joke everyone makes about you or that one thing you always get teased for

   There could be some grain of truth in the remarks. Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names may provide information I should listen to. Consider the times you may have used humor yourself to make a point to a friend or co-worker.

7. Back off from your strengths

   You read this sentence correctly. We often fall back on what we know we’re good at and what feels most comfortable at the expense of going outside our comfort zone. Once you figure out what you’re uncomfortable practicing, you’re probably on the path to identifying a critically missing skill and uncovering a blind spot.

8. Notice what’s out of balance

   On a scale of 0 – 10, rate your skills and competencies you need to perform well at your job or leadership qualities you want to develop. Then, look at what needs to shift – what do you need to work on so that you have the right tools in your tool kit – so that you are equipped with what you need to succeed.

9. Take a good look at your values

   Clarifying your values gives you a map to guide your decisions.  It can also expose points of conflict that are keeping you from exploiting your talents to their fullest.  Ask yourself, am I honoring my values? This isn’t a moral question, it’s about alignment.  If you’re operating in a way that’s in conflict with your values you’ll feel tension and discord. This lack of alignment blocks you from performing to your full potential.

10. Listen to your inner voice

    Be brave enough to face that thing you push to the back of your mind. The one thing you always say, “I don’t have enough time/resources/energy to deal with that now, I’ll work on that one later” Why not embrace that “one thing”? Give it some room to breath and tell you what you need to do for it to rest in peace? When WILL you change your limiting behavior or face the nagging issue that’s easier left unattended to unobtrusively foil your sense of well-being and success? You are actually a wise and resourceful individual if you listen to yourself!

I know uncovering your blind spots sounds scary.  There’s a reason we don’t want to take a good look at them. But remember, it could lead you to change the one behavior for the better that’s been keeping you from winning that project assignment you’ve been lusting after, getting that next promotion, or maybe even realizing your full career potential! So keep an open mind and open eyes and good luck!