Browse Category: General

The Leadership Power of Purpose

Do you remember that question you drove your parents crazy with when you were a child?

“Why?”

It was the most important, meaningful question you ever asked and nothing happened until you got a satisfying answer.

As we grow up our subconscious still asks the same question every time we are set a task or given an instruction. But as adults, usually we ask it subconsciously. And, unless we have been told the purpose for doing a task, we silently provide our own answers to that question “Why?”.

In the workplace, when we ask ourselves why we should do something, our subconscious response is based on our past experiences or our understanding of the situation or the person setting the task.

Our response might range from positive reasons why we should do something, such as “because I’m the expert at this” or “because it’s critical for successfully completing this project”, through to reluctant reasons such as “because I’ll lose my job if I don’t”.

If someone can’t instantly come up with a good reason to complete a task they may not bother. It may just continually slip to the bottom of their list, no matter how important you might think it is.

When everyone feels so busy all the time, the worst thing a task can be is pointless. If there is no purpose behind a task you can expect to meet resistance. It’s the same if something’s purpose is not clear.

For example, you will notice a huge difference in response between: “Please pick up the rubbish near the front entrance” and “Please pick up the rubbish near the front entrance because we want everyone to feel welcome.” The second includes a simple statement of the purpose behind the task and is much more likely to be complied with than the first one.

There is power in spelling out the purpose behind a simple task, just as there is in making the purpose of a major project, and even your whole organisation, clear and explicit.

Some reasons are much more satisfying or motivating than others. But any reason at all is better than no reason.

The point is that if someone is unclear about your purpose they are unlikely to make your task a priority. By explicitly stating the purpose behind any task, project or your very existence, you help people understand why it is important and they are far more likely to act in they way you want.

So spell your purpose out. Don’t leave it up to them in case they can’t immediately work it out. Every time you give an instruction or assign a task or establish a project or start something new, make your reason for doing so clear and explicit. Answer the question “Why?”.

(More ideas on the Power of Purpose in the Quick Tips below.)

QUOTE OF NOTE

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming.”

Johann von Goethe (1749-1832)

QUICK TIPS

* As a leader the ultimate purpose of all work is to realize your vision of a better future. Explain to your people how any task you are assigning, or new project you are starting, links in to this vision.

* Being explicit about the reason why you are holding a meeting will help keep everyone focused on the outcomes you need. A simple statement such as “The reason why we are meeting is to decide who will do what at the trade exhibition next week.” makes the purpose for your meeting clear and guarantees better results.

* Use the word because… For example: “I have asked Lee to help you with this because I want you to teach Lee how to do it. I want either one of you to be able to do it on your own next time because it is such a critical part of what we do.”

* Use the phrase so that… For example “Next week we will all have to use the stairs so that the elevator can be repainted to match our new decor.”

 

How Good Leaders Give Good Instructions

As a leader, you are going to be spending a lot of your time asking people to do things and then checking that they are done correctly.

How effectively you give instructions is going to be one of your important and defining features as a leader. Whether you like it or not, giving instructions will make up much of your job!

But in order to do this well, you need to know how to give instructions and how to ensure the best outcome.

There are two particularly important things you need to do…

1. Be Clear and Precise

The first and most important thing you need to do, is to be clear and precise. The reason for this is that you need to be able to prevent mistakes and misunderstandings. If you give unclear instructions, then that will either lead to your team needing to ask for more information and clarification from you (wasting your time and theirs) or to them making mistakes that can lead to big problems and possibly cost you money.

This means that a good leader is also a good communicator by default. If you’re not a good communicator… train yourself to be!

2. Explain Why

What’s even more important though, is that you explain the why of what you are asking people to do. This puts what you are asking someone to do in context and helps them to deliver the best. outcome for you.

In fact, even better is to ask people to achieve a certain result, tell them why and give no or few instructions on how. If your people have the skills required to do the task, this is a very effective way to give instructions. This makes you a more hands-off leader and less of a micromanager. Your people will like this because it gives them more work satisfaction and makes them feel trusted.

Explaining the what and why more than the how, can allow your team to be flexible where necessary.

An example might be that you tell your staff they need to print 500 fliers and deliver them around the neighbourhood. What happens if the printers break? Or if the roads are blocked? Now your team will either be stuck, or they’ll come to you to ask for direction.

If instead, you had told your team they need to get 500 adverts out in your local area. This now opens up many contingency plans and other options. Perhaps they could outsource the flier creation to a printing company for instance, or they might use email instead or advertise somewhere prominent.

Either way, they have now understood and achieved the required outcome quicker and more effectively because they haven’t had to ask your permission for every slight deviation in the plan!

Check out the Leadership With Authority MasterClass for more helpful ideas to develop your Leadership Skills.

Quote – Unquote

“True wisdom is plenty of experience, observation and reflection.

False wisdom is plenty of ignorance, arrogance and impudence.”

Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1815-1885)

I always like this quote because it emphasises that experience is not enough.  Experience has to be combined with observation and reflection in order to bring true wisdom.

Do you take the time to turn what you experience into true wisdom?

Growing Great New Managers – and Successful Consultants!

This month you helped me reach another important milestone that I almost overlooked… Thanks to your enthusiasm and support I have now been consulting, coaching and presenting for 16 years. So, to celebrate I have a special gift that will help you ‘Grow Great New Managers’.  You’ll find it at the end of this message.  

Over my years as a consultant some of you have entrusted me with your whole business development strategy or leadership development programs.  

Some of you have bought programs or courses from me or attended my seminars or conference presentations.

Some of you have asked me to build your websites, online strategy or membership programs.  

Many of you refer other people who can benefit from my services or coaching and all of you read my newsletter.  

However we have connected, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you.  Your support – and your referrals – are very important to me and I appreciate them.  

One of the questions I have often been asked over the past 16 years is about how to set up a successful consulting business.  

It’s a question that seems to be even more pressing for many in this economic climate.  If consulting is something that might interest you, you should check out a new training program I can highly recommend.  

Even after all these years consulting I have learnt a lot from it.  It’s something I wish I had when I first started out as a consultant.  You can find the details at http://kerriemg.com/likes/consulting  (That’s a private invitation I have arranged for you.  It’s not generally available at the moment.)  

And finally, to show my appreciation of your support over the years please accept a copy of ‘Growing Great New Managers’ which I have left for you at:  

http://leadershipskillcenter.com/thankyou/ 

Watch out for another message soon. 

I look forward to continuing to help you with your leadership, business and website needs for many years to come.  

Kind regards, Kerrie

PS.  That link again for ‘Growing Great New Managers’ is:  

http://leadershipskillcenter.com/thankyou/  

How to get maximum results with minimum effort

Maximum Results with Minimum Effort

I guess that’s everyone’s dream. As a leader or manager your responsibility and role is to deliver set outcomes through the efforts of others – those people on your team. 

Your role is not to do the tasks, but to make sure they get done.

And that all sounds fine … until you are faced with an employee whose performance is not up to scratch.

Now you are confronted with the challenge of bringing their performance up to the required standard. And I’ve never met a leader who doesn’t experience at least a little sinking feeling at the
prospect of working through all the difficult issues that can be associated with changing the attitudes and skills of an employee who needs to do better.

If even one member of your team isn’t performing well, your whole team will suffer.

Not only will your team’s results be effected, other team members who are doing their best will become disheartened by the impact of any inadequate contributions and the whole team culture and morale will suffer.

Poor performance by any team member presents a situation you just can’t afford to ignore. It demands your urgent attention – and you had better get whatever you decide to do right, or the problems can just escalate.

So what should you do?

Faced with a poorly performing employee your options are basically to move them on or help them get better.

As the first option is an option of last resort (and one that is not always available anyway) I will focus on how you can help a poorly performing employee get better. When you do this properly, you in effect gain a whole new team member for minimum effort so this is a very powerful option.

You have three primary options available for helping a poorly performing employee reach your required standard of performance:

1. Coaching
2. Training
3. Performance Management

All are valid, but each is best used in somewhat different circumstances.

* Performance Management (or Disciplinary Counselling)

This should be reserved for repeated instances of poor performance and matters of a very serious nature.

If Performance Management fails to produce satisfactory and sustained improvements in performance, the employee needs to understand they will no longer have a role to play in your team.

When you initiate a formal Performance Management process, you should ensure you have the authority and support required to enforce this, should it be required. A discussion with your supervisor and with your Human Resources department will help protect you, should you need to remove someone if their performance doesn’t improve.

* Training is an often overlooked means of improving performance.

Many people who learn skills and tasks on the job could do things better with even a day or two of formal training.

This is even more so with ‘soft’ skills like leadership, communication and management. So watch out for courses and opportunities to expand the skills of all the people on your team.

Two disadvantages with training are that it is often necessary to wait for an appropriate course to become available and courses can be expensive.

* Coaching, on the other hand, is one of your most valuable  leadership tools.

You can use it every day, with good people who could be even better – AND with poor performers who need to improve their skills or attitude. Done well, it needn’t take very long, and it can show huge returns on the little time you invest.

Coaching doesn’t need any formal approval or additional funding and, by it’s very nature, when it is done well it builds team moral and makes employees feel valued and supported.

Of all your three options for performance improvement, coaching has huge potential to deliver maximum results for you with minimum effort. But it has to be done properly.

Once you have developed your own coaching skills you will have a powerful tool in your leadership toolkit. A tool you can apply not only to improve performance in poorly performing employees, but also to boost the performance of your best employees to exceptional results. All with minimum effort for maximum results – and who wouldn’t want that?

For more great ideas on how to improve employee performance through coaching visit: http://kmgsupport.com/PerformanceCoaching

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“Leadership, many have said, is different from management. Management is mostly about ‘to do’ lists – can’t live without them! Leadership is about tapping the wellsprings of human motivation – and about fundamental relations with one’s fellows.”

Tom Peters (American academic)

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How to Improve Employee Performance through Coaching:

Coaching is such a powerful leadership tool for improving employee performance – when it is done well – that I have written a new ‘Just the Gist’ Short Report on exactly how to do it to ensure you get effective results every time.

You will find all the details at:
http://kmgsupport.com/PerformanceCoaching

*** Remember if you are already a member of the Leadership Coaching Club you will get a copy of this, plus a huge range of information, leadership courses, audio programs, ebooks and other resources when you login. (If you aren’t a member yet, you’ll find all the details at: http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/ )

On the other hand if what you want to do is discover how to improve employee performance and boost team morale through effective coaching check out our new Short Report at:

http://kmgsupport.com/PerformanceCoaching

Kind regards

Kerrie

PS. We have a whole lot of things lined up to share with you this year. We hope you will be as excited about them as we are. Watch out for more details soon…

But for now check out How to Improve Employee Performance through Coaching and let us know what you think. That link again:
http://kmgsupport.com/PerformanceCoaching

Leading in Silence

“Sometimes you have to be silent to be heard.”

Stanislaw J Lec (1909-1966)

In our busy everyday life a moment of silence can a precious thing. It can also be a gift of value.

Silence allows us to listen and hear beyond the words that are said. Effective leaders are never too busy to listen – even for the things that aren’t said.