20Dec

Learning On The Lead Lesson 8: Remember That Each Team Has Different Rules To Live By

Working with a large variety of teams under development has reminded me of one small but crucial detail when working with teams – all teams all different. Different people, different standards, different behaviour, different cultural norms.

This was highlighted with Jake on the weekend at the beach. While we were happy to let Jake frolic on the dog beach, other dog owners were not. While Jake was scolded when he tried to jump up on people, other dogs were not. While there are some common sense rules to follow when owning dogs, the nuances for each dog (and each dog owner) are what makes each of us different.

The same can be said of teams. While there are some common sense rules for being a good team member, the nuances of how that is applied and regarded is different from workplace to workplace.

This rule is often forgotten when people have worked in a team for a while. People wrongly assume that the behaviours that worked in their old team will automatically work in their new team. As soon as there is a change of workplace, culture, leader or personnel in the team, chances are the dynamics of the team are going to change.

Even in an established team with defined rules of acceptable / non-acceptable behaviour, the team dynamic can change either positively or negatively with the addition of just one person.

Every time a new person is added or removed from your team, it is an opportune time to ask a simple question: ‘What team behaviour does everyone believe will make a successful team?’

Question:

Consider your own team. What are the accepted behaviours for your team?

Did they change with the addition of a new team member?

Does everyone in your team know what you regard as good / poor behaviour?

Could you provide a ‘cheat sheet’ or short cut of what is accepted behaviour in your business (and I’m not talking about Codes of Conduct)

Learning on the Lead: Lesson 8 of 21 Leadership Lessons Learnt with my Dog

The other lessons are:

  1. Everyone Needs to Know the Rules.
  2. You need to protect your team from outside forces.
  3. Listening and being present are important to your team.
  4. Greet your team members like you are meeting them for the first time every day.
  5. Consistency is crucial to trust and understanding.
  6. Trust is built over months, not seconds.
  7. Learn the things that you shouldn’t do in the team.
  8. Remember that each team has different rules to live by.
  9. Show respect for your team in ways that they appreciate.
  10. Understand the unique behaviour and skill set you bring to the team.
  11. Look after your team and they will look after you / You have to meet the needs of your team.
  12. Breaks in discipline / performance can’t wait until later to fix.
  13. Leading the team is not a half-hearted, part time responsibility.
  14. The leader needs to guide the team clearly and precisely.
  15. The leadership hierarchy needs to be understood by all of the team.
  16. Genuine Acts of Kindness are worth the effort.
  17. You have to be prepared for a sudden change in direction.
  18. A steady voice is more effective than an erratic one.
  19. You don’t have to bark at every noise in the external environment.
  20. Sometimes you need to ask for help.
  21. You have to decide what you are going to fight for.
10Dec

Will your leadership be at its best today?

Will your leadership be at its best today? I know it is late in the year and you are probably looking forward to a rest across the holidays – but there is still work to be done and teams to manage and lead. Take a moment to focus and to bring your best – what part of the strategy are you implementing? How will you speak to bring out the best in you and the people around you? What goals will you ensure are met today? Its Monday – go and be the best leader you can be today! hashtag#leadershipcoach hashtag#businesscoaching hashtag#coaching hashtag#businessculture hashtag#leadership

06Dec

Learning On the Lead Lesson 7: 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.

04Dec

Leadership Profiling: CheckPoint Testimonial – Tori Paterson, Tomahawk Recruitment

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.

That can be said for Tori Paterson, a whiz of a recruiter who has provided some of my clients with some fantastic staff. It was great to share the CheckPoint results with her, as well as see the changes that she has made to her leadership style and behaviour to generate some great results.

Thanks for the recommendation Tori!

02Dec

Leadership is an Identifiable Set of Skills and Abilities

Leadership is not a birthright and it is not something passed from one family or generation to the other.

Leadership is both a responsibility and a reward – most importantly it is a choice.

Importantly, leadership can be learned, improved and worked upon like any other business skill or behaviour. One key to improvement is knowing where you skills – your strengths and your development areas – are right now. Not how they were 5 years ago in a different role, nor how they will be in the future – what are they right now.

They say that ‘what isn’t measured, isn’t done’ – and the same applies to leadership and leadership development.

If you want to know how your leadership skills and behaviours rate – take a look at the Velocity Leadership CheckPoint page of the website. Like hundreds of others, you can complete the questionnaire and find out how your skills rate. Some leaders and managers have said that it was the greatest insight they have received regarding their leadership development and awareness of their behaviours and skills.

If you want to take a step forward on your leadership journey – no matter how long you have been not the path – complete the Velocity Leadership CheckPoint today.