25Nov

Great Leaders Are Great Simplifiers – What are you simplifying today?

Great leaders are great simplifiers. What can you take control of this morning to make life simpler for the people around? Mondays can be a mad rush – planning and tasks to complete, meeting to attend and people to see. What can you do this morning (what can you add, take away, explain without jargon) that will make life for your team easier this week? That one thing can make the world of difference.

#leadershipcoach #developingleaders #businessculture #highperformingteams

22Nov

Learning On the Lead Lesson 6: Leadership Lessons Learnt With Mans Best Friend

Consistency is crucial to trust and understanding.

As you may have gathered with previous posts, having Jake in our house has been a learning experience. One of the greatest areas of learning has been in the art of consistency across all members of the family. Like most dog owners, we wanted Jake to be able to sit on command; when he is on the lead and at the side of the road, before receiving his meal etc. What we noticed very quickly was that while I was clear on the command and the way I was teaching this step to Jake, so were the other 3 members of my family. The problem was that each of our methods of teaching Jake to sit were slightly different.

18Nov

How do you motivate a team for high performance?

More specifically, how do you motivate your team that’s perhaps performing at a six out of 10 and work with them so they can perform at an eight, nine, or 10 out of ten? 

I had the opportunity to watch a CEO recently seeking to motivate her team. It didn’t go well. She pulled up a video on her phone  –  it was of her grandson saying, “Go, go, go!” It was cute. For her, it was highly motivating. For her team, some of whom were rolling their eyes as if this was something they had heard hundreds of times – it was – it was more something to be endured before they moved back to their desk to carry on with their day.

High-performing teams do need motivation, but it’s not gonna spring from a short video, a sport or movie quote or a short training course unless it’s applied to them – it need to be specific and tailored for a purpose. 

If you want to motivate your team to high-performing team, you can do it by using one of five key elements.

Purpose

Firstly, you can motivate for purpose. That is, you provide a clear vision of how each person’s effort and work is gonna have an impact for the broader team, and how it’s gonna help them achieve their personal goal.

Grit

Two, you can motivate for grit. What is it that you’ve had to work through that you found difficult and got past, and what is it that they can do to also get past a stumbling block or difficulty?

Applied Strength

Three, you can motivate for applied strength, that is, every person has their own strengths and weaknesses – how will you motivate them to apply their strengths at the right place, at the right time for the right purpose?

Responsibility

Four, you can motivate for responsibility. That is, will they put up their hand to say it was me and I needed to do this work or do that better? You can motivate your team to work together for dual accountability and perform higher.

Discipline

Finally, you can motivate for discipline, that is, what it is you’re gonna get them – and you – to do to focus on those little things that will get perfected over time and be like clockwork to improve performance? 

For high-performing teams, motivation is more than a one off, 5 minute process. It is dedication inspired by one of those five key motivational elements that makes all the difference. 

14Nov

Learning On the Lead Lesson 5: Leadership Lessons Learnt With Mans Best Friend

Consistency is crucial to trust and understanding.

As you may have gathered with previous posts, having Jake in our house has been a learning experience. One of the greatest areas of learning has been in the art of consistency across all members of the family. Like most dog owners, we wanted Jake to be able to sit on command; when he is on the lead and at the side of the road, before receiving his meal etc. What we noticed very quickly was that while I was clear on the command and the way I was teaching this step to Jake, so were the other 3 members of my family. The problem was that each of our methods of teaching Jake to sit were slightly different.

12Nov

Executive Leadership Coaching Testimonial – Ali Butt, EduCo Global

Wednesday is all about gratitude – for the opportunity to work in a field I love, with clients that have the same passion for leadership, team and culture development that I do.


I have worked with EduCo for a number of years executive coaching as well as completing workshops with their aspiring leaders and managers.

Thank you Ali for your kind words – it has been a pleasure to work with you on your leadership journey.
M

07Nov

Learning On the Lead: Lesson 4. Leadership Lessons Learnt With Mans Best Friend

Lesson 4: Greet your team members like you are meeting them for the first time every day.

This lesson sounds over the top and cheesy, but give me the opportunity to explain.

I am sure that you have seen dogs like Jake before; as soon as I get home there is a huge wag of the tail, more jumping than I would like, and a desperate need to be patted. There is no doubt in my mind that he is happy to see me. Jake also has the advantage (or disadvantage?) of having a tail that completely reflects his mood – if the tail is wagging he is happy, wagging furiously and he is excited.

To state the obvious, we humans don’t have tails that can give away our mood. Often I work with team’s that struggle to understand each other, finding it difficult to read each others expressions, let alone their intent.

What I love about my dog Jake is no matter what type of day he has had, he always manages to cheer me up when I arrive home.

I think we can take a lot out of Jake’s demeanour and apply it to where we work. Over time, I have worked with several clients that struggle to deal with the negativity of staff; they criticize everything and the general mood of the business is difficult and unpleasant. It is the type of negativity that you can feel as an outsider to the business – it just feels wrong. 

Positive attitudes can be beaten down in environments like this if they are not maintained and vigilant. A simple way is to greet people in your team in a positive manner. It may sound trite, but it is amazing how your own smile and positive attitude can have a direct impact on those people around you. Imagine a simple case of a Manager so absorbed in what he is doing that as he walked down the corridor, deep in thought, he ignores the people that he walked past. He wasn’t trying to be aloof or distant, but staff members he worked with (in this negative culture) could perceive that behaviour as being ignored.

Imagine if he had a tail like Jake, there would be no need to say anything. If his tail was wagging, people would assume that he was in a good mood and think nothing more of it. But he isn’t Jake, he doesn’t have a tail, and each individual he walks past feels like they are being ignored. Do it often and the whole team decide to ignore him – a negative culture will do that. You can see how this can spiral out of control. Sadly, in the past I have been the type of person who has exacerbated this attitude, expecting everyone to treat me well before I decided to treat them accordingly. 

Negative cultures require us to break that cycle and treat everyone how we expect to be treated regardless of the impact. Imagine again my corridor walking manager, and instead of ignoring the behaviour or judging it, a staff member comes out with ‘Good morning Jenny, how is your day going?’ They might often know the answer, but they can break the lack of communication and the possible spiral it could cause. This is a very simple example – but it highlights how perception of communication and sending out what you want can have a great impact.

To paraphrase a quote that I read a few days ago ‘It is not the force of the rain in a single drop that created an indentation in stone, it is the persistent effort of many drops over many storms.’

I love this quote because it relates to people’s behaviour and negativity so well. A single effort will not change behaviour. Neither will several efforts. Many efforts over time build to become a habit, which in turn drives behaviour and attitude change. This is exactly what dealing with negativity requires – constant effort and a desire to change for the good. It is certainly not easy, sometimes the negative energy saps up the energy of good people and can drag them down. The question is ‘Is the negative behaviour something that you want to live with?’

In short, negative behaviour can be broken down with many simple acts of friendliness, kindness and trust over periods of time. Jake has taught me that consistent positive response can change my mood every time I come home.

Is your team filled with negative comments and behaviour?

Are you adding to the negativity or steering a positive path?

What have you done to lift the mood of your team?

06Nov

High-Performance Teams Testimonial – Nicola Crocco, People Equity

Wednesday is all about gratitude – for the opportunity to work in a field I love, with clients that have the same passion for leadership, team and culture development that I do.

The team at People Equity are a joy to work with – Gabby Symons and Nicola Crocco are taking their team and performance to new heights (and yes, I love a flight / Air Force analogy!)


Thank you for your kind words
M

05Nov

Small Business Leadership: How To Hire Right This Holiday Season For High Performance

I had the chance last week to sit down with Jenn Donovan from Social Media and Marketing Australia to discuss ‘How to Hire Right’ as we approach this holiday season.

If you are a small business owner and you haven’t heard Jenn’s podcast before – do your self a favour and take a listen as some of her previous podcast episodes. there is some absolute gold there for small business owners seeking to have a greater presence on social media – and Jenn makes social media simple.

To listen to ‘How to Hire Right’ – click on the link!

M