How Do You Improve Your Leadership Skills?

Have you ever worked for a supervisor that thought they knew everything? They are normally the ones that balk at anyone making a suggestion or dare to point out a better way to do something.

It really doesn’t matter what industry you work in whether it is healthcare, manufacturing, public service, law enforcement, or any of the service categories. You can never learn enough.

I guess it might be possible to learn everything about a piece of machinery or about servicing a copier until the next update or model is released. Where most leaders think they have arrived is in their people skills.

Look folks, people have the most updates, revisions, and new models then any piece of equipment or computer, yet this is the most neglected “skill” in every industry in the world.

Understanding how people think, what makes them tick, how to push the right buttons, and more importantly, how not to push the wrong buttons is the key to successful relationships.

I am so thrilled to be working for Character First! This ever changing relational part of leadership is what we specialize in. We are currently working on a motto like “we grow people’ or “transforming the way we do business by transforming the way we do life.”

Look back at many of my posts and you will see the different ways we accomplish this. I do plan to share a more comprehensive version of those posts so keep your eye on this blog.

Review: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a bestselling business book by consultant and speaker Patrick Lencioni. It describes the many pitfalls that teams face as they seek to "row together." This book explores the fundamental causes of organizational politics and team failure. Like most of Lencioni's books, the bulk of it is written as a business fable.

It is popular with sports coaches because the issues it describes are especially important in team sports.

"This gripping fable centers on Kathryn Petersen, an old-school CEO who comes out of retirement to accept the monumental task of transforming a dysfunctional group of high profile, egocentric executives into a cohesive and effective team. With an amazing gift for building teams, Kathryn forces her colleagues to confront the behavioral pitfalls that destroy most teams and adopt the five characteristics of a truly cohesive one.

The five dysfunctions are:

Absence of Trust

The first of the dysfunctions, absence of trust, stems from teams unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group. Team members who are not genuinely open with one another about their mistakes and weaknesses make it impossible to build a foundation for trust.

Fear of Conflict

This failure to build trust is damaging because it sets a tone for the second dysfunction: fear of conflict. Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.

Lack of Commitment

A lack of healthy conflict is a problem because it ensures the third dysfunction of a team: lack of commitment. without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team members rarely, if ever, buy in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings.

Avoidance of Accountability

Because of this lack of real commitment and buy-in, team members develop an avoidance of accountability, the fourth dysfunction. Without committing to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven people often hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviors that seem counterproductive to the good of the team.

Inattention to Results

Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the fifth dysfunction can thrive. Inattention to results occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career development, or recognition) or even the needs of their divisions above the collective goals of the team.

What Motivates a Leader to be a Great Leader?

It has always been my intention to focus on the actions, thoughts, words, and attitudes of leaders. One that I have been thinking of lately is the question, what motivates a leader to be a great leader?

I remember working in an organization that trained young men with the goal of preparing them for future leadership. It was an intense program with great pressure as well as instruction with strict evaluation. During a graduation one of the father's asked me a profound question, why do you think so many of these young men fail when they return home? I had a quick response but years later realized it was an accurate one.

The reason they failed was a lack of accountability!

Think about it, what was going on in your life when you had a failure? This is an easy answer from my own life experience. Failures usually where proceeded by a period of little or no accountability.

Why does a sport team need a coach? For the most part it to ensure each individual trains beyond their complacency, to push a person into new areas of growth and learning.

So I ask you, where is the accountability for today's leader?

Oh, I know there are production quota's, performance evaluations, and promotion steps that in their own way hold authority accountabile, but where is the accountability of the most important part of real leadership?

I am talking about how a leader treats their most valuable resource. their people.

More to follow in my next post.

A Disappointed USAF Veteran

Let me open this post with a brief statement: I love the Air Force and thing it is an amazing organization. I highly recommend this branch as a launching site for any young persons career. All organizations have their faults. Please understand that I respect the USAF.

When it comes to taking charge of your life I understand the need to take things into your own hands but I also believe the things I highlighted in RED should be handled by the supervisor.

Please notice the last "red" highlight, even the military needs to learn how to be encouragers.

5 Steps to Improving Your EPR "SCORE"

Although the Air Force Performance Evaluation system is designed to observe and report your performance, there are 5 steps you can take that are virtually guaranteed to improve your evaluations.

Step 1. Start out by reading AIR FORCE INSTRUCTION 36-2406. Understanding how the process works is key to making it work for you. Pay particular attention to appropriate evaluation form for your rank.

Step 2. Communicate. Talk with your evaluator (supervisor) about your performance report. You should go over the form line by line to determine their expectations. Ask your evaluator for their advice on how to improve your EPR and get the highest score possible.

Step 3. Be Opportunistic. Take every opportunity you can to demonstrate the level of performance that your evaluator suggested. Be sure to take the initiative and show that you're committed to performing at the highest level.

Step 4. Record your personal performance. Keep a performance diary, noting the times and situations when you demonstrated the skills, initiative, leadership, and performance your evaluator suggested.

Step 5. Evaluate yourself. Complete your own evaluation report including documentation and support information. After all it is your career, and you are the only one who knows exactly what you have accomplished during the evaluation period. Submit your EPR and documentation to your evaluator.

Your evaluator has a rough job, he or she has to monitor you and your coworkers performance throughout the entire evaluation period. It is nearly impossible for an evaluator to remember every detail about your performance. In fact evaluators tend to remember negative situations more often than the positive ones. By following these 5 steps you will make your evaluators job easier, and when you make their job easier it can't help but to increase your EPR SCORE.

Recession Proof Your Job

When tough times come, and I believe they are here, cut backs and layoffs are sometimes unavoidable. Many organizations even get to the point of firing people with no indication if they will ever get their job back. Some, I am sure, are told they cannot come back.

It is easy for us to empathize with each and every employee facing this horrible situation today. Every time I watch the news or read the papers there is news of more layoffs, down sizing, and people losing their jobs. I can understand their pain whenever this happens but think I this is probably the worst time of the year. Most people are spending more than they make to meet monthly obligations. Many others spend well over their monthly budget and take nearly the whole next year to pay off these extra bills.

I have been thinking and wondering, have you ever thought about the process of cutting expenses from the business leaders point of view?

Try to envision yourself as the CEO, even better, the CFO, and you face a severe budget shortfall if you don't cut expenses. Where do you start? How deep do you go? Is there any reserves to tap into? Where can I make the deepest cuts without jeopardizing the companies long term sustainability? There are many questions to ask before a devastating procedure like this can start. Unfortunately, many leaders don't even ask. They just start hacking away.

I would start with operations and processes that do not involve people. Of course, many of the so called fringe benefits would have to go first. No matter what their steps are, eventually they will get to their people.

How do you prioritize your people? Do you rank them by their input to the team? How about their output (or dollars)? How about what has already been invested in them by the company? When you think about this, ranking people has always been a part of our society. Look at coaching, a good coach must rank his players in order of ability. This is how a starting lineup is picked.

Any business leader worth their salt can do the exact same thing with their employees. You have top performers, mediocre performers. and poor performers. Who do you think should be cut first? Certainly not the top performers.

So the real question is how to get into the "top performers" ranking?

It's a simple concept. Be the best employee in the company. If asked to work until 5pm, work until 5:30. If you need to accomplish a task in two weeks, make sure it is done in 13 days or less. If a volunteer is needed for a difficult task, be the first to raise your hand.

In other words, be a person of great character. If you are dependable, responsible, trustworthy, diligent, punctual, and thorough, I can promise you one thing. You will not be the first person released. Take a free tour of our character quality library. Click ALERTNESS!

Avoid Causing Anger in Others

10 Simple Steps

1. Encourage Harmony - Discord among authorities, though often unseen, will be sensed by employees, creating tension. Maintain unity to prevent frustration caused by divided loyalties.
   
2. Maintain One Standard - Have a clearly defined character-based standard for behavior and have an equally clear standard for correction.
3. Discipline With Consistency - Don't allow personal preferences or emotions to influence correction. You need to focus on attitudes, not just actions.
4. Admit Wrongdoing and Seek Forgiveness - It takes a strong person to admit weakness. Keep yourself accountable in order to stay focused.
5. Encourage the Good - We all have a desire to feel needed and appreciated. Employees will react if you constantly criticize but never look for good.
6. Accept Leadership Responsibilities - Realize that as a leader you will be watched. Demonstrate better character than you expect from others.
7. Give Priority to Listening - Don't comment, censure, or correct when others are speaking to you. Be an encouraging listener.
8. Keep Promises - Ask employees if you have ever broken a promise. It is better not to promise than to promise and fail to follow through.
9. Respect Your Employees - Realize the value of each of your employees. Invest in them as people, not just representatives of the company.
10. Have Realistic Expectations - Excellence is good; perfectionism is not. Never expect your employees to do anything that you have not already done or will not do with them.

Copyright 2008 - Used with permission! Character First! Basic Implementation Seminar - for more information visit Character First Training

Overcoming Anger!

Uncontrolled anger is one of the chief factors contributing to the breakdown of families and ultimately the weakening of nations.
In the workplace, it causes accidents, high turnover, and low productivity. When employers express anger toward employees, they destroy the desire to achieve.

What is Anger?
Anger is a strong passion or emotion of displeasure or antagonism. It is excited by a real or supposed injury to one’s self or others, or by the intent to do such injury.
• It is a major destroyer of relationships.
• It has its source in a deep-rooted problem.
• It is often used to control or manipulate.

Anger will never be conquered as long as we justify it, explain it away, or blame others for it.