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If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll According to Bart & Baetz (1998), more than 500 firms surveyed have some forms of mission and vision statements. To echo the sage words from Lewis Carroll, knowing where you are going becomes critical for success. To help lead us in the right direction, organizations look toward their leaders to provide a vision of...

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In the words of Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis, two of the most recognized names in the field of business, “Leadership is doing the right things and management is doing things right”. This approach also closely ties to ethics, which is knowing the right path and taking it. Robin S. Sharma said that “leadership is not about designation and title”. Sharma’s view of leadership is one of impact...

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Are you an expert finger pointer? Are you someone who immediately starts assigning blame for the actions of others? If so, you are destroying the opportunity to be viewed as a leader. The best leaders start with the premise that “I’m the problem, or I am contributing to the problem”. This doesn’t mean that you should instantly accept the blame, it means that to complete the best analysis of the...

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Getting Started

Even the best multitasking manager can crash and burn when confronted with the demand of the modern-day running of businesses, especially when trying it alone. Let’s be honest, for complex work, there is no way you can get yourself. And the great managers know they shouldn’t be trying to do it alone. However, an effective team is only as good as the soul of the organization and that is why you need to cultivate teamwork.

How can you manage the hiring and training of employees with coaching, engaging, monitoring, motivating, prioritizing, planning, evaluation and clarifying the vision and mission of the organization all by yourself? How do you handle envisioning, directing, reinforcing, reporting, budgeting and partnership? Would you do all that alone? The elements suggested in this article are just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to the responsibilities of managing a striving organization.

There are several reasons people aspire to become managers. It could mean an avenue to clinch power, grab a ticket to a more prosperous life, advance careers, or even a way to make a large impact. No matter the reasons, a salient question for every manager is why should people follow you? You must focus on the follower’s first. The best leaders move into management to make a difference for others. Astute employees are quick to spot ineffective managers and will gravitate to the manager who would lead them to develop their own skills and nurture career prospects.

Why Do Teams Matter?

There are lots of benefits to building a team in an organization. Fast Company magazine viewed the relevance of a team so important that it identified these in their “Four reasons on why you can’t do everything on your own” article and shouldn’t even try:

1. TEAMS ALWAYS BEAT INDIVIDUALS
2. WE ARE CONSTANTLY BUILDING ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF OTHERS
3. ONE-PERSON COMPANIES ARE A TINY BIT LESS SUCCESSFUL THAN 10,000-PERSON COMPANIES
4. NOBODY HAS EVER ACTUALLY DONE ANYTHING ALONE

Leveraging the Knowledge of Others

The collective work of a team is better than an individual or a group of individuals. The strength of union, brainstorming, and incubation of ideas, diversification of thoughts and the unison of motivation, passion and a common goal are all the ingredients inherent in an effective team. LeBron James, no matter how hard he has tried, hasn’t been able to beat an NBA team all by himself.

A great manager leverages on the skills, talents, knowledge, and experience of every member. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, wouldn’t have had the resources to grow his brainchild without the input of others. If it hadn’t been the ingenuity of his team, the accelerated success he has realized wouldn’t have been possible.

Individuals are Built by Others

Looking at successful organizations, they may have been initiated by an individual, but each of us reaches a point that we run out of personal resources and need to solicit help. Even in situations where one could claim an accomplishment as their own, there is usually a guardian, mentor, friend, supporter, teacher, and role model who has behind them at one point providing the needed supports, skills, knowledge and experiences.

How to Build a Successful Team

The need to establish a strong but effective team has been a critical issue that drives most organizations to seek better ways to get things done faster, better and cheaper. In offering solutions, Kevin Eikenberry suggests 3 steps that can help managers assemble a vibrant and intelligent team. While there are some tasks a leader can do alone, there are other things he or she couldn’t do without including the strength and suggestions of others. These tips are geared towards giving the manager a clear picture and at the same time offer suggestions on how he could lead his team effectively.

1) Encourage Team commitment but grow individual talents as a unit

In your attempt to assemble your team, what are your expectations? Do you have a clear goal of what you want the team to look forward to? Create clear expectations of your team and encourage them through positive conversations, feedback and reward systems. It’s not just enough to expect performance from your team, your daily actions and inactions will emphasize how much you value your team, the organizational goals as well as how much they should commit to it. Recognize as soon after their success as possible for maximum impact.

The critical leadership element here is that you need to be assured of your team’s commitment to accomplishing the goal and simultaneously to the success of the individual members of the team. The role of the leader is quite different from the role of the individual member of the team when working towards a common goal. Whatever role you play towards the goal, the importance of the team should resonate with you; you also need to adopt a system of conversation, coaching, and real-time conflict resolution. In all, whatever you do should contribute to boosting the morale and success of the team through accountability to yield the best possible results.

2) Let Your Team Personalize the Vision with a Strong Focus on Relationship

A hidden danger to avoid in your team is allowing the members to commit to the vision but have the paramount interest in their own individual success. They may sing the same song but move in a different direction at the expense of your strategy and the organizational goals. Goals alone are never enough without good systems in place. Your major role as a leader is to ensure that your team members connect to the vision of the team and regularly reinforce that it is part of their daily work routine.

In human relations, conflicts are bound to emerge. It is the responsibility of the manager to define the ways to handle the challenge and do so before the conflicts arise. As you tactically manage your team, openness, honesty, and integrity should create the foundations for your approach. A well-managed team builds trust. It’s also essential to know that nurturing a friendly relationship within the team will help the development of a team spirit with a greater sense of responsibility, effectiveness, and strength. This dynamic balancing of task and relationship is what leads to high performance and productivity.

3) Set Winning Standard of Performance

Set the standard of operation, the standard of performance and keep it consistent. Make your communications 1) Simple, 2) Consistent and 3) Connected (to the mission and vision). This approach will set the team up for success.

Support your team at the individual and team levels to help them to grow even if when are out of the office or environment. Lead by example, be their model. Employees are manager watchers, if you are working crazy hours, and burning out, you are not walking the talk. Inspire your team by example, it is a true win-win for you are the team members. The bottom line is that you should focus on goals for the team, both output, and the team cohesion.

The sooner you begin the practices outlined in this article the sooner you will start seeing your superstar team emerge and you won’t have to keep doing 100% of the hard work yourself!

We hope you enjoyed this article valuable on The Benefits of Teamwork and How to Stop Doing 100% of the Hard Work Yourself. You can find more Management and Leadership knowledge on our website www.MagnaLeadership.com. We are trusted advisors for executives of small to mid-sized organizations who realize an investment in their emerging leaders solves their growth and engagement challenges.

Dr. Kevin Gazzara — is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. Please connect with Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions through our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevin, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevingazzara, or our Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

I would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please click here to book any open time on my calendar: https://Magnaleadershipkevin.youcanbook.me

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, I encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you, 
 Dr. Kevin Gazzara
 Magna Leadership Solutions LLC
 Founder and Senior Partner

Resources

The post How to Stop Doing 100% of the Hard Work Yourself – The Benefits of Teamwork appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Kevin Gazzara – is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. You can follow Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions on our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevinor our Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

We would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please Click here to connect with one of Magna Leadership’s advisors. https://magnaleader.co/MeetMagna

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you,     
Dr. Kevin Gazzara
Magna Leadership Solutions
Senior Partner

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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The post The Difference Between Coaching and Mentoring – And Why You Need Both appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

We have different needs and varying ways of expressing our interests. Now and then, we yearn to fill up our knowledge gap and develop new skills. This need can sometimes consume us and push us to explore new avenues to satisfy them. The need could be at a personal or professional level. It could be the need to cover up our vulnerability when we talk about topics we know little about. Or it could be our desire to feel satisfied or stand-out in our position in the public space. Most times we try to acquire these skills and fill the gap using structured courses, workshops, self-teaching, and on the job formal or informal learning. In whichever way we go about them, the roles of coaching and mentoring can accelerate the right content choices and absorption of the learning.

At organizational and personal levels, we should be seeking greater self-awareness and development of our skills to remain relevant. Coaching and mentoring are practices that efficiently support our drive for greater self-esteem, problem-solving skills, and enhanced confidence in managing challenges especially in uncomfortable situations. On an organizational scale, the improvement on employee performance results is seen in the job performance, productivity and engagement. Often organizations have a driving need for increased staff retention productivity as to justify having mentors and coaches as a fix for underlying organizational challenges. Coaching and Mentoring can help, but often the initiation of these programs is just masking deeper organizational problems. Do you really need both a mentor and a coach? Let’s explore the two.

The Difference between Mentoring and Coaching – From Three Perspectives

1. Orientation

There could be several ways to categorize the difference between a coach and a mentor, but for the sake of clarity, I propose a more comparable format. The first critical difference is in the orientation of the figures. Mentoring has a long-term relationship, since it seeks to provide the mentee with a safe avenue for sharing professional and personal secrets and successes.

In the same vein, the coach happens to be more of an ephemeral relationship compared to mentoring. The goal here is more laser-focused and deals with goals on a more tactical level, where the focus is on immediate areas needed such as key skills’ development like effective management, problem-solving, strategic thinking, etc.

2. Drive and Focus

Mentoring creates room for building trust and deeper, while coaching could just be an avenue to upgrade the receiver’s knowledge. Mentoring is development-oriented with the main purpose of developing the individual, more so than just the skills, for the future. This is why suitable mentors are often those at the top echelon of public life. Mentoring minimizes the chances of conflict at an organizational level, since immediate needs of both mentor and mentee have a different focus and a different level of drive. Alternatively, the main goal of coaching is to help individuals improve their performance through the establishment of new or stretched existing goals. Coaching involves most times the enhancement of the skills and acquisition of new skills after which the need for the coach continues to diminish. Unlike the mentor, where the learning process could extend indefinitely.

3. Manager Proximity and Design

Mentoring requires the indirect involvement of the manager of an employee, even though he or she can offer suggestions where such mentoring has an official undertone. The manager should have no organizational affiliation or be within the reporting structure of the mentor. While in the case of the coach, in some instances, the manager could be the coach and where the reverse is the case, the manager might have significant influence on the coaching process. The manager should be a critical partner in the coaching, which should promote improved feedback for advancing the employee’s responsibilities.

In most mentoring engagements, the design of the partnership takes on the focus of developing the employee (or mentee) as a whole person, beyond just skills. The approach is more transformational than transactional. This is unlike the coaching process, which maintains a transactional foundation which can take place at any time, and place. Coaching ultimately can lead to a transformational experience, but this would be a secondary benefit of the relationship. To move coaching forward, all that’s required is an understanding of the competency area, needed expertise and tools of assessment within the shortest possible time.

Benefits of Coaching and Mentoring

Follow the most successful people in any area of professional endeavor and you will usually find significant impact from a mentor and a coach that have helped accelerate their success. There are increasing benefits of coaching and mentoring in several areas of human endeavor. The form of professional development is a positive sign for the transmission of skills and knowledge from one person to another. The benefits of coaching and mentoring cut across an individual and organizational level. According to Exforsys.com, companies find coaching and mentoring extremely beneficial for professional and career growth of employees.

After the sharing of their professional wisdom, there is a general feeling of satisfaction for both the coach and mentor. They have increased job satisfaction, enhanced skill level, strategic thinking and analytical skills. There is also the gain of professional development and self-esteem. When I was responsible for the HR mentoring program at Intel, we consistently found that mentors felt that they benefitted an equal amount, or even more, than their mentee during the mentoring process.

The receiver (mentee or coachee) of the information, the learner, is the person that has the highest expectation for gain, since he or she is the cynosure of attention. It is equally an opportunity for professional and career development, growth and improved skills. This opportunity enables him or her to spot personal and professional weaknesses and transforms them into strengths and opportunities. His or her problem-solving skills and relationships with superiors are often increased.

Benefits of coaching and mentoring are accruable to everyone. Organizations are not left out of the gains. Mostly, firms see a gain in better staff retention, competitive advantage in the market resulting from improved performance and productivity. There is equally a greater chance of attaining goals, efficient communication, and fuller utilization of human and material resources. 

Why Do You Need Both Coaching and Mentoring?

The benefits of coaching and mentoring are both short-term and long-term positioned respectively. According to the Coachingnetwork.org, coaching offers professional opportunities, while mentoring offers a more philanthropic perspective. Below are some of the reasons you need both processes and not just one or the other.

Coaching and mentoring together will help to facilitate exploration of skills, desires, needs and motivations combined with thought processes to help the individual to make a real life change. The inquiry processes employed by both will help in providing solutions to identified areas of weakness and strength. Both processes could apply creative tools such as counselling, networking, facilitation or one-on-one training sessions to achieve desired results. They equally encourage the spirit of commitment to action, accountability and development of personal and professional growth. Both processes are designed to maintain a positive and objective outlook and shift the focus from the organization to the development of the individual.

When organizations encourage formal mentoring and coaching activities it sends a strong positive message to the people that the company is committed to a longer-term engagement. The bottom-line results are that people stay with longer with organizations that care about their employees. This is not just a nice-to-have perk it makes good financial sense, Usually the cost of losing even one employee pays for the time, effort and minimal cost of any organization’s mentoring and coaching initiatives. Take 30-seconds to see the exact cost savings of keeping one of your employees. Click here: https://magnaleader.co/Attrition_Calculator

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We hope you enjoyed this article valuable in understanding The Difference Between Coaching and Mentoring – And Why You Need Both. You can find more Management and Leadership knowledge on our website www.MagnaLeadership.com. We are trusted advisors for executives of small to mid-sized organizations who realize an investment in emerging leaders solves their growth and engagement challenges.

Dr. Kevin Gazzara – is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. You can follow Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions on our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevinor our Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

We would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please Click here to connect with one of Magna Leadership’s advisors. https://magnaleader.co/MeetMagna

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you,     
Dr. Kevin Gazzara
Magna Leadership Solutions
Senior Partner

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Source Links

https://magnaleader.co/Mentoring_Coaching_1

https://magnaleader.co/Mentoring_Coaching_2

The post The Difference Between Coaching and Mentoring – And Why You Need Both appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

Introduction

An organization in need of prosperity can master the know-how that it is never about how skilled employees are, but how devoted and loyal they are to the objectives and course of the organization. Therefore, employee’s skills and retention can always be nurtured and, with a proper organizational structure, made to fit into the desired skill preferences which increase their devotion and determination. An organization can create employee loyalty using the 7-Step Process to Retain, Engage and Create Loyal Employees:

1) Begin by building a culture of openness and inclusion

An organization should prioritize establishing structures and strategies that are transparent by always giving insights to every stakeholder especially employees, on any plans made by the management. This helps employees feel recognized and trusted by the management in that it includes them in the forming of visions for the organization (Rousseau, 2015). Moreover, during the creation and drafting of new plans, the organization should include employees’ insights and interests to gain buy-in, rather than dictating and imposing unexpected procedures upon them. Doing this should gain them project support in the future.

2) Communicate and over-communicate

One of the critical pillars of human loyalty is communication. This is because the foundation of any agreement is based on how well the parties understand each other. This means that the organization should ensure that communication is facilitated appropriately by clearly defining protocols and minimizing restrictions of worker-manager communication (Quirke, 2017). The organization should develop a two-way communication process where employees can safely raise their issues or channel ideas. This makes employees feel comfortable and creates the desired byproduct of loyalty.

3) Listen to your people

Apart from only facilitating communication, any issues raised by employees should be received evaluated objectively. This means that the requests or input from employees should be considered and implemented (when appropriate). And for those requests that are not possible, the employees should be made to understand why the organization cannot achieve them (Heller, 2017). This provides employees the satisfaction that the organization listens and values their input to the organization’s vision.

4) Create teams who are dependent on each other

Teamwork does not only fulfill the common idea that unity is a strength, but also brings your employees together and makes them more focused on collective objectives. An organization should strive to develop teams in its working environment to be able to incorporate every member of the organization in its day-to-day activities and encourage good relations among all the employees (Heskett & Sasser, et al., 2015). Teams also help to represent the less-heard employees as they develop a collective bargaining unit, enhancing equality throughout the organization. Employees that maintain a good working relationship with their colleagues are more likely to stay and engage with the organization.

5) Develop skills to match passions, not what they do well

This practice is probably the one that is most overlooked. Many organizations feel that employees are hired to do a specific job with specific skills. Developing skills outside of the job requirements is often looked upon as an unnecessary expense. A happy employee is a committed and engaged employee. An organization that considers what engages its employees and provides resources to develop them accordingly, can gain the full accord and loyalty from them. According to Rousseau (2015), an employee may be good at one skill, but at the same time not passionate about it. This means that the risk is posed to the organization because lack of passion usually comes with an eventual price of disengagement, reduced results, or even negligence. To ensure that employees bring their passions to work, managers must embrace the idea of employee development, not strictly business skills expansion, as part of their cultural values.

6) Make the employees the heroes of your story, not you

An organization should always understand that any success should be credited to the employees because it is their efforts that make a difference and not the strategies that initiated results. Therefore, employees should be acknowledged for the job well done and recognized appropriately as the contributor to the success (Podsakoff & MacKenzie et al., 2016). This approach creates the morale organizations are striving. Also, this approach shows the employees that they are the heroes, which moves the focus from me to we.

7) Recognize and Reward them – the way they want

As success emerges and projects or initiatives are completed, it is fundamental for an organization to recognize the contributors in a way that they appreciate more so than in a way you would want to be appreciated. This makes employees feel valued for their contribution and sets the stage for the next work success (Quirke, 2017). You can recognize employees with intrinsic (no cost to you) or extrinsic rewards (some cost to you). The best way to discover which type of reward is the most motivating is to ask the employees, you may be surprised. Depending upon the amount of work and the level contribution to the organization, often a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards may be the most appropriate. Key point is that rewards should be delivered for performance above and beyond what is expected as part of their job. Rewarding expected performance is a slippery slope, be careful.

Conclusion

Creating loyalty in employees helps an organization avoid the unpleasant and costly process of replacing the employees. Using the 7-step process in this article will help to current nurture your current employees, which has shown to be much less expensive than hiring new employees. Organizations should embrace the idea of improving and developing the already present employees into their desired positions rather than opting for the option of hiring new employees. Want to know the exact cost of losing one or more of your employees in less than 30-seconds? If so, click here: https://magnaleader.co/Attrition_Calculator

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We hope you enjoyed this article valuable in understanding the power of intent. You can find more Management and Leadership knowledge on our website www.MagnaLeadership.com. We are trusted advisors for executives of small to mid-sized organizations who realize an investment in emerging leaders solves their growth and engagement challenges.

Dr. Kevin Gazzara – is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. You can follow Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions on our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevin or our Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

We would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please Click here to connect with one of Magna Leadership’s advisors. https://magnaleader.co/MeetMagna

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you,
Dr. Kevin Gazzara
Magna Leadership Solutions
Senior Partner

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Source Links

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2016). Recommendations for creating better concept definitions in the organizational, behavioral, and social sciences. Organizational Research Methods, 19(2), 159-203.

Quirke, B. (2017). Making the connections: using internal communication to turn strategy into action. Routledge.

Rousseau, D. (2015). I-deals: Idiosyncratic Deals Employees Bargain for Themselves: Idiosyncratic Deals Employees Bargain for Themselves. Routledge.

Heskett, J. L., Sasser Jr, W. E., & Schlesinger, L. A. (2015). What great service leaders know and do: creating breakthroughs in service firms. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Heller, M. (2017). Real-time, ongoing employee feedback: the perk that actually retains. Strategic HR Review, 16(3), 125-130.

Article keywords

hiring, culture, openness, inclusion, employees, motivation, engagement, communicate, communication, accountability, listening, ownership, leadership, conflict, management, teams, leaders, loyalty, employee, business, results, responsibility, stress, frustration, coaching, motivation, success coach, life development, inspiration, reward, recognition, heroes

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Stop Playing the Blame Game, Take Ownership, and Get Results

Being a business owner or department manager in any organization can be very challenging. You will experience failure challenges from time to time. But what do you consider doing when faced with failure? Blame your junior staff? The answer should always be no if you want better performance in your business.

Effects of the Blame Culture

According to business and organization performance analysts, a blame culture among organizations is one of the main drains of human potential. As a result, it prevents you from achieving the visions of your company. It is likely to deny our contribution to the problems we face in our organizations especially when we are leaders. To find an escape route from our mistakes, we end up blaming our colleagues. This blame game only brings division among staff members. It often creates levels of aggression among partners, diminishing the desire to learn and grow. As a result, the rate of mediocrity or failure in your organization rapidly begins to rise.

From Blame to Accountability and Ownership

One of the best ways to solve the challenges that face your organization is to take responsibility for your mistakes and being openly accountable for their consequences. If you want your organization to grow, you must learn how to role-model ownership, be accountable for their results and show your staff how to do the same. This will help the whole staff to achieve its full collective potential.

To take ownership of the blame, you need personal responsibility. Otherwise, you will never be able to take full accountability for your mistakes. As part of the leadership philosophy of Magna Leadership Solutions, and the clients we partner with, we ask the managers and leaders to always begin with the premise of “I’m the problem, or I am contributing to the problem”. If you want the details on this approach please watch our short video: https://magnaleader.co/I_am_the_problem

Avoiding the blame game, and becoming accountable

Have you ever thought what would happen if your entire staff members are strong enough to step up and accept to be accountable for their mistakes? Well, this transformation will start with you as their leader. Work hard to establish a “we are all in the accountable zone” for your organization. It will help create strong work relationships, trust, and as a result, a strong foundation for achieving your company’s goals. Gillian Duce once said, “You do not blame your shadow for the shape of your body: just the same way: do not blame others for the shape of your experience.”

To remind your staff members of your mission and your “I’m the problem” perspective, we’d suggest that you print Rob Liano’s sage advice. “Stop Blaming and Start Aiming” and hang it in your office and your staff’s offices. The ability to lead in a no blame culture is the basis of great leadership, and it starts with you. Be accountable and start today. You will be amazed at the respect and trust it can generate.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We hope you enjoyed this article valuable in understanding the power of intent. You can find more Management and Leadership knowledge on our website www.MagnaLeadership.com. We are trusted advisors for executives of small to mid-sized organizations who realize an investment in emerging leaders solves their growth and engagement challenges.

Dr. Kevin Gazzara — is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. You can follow Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions on our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevin or our Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

We would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please Click here to connect with one of Magna Leadership’s advisors. https://magnaleader.co/MeetMagna

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you,
Dr. Kevin Gazzara
Senior Partner

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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In the fast-paced business world, the intent of the individual in a leadership role is often the missing component limiting full potential. For a leader to be truly successful, it is important to know their intent, their “why”, and include it passionately into their communication formula. I hope this article sheds light on the power of intent and how it plays a role in shaping your success.

The Intention Experiment

In 2007, author Lynne McTaggart penned “The Intention Experiment” in which she explored the science of intention, drew on the findings of leading scientists around the world. McTaggart’s conducted cutting-edge research at universities like Stanford, MIT and Princeton as well as different well-known laboratories to find out how an individual’s intent is capable of having a profound effect on all aspects of our lives.

Stanford University Professor William A. Tiller argued that an unstated assumption of science is that human intention does not affect our physical reality. While that assumption has been believed for the past four centuries, experimental research conducted in the past decade suggests that this assumption is no longer applicable in this day and age.

In the corporate world, the story is often quite different. Understanding and communicating intent is rarely a point of focus as goals and visions are shared through carefully curated documents or through great speeches designed by communications experts. Today’s leaders and managers have forgotten or deemphasized, this essential key learning. If the intent of these plans is not embedded in the communication, people may become enticed, but they may not act with full conviction on the plans.

There’s no denying that clarity of intent paves the way for sustainable forward progress, even if the detailed path is not completely visible. In such scenarios as the  “I don’t have all the answers right now, but let’s take a step ahead and discover how we can achieve our goals faster” may be the more powerful rhetoric. If the intent is clearly defined, it can help draw the necessary responses from people and inspire growth so the that the details become a secondary concern.

Your Secret Weapon – Start by Evaluating Your Competitor’s Intent

Understanding the intent of your competitors is equally important aspect that is hardly factored into the traditional competitor analysis. An award-winning article ‘Strategic Intent’ written more than two decades ago by CK Prahalad and Gary Hamel highlighted the rise of Honda and Canon in the mid-eighties and how intent made the difference, not the resources.

Until 1970, both Honda and Canon were relatively smaller in comparison to Goliath organizations like Ford and Kodak. Since a traditional competitor analysis was akin to a capturing a snapshot of a speeding car without having an idea about the driver’s intent, nobody considered them to be a threat. Hamel and Prahalad rightly identified that a snapshot on its own cannot decipher the intent of the driver, whether he is out for a Sunday drive or warming up for the Grand Prix. Since Honda and Cannon moved their strategy from a snapshot to their longer-term vision and intent, they were able to slay Goliath organizations such as Ford and Kodak.

2 Steps to Accelerate Your Success

Intent continues to play a pivotal role in business success today. As you are competing in your business, first ask yourself if you are addressing the snapshot of what is, or you are envisioning the moving images of what will be in the future. Second, ensure that you consistently weave in your intent, “the why”, into all of your communications to maintain a sustainable forward momentum.

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We hope you enjoyed this article valuable in understanding the power of intent. You can find more Management and Leadership knowledge on our website www.MagnaLeadership.com. We are trusted advisors for executives of small to mid-sized organizations who realize an investment in emerging leaders solves their growth and engagement challenges.

Dr. Kevin Gazzara — is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. You can follow Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions on our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevin or our Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

We would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please Click here to connect with one of Magna Leadership’s advisors. https://magnaleader.co/MeetMagna

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you,
Dr. Kevin Gazzara
Senior Partner

The post Is “Intent” the Missing Component in Your Success Formula? appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

The “BUT” Sandwich Technique and Why it Doesn’t Work – Transcript

By Dr. Kevin Gazzara and Tim Galusha at Magna Leadership Solutions

You can read this article or see us deliver this here: https://magnaleader.co/Honest_Communication

We’re so glad that you’re here to join us for this series of tips from our organization. We can’t wait to share a few of the things we’ve learned over a lifetime of work.

Starting with a Flawed Assumption

Let’s talk about the word “but” and how that affects you as a leader. One of the things that I learned early in my career that was taught to us through our HR organization, was that when you deliver a message that you want to use what they call the “but sandwich”. You give them something really good, give them something nasty in the center, and then you close something good so that there was something that was supposed to soften the difficult messages. What we found was that this was absolutely wrong and it never worked! In fact, if you go in and look at any psychological studies that have been done, there is no study that that says using the sandwich technique or what I will call the but sandwich technique actually works.

Confusing the Listener

This sandwich approach just confuses the message and we understand why people want to use it. It’s human nature, we want to soften the message, most of us don’t like conflict. We fear that when we deliver that harsh message, or that direct message, that we might injure our relationship. So somehow by softening it up, with a little bit of nice words on either side, then that’s going to make it better. What it really does, is that it confuses the receiver of the message and they walk away thinking, “well I’m pretty good, okay I have two things good and only one thing kind of bad, so why would I need to change”.

Becoming the Leader

As a manager you have really missed the opportunity to have the impact that you wanted. Also, if you want to be a great leader, you need to be crystal clear. Your communication is so important when you’re dealing with your employees, particularly new employees or younger less-experienced employees, they’re looking for the clarity from you as a leader. If you start using the sandwich technique it adds confusion, it demonstrates a lack of clarity, and it really lowers your leadership score, and how they’ viewing you as a leader. The truth is, that as the receiver when you’re in a situation where the leader delivers one or more good things and then you hear the pause, you know that the but is coming and all those good things mentioned before the but gets forgotten. There’s an immediate emotional response because you know the next words coming out will be negative.

The Alternative (Preferred) Approach

So rather than trying to use the but sandwich technique, we suggest you use a different approach where you deliver the message in a way that’s forward-looking, positive about the future, and not judgmental. This gives you the best opportunity to have a real cognitive problem-solving skill building conversation, rather than one that’s judgmental and evokes that negative emotional response.

Practice Makes Perfect

This week, to raise your leadership quotient and begin perfecting your communication clarity, remove the word “but” from all of your communication with any of your staff or with your managers. Replace “but” with the word “and”. This maintains a future focus, rather than a backward focus, and it also doesn’t send a mixed message. i.e. if you’re doing this “but” I don’t want you to do that, the brain sees this as negative and says I’m not going listen to it. If you say, I want you to do this,  “and” we’re going to do that, it encourages listening and it gives the ability to maintain the forward positive results that you’re looking for from your first step. FYI, and don’t try to replace the “but” with “however”, because it’s no better than “but”. So, your goal is to only use “and” this week in your communications. FYI, this works equally as well as it does in the workplace.

Thanks for watching the video (or reading this transcript), one of the things that we like to do is really help others be successful using the servant leadership model and both Kevin and Tim have been industry practitioners for over thirty years. We’d like to share some of the tips and tricks to help you get to that next level of leadership with your organization so you can be recognized at the level of your full potential and if that makes sense. Please contact us at https://Magnaleadership.com or click the link in this video and you can set up time for a discussion with us we would love to help you absolutely no sales pitch we’re here to help you be more successful.

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I hope you enjoyed this article useful in learning about why “The “BUT” Sandwich Technique and Why it Doesn’t Work”. You can find more Management and Leadership knowledge on our website www.MagnaLeadership.com. We are trusted advisors for executives of small to mid-sized organizations who realize an investment in emerging leaders solves their growth and engagement challenges.

Dr. Kevin Gazzara – is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. You can follow Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions on our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevin or our Facebook Fan Page at: https://www. facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

We would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please Click here to connect with one of Magna Leadership’s advisors. https://magnaleader.co/MeetMagna

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you,
Dr. Kevin Gazzara

The post The “BUT” Sandwich Technique and Why it Doesn’t Work – Transcript appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

Why Volition Is Important In The Workplace

Motivation is the most familiar term in the workplace today. Volition, on the other hand, takes motivation to the next level of intensity by having a deep personal connection to the work. Volition is a new and complex term to those hearing it for the first time. However, it is a synonym of another term reiterated at most seminars and soft skills workshops. Volition could be considered a more intense shade of willpower. It is the motivating force that drives you towards engagement for accomplishing the tasks at a deeper level. As a result, as it is well known, if you have a strong will to do something, you can even move mountains.

What Exactly Do We Mean By Volition?

Volition is described as a cognitive process and is regarded as one of the primary psychological functions. It is a comprehensive term fueled by motivation that combines shades of other traits namely, 1) will-power, 2) self-confidence, and 3) self-control. It must not be mistaken for motivation. First, willpower refers to the determination to do something, usually something difficult. It is a purposive striving. Second, self-control is the ability to restrict one’s impulses and control one’s desires and emotions in highly-strung situations. Finally, self-confidence refers to trust in oneself including one’s powers, abilities, and sense of judgment. Volitional processes can be natural or applied consciously.

All three traits are linked together. Self-control and self-confidence are the two qualities that fuel one’s willpower. One should have control over oneself to avoid giving in to the temptation to remain focused. In addition, if your confidence crashes to the floor, you could lose faith in yourself and thereby not strive to pursue the decided course of action.

Volition – Giving and Getting a Boost with Motivation

We harp on the need for motivation, whether it is a student trying to master a subject at school or an employee’s work at the office. Motivation is needed, but it falls flat in the absence of volition. A good example to explain volition is in our New Year’s Resolutions. We’ve all jotted down a list of resolutions before the start of the New Year. We were motivated to do so. Nevertheless, on average, we are hardly into week one of the New Year and we’ve done everything except keep up with those resolutions. It is truly difficult to keep up with these resolutions because it is against our nature or habits and it is easier to give up, crush the written list and toss it into the trash bin.

Volition and Workplace Settings

Volition is one trait that plays a crucial role in a workplace setting. It does not just involve suggesting plans and decisions but also adding the strength to fulfill them, thus contributing to the intent and business in the true sense at a deeper level. Every business has a group of motivated leaders and employees working behind it. However, the stress of competition, short-term temptations and obstacles cause the interest to wane soon. This explains why most managers are unable to fulfill their goals the way they planned.

Conversely, a motivated person who also has a strong will, this will accomplishes work tasks irrespective of the trying circumstances and obstacles ahead of them. Not only this, willpower helps individuals exploit their full potential in a manner that advances the business.

In a business or organizational setting, self-control would translate to adhering to disciplinary measures and not being swept away by emotions. Volition can also act as a performance determinant in a workplace setting enabling employers to choose the best in their teams. Often, you will come across staff members who are not just competent in a particular field, but they go on to become experts. It is their volition that sustains their willpower to drive them to the next level and something that we as managers need to pay attention to and reward regardless of final results.

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I hope you enjoyed this article useful in learning about how “Why Volition Is Important In The Workplace”. You can find more Management and Leadership knowledge on our website www.MagnaLeadership.com. We are trusted advisors for executives of small to mid-sized organizations who realize an investment in emerging leaders solves their growth and engagement challenges.

Dr. Kevin Gazzara – is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. You can follow Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions on our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevin or our Facebook Fan Page at: https://www. facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

We would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please Click here to connect with one of Magna Leadership’s advisors. https://magnaleader.co/MeetMagna

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you,
Dr. Kevin Gazzara

The post Volition Is Important In The Workplace appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

4 Strategies to Help Every Manager Avoid Millennial Recruitment & Retention Nightmares

Introduction

The recruitment process has become a critical component to every organization’s success, especially when it comes to millennial hiring and retaining. Ignoring the importance of creating a robust recruitment process can create nightmares. Hiring managers must embrace approaches that can identify skillful employees and not only recruit them but also retain them. To successfully achieve this approach, hiring managers should be part and parcel of the following four strategies.

Best Strategies for Recruitment and Retention

1) Provide Career Development
According to surveys conducted by the Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), “Millennials have a preference for career guidance and tend to prefer to be prepared to be the future leaders.” Millennials view the ideal organization as one that exposes them to new skills and experiences through seminars, conferences and professional certifications. An organization that offers such training attracts millennials. This is approach provides them the chance to be molded into their intended enthusiasm for being the leaders of tomorrow which makes them have a hub in your organization.

2) Offer Work Schedule Flexibility
Hiring managers should bear in mind that millennials have significant need for work-life balance. This means that during the formulation of recruitment and retention plans, they must incorporate perks that make the millennials feel less restricted in the working environment such as flexible hours and vacation time. These elements will be the cornerstones for retaining millennials, as they can more easily balance between job requirements and personal life.

3) Demonstrate Consistent Engagement Practices
An organization that wants to retain millennials should have strong employee engagement traditions that jointly involves the management and the millennials. The administration should have a constant interaction with them. This interaction is a perfect way to facilitate guidance for any mistakes or course corrections needed. A Forbes article on hiring and retaining employees says that “Employees should be allowed the freedom to come up with a few parts of their review and describe how they will be accountable to themselves.” This engagement and flexibility helps employees feel accommodated and motivated in their assigned roles.

4) Build Trust
To successfully retain millennials, it is mandatory for an organization to build trust with them. This can be achieved through strategies, communicated through the human resource department, of being honest about the health of the organization and the employees’ expectations. Having a transparent work environment will increase the chances for the employees having a sense of belonging and working harder, which achieves both successfully retaining millennials and meeting organizational goals.

Conclusion
The millennial hiring and retaining nightmares can only be resolved by managers who can clearly understand millennial preferences and who collectively integrate the needs in the employment process. Success or failure can be easily assessed by the ‘job hop’ millennials make, is due to their lack of satisfaction at workplaces. Therefore, hiring managers and organizations should design their organizations in ways that they can accommodate the millennial preferences to retain them for long-term organizational success and stability.
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I hope you enjoyed this article useful in learning about how to Avoid Millennial Recruitment and Retention Nightmares. You can find more Management and Leadership knowledge on our website www.MagnaLeadership.com. We are trusted advisors for executives of small to mid-sized organizations who realize an investment in emerging leaders solves their growth and engagement challenges.

Dr. Kevin Gazzara – is a senior partner and founder of Magna Leadership Solutions, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of “The Leader of OZ” www.leaderofoz.com. He is an international speaker and recognized as a Management & Leadership Expert and an Executive Coach. Kevin is a professor at 5 Universities developing and teaching programs to help others achieve their full potential. You can follow Kevin and Magna Leadership Solutions on our website: www.magnaleadership.com, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctorkevin or our Facebook Fan Page at: https://www. facebook.com/MagnaLeadership

We would be excited to speak with you about your current leadership challenges. Please Click here to connect with one of Magna Leadership’s advisors. https://magnaleader.co/MeetMagna

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us and our readers in the comments below.

Thank you,
Dr. Kevin Gazzara
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References
Brightenburg, M. E., Francioli, S., Fu, N., Graẞmann, C., & Tosti-Kharas, J. (2018, July). Millennials in the Workplace. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2018, No. 1, p. 14547). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.

Watts, A. W., Laska, M. N., Larson, N. I., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. R. (2015). Millennials at work: workplace environments of young adults and associations with weight-related health. J Epidemiol Community Health, jech-2015.

Khera, S. N., & Malik, S. (2016). Book Review: Pritam Singh, Asha Bhandarkar and Sumita Rai, 2012, Millennials and the Workplace: Challenges for Architecting the Organizations of Tomorrow.

Article keywords: millennials, recruitment, employee engagement, employee retention, human resources, recruiting, retention, leadership, management, leader, manager

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How do you see the world? It’s a simple question with a complex answer. While some of us tend to look at things positively, others develop an obsession with pointing out the negative aspects of everything. Then there are those who are neither optimists nor pessimists – but they are realists. These people focus on living in the now with no fear of what the future holds for them or what went by in the past.

Optimists and realists both work differently. Many researcher’s studies suggest that optimists not only outlive pessimists, they are generally satisfied with their lives. Optimists tend to make more money and have fulfilling relationships with their loved ones. But here’s the question: How do optimists, pessimists and realists fare in the workplace?

Winston Churchill once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” This rings especially true when studying how managers and entrepreneurs enter the fast-paced corporate world.

Optimist, Pessimist or Realist – Who Makes a Better Leader?
As a manager, you’re the leader of your team. You’re required to display a positive outlook to keep the employees engaged and satisfied with the company. A research study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that optimistic managers tend to help their employees reach their goals and be more productive. Also, optimistic managers are more approachable pleasant, and their enthusiasm can be contagious.

Another cross-sectional study at an IT company involving 86 employees and 17 managers concluded the positive leadership had a strong correlation with employee engagement, optimism, and work performance.

However, sometimes optimism may do more harm than good if you never take off your rose-colored glasses. It can easily lead to unrealistic expectations from employees, overestimation and wrong judgment calls based on assumptions.

Realists, on the other hand, are best suited for managerial roles because they have a balanced view on things. They don’t give up hope easily, but at the same time, they know how to make calculated decisions after thoroughly reviewing the situations’ facts and figures.

Here are some tips you can follow to become a realistic manager.

– When finding a solution to any problem, seek feedback from all the parties involved and affected.

– When deciding the best course of action, always think of how your decision will affect the people around you. Sometimes you may find that your decision may have a higher cost than the impact it will have on your people.

– It is important to reflect on your failures and successes from time to time. Learn from the mistakes in the past and use this knowledge to realistically guide the future.

– Acknowledge that having absolute control over all the factors in your environment is almost always impossible. There will always be knowns and unknowns that bring about a rapid change in the environment. You cannot always stay one step ahead, sometimes you just must play catch-up.

I hope you find this blog useful in understand how optimism, pessimism and realism affect you in the workplace.

To get more insight on optimism, pessimism and realism, read our full article at: http://bit.ly/2Magna_Optimism

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Optimism, Pessimism and Realism – And Why These Matter appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

The 3 Hidden Costs to Every Organization

Did you know your organization’s work culture is just as important as your business strategy? Workplace culture is just as essential, if not more essential than your firm’s business strategy and so, fostering a positive work culture should be your top priority. Unfortunately, organizations with complex hierarchies often forget the importance of organizational culture and its impact on the work staff.

It may come as a surprise to you, but having a stressful, highly competitive work environment leaves a detrimental impact on the long-term outlook of the firm. A company having such a stressful working atmosphere often ends up at a disadvantage in terms of hidden costs. Read on to know about how a high-pressure work culture can inhibit your firm’s progress.

1. Healthcare Costs

An article, published in the Harvard Business Review, titled Proof That Positive Work Cultures are More Productive, cites a study conducted by the American Psychological Association which suggests a 50% or greater increase in healthcare expenditure associated with high-pressure firms. Each year, the galactic amount of $500 billion dollars is drained from the US economy only because of workplace-stress. In addition to this enormous cost, a total of 550 million workdays are lost each year due to job-related stress.

It is no surprise that stress is one of the major causes of heart disease. In fact, belonging to middle and low-level hierarchies itself has a correlation to disease and death. A large-scale study, conducted by Anna Nyberg at the Karolinska Institute, on over 3000 professionals showed employees at the bottom of the hierarchy were at significant risk of heart disease.

2. Disengagement Costs

While many organizations foster a high pressured, cutthroat work environment to ensure engagement of employees, in fact, it proves to be counterproductive. According to years of research and dozens of organizational theories, inevitable stress leads to disengagement in the long term. Engagement in work makes employees feel secure, valued and respected but it works negatively when employees are subjected to high pressure, causing them to lose interest.

There is a high cost associated with disengagement. In two separate studies done by Gallup Organization and Queens School of Business, disengaged workers were reported to have high absenteeism rates, more workplace-related accidents and more errors and defects in their work. Conversely, firms with a higher engagement rate enjoy significantly more job applications.

3. Retention Costs

Possibly the most impactful cost of having a negative work environment is the lack of loyalty. Firms where employees are pressured into working harder do not wish to stay at the job longer, even when they are offered monetary perks and benefits. The high turnover rates indirectly cost the firm for recruiting and training new candidates.

Big companies often offer perks such as gym memberships and flexible work schedules, but employees still hold workplace wellbeing dearer than material benefits, according to a Gallup poll.

Now that you know all about the side effects of having a high-pressure work culture in your firm, it’s time to change that practice. Read our full article at http://bit.ly/Magna-Culture to understand the 7 Steps To Create A Positive Organizational Work Culture.

The post Organizational Culture Makes a Difference appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

Strategic perspective in business is a key factor in determining either the failure or the success of any business. Short-term failures could lead to enduring success just as a quick win could be a springboard for future failure. Deciding on an issue with a far-reaching consequence goes beyond the rhetoric of crunching numbers, but rather revolves around strategic consideration of views and issues with closely-associated options. Strategic perspective is no doubt essential to huge contributions in business growth and performance. So, how do you maintain broad perspective in your business?

Importance of Perspective in Business

Business perspective helps to broaden your worldview towards handling important business challenges or making inevitable decisions with serious consequences. Perspectives need a skilfully-formulated strategy to support your business model while taking into consideration objectives and would-be effects of your decision.

Strategic Perspective is adopted to help leaders make better-informed decisions, considering the past, present and future objectives, opportunities and the best strategies towards maximising growth or performance. It presents information in the right context with good insights and makes it easy to gather holistic information about factors that affect your business.

The Words and Perspectives in Business

Certain words are cherished as sage and efficient in achieving main objectives in business. Passion, Pragmatism and Personality are seen as key ingredients that enhance broad perspectives in business.

Inc.com stresses that critical factors in business need the adoption and application of a business model which revolves around promotion, price, place and product. The interplay between the passion for the business, active and holistic approaches and strategies for achieving objectives and the personalities and staff quality is basic in achieving organisational goals. The desire to achieve commendable performance is rooted in passion.

To nurture your passion for achieving company objectives requires that you fuel your desires with feasible action plans. This involves breaking barriers including social and professional barriers. Encourage your team, replace the “I” with “Us” language. Adopting this worldview has an amazing way of minimising loss of energy, time and resources.

An approachable personality is needed for high performance and success in business. Remembering that no one is indispensable, including you, will help you to properly manage employees, investors, board members and customers. Good leadership qualities are trust and likeability, without which leading others will be a big challenge.

Standing Out in the Crowd

The dream of every business is to stand out in the crowd. Achieving this remarkable status requires sound and well-planned strategies centred on well-grounded perspective. There are some essential ingredients that will help your business to stand out. One of them is business motivation.

Evidence has shown that a business will not survive severe competition if its only motivation is financial gain. Setting up a business based on your product, service and love of business isn’t enough to make your organisation grow fast and stand the test of time. Beyond motivation, you need to be risk-savvy and possess sound research, planning and development skills with a broad perspective to embrace cultural and technological changes.

There are other important ingredients you need to make a difference in business. To learn more, please Click here: http://bit.ly/Magna_Words to read our full article on Why Words and Perspectives Make a Difference in Life and in Business.

Sources

https://www.inc.com/joseph-gulfo/5-most-important-p-words-for-success.html

The post Words and Perspectives Make a Difference in Life and in Business appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

Working in an organization requires that you abide by some work ethics which makes the environment conducive for multicultural and socially-diverse existence. Dealing with a Narcissist makes it extra difficult. While it is understandable that we all have different personal characteristics, the workplace should be a place of social and professional growth.

In an office where your manager is always off the chart in his or her emotional response, lacks the self-awareness to bragging, disrespects, criticizes and blames his subordinates with no sense of responsibility, a careful strategy must be employed to deal with such a boss.

If the above descriptions bear witness to your experience under a boss, you are most likely working under a narcissistic manager and you need some professional skills in dealing with him.

How To Know Your Manager Is Narcissistic

Before I detail some of the effective tips you need to handle him, you will need to know some of the signs of a narcissistic manager.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine views a narcissistic boss as a manager with a lasting pattern of grandiose beliefs and arrogance combined with an excessive need for admiration. He lacks empathy for others.

In the same vein, Forbes described such a leader as being outwardly charming but inwardly a snake. Such a boss has the Narcissistic Personality Disorder in which case, he has obsessive self-interest with overt beliefs in his self-importance, disregards the feelings of others, and reacts to criticism with rage and humiliation while exaggerating his achievements.

3 Effective Ways To Deal With A Narcissistic Manager

There is no doubt that working with a boss who is exploitative; obsessed with his ideas of accomplishments with amplified self-importance and lacks empathy is difficult. If you, therefore, want to remain under such a boss, you need to understand these effective tips.
1. Recognize His or Her Personality Traits

To work well under a narcissistic boss, you need to recognize his moods and behavior patterns. Dig deep into understanding his likes and dislikes and what inspires him. You must also understand that his or her moods – good or bad – are short-lived, but you need to also know that he’s very vindictive and would do anything to stop any threat to his superiority. He or she will do everything to demand attention. No matter what happens, avoid gossiping and direct confrontation.

2. Using ERA Principle On Your Boss

ERA principle encourages Empathy, Respect, and Attention towards your boss. This means that you listen with keen interest, compliment him occasionally, ask advice on issues, encourage and provide thanks for contributions to issues, etc. All these are geared towards making him feel he or she is still in charge while at the same time give you the desired freedom to do your official duties. I am not telling you to lie to your manager, look for opportunities to stroke his or her ego, but without encouraging bad behavior.

3. Explore Naturalistic Options

While you understand that your boss lacks competent social skills, avoid being defensive and show great strength in understanding his inadequacies. Flatter and compliment him or her only where you are together. Where the behavior is impossible for you, remain optimistic and neutral. Possibly limit your time with him or her in a non-obvious way.

Start documenting your experiences with him or her and start exploring options for a new organizational experience. These could be seeking employment in a new organization or applying for a different position in the same organization. Read up the company’s policy on bullying so you are prepared if things get ugly. Demonstrate your leadership prowess by carrying out your analysis and go with positive and stronger alternative.

Finally

Dealing with a narcissistic boss might be difficult, but getting through the morass is worth it. The Harvard Business Review advocates that you deepen your understanding of what makes your narcissistic manager proud while observing his or her impression on others. Learn what inspires him or her and explore the option of staying or seeking a new workplace.

Click the http://bit.ly/Magna_Narcissist to read the full article on “The 5 Knockout Tips That Will Make You Effective Dealing with a Narcissist” discover more secrets on how to make your boss allow you do your work in peace.

Sources

https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-work-for-a-narcissistic-boss

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0024871/ ng-narcissist.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2011/12/12/how-to-tell-if-your-boss-is-a-narcissist-and-5-ways-to-avoid-getting-fired-by-one/2/#29c8db0f293e

The post This is Why you Need Effective Tips to Deal with a Narcissist Manager appeared first on Leadership Training - Magna Leadership.

Mentoring and Coaching

Coaching and Mentoring

No matter what stage you are in your career, you will benefit from a coach to guide you, listen to you and help you realize your full potential. Renowned leaders of the world, as well as anyone in power, have all had mentors and coaches who’ve stood by them throughout their career.

Today, an executive coach can earn up to $3500 an hour. So what exactly do they do to merit that type of compensation? Harvard Business Review (HBR) conducted a survey of 140 top-notch coaches including five experts to take out key findings. The experts had conflicting views about where the field is headed, but one thing is for certain – coaching works. What began as a practice to rectify toxic behavior at the top about a decade ago, is now being embraced and implemented by organizations at all levels to develop the capabilities of high-potential performers.

Read on to find out all about coaching and mentoring in the business world and the efficacy of coaching as a tool for professional development.

The Coaching Industry at Present

When asked to explain the growth prospects, coaches believe the industry has a long way to go as it grows from strength to strength. However, when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of coaching and mentoring, there is has been no mechanism set in place to monitor the effectiveness of coaching engagement. However, a new tool has emerged for coaches called the:
StakeHolder Instant Feedback Tool (SHIFT) http://bit.ly/SHIFT_Tool

What do the Numbers Say?

Here is a snapshot of the valuable insights derived from the HBR survey.

Gone are the days when coaches were hired to usher toxic leaders out the door.

• 48% are engaged to develop high potentials or facilitate transition.
• 26% acts as a sounding board and give advice pertaining to different problems being faced by the individual at work.
• 12% are hired to keep a check on the warning signs and address derailing behavior.

What to Look for in a Coach

• 2% respondents felt certification is very necessary when hiring a coach 28.5% didn’t feel so strongly about it.
• 2% respondents believe psychological training is important when engaging a coach while 45.9% feel a coach can do wonders even if they’re not trained in psychology.

The Cost of Engaging a Coach

The fees coaches’ charge can be slightly on the steeper side. The median hourly cost of coaching according to the survey works out to be about $500 an hour. However, many beginning coaches can be much less costly. The best way to hire a coach is based on your goals and objectives and pay them on outcomes, rather than hours. This is known as project-based pricing.

How Long Does it Take?

The typical duration of coaching normally lies between 6 to 12 months, depending on the issues being faced by the individual. It is important to note here that many coaches also help executives deal with their personal issues as well that may inhibit their performance at work.

Now that you know about the current scenario of the coaching industry and the importance of coaching in the business world today, click here to read more about the bottom value of coaching and mentoring in detail here. http://bit.ly/Magna_Coaching_Article

Let us know what you think! Share your views in the comments below.

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Being an introvert in a world full of extroverts can often feel overwhelming. When it comes to the corporate world, fortune favors the bold and there’s not much that can be done about that when most jobs are more suited for extroverts. If you’re an extrovert, you don’t have to worry about changing your personality style but focus on how you can use your strengths to an advantage in the workplace.

Introverts are often considered quiet, shy and timid individuals who keep to themselves. They become uncomfortable around large crowds of people and they usually do their best work alone. Carl Jung, the man who coined the terms ‘introvert and extrovert’ claimed that these two individuals are different from one another in one way – their source of energy. In a University study conducted by Dr. Ali Lakhani and Dr. Kevin Gazzara in 2008, we found that extraverts have an initial advantage of being perceived more as leaders than introverts.

Introverts gain energy from spending time alone while on the other hand, extroverts recharge their batteries by surrounding themselves with people. In this blog, I will share with you some interesting insights on why every workplace needs to have introverts.

1) Good Listeners

According to Cain, introverts are good listeners. They have the ability to listen carefully, process information on a deeper level and develop innovative solutions to solve problems. Being a good listener in the corporate environment is a priceless skill and introverts are born with this amazing talent.

2) Creative Strategists

Introverts put the ‘I’ in teamwork. They’re better working alone rather than working together with many people, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. An interesting line of research conducted by psychologists Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Dr. Gregory Feist suggests that more creative individuals usually have introverted personalities. Their propensity to work in solitude is one of their biggest strengths, as they focus and deliberate on the smallest of details when designing strategies and creative solutions.

Here’s a fun fact: Steve Wozniak, an introvert designed the first Apple Macintosh, sitting alone in his cubicle at Hewlett Packard. Yes, my dear introverts, there’s nothing you cannot do if you put your mind to it!

3) Close Ties With Those Who Matter 

Contrary to popular belief, introverts cherish the close relationships they have with certain people. They can be extremely relational and they work hard to maintain these close relationships. Their social circle is small, but their relationships with friends and colleagues are built on trust and often deeper than those developed by extraverts.

4) Sound Decision Making Skills

Introverts think long and hard before they make key decisions. They are more into conscious, reflective thinking which generally works in their favor as they t end to make decisions after weighing all the pros and cons objectively. Now that you know some of the key personality traits of introverts in the workplace, use these strengths to your advantage to shine out in the workplace.

Are you an introvert? If so, please share your thoughts and views with us below on how you make your mark in the office environment.

Want more insight on Introverts? Check out our article on: “4 Critical Tips for Introverts to Succeed in an Extroverted World” for detailed reading on your next steps.

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When talking of a potential crisis, many managers and entrepreneurs believe their firm is untouchable and usually think ‘What’s the worse that can happen?’ According to an independent study that revealed hard stats on crisis management, did you know only 54% firms have a crisis management plan in place? As an entrepreneur, it is important to understand that no crisis is ‘too small’ to hurt your firm or ‘too big’ to be completely out of your control.
It’s true nothing ever goes as planned, especially when you’re running a business but it’s good to have a game plan if things go awry. Here are some tips and tricks that can help you develop a crisis management plan for your business.

Assess The Situation
Before anything else, start at the bottom. Spend time on identifying the vulnerable spots and threats that may put your firm in a precarious position. Check your internal and external environment for any warning signs. Managing an internal crisis is definitely controllable if you know what’s going on with your work staff.
Don’t be complacent – communicate with your employees, do routine performance evaluations and ask them if there’s any problem. On the other hand, the best way to assess your external environment for threats is to keep an eye on your competition and the industry your business is in, on the whole.

Be Proactive
Just because you think nothing’s going to happen, doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Turning a blind eye to a problem will only make it worse. For instance, if your employees are unhappy or not satisfied with their job, sit down and talk. Ask them about the reasons behind the job dissatisfaction and negotiate. Don’t wait for them go on a strike and then give in to their demands.
If you find any employee cutting corners or not following standard procedures, issue a warning right away. The key is to be proactive and take necessary steps to prevent a problem, not aggravate the situation.

Vulnerability Audits
According to CEO Bernstein Crisis Management Jonathan Bernstein, very few crises are totally unexpected. About 95% of crises are easily preventable or reducible. A vulnerability audit is a routine checkup performed by employers to get a reality check of the situation. This audit helps determine their compliance with the state’s employment laws and how well the employees are actually following the company’s policies.
To know more details about what questions to ask in a vulnerability audit, click here.

There is no surefire way to manage a crisis but you can make an effective strategy if you know the type of crisis and step by step guide to deal with it. Check out ‘Crisis Management 101: How To Manage Issues Before They Become A Problem’ for detailed reading.

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