Everybody defines leadership differently. Irrespective of how you define a leader, they can not only make the difference between success and failure, they can make the different between good performance and excellence.
Great Leadership 101: ‘A team is a group of people who trust each other’
Great leadership is built on a solid foundation of trust with team members. In my experience, both in the RAAF and in the corporate world, trust is at the core of a team’s ability to work together efficiently and effectively. Simon Sinek and Patrick Lencioni are both clear about the importance of trust for building a team, and the absence of trust being the first obstacle of a group to overcome.
Trust can be built quickly, and eroded just as fast. Some important questions for any team, and for any leader or manager to consider:
– What does it take to build trust with me?
– What would you to do to erode my trust?
– What actions can be taken to rebuild my trust?
In my opinion, the 3rd question is the most important and least thought of – after all, we all make mistakes and we can all learn. What does it take for you? Can your trust be rebuilt and earn again? Or is is once bitten, twice shy?
Looking To Build Trust With Your Leadership Team
These questions and more are discussed, debated and reflected on in both the Build High-Performance Teams and Lead High-Performance Teams workshops. If you need to build and develop trust with your team, reach us via the Contact page or book a Discovery Call today.
#leadership #leaders #management #leadershipdevelopment #leader#coaching #trust
Why ‘Building Effective Teams’ is Your Greatest Training Need at Present
We recently conducted a LinkedIn poll looking at the greatest training needs for business at present. Of the 4 options provided, 56% of those surveyed said that ‘building effective teams’ was most required right now.
This finding has been reinforced as we spoke to leaders in workshops and one-on-one coaching in recent weeks.
Quite simply, the changing circumstances that we face as leaders, team members and workers in organisations and small businesses has changed the way that we work, which has also changed the way that our teams behave.
Is it surprising that changes that effect us on an individual level have also an impact on our team behaviour? Consider the following areas that may have been impacted in the last 6 months:
- Work from home and changes to physical workspace
- Balancing work and school age children’s teaching at the same time
- Virtual meetings and gathering
- Lack of physical contact with co-workers
- Health of self, friends, family and co-workers
- Change in financial status
- Greater emotional highs and lows
- Different outlook on risk and security
- Changes in short- and long-term planning
- Product lines or offerings increasing or decreasing
There have been plenty of articles on the topics listed above (so I won’t expand further on them individually). Suffice to say, if the importance that you place on any other items listed above has shifted or changed in the last 6 months, chances are it has for your team members as well – and this changes the dynamics of your team.
Ie. if a team has greater health concerns and working from work seems like a greater risk – is it unreasonable to assume that the risk profile of the team may have changed in other areas as well? Will the team now be more risk averse?
To build and maintain the health of your team, a greater understanding of the impact / change in behaviour of your team members needs to be understood and adapted to. Team leaders, supervisors, managers, executives and small business owners need to be mindful that the behaviour of their team 6 months ago (both as individuals and a collective) will not be the same as it was – and may never go back to being that way.
A simple questions to ask of teams and team leaders is:
What will you now tolerate that you wouldn’t before (in regards to team behaviour)?
(For example, working from home has changed dress expectations, interruptions, children (and partners and animals) in the background of a Zoom call. Would this have been tolerated 6 months ago? What else do you now tolerate / accept / see as a norm?
What will you no longer tolerate from team behaviour?
Workshop participants and coaching client have mentioned changes in their tolerance to lateness, excuses, camera (on or off), interrupting each other.
The key part of this simple question / answer is not the responses (although they are useful). It is the rest of your team members knowing and understanding the differences in each others preferences, and providing an opportunity to adjust accordingly.
Are your team members flying blind to your new tolerances / intolerances? An effective team – and an effective team leader – is taking the time to learn and adjust behaviours for the efficiency, harmony, effectiveness and well-being of the team.
If Building Effective Teams is an important requirement in your team at the moment, consider attending our workshop ‘Building Effective Teams’ on 8 October 2020. A focussed workshop on building alignment within your team, adjusting for new environments and challenges, how to raise difficult discussion and creating a common understanding – all the while building trust and reducing conflict.
Our highly successful workshops ‘Building Effective Teams’ and ‘Leading High-Performing Teams’ can be conducted in-house at a time to suit you and your team. Reach out via the Contact Page or book a Discovery call to find out how IMLD can help build your effective team.
7 Reasons to Hire an Executive Leadership Coach for Leaders
Why have an executive leadership coach for leaders? Can you name a high performing sports star, athlete, singer, dancer or artist that doesn’t have a coach?
Coaches can provide a leaders and managers with a myriad of assistance in developing their leadership, critical thinking and problem solving skills. Here are 7 ways an executive leadership coach can help your leaders improve their ‘thinking, feeling and doing’ within a business.
1. A Leadership Coach Will Drive You To Higher Performance And Success
Every leader can benefit greatly from having a Leadership Coach. To consistently get the best out of others and produces improved results, high-performing leaders work with those that can get the best out of them, provide alternatives and hold them to their targets.
2. A Leadership Coach will work with you to develop the skills required to lead people, in a way that suits you
Positive and engaged workforces don’t happen by accident – they are created by consistently leadership practices over time. Low engagement leads to dissatisfaction, low retention, productivity and poor performance. As a leader, part of your role is to ensure that your people stay engaged and happy. A happy, healthy and engaged team produces consistently high results, even through adversity.
3. A Leadership Coach will support you in developing and achieving your purpose
Great leaders understand their purpose and can visualise and articulate a vision of the future that can inspire others – their friends, their peers, and those that work for them – to work together in producing results that bring that vision to life. A leadership coach can work with you to develop your purpose and achieve clarity of your vision, and the core values that assist you in achieving it.
4. A Leadership Coach will encourage you in the right direction and hold firm when you falter
Everyone has moments when they doubt their purpose, their ability, their drive and their results.
A leadership coach is your most unreasonable friend – who encourages you and cheers you on when you need it, and provides a helping hand or push when you are just about to give up.
We can work with you to explore alternatives and options you hadn’t thought of, or didn’t feel you had the confidence or expertise to implement. We will support you in finding the right direction and work along side you to stay the course.
5. A Leadership Coach will listen without judgment when you think you are not doing well
A good leadership coach is a good listener first and foremost. We know that it can be lonely in a leadership position – you can feel unable to share your thoughts, doubts or stresses without feeling judged. A leadership coach can provide confidential counsel for leaders to open up and discuss the areas you struggle with; the doubts, the fears, the negative thoughts. We work with you to navigate a path out of doubt to self-assurance, and provide practical tools and models to assist when it does get hard. Of course we offer much more, but it starts with listening and understanding.
6. A Leadership Coach will offer a different view when you think you can’t move forward
Powerful Leaders always look to the next level. For coaching to work, there needs to be a desire to go beyond your current state. A Leadership Coach will support you become aware of the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
7. A Leadership Coach will cheer you on following the little wins and challenge you to do more
Leading a business to achieve a goal takes thousands of little tasks and interactions with your team, customers and providers. It can be easy to forget what you have done, how far you have come and what impact you have made. A leadership coach celebrates the little wins with you, and encourages you to stay on the path for achieving your goals.
Looking To Develop Your Leadership Skills? IMLD Executive Leadership Coaching
Focussed, personal, confidential, honest and practical – all words that have been used in testimonials to describe the Institute of Management & Leadership Development’s Executive Leadership Coaching. If this sounds like something that could be useful for you or a member of your team, get in touch with us today for a confidential chat about your needs. If you would like to read what other clients experienced and gained through the Executive Leadership Coaching process, check out our LinkedIn recommendations, reviews and testimonials.
How the Pandemic is Changing Our Leadership Training Needs
The leadership training and coaching needs of leaders and managers have changed significantly in the last 6 months, with businesses pandemic response driving two very different training needs. On the one hand, businesses that are growing in the pandemic are needing short timeframe, fast-spaced skills training that can be utilised quickly and adapt to changing people and operational requirements. On the other hand, businesses that have slowed during the pandemic are using the time to upskill their team in behaviours that take longer to develop and require more time to reflect, such as leadership and coaching programs, as mentioned in a recent HBR article.
CEO Michael Peiniger said ‘for many businesses, now is the perfect time to upskill and requalify members of your team, including yourself. We are seeing a need for training at the moment for two very different reasons – on the one hand businesses that have increased call or production volume needing skills and behaviour training such as time management, difficult conversations, building effective teams – this training is being put into practise straight away because of need, and participants have questions / issues that they need help with straight away.
Leadership Training Develops Leaders
On the other hand, we are also seeing leaders, managers and business teams that have been impacted by the pandemic taking time to requalify in important skills such as coaching, leading others, high-performance teams, setting vision and presentation skills, that can sometimes take a bit longer to develop. We have also seen a jump in leaders seeking to their understand leadership strengths and weaknesses through our Leadership CheckPoint, seeking to address gaps in their skills while they have the time.
Peiniger says ‘If there has been one significant benefit to business through the pandemic, it has been the increase in IT skills in staff, particularly using online conferencing tools such as Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meets.
‘We ran a difficult conversations simulation workshop for a national client last week with staff from 3 States, using 5 break out rooms on Zoom, practising difficult conversations with 5 actors from a further 2 States. 25 people online, in simulations they had tailored for themselves and discussing their learning across their teams really quickly, learning from each other as well as us. Suggesting to a business to complete a training program in that format would have been radical 12 months ago, but it is common place in our business now and business leaders are seeing the benefits.
Our popular individual skills training courses, are now delivered via Zoom as 2-4 hour online sessions tailored for your business.
Difficult Conversations in the Workplace https://www.developingleaders.com.au/difficult-conversations-in-the-workplace/
Performance Management Essentials https://www.developingleaders.com.au/performance-management-essentials/
Leading High-Performance Teams https://www.developingleaders.com.au/leading-high-performance-teams/
For more information on workshops, leadership profiles or coaching, speak to one of our staff on (03) 9982 4439.
#leadershipdevelopment #managementskills #coaching #developingleaders
LinkedIn is the Platform for Leaders in Business
LinkedIn is the platform for leaders in business. Wonderful to work with some amazing coaches, leaders and professionals from Australia, New Zealand and further afield last night as we discussed how to optimise your LinkedIn profile, discuss new features (including the difference between computer and mobile interface) and how it can benefit your business growth. Not my speciality, but like so many of us, we live and learn and can share with others.
#developingleaders #executivecoaching #training #facilitation
Melbourne Leaders, Managers and Supervisors – Well done!
Well done Melbourne leaders, managers and supervisors! I know lockdown is hard – both emotionally, physically and financially, but the work is paying off (from 700 cases a day to less than 200). Still some more work to be done. Thank you to the front line workers, nurses and doctors.
Thank you also to the Melbourne supervisors, team leaders, managers, small business owners and senior leaders in business as you navigate this pandemic not only for yourself, but for your team and business as well. Looking after a team takes something, and it is taking something right now with the response to this pandemic – just know that your efforts are appreciated, noticed and acknowledged.
High Performing Teams Workshop Testimonial – Alecia Rathbone, Summer Foundation
A big thank thank you Alecia Rathbone for the lovely recommendation of your recent High Performing Teams workshop – your words put a little spring in our step today!Wednesday is hump day! It is also the day we take a moment at the Institute of Management & Leadership Development to express the gratitude we have for working with some amazing clients and sharing in their leadership, high performance team and coaching journeys. It is always a pleasure to work dedicated leaders seeking to take their teams to new levels. One of our favourite workshops!
#highperformanceteams #leadership #coaching #leadershipdevelopment#developingleaders
The Path to True Leadership
The path to true leadership does not require you, nor your team, to be perfect. You do not need to be perfect. To be a true leader, you need to take responsibility for your actions and be just as open with your failures and mistakes as your successes. Acknowledging your mistakes, owning them and learning from them is far more important to your team that being perfect. When you behave this way as a leader, your team and your business benefits in your learning leadership journey as well as you.
#leadership #coaching #leadershipdevelopment #developingleaders
Well done Melbourne!
A big shout out to all of my fellow Victorians this morning as we wake to Day 1 of a Stage 4 lockdown for 6 weeks. Many are doing it tough emotionally and financially and the thought of a new lockdown and curfew feels like one more dip on the rollercoaster that is 2020.
My thoughts are ones of resilience (for family and friends), then resignation (6 weeks!), then frustration (this isn’t what I had planned for 2020), then guilt (many have it far worse than me), then hope (so many wonderful people helping others), then back to resilience.
If you are riding the rollercoaster of emotions today and just need someone to listen, someone to vent to or just someone to share the same rollercoaster ride, call or DM, I will reply. WE can get through this.
Are You Part of a Leadership Team or a Group?
Are you part of a Leadership Team or are you part of a group? Many people at work often state that they are part of a team, but does the behaviour of the people you work with match the requirements of being a team?
I love this quote from Norman Hidle (with pronouns adjusted for 2020) that focusses on how sure / safe / secure each member is in their place in the team – so much so that they are able (and willing) to praise, share and encourage other members of the team.
I think this is a good differentiator between a team and a group of people that happen to work together. What are your thoughts? Are you part of a group or a team?
#leadership #developingleaders #highperformanceteams #coaching#executivecoach
Are You a More Responsible Leader or Accountable Leader?
Are you more of a Responsible Leader or Accountable leader? Do you push yourself harder than your team (more Responsible) or your team harder than yourself (more Accountable)? Or are your responsibility / accountability behaviours in balance?
Not knowing could be having a negative effect on either yourself as leader or your team.
? Too responsible (without the corresponding level of accountability) and you will take on more than you should (ie. ‘It is just easier for me to do it’), and probably be a little resentful because of it.
? Too accountable (without the corresponding level of responsibility) and too much is placed upon your team, which they will become resentful of.
▶️ Knowing the balance – the right balance – is worth investigating. If getting the right balance is of interest to you, DM me. Our CheckPoint tool measures the balance between your Responsibility / Accountability and we can work with you to restore the efficiency and effectiveness in your work life.
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #coaching #executivecoaching #developingleaders
People Leave Businesses Because of Poor Leadership
People leave businesses because of poor leadership.Yes – it is as simple as that. If large volumes of people are leaving a business of their own choice – look upwards at the cause.
That can be really hard to stomach when you are the person at the top – but if you don’t change your approach or reflect on why, it will keep happening.
#leadershipcoach #leadership #executivecoaching #leadershipdevelopment#difficultconversations
The Top 25 Leadership Behaviours That Define Great Leaders
Everybody defines leadership differently. Irrespective of how you define a leader, they can not only make the difference between success and failure, they can make the different between good performance and excellence.
Does Any Leader Like Having Difficult Conversations?
Does anyone actually like having difficult conversations? We surveyed over a hundred of our Performance Management Essentials workshop participants, and here are the areas they struggled with in regards to having difficult / crucial conversations:
1️⃣ Not having confidence in being able to do it ‘right’ within HR limitations,
2️⃣ Not knowing the ‘right’ words, and not wanting to cause offence,
3️⃣ Not having a clear structure for the conversation
4️⃣ Concern over how the other person will respond (meek, bullying, arguing
5️⃣ Not knowing how to adapt to the other persons communication style
6️⃣ Don’t know how to convince people to change behaviour
7️⃣ Needing to discuss poor performance without having them perform worse
8️⃣ Not wanting to make the situation worse (it is sometimes easier to avoid)
Do any of these sound like behaviours or situations that you have experienced at work?
Leaders recognise that they are uncomfortable – but they get past this and have them anyway for the benefit of the team and the individual – because dealing with it later doesn’t make it go away, it just makes the problem bigger.
#leadership#difficultconversations#developingleaders
Great Leadership Is About Adapting To Your Environment
Great leadership is about adjusting and adapting to your environment, not staying the same and hoping people will get ‘back to normal’.
Leaders know that both their internal and external business environments have changed with COVID19. The external environment is obvious – changes buying and selling conditions, sales either up or down, market confidence greatly different.
The internal environment has shifted significantly as well, whether staff were let go or not. Value sets have adjusted, risk profiles have changed, the trust people have with their boss and their business will have altered.
This is the time when great leaders aren’t taking what they know about their team for granted – they are taking the time to understand what has changed and what has stayed the same with their people, and adjusting their leadership style to suit.
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #executivecoaching #coaching#highperformanceteams #developingleaders
Performance Management Essentials Workshop – 18 June 2020
In the words of one of our recent participants in the Performance Management Essentials workshop – ‘We all hear many words of wisdom through peers and academia explaining why it’s a good idea to use performance management but this was the first time anybody had offered me effective, practical advice on how to apply it. I found Michael’s style to be direct and informal, using practical language backed up with minimal theoretical frameworks. The role plays with actors were high impact and a great twist on an old topic. Highly recommended.’ Chris McKee, PME participant.
Performance Management Essentials workshops ensure you:
✅ build skills in dealing with personal issues and uncomfortable conversations
✅ use the ‘right’ words for understanding and get your message across clearly and without confusion
✅ boost your crucial conversation confidence and get to the point,
✅ design and frame a crucial conversation and apply it in our *P.M Simulator
PLUS
✅ Lots of tips and tricks to accelerate efficiency and effectiveness for yourself, your team and your business
✅ Practice, feedback, review and practice with our trained Actor staff and Master facilitator to have your confidence soar in any crucial conversation!
Only a few opportunities left for our 18 June 2020 workshop – apply through the link!
Executive Leadership Coaching – Natalie Youssef Testimonial
It is a privilege to work with amazing leaders that not only seek to challenge themselves, but also seek to make a difference for their teams through Executive Leadership Coaching. Such was the case when working with Natalie Youssef, Supply Chain Manager at Lyondellbasell. When you hear that a team has pulled together, trust has been gained and the leader feels more empowered – it reinforces why I love doing what I do. Thank you for the recommendation Natalie – it is greatly appreciated.
‘Michael provided guidance and confidence to hone in sharing my values with team members by highlighting my likes and dislikes. It was an engaging management tool for me. The opportunity to discuss certain behaviours, plainly outlining my expectations allowed me to communicate a platform for what I deemed fair and reasonable behaviour. As a result of this coaching, I have gained the trust from certain team members that was previously not in my rehems. Thank you Michael!’
Natalie Youssef, Supply Chain Manager, Lyondellbasell
#leader #coaching #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipcoach #highperformanceteams #developingleaders#executivecoach #executiveleadershipcoaching
Focussed, personal, confidential, honest and practical – all words that have been used in testimonials to describe the Institute of Management & Leadership Development’s Executive Leadership Coaching. If this sounds like something that could be useful for you or a member of your team, get in touch with us today for a confidential chat about your needs.
The First Step In Your Leadership Coaching Journey – A Leadership Assessment Tool
Do you know the impact you have on your leader and / or team? Completing a leadership assessment tool to assess your leadership strengths and weaknesses is the first step that Bryony took in her executive leadership coaching journey.
If you are unsure of your impact on your leader / team, perhaps you should complete the Velocity Leadership CheckPoint? 25 behavioural leadership traits, focussed in 5 distinct leadership capabilities – a ‘must know’ for any leader or team looking to drive high performance. If you haven’t completed the CheckPoint, get in touch with us today to arrange an appointment. Read through the comments and feedback from those that have – many say that it has had a profound effect on how they lead and perform within a team.
Leadership 101: Focus on what only you can do as a leader
As the team you are responsible for gets larger – it is certainly worth focussing some time on the jobs / tasks that you NEED to continue doing, and reviewing the tasks that you NEED to let go of as a leader. Often tasks are maintained because of personal preference or comfort, not because of operational need. Two simple ideas included in our Emerging Leaders Program:
?Simple Monday Review: Take a look at the tasks in your To Do list. Are they things that you NEED to be doing today / this week? Can they be done by someone else or do they need to be done at all?
?What is the work that only you can do? This should be your focus.
Some very pertinent points in the article below – may favourite was “Success becomes more about mastering a few key skills: hiring exceptional leaders, building self-reliant teams, establishing a clear vision, and communicating well. People who master those skills will be well-equipped to lead teams of any size.” Wise words.
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #executivecoaching#highperformanceteams #developingleaders #coaching
Leading Yourself is Quality Over Quantity for Performance
When it comes to leading yourself effectively, it is all about quality over quantity.Have you had a realisation like this in the last couple of weeks? This was a timely reminder in a post from Peter Horrocks. There have been so many changes to routines and patterns – and while plenty have impacts and hardships on many – some changes to the routine have been for the better.
For me, the lower graphic could have broken hard work into even smaller segments -many of which I have been reminded of or relearned in the last couple of weeks as.
Productive hard work includes (and can include combinations of):
1️⃣ Focussed time away from social media
2️⃣ Time to plan and work out priorities
3️⃣ Opportunity to think deeper on one topic at a time
4️⃣ Discussion with peers to problem solve and look at an issue from all sides
5️⃣ Time to reflect on that works and what doesn’t
6️⃣ ‘Head down, bum up’ completion of tasks while avoiding procratination
7️⃣ Time to actually celebrate and be happy with what was completed
What a difference these things have made to not only completing larger tasks (that honestly were being avoided), but being satisfied in the results. What changes to your routine have been for the better int he last couple of weeks – that you will keep moving forward?
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #executivecoaching #leaders #coaching#highperformanceteams