As a Leader, Become the Person Other’s Want to Follow!
“Be a People Person“, by Dr. John C. Maxwell, was by far one of the very most influential books I have ever read. I recommend it with five stars to all new or emerging leaders or managers! This book began in me the extensive quest I have needed to take in becoming a woman who sees the trees through the forest. Before reading this book I was full of vision, enthusiasm and drive, but seriously lacking in the keen ability to direct and delegate to people while keeping their needs, their skills, and their vision in mind. I had no idea they wouldn’t just “Do It!” and get a job done, or why I had to take the time to understand why they had joined me as a leader, or what they were wanting to get out of their involvement. At that time my husband and I ran a purely volunteer organization, so you can see the utter calamity and demise we were headed for. Unfortunately, this is the stance many leaders take when leading an organization. This book sets the stage for the very primary leadership skill/competency needed for great organizations, CARING! Yes, I know, I’ve just lost some of you. It’s hard, no, it’s down right earth shattering for some to realize that they and their vision are not at the center of most people’s interest. It is true that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. This book, for me, was a hard hit on the head, and my wake up call that there is more to leading than giving vision, and delegating responsibilities. If you want the practical in’s and out’s of leading people, with step by step actions, this book is for you. Some of the chapters include: understanding the qualities you enjoy in others, and why others are drawn to you; becoming a leader others want to follow; how to be confident as a leader; how to motivate people; be a person people respect; exactly how to be an encourager – what to say and do; how to hand criticism; dealing with difficult people; and creating a winning team. If any of these are areas you need to work on, this book was meant for you! One caution though, if you have an aversion to Biblical references, this book is not for you, as it is full of them. For you, the Maxwell book, “Winning With People“, would be a better choice. Again, go to the side of this page and you’ll see a list of books from Amazon for your ease of purchasing. Hope this will be helpful. Happy reading!! Sue
MONDAY MORSALS for Leaders
Leaders are hired for their IQ and experience. They are FIRED for their EI The new standard we must judge ourselves and others by is no longer how 
smart one is, or even how much training and experience one may have. Peak performers have “Emotional Intelligence”, such as initiative, empathy, adaptability, the ability to bounce-back, and persuasiveness, to name a few. The website, Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations says, “Recent studies indicate that emotional intelligence influences behavior in a wide range of domains including school, community, and the workplace. At the individual level, it has been said to relate to academic achievement, work performance, our ability to communicate effectively, solve everyday problems, build meaningful interpersonal relationships, and even our ability to make moral decisions.“ says Emmerling R.J., Shanwal, V. K., & Mandal, M. K. (Eds.) Daniel Goleman , the founder and prolific writer of EI, says that it is a new way of being smart. That you must master these capabilities for your career and personal life to truly be successful. By in large, it is about how you handle yourself, work, leadership, and just plain how you get along with people. Being that this is more than likely the quality that makes one excel, not to mention be employable, it is time to take stock, and make large deposits of EI into ones bankrupt emotions and behavior, no longer relying solely on ones intelligence, good grades, or experience. This is a fabulous topic, and I by no means have done it justice here, but have provided a snap-shop of a program I’ll be offering to come.
On the personal note, here’s a little bit of my story, that goes along with this passion of EI. When my children were small my husband had enough EI himself to ask me, “When the children are older, what do you want to do?” I knew the answer immediately, because I had already been conducting DISC seminars and workshops. “I want to go into companies and corporations, and help people get along using DISC. That way they can spend the majority of their time getting their work done, rather than being bogged down with conflict, fractions, and dysfunction. That was almost 30 years ago, and I continue to have this passion. I am now certified in many competencies, utilizing more than DISC these days, adding Executive Coaching, strategic planning, team building, leadership development and speaking to my venue. In very simplistic terminology, I help people have success in their relationships with people, so that life can go well with them. For a while, I even used the tag line, “I get everyone in a company into the sandbox at the same time, and then MAKE them play together well.” People usually laugh. But what it really comes down to is that I myself am still a work in progress, and that really, I need to do this training predominately for ME.
MONDAY MORSALS for Leaders
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. Peter F. Drucker
September, when the kids all go back to school, is when I like to take stock of my life, and have my clients do the same. We create our schedule of activities for each month around those things that are “important” in the long range, leaving behind the urgent that’s always screaming our name. We then fill in our schedule with the rest. Doing the right things means you’re taking care of yourself as a leader first and foremost spiritually, mentally and physically, so that you can “BE” your best when making quick decisions, and directing the show. Scheduling out a time for each one of these things, and then religiously following the routine is where success is found, in our daily routine. I even have everyone strategically schedule dates with their spouse and twice a month with each child, leaving once a month for a retreat with oneself. Then I ask clients to actually take one complete day off a week. That means not even to think about work, or work related things. This is, by far the most difficult of the strategies to follow, but one of the most important all the same. If you would like to avoid leadership stress, high blood pressure, conflict, meltdown, burnout, well, you get the point, then I would suggest try this yourself. There is a lot more to it, but you get the essence of the plan. So let me ask you, how’s your work-life balance?
Understanding How To Recruit, Retain, Motivate, and Work with our Generational Differences.
During these uncertain times of economic upheaval, in an inconsistent business world, where mergers, downsizing and layoffs are a common trend. Those organizations that recognize that the key differentiator is people, are the ones that will remain and even thrive. They will be the ones to make history instead of “BE” history. I believe that the dominant factor in those who are successful in working with people, are those that gain the tools that will assist them to understand, recruite, retain and motivate people. One such tool to expedite this process is, a clear understanding of the impact of each person’s generation. It is imperative that as a leader we learn to know how and why we act and react the way we do, and be able to distinguish the difference between each cohort’s values and preferences. Lastly, successful organizations then take this knowledge, and translate it into a workable strategic plan. They are the top organizations that will continue to be relevant and prosper. Do you know why the younger adults in your work environment live at the tip of their fingers IMings, twittering, and loitering on facebook? Do you understand the Gen “X” cynicism, and the need to create a of trust before you can bring them fully on board? Are you honoring those of the Traditional Generation in your midst, giving them classes on technology at their level? And do you provide clear instructions in a polite, timely manner? These are just a few of the critical successes factors that will increase your emotional intelligence, and give you the edge in working with the four generations currently working in the same company!
There is one caution that I have in all this. You have to realize that any time you are attempting to place people by groups, you cannot help but use general stereotypes to categorize them. This means I run the risk of someone being offending by over-generalizing. Maturity connotes that you may not fit certain stereotypes, because you have consciously worked to eliminate those particular weaknesses that tend to be indicative of a particular generational cohort. Therefore, not everyone fits perfectly into the square boxe of their particular cohort. Understanding the dynamics, communication preferences, responses, and motivation of each generation is information that should be used for the explicit purpose of understanding, give grace, recruiting, managing and encouraging the people you encounter every day.
Want to learn more? There is a fun, and informative workshop coming up in September called “Generational Tsunami in the Workplace” that will provide you with these exact tools. For more information, and to sign up, go to the “Events” page of this website to learn more.
Finding Your Mission In Life #3
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In this podcast you will learn how to create your leadership plumbline. This will be the very anchor of who you are as a leader, and is found in knowing and living your “mission”. Discover and take the seven questions that will help you dig deep into what you value most, in order to have your best life now. After this podcast you will have the tools to be able to create a personal “Mission Statement” that will truly reflect who you are, and what you are suppose to be about in this world. It can then be the guiding force to assist you in deciding which activities and causes you will participate in throughout your life.
Finding Your Mission In Life #2
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Do you know if you’re living your mission? Sue gives you a clear way to discern if you’re not, and what to do if you can’t living it out on the job. You’ll learn the worst enemy to this pursuit, and hear a great story of a successful executive that made the transition.
