November 2011
Delegation
Delegation isn't just a matter of telling someone else what to do. There is a wide range of varying freedom that you can confer on the other person. The more experienced and reliable the other person is, then the more freedom you can give.
The more critical the task then the more cautious you need to be about extending a lot of freedom, especially if your job or reputation depends on getting a good result. Take care to choose the most appropriate style of delegation for each situation.
Read more...
October 2011
Leading by Walking Around
A Client was having real leadership problems at all levels of management in their business. The environment was negative. The front line had NO trust in the top. Productivity was at an all time low. Employees were grumpy and resignations were up.
It was suggested that the supervisors and managers lead by example, take action and practice Leadership by Walking Around.
Read more...
September 2011
How to Manage Change
| Step |
Action |
New Behaviour |
| 1 |
Increase urgency |
People start telling each other, "Let's go, we need to change things!" |
| 2 |
Build the guiding team |
A group powerful enough to guide a big change is formed and they start to work together well. |
| 3 |
Get the vision right |
The guiding team develops the right vision and strategy for the change effort. |
| 4 |
Communicate for buy-in |
People begin to buy into the change, and this shows in their behaviour. |
| 5 |
Empower action |
More people feel able to act, and do act, on the vision. |
| 6 |
Create short-term wins |
Momentum builds as people try to fulfil the vision, while fewer and fewer resist change. |
| 7 |
Don't let up |
People make wave after wave of changes until the vision is fulfilled. |
| 8 |
Make change stick |
New and winning behaviour continues despite the pull of tradition, turnover of change leaders, etc. |
"The biggest challenge with small and large change, is the behaviour of people"
August 2011
The Capability Compass
How to deal with a "Stuck" person
Stuck = Low Motivation - Low Skill
This person:
- Doesn't know how to do the work and is lacking the confidence to have a go
- Doesn't seem capable or willing to learn
- Has no motivation
- Has few skills
- Appears to not want to improve their situation
Response (Direct)
- Take a controlling role
- Tell them what to do
- Provide a working structure
- Do what it takes to get them to do the job
- Be the Boss and make your expectations very clear
- Focus on the job that has to be done, not the relationship
Read more...
July 2011
Do you know what your Leadership Strengths are?
Do you know what your positive and negative behaviours are?
The challenge for leaders today is to recognize and manage their strengths and weaknesses.
Rate yourself on the following three behaviour aspects:
Optimism versus Reality
Optimism can be great but you've also got to keep it real. When a leader's optimism crosses the line into a willful disregard for reality, the result is a mediocre organisation that limps along, usually surviving on the strength of a great product, and succeeding in spite of itself.
In business, there can be a tendency among successful people to keep going down the same path that has worked for them in the past even though the market is screaming for them to change course and go down another. When that happens, people lose a lot of energy, they don't trust their senior leadership, and they just kind of muddle along...
Read more...
June 2011
The GROW Model
Stop giving advice or ideas...
-
It's about learning, not teaching
- Ask, don't tell
- Challenge them to find their own answers
What is your goal?
Check:
-
Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable/agreed
- Relevant/Results based/Rule-bound
- Timelined
What is the current reality?
Check:
-
Knowledge
- Experience/Skill
- Attitude
- Barriers
- Resources
What options do you have?
Check:
-
What are the risks/benefits of each of these ideas?
- What is the best option?
Check:
-
Commitment on a 1 - 10 scale, with 10 being totally committed
- What?
- When?
- How will I know it's done?
- What are the potential consequences for not taking agreed action?
May 2011
Do people trust you as their leader?
Trust has taken a hit lately in all facets of our life. Chalk it up to the combined effects of the economic meltdown, financial mismanagement, and an increasing sense that, in business at least, everyone seems to be in it only for themselves. The result has been dwindling levels of trust in organisations to a recent new low point where fewer workers agree that they trust their senior leaders to look out for their best interest.
Leaders need to tackle these declining levels of trust head-on. To combat the decline leaders need to take the time to assess current trust levels in their organisations and if they find trust is lacking, immediately begin a process to resolve the issues.
To help with the process think about the four core elements represented in the ABCD Trust Model™ that people can use to evaluate whether someone is trustworthy or not. How would the people in your organisation rate their leaders in these four areas?
- Able: Demonstrates competence, expertise, experience, and capability in getting the desired results accomplished
- Believable: Walks the talk of a core set of values, demonstrates honesty, and uses fair, equitable practices
- Connected: Interacts with staff, communicates and shares relevant information, provides praise, and gives recognition
- Dependable: Is accountable, takes responsibility for own actions, and consistently follows up
April 2011
Kouzes & Posner Leadership Model
The Kouzes & Posner Leadership model is based on five leadership practices:
1. Model The Way
Leaders:
- set goals so that people can achieve small wins as they work toward larger ideas
- create chances for success
2. Inspire A Shared Vision
Leaders:
-
create a vision for the future
-
involve others in their vision
3. Challenge The Process
Leaders:
-
look for new opportunities to change and improve the organisation
-
try new things, take risks and learn from any mistakes
4. Enable Others To Act
Leaders:
-
work with others and build good teams
-
strengthen other people by using shared respect
5. Encourage The Heart
Leaders:
-
recognise individual contributions to success
March 2011
Successful and Effective Leadership
- Do you believe you are a successful leader?
- Or do you believe that you are an effective leader?
- Or are you both?
- What is the difference between a success and an effective leader anyway?
Read more...
February 2011
Visionary Organisations
Lets have a look at your beliefs about organisations and test some of the assumptions you make as to what it takes to become a visionary company.
Read each of the statements below and mark which of those you believe to be true and which you believe to be false:
- Highly successful companies make their best moves by brilliant and complex strategic planning
- Visionary companies require great and charismatic leaders
- The most successful companies exist first and foremost to maximise profits
- Visionary companies share a common subset of 'correct' core values
- The only constant is change
- Visionary companies are great places for everyone to work
- The most successful companies focus primarily on beating the competition
- Companies become visionary primarily through their vision statements
What's your score out of eight?
Read more...
January 2011
Creating a High Performance Culture
Every high-performance, values-aligned company needs employees who are high performers (who contribute extensively to the accomplishment of organisational goals) and, as well, good corporate citizens (who behave in alignment with the stated values espoused by the organisation).
The Performance-Values Matrix describes the four possible combinations for all staff.
The goal is to develop your people to be in the green box [high performance and high values-match]. Staff who live here need to be well rewarded and recognised.
A person in the red box [low performance and low values-match] does not belong in your organisation.
Opportunities lie in moving employees towards the desired green box. A person in the blue box [low performance and high values-match] should be placed on a customised learning and development plan, designed to increase their performance.
A person in the yellow box is a conundrum; do you keep the high performer, even if they don't live your company's values? The "yellow boxer" is your biggest challenge; leaving the high performer/poor citizen in the organisation can poison the rest of your workforce!
Through direction, support, and monitoring, a "yellow boxer" can see the importance of aligning their values with the organisation's values. If they don't, you must offer them the same outplacement assistance as you would the "red boxers.
December 2010
Do your values match your behaviours?
Values are defined as enduring principles or beliefs you seek to attain. They define what is fundamentally right or important to you. It's always useful to review your own personal values and to check in with how well your actions match with what you believe. For instance, if you were to draw two pyramid shapes and one of these represented a particular value of yours and the other represented your behaviour, the question to ask yourself is 'how closely do these shapes overlap?'
In other words, in your leadership position are you consistently behaving congruently in alignment with your values, or for one or more values do these pyramids sit apart to some degree?
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