2021 | Developing Leaders

28Jul

Diploma Workshop 7 - Lead Difficult Conversations

Leading Difficult Conversations Is A Critical Skill For Leaders

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, Leadership, Performance Management

When you need to have difficult conversations with someone, do you plan what you will say or do you wing it? Leading difficult conversations takes preparation and effort, it takes something even more to successfully navigate all of the permutations that a difficult conversation can include.
It was a pleasure to once again work with some of the leaders and managers of LyondellBasell Australia to work through how to lead and manage difficult conversations. As part of Workshop 7, participants had to prepare for a difficult conversation and then deliver it to the facilitator – with others listening, observing and providing constructive feedback. Daunting for some, extending comfort zones for many, and providing some amazing examples of how to raise difficult issues with team members with a balance of accountability, compassion and empathy.
No one really likes roleplays, but with solid content, clear outcomes and participants willing to treat activities as if they were live in the workplace, the learning (both from doing it yourself and from listening and observing others) is extraordinary.
It is a pleasure to work with leaders and managers that are willing to challenge themselves and learn from each other like this group do. Thank you also to the Dark Knight for making an appearance!

Leading Difficult Conversations Takes Practise

Leading Difficult Conversations is one of the newer units in the IMLD’s Diploma of Leadership & Management, a partnership with The College For Adult Learning.
Combining online learning with group facilitation and experiential roleplays, this workshop is all about practical skills for preparing and delivering difficult conversations with skill, accountability, empathy and compassion.
Well done to the team at LyondellBasell Victoria – this is not an easy Diploma unit and you delivered like stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #coaching #Diploma #IMLD #developingleaders

Need to Work on Your Ability in Leading Difficult Conversations?

At IMLD, being able to prepare, deliver and respond in difficult conversations is one of our specialities. It is a key skill for any leader or manager, and many people in positions of authority within a business (leader, manager, supervisor) struggle to deliver them effectively, or ignore them completely. We have several ways in which you can improve your ability to have a difficult conversation:

Through one-on-one practice as part of an Executive Leadership Coaching course,
As part of a group in our Difficult Conversations in the Workplace workshops,
As part of a wider Performance Management framework within the Performance Management Essentials workshop, or
As one of a series of leadership and management competencies within the Diploma of Leadership and Management

27Jul

Are you an Adaptable Leader?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

To be an Adaptable leader, you display:

? Empowerment – you give over power and authority to your team to get things done,

? Interaction – you are enthusiastic with others and embrace new contacts and connections,

? Adaptability – you are able or willing to change in order to suit new or variable conditions,

? Influence – you have the ability to effect the character, beliefs, opinions and development of your team,

? Dependability – you elicit confidence and trust from your team, peers and clients.

26Jul

Are you an Altitude Leader?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

? Effective Leadership Series Part 4: Are you an Altitude leader?

What does it take to be Altitude (Team Leadership) focussed in your leadership behaviours?

The IMLD leadership framework looks at 5 distinct leadership capabilities – Alignment, Awareness, Achievement, Altitude and Adaptability. Within each of these, there are 5 behavioural leadership traits,

To be an Altitude leader, you display:

? Accountability – you can hold someone accountable for their behaviours and actions,

? Active Listening – you fully concentrate on what is said rather than planning for your response,

? Verbal Communication – you articulate yourself clearly and have your instructions and explanations understood,

? Empathy – you can understand or feel another persons experience from their frame of reference,

? Constructive Feedback – you can praise and develop performance based on observations to address issues.

Altitude leaders are focussed on their team and team performance – they know they will fly higher when all members of their team are acting in unison and trusting each other to meet their personal and team objectives.

Are you an Altitude focussed leader? Do your altitude behaviours have a positive impact for your team? Want to find out?

IMLD’s Velocity Leadership CheckPoint (VLC) provides you with clear scores against the 5 Alignment behaviours, as well as the behaviours of the other 4 leadership capabilities.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipassessment #leadershiptools #coaching #executivecoaching #IMLD #developingleaders

Further Related Articles

23Jul

Effective Leadership - Are you an Achieve Leader?

Are you an Achievement Leader?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

? Effective Leadership Series Part 3: Are you an Achievement leader?

What does it take to be Achievement focussed in your leadership behaviours?

The IMLD leadership model looks at 5 distinct leadership capabilities – Alignment, Awareness, Achievement, Altitude and Adaptability. Within each of these, there are 5 behavioural leadership traits,

To be an Achievement leader, you display:

? Responsibility – you can hold yourself accountable for your behaviours and actions,

? Planning – you plan ahead, set milestones and adjust as necessary,

? Time Management – you know when and where you will do your best work using a finite resource,

? Attention to Detail – you can stay focussed to thoroughly and accurately complete a task,

? Problem Solving – you find solutions to difficult or complex issues and can utilise the skills of others to do the same.

Achievement leaders are thinkers and doers – they put thoughts into actions, understand the difference between quality and quantity time and focus on meeting targets and providing solutions.

Velocity Leadership CheckPoint

Are you an Achievement focussed leader? Do your achievement behaviours have a positive impact for your team? Want to find out?

IMLD’s Velocity Leadership CheckPoint (VLC) provides you with clear scores against the 5 Alignment behaviours, as well as the behaviours of the other 4 leadership capabilities. To learn more, click on the link in the comments.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipassessment #leadershiptools #coaching #executivecoaching #IMLD #developingleaders

Further Related Articles

21Jul

Are you an Aware Leader?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

Effective Leadership Series Part 2: Are you an Aware leader?

What does it take to be aware in your leadership behaviours?

To be an Aware leader, you:

? Have Clarity – you factor in other perspectives and are not biased in your viewpoint,

? Are Self Aware – you have a conscious knowledge of your character, feelings and reactions,

? Have Confidence – you display self-assurance and understand your strengths and weaknesses,

? Are Assertive – you can stand up for your own and other’s rights in a calm and positive way,

? Are Personally Fulfilled – you are doing what fully develops your potential .

Aware leaders are conscious of their own feelings, behaviours and actions and the impact that it has upon others. They are quick to learn, focus more on lessons learnt than mistakes and have conviction in what they are doing.

Are you an Aware leader? Does your Awareness assist in the development of your team? Want to find out?

IMLD’s Velocity Leadership CheckPoint (VLC) provides you with clear scores against the 5 Alignment behaviours, as well as the behaviours of the other 4 leadership capabilities.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipassessment #leadershiptools #coaching #executivecoaching #IMLD #developingleaders

Further Related Articles

20Jul

Are You An Aligned Leader?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

Effective Leadership Series Part 1: Are you an ‘Aligned’ leader? What does it take to be aligned in your leadership behaviours?

19Jul

Everyone Deserves To Work For A Great Leader

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

What does it take to be a great leader? Most would agree ‘ that everyone deserves to work for a great leader’, but many don’t. Many of us work for average or even poor leaders, more focussed on themselves that their team. But who decides what great leadership is in your business or industry?

The truth is, each business (and the culture within it) has a spoken and unspoken set of behaviours that define great leadership. More often than not:

? Poor leaders – are the only ones speaking (often about themselves)

? Good leaders – speak and listen (and are willing to learn as well as own mistakes)

? Great leaders – speak, listen and adapt their behaviours to the needs of their business and team.

Do you work for a poor, a good or a great leader?

If you are the leader, what will you do today that will make a positive impact for your team and its team members? Great leadership behaviours can start today

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #coaching #leader #developingleaders #IMLD

Want to Develop Your Great Leadership Qualities?

Do you know what impact that knowledge (or lack of) is having on your team and business?
If you would like to know what leadership strengths you can leverage further, get in touch to book in for a Velocity Leadership CheckPoint and debrief today.

15Jul

Great Leaders Are Humble Learners

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

‘Great leaders are humble learners’. We have an Emerging Leaders Program starting at Institute of Management & Leadership Development in about 3 weeks, and the first piece of ‘homework’ (I prefer ‘anchoring activity’ but I am fighting a losing battle) for all new participants is to tell all of their team that they are beginning a leadership learning program.

For many, this is a very hard thing to do.

We often have leaders that would like to keep their learning secret, wanting to keep a distance between themselves and their team, and not willing to share that they might need to learn something new, or God forbid, that they might not be the font of all leadership knowledge in their workplace.

We expect leaders to share their leadership learning journey with their team, because they ARE part of the journey. When leaders try a new tool, practice or behaviour, the team has an idea where it is coming from. The pros and cons can be discussed in the open, and it can be adapted and moulded to suit the team and the business culture. Without sharing, new behaviours aren’t understood, they are questioned, resisted or spoken about behind closed doors.

It takes a village (or a team) to raise the skills of a new leader, and it takes a humble learner to be one.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leader #coaching #management #IMLD #developingleaders

Want to start your leadership journey? Do you know what your leadership strengths and weaknesses are?

08Jul

What Is A Leaders Most Important Role?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

What is a leaders most important role? Preventing drift. Preventing drift in our own personal leadership behaviour and ensuring that we don’t go ‘off track’, preventing our teams from drifting off our target and goals, preventing financial drift – so many of a leaders and managers role is about preventing drift! Leaders and teams that drift do not meet expectations, are inefficient and often ineffective in what they do. A team can drift off task easily – particularly in times of stress and if the team leaders struggles with difficult conversations.

What is Leadership Drift?

Drift is when you set a path, course, vision or purpose (whatever you wish to call it) and you start to move away (consciously or unconsciously) from what was planned or agreed. Drift manifests itself in a number of ways:
? Not being clear in the direction you, the team and the business are heading,
? Not getting ‘everyone on board’ and agreeing on the behaviours required to stay on track,
? Not being clear on the behaviours you want (and cheering them on!) and the behaviours you don’t (and correcting them quickly),
? Not walking the talk on your own behaviours and holding yourself to account (or letting others hold you to account)
? Avoiding small and awkward conversations on standards, goals and behaviours until they become large, difficult conversations (when you have ‘drifted’ well off track), and
? Not clearly communicating milestones, wins and near misses in performance.
To prevent drift, you have to have a clear understanding of your goals, your targets and the behaviours that you need to achieve them. You also have to have a willingness to interact and engage with your team daily, encouraging and praising good work (yes, even if it is ‘their job’) to stay on track, and coaching and correcting when you drift.

Without discussion and correction, or team behaviours can drift off target — A leaders most important role is the prevention of team and task drift

Is Your Personal Leadership Drifting?

Ask yourself a difficult question or two:
? Where has your performance drifted? What will you do to correct it?
? Where has your teams performance drifted? What has been your place in letting it happen? What little correction can you make today?
? Where has your business drifted? At the start of the new FY, what course can you set to correct it?
If drift is an issue for you, your team or your business, you know who to call.
#leadership #coaching #leadershipdevelopment #success #drift #IMLD #developingleaders

Do you know what your leadership strengths and weaknesses are?

THE FIRST STEP IN YOUR LEADERSHIP JOURNEY – A LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT

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 Carla took as part of her Emerging Leaders Program journey.

Velocity Leadership CheckPoint - Leadership Assessment Tool for Leaders — Want to Prevent Leadership Drift – The Velocity Leadership CheckPoint Is The Start Point

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.

07Jul

Executive Leadership Coaching – Asaf Ziv Testimonial, Cardioscan

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, Leadership

Wednesday is all about gratitude at Institute of Management & Leadership Development – a huge thank you to Asaf Ziv for your kind words regarding your recent Executive Leadership Coaching process. It was a pleasure to work with you to assist in achieving your goals! ❤️

A brilliant and genuine coach with a passion to help and listen. Michael empowers thought leadership through unbiased perspective while ensuring a comfortable space to express and bounce ideas. Even with the recent lockdowns, Michael created a virtual space where we challenged thoughts and ideas to improve outcomes through creative metaphors and examples in a humorous and engaging way. I was very much looking forward to our sessions together, bouncing ideas and challenges. He is very enthusiastic and dedicated(!) and always follows through, even beyond our scheduled sessions. I also really connected and enjoyed Michael’s distinctive approaches to visualising problems through aviation and his Air Force experience.
I would highly recommend Michael to any executive/manager wanting to enhance their senses and build on their managerial career forward. He has been a fantastic help in the last four months, and his commitment to helping me achieve my goals has been outstanding.
Asaf Ziv, CardioScan

If you are looking to develop your leadership skills, get your team back on track, build a team culture of high-performance, or just looking to work one on one on some of those ‘less confident’ issues , then book a confidential discovery call with me and let’s see how I can help.

To book go to: https://www.developingleaders.com.au/contact-imld/

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #success #coaching #IMLD #developingleaders

Executive Leadership Coaching

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.

05Jul

A team is a group of people who trust each other

What does it take to build trust in your team?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership, Performance Management

What does it take to build trust in your team? Have you ever thought about what it takes to build trust with you? ?What does it take to break your trust? ? Importantly, from both a personal, leadership and team perspective – what does it take to rebuild your trust?

I agree with Simon Sinek – a team can be defined as a group of people who trust each other.

But what does it take to build trust?

What experiences need to be shared or what values / behaviours need to be agreed upon – to build that trust?

Many leaders assume that trust happens over time – and it can – but assuming it will happen is foolhardy. The other obvious problem with relying on trust taking time to build is – it takes time. It takes significantly less time to break trust – what has been earnt over years could be broken in a minute, with disasterous consequences for the individuals, the team and often the business.

So why do we speak about trust so much when it comes to team? ?

Because without trust, teams take longer to achieve things, often wasting their own and the businesses resources. In fact, without trust, small teams can work against each other for their own benefit but not for the common good. Individuals can work for their own benefit but not for the benefit of the team or business.

Why is building trust so hard?

Because everyone does not have the same trust tolerance or trust breaking points – if we did, trust would be simple to create and build. What one person may tolerate may be a ‘deal breaker’ for another when it comes to trust. When people come from different backgrounds, family experiences, work experiences, cultures, ethnicities and ages – we can’t assume that we all build and break trust in the same way.

Think about the friends, family, co-workers and team members that you trust. There is most likely a common understanding – a common set of values or behaviours that you have either consciously or unconsciously agreed upon. There will be a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’ to certain behaviours – the ‘way we do it around here’. There will be common values that you share, and there will be ‘a line’ that should not be crossed without expected consequences.

If you want to build the type of team that Simon Sinek talks about – the ones that trust each other – then a starting point to get there is to have a discussion around what builds and breaks your trust. And it is more than honesty or not lying (a usual default answer).

Can trust be rebuilt with you?

A discussion on what it takes to rebuild trust is just (sometimes more) important than what it takes to build and break trust. Why? Because everyone makes mistakes. The question then is whether you will be judged for years for your actions or will you be forgiven and trusted again? In my experience, many small breaches started with someone not meeting someone else’s expectations – and they either didn’t know it or didn’t do anything about it. This includes the person who didn’t do what was expected apologising or correcting the mistake, and the person receiving not saying anything and holding a grudge. Such a simple action (which often happen daily in businesses) can result in a breach of trust that can last years between two team members. In fact, sometimes a lack of trust can last so long that the people involved can’t even remember what caused the lack of trust in the first place!

Whilst examples like that above ma seem trivial, they can prevent teams from performing efficiently and effectively. A lack of trust between just two members of a team can impact an entire teams performance. In fact, often when people talk about ‘a poor culture’ or a ‘bad culture’ within teams, it can often be based in a lack of trust between team members, or a lack of trust between the team and their leader / manager / supervisor.

Where to start with trust?

If you don’t know how to start a conversation like this, or would like someone to facilitate this conversation as part of developing your high performing team, you know who to call.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #coaching #culture #trustbuilding #trust #IMLD #developingleaders

28Jun

Leadership Quotes - Calm and Storm - Will Cather

Leadership Training – Best in Calm or In Storm?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

‘There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm’
Willa Cather

Leadership training and high-performance team training are ‘some things’, however most businesses only focus their attention on training when in calm. ? Is leadership training best completed in calm or in storm? How many times have you heard someone say ‘it is too busy right now to do training’? Some components of leadership and management – planning, strategy, time management, evaluation – all benefit when there is time to think, consider and reflect.

Several others though – decision making, difficult conversations, coaching, balancing priorities, constructive feedback – often need to occur when things are moving at pace. Why then do so many businesses only train people to complete these activities when things are calm?

Yes – training when things are busy can feel like an impost and difficult to balance – but the benefits often far outweigh the negatives. Coaching and training when things are busy prepare leaders and managers for what it is like in the ‘real world’, not just in a simulated training environment.

Training that is designed for pace and within the rigours of business life actually prepare leaders more effectively for what they will actually deal with.

Training and coaching should be completed in times that best reflect the environment that they will be completed in, and often that means when things are busy, when you don’t have all of the facts, time is of the essence and you are ‘under the pump’. Some of our best learning is done in these situations – not just when things are calm.

#coaching #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #management #IMLD #developingleaders

23Jun

Testimonial – Roger Susan – Lyondellbasell

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

It is all about gratitude on Wednesdays at Institute of Management & Leadership Development, and today we want to say thank you to Roger Susan for taking the time to write a testimonial on the work completed so far in the Diploma of Leadership & Management program.

Thank you Roger for your the lovely words regarding the your leadership program at lyondellbasell facilitated by Michael Peiniger. It is a pleasure to work with such a dedicated group of leaders and managers – thank you for the recommendation!

If you are looking to develop your leadership skills, get your team back on track, build a team culture of high-performance, or just looking to work one on one on some ‘effective management techniques’ , then why not book a confidential discovery call with us and see how we can help.

To book, click HERE.
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #success #coaching #IMLD #developingleaders

22Jun

High Performance What Would You Rate Your Team Right Now?

High Performance Team – What Would You Rate Your Team Right Now?

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

To takes something to develop a high performance team. But what is ‘something’? Simple question: What would you rate our team out of ? right now? 7️⃣ ? 8️⃣ ? If so, your team is at a critical point. If you rated your team a 5️⃣ , you would already be doing something to address it. But a 7️⃣ or an 8️⃣ – that is good enough, isn’t it?

IMLD – High Performance Teams Workshops

Teams that are rated a 7️⃣ have enormous risk or going back to a 5️⃣ really quickly – mainly due to complacency. After all, it you rated that well, you don’t need to:

? invest in training or coaching (people are performing),

? have those uncomfortable conversations (they will work it out – they are good performers)

? hold others to account for shortfalls in performance (it will come around)

Or do you?

Teams that consistently rate themselves highly (and have others rate them highly as well), do so because they have a relentless pursuit and desire to maintain that level. They realise if they don’t focus on high performance, it can become average performance quickly, as the competition catches up.

If you are seeking to develop a high-performance culture within your team, the IMLD High-Performance Team workshops are a great place to start. We can challenge you to challenge your team performance, and bring a high-performance team culture to reality.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #coaching #culture #highperformanceteams #highperformanceculture #IMLD #developingleaders

15Jun

Be The Leader You Wish You Had When You Started

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, Executive Leadership Coaching, High-Performance Teams, Leadership

What leadership ‘loaf’ are you baking at present? In your business oven, are your team going to be underdone – unable to make a decision without you and afraid to make have difficult conversations? Or is your team overcooked – burnt from having to do too much without your guidance and coaching and charred from feeling left on their own?
Getting your team leadership ‘just right’ takes some effort – as well as planning, empathy and a good dose of skilled and thoughtful coaching.
Setting the right environment for developing leaders takes something – both for ourselves and for our team. But the fundamentals are easy to put in place. If you are unsure how to get it ‘just right’ for your business, why not give us a call. We have been developing leaders and leadership in businesses for almost 20 years, in environments as complex and unique as yours. Be the leader that you wish you had when you started, and set the environment for leadership development today.

Do you know what your leadership strengths and weaknesses are?

12Jun

Leadership Development – Top 25 Leadership Behaviours For Great Leadership

Michael PeinigerDeveloping Culture, High-Performance Teams, Leadership, Leadership Assessment Tool, Leadership Development, Leadership Training

Developing your leadership? Question: Do you know what your leadership strengths are? How about your weaknesses?

31May

Do You Know Your Leadership Strengths? Here Is How To Find Out

Michael PeinigerLeadership

Do you know your leadership strengths? Have you had that feeling when you know something isn’t quite right, but don’t know what it is? ? Many conversations that I have with current and potential leadership and coaching clients start like that – they know that there is something to work on, something doesn’t ‘feel’ quite right, but they don’t know quite what it is.
This is where the Institute of Management & Leadership Development CheckPoint comes into its own. It provides a solid foundation from which I, and they, can review their leadership strengths and weaknesses, and plan a leadership development strategy that is designed for them. It takes the guesswork out of leadership development, and provides a common language for both the coach and leader/manager.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/554557745

Do you know what your leadership strengths and weaknesses are? Do you know what impact that knowledge (or lack of) is having on your team and business?
If you would like to know what leadership strengths you can leverage further, get in touch to book in for a Velocity Leadership CheckPoint and debrief today.
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #coaching #executivecoaching #success #leaders #management

24May

Practical Leadership Training Can Make All The Difference For a Leader

Michael PeinigerLeadership

A well designed leadership training activity can be fun and challenging as well as meeting clear learning outcomes. In a recent unit of the Diploma of Leadership & Management (Manage Operational Plan), what looks like play is the culmination of an activity that required planning, communication, resource allocation, budgeting, trial, design, leadership, teamwork, assessment and review.

It was so much fun to work with the Geelong lyondellbasell crew last Friday in the Diploma of Leadership & Management module! When I was in the RAAF, and in particular at Officers’ Training School, I had the opportunity to see first hand how powerful experiential training could be in developing leadership and team skills for leaders and managers.

Practical Leadership Training Puts Theory In Practise

Practical Leadership Training Is Crucial for Leadership Development

The opportunity to observe, evaluate, debrief and learn in a practical way is easily transferred into real life settings. Leadership, team work, planning, communication, negotiation, resilience, patience, difficult conversations – all can be developed in a fun and challenging way with a well designed experiential learning activity. That said

‘An activity is only as good as the learning it provides for the participants’

With these types of experiential activities, the building and assembly of a waterslide is a vehicle for important debriefs on planning, teamwork and leadership.

Interestingly, the behaviours exhibited by leaders and teams in small activities like this often mirror the exact behaviours in the workplace, providing a great opportunity to evaluate norms and behaviours in real time and seek impacts and consequences in a safe environment.

Experiential activities are one of the many ways in which we challenge, coach, train, assessment and work with leaders and managers to develop their leadership and high-performance team skills.

We are forever grateful for the opportunity to work with some amazing leaders, managers and small business owners that seek to develop and challenge their leadership skills and those of their teams.

The Diploma of Leadership & Management

Would your team (or leadership team) challenge itself in an experiential setting to develop their high-performance team or leadership skills? Enquire today via our Contact page or book a Discovery Call to see if the Diploma of Leadership & management is the right fit for your business team.

#leadership #management #leadershipdevelopment #training #coaching #culture #teamwork #leaders #skills #IMLD #developingleaders

21May

Leadership Program – Alex Reynolds Testimonial

Michael PeinigerLeadership, Leadership Assessment Tool

IMLDs leadership programs provide leaders with knowledge, behaviour and practical skills required to lead and adapt to a changing work environment. Irrespective of where you are staring from – brand new to leadership or s seasoned professional – IMLD leadership programs have something for you to continue your leadership development journey. From the Emerging Leaders Program, to the Executive Leadership Program and the Diploma of Leadership and Management, there is a leadership program designed to take your skills to the next level. If this sounds like it could be useful for you or members of your team, get in touch with us today.

20May

7 Tips To Help You Find Your Best Leadership Coach

Your Best Leadership Coach – 7 Tips To Find The Right One For You

Michael PeinigerExecutive Leadership Coaching, Leadership

When choosing a leadership coach to work with, you want to make sure that you are going to get results! In an unregulated industry, it is very easy to get caught up in the hype of a savvy sales pitch or a professional looking website from a prospective coach. But there are some simple questions to ask that can differentiate the good from the average, the true partner in developing your skills as a leader as opposed to an expensive waste of time and effort. So we put together 7 tips to help you find your best leadership coach, most of which were also confirmed in a recent Forbes article.

During my first meeting or call with a potential client, I have found that most leaders don’t know what to ask to determine if I am the ‘right fit’ for them. Often they are looking for someone who they feel comfortable with and have the right chemistry. While that is certainly important, there are many other things you can ask to get the right leadership coach for you. Here are 7 key questions you can ask a potential coach to determine if they are effective and more importantly, the right coach for you.

1. What is Your Experience as a Leader?

This might seem obvious, but many consultants calling themselves leadership coaches have actually never lead people in a team. For all of the learning and reading a person has done, nothing can substitute having experience in a leadership role – making decisions, counselling / coaching and performance managing team members, holding other accountable for results, setting a clear vision – all of the things that you have to do as a leader. Do you want someone who has learned from a book, or someone who has learned what works and what doesn’t from their own trials and experiences?

Ask:

‘What experience have you had leading a team?’
‘What industries have you worked in and for how long?’
‘What was you toughest experience as a leader managing people?’

2. What is Your Own Coaching Style?

Many leadership coaches follow a formula, a step-by-step guide to coaching that they have learned through an institute, school or other coach. Having a system or a process is important – but you don’t want to work with someone who can’t adjust their format / process / style to meet your immediate needs. If you want to work on a pressing issue that impacts you right now, you shouldn’t have to wait for Session 7 to discuss what you need right now.

In addition, have they developed their own lessons from experience? An effective coach has learnt from what they were taught, adapted from their experience and developed their own material. Would you rather work with a leadership coach that can adapt to your needs and discuss an appropriate lesson from personal experience, or someone that needs to refer and check with the book?

Ask:

‘What models do you use to aid your coaching?’
‘Can you outline the type of lessons / learning we can cover?’
‘Have you written your own models / lessons from experience?’

Listen to how they discuss their work and consider the following questions for yourself:

‘Does this sound like it will aid in my development as a leader?’
‘Will this person’s style compliment my own’

Executive Coaches Actively Listen — Effective Leadership Coaches Have Developed Their Own Coaching Style

3. Who Else Would You Recommend?

Deciding on an effective leadership coach is a personal preference – you have to feel comfortable that the person will work with you, guide you, encourage you as well as challenge you. If you decide that the persons style doesn’t suit you, can they / will they recommend a leadership coach more suitable? An effective leadership coach knows that they don’t appeal to everyones style and that fit is important. An effective coach in the industry will personally know several other effective leadership coaches of different styles that they can refer you to. Anyone that can’t is looking more for the sale and less for your welfare and development.

Ask:

‘If you aren’t my best fit as a coach, who else would you recommend and why?’

4. What Recommendations and Success Stories Do You Have?

This question seeks to get past the fancy website and the sales pitch. An effective leadership coach will have many recommendations from previous clients that are happy with the work that was completed, and even happier to tell others about it. Look to the person’s website for testimonials and see what they have said about the process, where they started and what they learned. Look up some of the testimonial names on LinkedIn – are they real people in leadership roles? Do they work for the person ? (I know, yet several coaches I sought for myself had a small number of reviews, and those were from peers, not clients). Look up the reviews of the business as well as the leadership coach on Facebook, Google reviews and alike – can you find recommendations?

If the person doesn’t have 20 or 30 clear and identifiable recommendations or reviews, they haven’t yet proven themselves as an effective leadership coach. It is also important to separate the leadership coach from the leadership business – while the business may have many reviews for their stable of coaches, the one in front of you may not. Also ask if you could speak to a previous client about what they got from the coaching process. There is nothing wrong with this! An effective leadership coach will not only be able to provide you with names, they will have at least 5 clients they could willingly provide you the phone / contact details of to discuss their coaching.

To be safe (and sure):

Check their website or LinkedIn profile for 20 to 30 recommendations and reviews
Check reviews and people giving them are real and not from their own business
Separate the reviews of the business from the specific coach

Ask:

‘Can I speak to one or two of your previous clients to discuss what they learnt?’

5. What Resources and Tools Do You Have at Your Disposal?

This is a broad question, and it is seeking to understand the depth of knowledge of the leadership coach you will be working with. An effective leadership coach talks about their field of expertise – either publicly in keynote speaking or webinars, online through videos or tutorials, or written in blogs / posts and articles. Take some time to read, listen or watch what they talk about and see if it resonates with you. Does this person talk about leadership / leadership skills in a way that appeals to you? If you can’t find your chosen leadership coach speaking about the topic of leadership in at least one of these mediums, walk away. Effective leadership coaches have a body of work that should be easy to find and demonstrate their understanding of the topic.

In addition, ask to review or discuss their coaching outcomes documents and their confidentiality policy – it should be clear and easily understood. You want to know before you undertake a coaching process who the information you discuss is going to be shared with, how long notes are kept and what the records process entails.

Review:

Their website for articles, tutorials and videos
Look for Youtube or Vimeo videos speaking on the topic
‘Google’ their name and search for things like ‘leadership articles’

Ask:

‘Where can I find articles or videos of you discussing and explaining leadership and / or coaching?’
‘Can I have a copy of your Coaching Outcomes documents?’
‘What is your policy on confidentiality’

6. What Leadership Assessment Tool Do They Use?

An effective leadership coach will use some form of leadership assessment tool to assess the level of skill / behaviour you have at present, and highlight how they will help you develop from that baseline. If they don’t, they will often be guessing and probing in your first couple of coaching sessions – which is OK – but should you have to wait for them to learn about you when they can do it more effectively? There are a myriad of effective tools in the marketplace, just make sure that the tool provides useful information for you in its own right – it should be in plain language and discuss leadership behaviours. It should also measure behaviours that can develop and grow, that you can easily relate to specific behaviours to improve. The tool used should be more than a personality test, which are often generically written (4 types, 4 colours etc) and not designed to change over time.

Ensure the tool being used can be used again in several months time so that you can have a tangible measure of growth – after all, ‘what isn’t measured, isn’t done’. Most effective leadership coaches can provide you with a PDF of a standard report from their chosen leadership assessment tool, and many will provide an assessment / short debrief as part of their introductory process.

Ask:

‘What leadership assessment tool do you use?’
‘Can I have a copy of a standard / example leadership report’
‘Do you offer an assessment prior to committing to a coaching contract / process’

7. How Will You Challenge Me (and Yourself)?

While rapport and connection is very important through a coaching process, an effective leadership coach is not your best friend. While they will encourage you and cheer you on through your successes, they also need to be able to hold you to account for behaviours that aren’t helping you succeed and challenge your thinking and your actions. An effective leadership coach understands the difference between what you want to hear, and what you need to hear. They won’t be cold and emotionless – an effective leadership coach will discuss your development needs clearly and specifically, identify a path to develop and grow and guide / help / push you towards action to address shortfalls. Don’t get me know, coaching can be a fun process! But fun is a welcome by-product; learning and growth is the main objective.

Further, ask about their own coaching process. An effective leadership coach knows that they don’t have all of the answers and are developing and growing themselves. An effective leadership has experienced the process of coaching for themselves, they understand the impact, the sticking points in their own development and can discuss it clearly with you. If your chosen coach doesn’t believe in the coaching process, why should you?

Ask:

‘How will you challenge me to develop my skills?’
‘What is the process if we disagree on a way forward?’
‘Do you have a coach at present?’
‘What did you learn through your coaching process?’

Through asking some or all of these questions, you will be able to make an informed decision about your coach being the ‘right fit’ for you. Not only will you know if the person in front of you is an effective leadership coach, but if they are the right leadership coach to assist you in growing and developing as a leader.

The 9 Questions To Ask When Choosing An Executive Leadership Coach – A Summary

These 9 simple questions will help you identify the good from the bad, the amateur from the professional, the executive leadership coach worth paying for compared to the one that is an expensive waste of time.

Question 1 – Do you have a coach yourself?
Question 2 – Are you an accredited coach?
Question 3 – What is your experience as a leader?
Question 4 – What is your own coaching style?
Question 5 – Who else would you recommend?
Question 6 – What recommendations and success stories do you have?
Question 7 – What resources and tools do you have at your disposal?
Question 8 – What leadership assessment tool do you use?
Question 9 – How will you challenge me (and yourself)?

If you are talking or engaging a coach that can’t answer these 9 questions effectively – walk away! There are plenty of highly effective coaches who can – and you deserve to work with someone that can back up what they say with action.

Looking For An Executive Leadership Coach?

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.

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