HOW TO “BE” A STAGE TWO LEADER

Do You Set Your Employees Up For Success?

“What if you had a job that tapped into your passion, a job in which your leaders became your servants – where they existed to personally or systematically helped you do your job? What if structures or systems were supportive, helpful, and were geared toward enabling, identifying, and releasing your potential? What if you were continually recognized and rewarded, and most importantly, felt the intrinsic satisfaction of contributing significantly to a cause you felt worthy of such heartfelt commitment?”

Steven Covey

I don’t believe I could describe a “Stage Two Leader” better. If you’re a new leader, seasoned leader, manager, of entrepreneur wanting to grow your leadership influence, take this paragraph to heart!  The challenge is, do you know of any leaders/business owners that see their position like this? If you do, please let me know, I’d love to write about them!

Your Leadership Will Stagnate if You Linger at This Stage

THE RELATIONAL STAGE For the New Leader, the Seasoned Leader, or Manager of a Company! (Without relationship, there is NO influence!)

At this stage the leader realizes that “PEOPLE” are the focal point and mission of their leadership. Because this is perceived as the “touchy feely” stage, many would like to avoid or skip it completely, but it will create a litany of problems if they do. It has to be about PEOPLE and PRODUCTIVITY for the leadership equation to work.“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Is the motto of this stage!

In the Relationship Stage:

• The leader has a growing understanding of their personal purpose and influence.

• The leader is growing into a “secure person” who isn’t out to prove anything, or “be” someone. They are comfortable in their own skin, not trying to impress anyone, or feed off of anyone’s approval or affirmation of them.

• The leader, at this stage, has learned that the must develop their most appreciable asset, PEOPLE!

• The influence of the leader is because they have established interdependent relationships.

• People feel the leader cares about them at this stage, their needs and dreams as an individual, as much as they care about the work they do.

• The agenda is to bring out the best in their employees, while assisting them to fulfill their mission and personal aspirations through their position.

• The leader knows the names and faces of their people, while continuing to discovering more about them each day.

• One can tell they’re at this stage because people contribute and participate willingly when it isn’t expected of them.

• There is an open door policy where communication is welcomed rather than squelched or avoided.

• The leader is open to new ideas, is flexible, and willing to change if it is a win-win for everyone.

• The leader knows how to tactfully deal with challenging people. They don’t avoid issues that need to be addressed, correcting problems and people before they escalate.

• The leader listens more than directs. And when he does speak, people listen intently.

• The leader is able to admit mistakes, taking ownership of his responsibility without blame shifting, cave dwelling (avoidance), or attacking.

• At this stage they can become overly confident in their influence, which may lead to egocentricity if they don’t advance to the next level soon enough.

THE CHALLENGE: If a leader stays on this level too long they wear out by trying to impress and please people. They will become frustrated because they are spread too thin. Therefore, they must learn to relinquish control and delegate, or they will burn out.

Can Leadership Expertise be Trained and Acquired? pt 1

In my effort to learn and participate in the social networking site, “LinkedIn”, the number 1 business social networking site, I asked a question to one of the 13 groups I’m part of, and received 15 responses from the “Executive Reform Movement” group.  I’ve answered this question as well as asked two from the group to be my guest bloggers today, and with their permission, I’ve posted their responses on pt. 2.  After reading them, let me know what you think.

I asked this because it is my passion to provide training, support, and coaching to those leaders that “fall” into the role of leadership, and find themselves ill equipped to handle the demands of the position. Something my husband and I faced over 30 years ago, while leading a growing segment of a non-profit organization. Given the position, we then received no training, it was trial and error, hit and miss, and a lot of prayer.  We failed, we excelled, we grew, and it was the beginning of my recognizing how many of us find ourselves in the same “titled” position.  Ta da, you’re now a “LEADER”!  But there’s no magic wand that infused us with the knowledge and skills we needed.  Hence, my reason for having this blog, dedicated to you who want to grow your competencies and be the leader others want to follow.

Now, it never fails to amaze me when I watch leadership transformation take place, that THE TWO most important competencies for growth are: 1.  A willing heart to try things and break out of their comfort zones, and 2. a teachable spirit. Through trial and error, with the support of coaching to re-engineer, train, apply assessments for self-discovery, while cheering the executive along, I’ve seen all kinds of change occur. I’ve observed leaders who were incompetent, ego centric, insecure, lacking motivation and vision, and those who were clueless as to what was needed, make complete transformations! And I can say, wholeheartedly, and emphatically YES – leadership expertise can be trained and acquired by anyone willing and teachable! The book that first revealed the necessary stages, and opened a whole new world to us was, Dr. John C. Maxwell’s book, “Developing the Leader Within You” still relevant today. Between this book and “Be a People Person”, by Dr. Maxwell, we began our assent into the realm of servant leadership, taking our eyes off of getting people to do what we wanted, and onto assisting, equipping, coaching, and motivating people to become all they could become as a new leader, seasoned leader, or manager. It is now an honor to work with the many gifted, highly qualified people who have touched many lives. It is with this motivation that I hope those I coach will find the same great reward. It’s worth the effort to acquire the right heart motivation, and in the end, the employees will continue to make their bosses rich in many ways!

Sue Porter “The Accidental Leader” CPLP, CMEC

Have You Ever Thought About Hiring a Leadership Coach?

Whether you’re the CEO of a large corporation, a solo-entrepreneur, a new leader, or a mid-level manager hoping to receive the next promotion, if you answer ‘YES” to three or more of the questions below, then you may be a candidate for the 2010 “Ramp It Up” Executive Coaching program beginning in January.

• Are you ready to take an honest, brutal look at where you are now in order to discover what’s keeping you from where you want to go?
• Do you find you’ve plateaued, hit a wall, or are just plain stuck in a rut?
• Would you like to finally tap into your brilliant self, to do your specific genius work?
• Are you ready to make clear, motivational goals that will challenge you to grow?
• Would you like to create work/life balance?
• Are you willing to be coached? And,
• Are you teachable, or willing to try?
• If you can feel it, feel you’re not really performing at your optimal best, but you really finally want to.  Then:

A fortune 500 firm commissioned a study using MetrixGlobal, LLC, and determined that executive coaching produced an astounding 529% return on investment. 75% of the respondents expressed coaching had significant or very significant impact on at least one of their business areas.

This program is only for those who are ready to be serious enough to take action; to make extraordinary goals; and to use their untapped character skills, and underdeveloped talents.  What if, what if this would help you break through the barriers that have been holding you back?

Why hire a coach?  Well, why do the best of the best in the athletic world hire a coach? They’re already at the top of their game, especially if they’re going to the Olympics.  It’s because they know a coach sees things from a different vantage point.  They realize that they may be doing things they themselves can’t see, that would harm them, and keep them from winning.  They hire a coach to stretch themselves beyond what they thought was possible.  And finally, to receive the encouragement to keep up the hard work, and help them to toe the line and keep their eye on the payoff.  So let me ask you, “Why wouldn’t you want the same thing for your career?”

“Until we focus and define what is most important to us, we live our lives in a haze of other-directed urgencies. Coaching is designed to help you stay focused – to practice ‘planned abandonment’ of opportunities that would merely serve as distractions.”
Laurie Beth Jones

AGAIN, IF YOU ANSWERED “YES” TO THREE OR MORE OF THE ABOVE QUESTIONS, DON’T WAIT. TAKE ACTION TODAY! Make 2010 your best year ever.  For more information, and to register for this course, e-mail Sue at: dynamicdev@comcast.net today. The first ten people to register will receive the popular report:  Five Levels To Be In the Leadership Influence Zone.

The Key to Leadership Skill Development pt. #2 and

ACQUIRE THE FIRE WEDNESDAYS! Each Wednesday I’ll review a book or blog

Last post I hopefully inspired you to begin reading more. So, where do you begin? I’ve provided a short list of all the books I have each executive with whom I coach read, or listen to. Some of my clients get so hooked on what they read, they have even gone out and purchased all of some of the author’s books. For your convenience, I have listed these books on the side of this page with an easily accessible link to Amazon to purchase them. Now, I do run into some that say, “I don’t read books”, and I would challenge you, I would like to see 5 concrete reasons as to why you don’t read books! If you’re one of them, here’s a challenge for you. Acquire one of these books I’ve listed, put on the timer for 15 minutes each day. Do this for two weeks, and then tell me if you do, or don’t see the value in this investment. Ask yourself these questions when you’re done:

• Did I learn something new?
• Will what I learned help me as a new leader, leader, or manager?
• Can I incorporate a skill in my daily activity?
• Did it build my confidence in any area?
• Will it help me influence others in a positive way?
• Did I feel encouraged?

If even two of these were the takeaways, wouldn’t it be worth it to give it a try? Let me know how it goes, I’d love to hear from you.

ACQUIRE THE FIRE BOOK REVIEW: “Developing the Leader Within You” by Dr. John C. Maxwell is the very first book I have every leader, executive, or manager I work with read! If you want to know:

• Why people don’t seem to respect or follow you and how to change that
• What breaks the trust of people you’re leading
• How to focus on priorities
• How to problem solve as a leader

and so much more, this is a MUST read book. Dr. John C. Maxwell is an amazing orator and author. You’ll walk away learning the five stages of leadership, and what is necessary at each stage of the game, so you can continually be moving forward. I give this book five stars, out of five for being excellent. Buy the book today. Just go to the panel on the right and you can get it at Amazon. There’s a workbook that goes with it as well. Check out his website too, it has many more opportunities for your involvement: http://www.johnmaxwell.com/

Lessons Learned From A Detoured Climb to Mt. Everest

LEADERSHIP LESSONS DERIVED FROM SACRIFICE

While only three hours from reaching the summit, Mazur and two teammates stumbled upon a man precariously sitting on a precipice.  Without his backpack, oxygen, tent, or mental capabilities, how had he survived all night?  A decision had to be made.  Do they continue on their journey and reach a lifetime goal, or stay with the man called Lincoln Hall, who had been left for dead the day before when suffering with a severe form of altitude sickness.  He had miraculously survived the night, but was unable go the trek down to base camp if he tried.  For you and I, it may  have been an obvious call, but for these three men, you have to remember the cost they’d paid.  They had spent months of grueling training, and $20,000 each in the focused pursuit of their dream.  How could they not reach the summit of Mt. Everest?  They were faced with conflicting priorities.  Why couldn’t they be like the men that had just passed by with the excuse, they didn’t know English while they continued climbing up the mountain.  Later, at base camp they heard them speaking it fluently.  Amazing what high altitudes can do for you.

But with a unified vote, they stayed with him.  What are the leadership lessons you can take from this?  The most important is that leaders will, at one time or another, encounter conflicting priorities that causes them to fall back on their values and ethics to make wise decisions.  Unfortunately, it is all too common to find the leadership of a company stepping over and on employees as well as colleagues while reaching their goal.  Without meaning to, they sacrifice the hopes and dreams of others while gaining theirs.  Let me give you an example.  My husband had the wisdom to want to train emerging leaders for the new project they were on.  Inviting the owner to join him, he was excited, and ready for the collaboration.  But when it came down to it, he was given the responsibility of setting up of the room and making the coffee, even though it was his idea and vision.  Something died in him during that season of work.  And, as is typical, this leader had no idea what he had done.  It is hard to comprehend the kind of leadership that takes everyone with them on the journey, but by including others, you will find yourself not only more satisfied, but the fulfillment you will experience is nothing less than exhilarating.  So, let me ask you, when you’re leading a project as a new leader or new manager, do you:
1. Find out why others join you?
2. Learn what they want to get out their involvement in the project?
3. Utilize their best skills, talent and gifts?
4. Communicate often, asking them how they’re doing on the project?
5. Give them an opportunity, often, to examine the progress/egress and why?
6. Delegate to their qualifications and then support them without taking over?

Next time you’re on a conquest to reach a goal, bring your team with you, it’s much more gratifying than if you do it all yourself.  But, be sure to share the acclaim, or you risk loosing them to your competitor that will let them take the spotlight and be successful.