Lead People, Manage Processes

Training: one of the many processes you manage daily as a business executive, and one that may not often fall as the most important task on your agenda. What does your company’s training program look like? Some companies have their training on autopilot, taught through a manual or informational video. Others simply throw their untrained employees in the mix, hoping they will pick things up on the job.

It’s time to rethink the traditional training process. By taking the time to lead employees through the training process, it will result in employees not only understand their tasks and processes better, but it’ll also instill a sense of ownership of the process that encourages the trainee to become a leader in what they do.

If you look at training from strictly a managerial lens, you’ll search for the quickest, easiest standardized way to get someone from point A to point B, ignoring the most important aspect of the equation - the employee’s personal learning style. If you've ever been trained in this manner, you know just how long it takes to finally master your tasks efficiently (it could take months).

Instead, look at training through a leadership lens, seeking out a process that will take advantage of your employee’s learning style and explain new tasks in such a way that said employee could in turn teach others the process. When coaching on the topic of training, I refer to John C. Maxwell’s five-step process of training from his book, Developing the Leaders Around You. Through modelling, mentioning, monitoring, motivating, and multiplying, he explains how leadership and guidance is crucial in the process of training:

Model: When you first begin the training process, start by simply doing the tasks while the individual being trained watches. Give the trainee the opportunity to see you go through the whole process. When the individual sees the task performed correctly and to its entirety, it gives them something to work towards duplicating. Modelling also is a great way to help shape perspective by showing the trainee how each small step leads up to the big picture.

Mentor:Continue to perform the task, but this time ask the trainee to come alongside and assist in the process. Take time to not only explain how the process works but also why each step is important to the process. Be approachable and available, during this step is when your trainee will have a lot of questions while they analytically work through how to complete each step.

Monitor:Have the trainee perform the task, and be available to assist and correct. During this step, make a point to be positive and encouraging to the trainee. Mistakes will happen, and it is important not to show frustration while your trainee is working to grasp the hang of things. Work with him or her until they develop consistency. Once they seem to have the process down, ask him or her to explain it to you as a true test of understanding.

Motivate:Take yourself out of the task and let the trainee go! Your role is now to make sure he or she knows what to do without help, and to keep encouraging them to do their best. At this time the trainee may want to make improvements to the process. Encourage them to do it, and at the same time learn from them. You never know what innovation they may have to make the process more efficient.

Multiply:Once the trainee does the job well, it becomes their turn to teach others. After taking the time to lead one person through the training process, your role stays in “motivator” mode and the cycle of training continues without you! As every teacher knows, the best way to learn something is to teach it.

Implement the five-step process of training in your organization and lead your employees from beginners to experts in their roles. You’ll trade off the time and effort you initially put in with the involvement in one trainee’s learning process for confident, knowledgeable leaders that teach each other and innovate the process while doing so.

I Can Do It Approach

Whenever we set out on something new, there is one thing that frequently pops up, threatening to sabotage our efforts, and that is SELF-DOUBT. When it takes charge, that new thing suddenly seems very difficult and may even start to feel out of our reach.

Self doubt is one of the biggest reasons why people find it difficult to embrace change. It makes us believe we CAN’T rather than we CAN do that new job, new venture, new task or new challenge.

here are 5 practical tips that I’ve found very helpful and a bit easier to execute.

1. SEE LEARNINGS AS ACHIEVEMENTS

When you embark on something new, remember to give yourself the opportunity to learn the ropes and set your performance expectations accordingly. After all you haven’t done it before! Instead of focussing only on performance achievements related to the task, look at your learnings as achievements in their own right.                

I did this recently on a new project I have been working on and discovered I had 53 learnings and 14 achievements – so together that was 67 achievements in a few months. I was thinking my progress was a bit slow, but when I saw it this way, it totally transformed my view of how I had done.

2. IMAGINE BEING YOUR ROLE MODEL

"If you can imagine it, then you can make it happen."

What a fabulous concept this is. I love it! Such a great little tool for managing self-doubt. Here's how it works.

Think of a role model and imagine yourself being like them. Yes, imagine you can do everything they do and imagine yourself doing it confidently.

It’s not about comparing your current REAL SELF to them, but rather to see your IMAGINARY SELF performing just as well (if not better) than them! Make sure it’s believable though and if not, try imaging your role model as they were starting out or choose a different role model, one a bit closer to your current self.

3. THINK "I CAN" MORE THAN "I CAN'T"

Yes this is the mind-set one! But sometimes it is much easier said than done. No-one can be positive 100% of the time – that’s just not going to happen, is it?

But here’s the thing. If you can have yourself think I CAN even a little bit more often than you think I CAN’T, that will do it. Out of 10 thoughts about you and this task or goal, if 6 of them are positive and 4 are negative, that’s enough! It really is! Positive takes priority over negative thinking and the balance will soon tip towards cracking those doubtful, negative thoughts.

4. CREATE A FEEDBACK FILTER

We all love getting positive feedback. However, whilst most people’s intentions are good, it may not always be in your best interests. Sometimes it is full of their own stuff, coloured by the way they see the world or peppered with their own judgements. What you need is a feedback filter!

Be selective about the feedback you act on. Include highlights of your strengths, reminders of your achievements and advice that resonates with you - e.g. how you might improve on things you find difficult - these all serve you well! As for the other bits of feedback, simply leave them where they are. You don’t need to believe or act on everything everyone says.

5. MIND YOUR BODY LANGUAGE

Last and not least, we come to another one of my favourites. I saw it first on a TED talk about successful interviewing techniques - using body language – and what a powerful thing it is!

The way you stand, sit and move around has a big effect on the energy flow in, out and around your body. The more you can free up that flow, the better you will feel. Self-doubt doesn't survive in such an environment. It really  doesn't! Adopt body moves that encourage that flow – sit up straight, keep your head up, stand tall, puff your chest out when you breathe in, put your arms up in a victory pose, avoid crossing your arms and my all-time favourite … SMILE. It may be simple, but it definitely works!

STEP TO STARTUP A COMPANY

1) They are looking for you!
               

Start-ups are constantly looking out for new candidates with high potential, new ideas and unlimited zeal.










2) Do you fit the bill?

What do you need to know if you are apt for a company at a start-up because this isn't your usual 9-5 job? Read on to find out what are the essentials of a start-up employee and whether you have them or not?






3) Have vision and empathy

You completely understand and identify with the vision of the start-up and see it achieving the targets it has set for itself.










4) Committed

You are willing to work hard and use all your skills to help achieve the targets and goals of the start-up.











5) Ready to learn

Start-ups are the best place to learn about the field you are entering as they often provide you a wider scope of what the 'real world' looks like.










6) Can multi task

Such a job never comes with a rigid company profile. You could be web-developer who is also taking interviews as well taking part in the online marketing of the start-up.










7) Ready to be pushed

Start-jobs also help you test yourself. You will be pushed to do your best by your leaders, co-workers and sometimes your own belief in the project.









8) Can't work with red tape

If you feel bogged down by the idea of red-tapism, then start-ups are the place for you to be. It's usually a free environment with direct communication channels always open with your seniors.









9) Can and want to network

You often end up meeting awesome people while on the company head and these connections go a long way in improving your network for company.










10) Bear multiple responsibilities

As there is no strict company profile, you go on to shoulder many responsibilities but the rewards, like potential part ownership or growth in terms of position on management ladder, make it worthy.









11) Ready to be inspired

Startup often have an inspiring person or a group of people who have a strong belief in their vision. Employees of a startup have shared that they draw their inspiration from their leaders on a repeated basis.









12) Like awesome work environment

This is one of the highlights of a start-up. Many allow work from home, and even while in office, it's a relaxed environment in terms of no rigid cubicles or hierarchical division of space.

Staying Cool When The Heat Is On!

Staying Cool when the Heat is on!

·         The leader’s true colors will come through in unguarded moments and in spontaneous reactions to unexpected events.

·         Sometimes by moving too quickly, you open a Pandora’s Box of problems that were not present before the changes imposed by your snap decisions. This is very important to understand.  These are called the “unintended consequences” of decisions, and at times, the aftermath of your decisions can be worse than the initial problem you tried to solve.

·         Leaders must remain cool and level headed at all times. Nothing gives one so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances.  Temper tantrums, snap decisions, finger pointing, yelling and blaming are all signs of panic.  Good CEO s don’t panic.  They don’t throw tantrums.  They keep themselves in control so that they can keep control of the situation.  Do not get angry, even if anger is justified.  Tell yourself, force yourself, to stay calm, cool and collected.  Do not be rash.

·         Be careful to not be seen as overly directive, dogmatic or demanding. Check your ego.  It’s critical that you appear approachable and open to new ideas.  There is a very fine line between getting things moving and overwhelming the company.  You must be active without being perceived as going off in all directions, wreaking havoc at every turn.

·         People are curious about the new leader’s judgement, value, strategy, energy, style, etc. They will be watching you very closely to pick up any signs at all.  You send signals through all of your small decisions, actions, interactions, emails, tone of your meetings, etc.

·         It is crucial to set the right pace; if there is too little momentum, the leader can accelerate the pace by inaugurating new initiatives or changing key players. Conversely, he also must ensure that things don’t get too crazy, too soon.

·         It’s very easy to get into trouble by appearing impulsive and making moves without thinking through all of the potential implications of your decisions.

·         If you can make the jobs of others a lot of fun, they will work harder and more creatively and feel more satisfied with their careers and lives. The Leader who is able to maintain a sense of humor and to lighten the mental load of his colleagues will always have a motivated, happy team.  A sense of humor is a mark of intelligence and is a quality that is desired in corporate presidents.

·         Don’t come in with the solution or claim that you have all the answers, even if you do. Be slow and deliberate in structuring solutions and remember to carefully think about the unintended consequences of your decisions. 

·         A need to appear decisive can cause you trouble. Some new leaders believe that they must prove themselves by projecting a confident, take-charge attitude.  The danger with this is that the Leader may appear too swift and irrational, lacking the critical leadership element of patience and calm in the face of a stressful situation. 

·         Leaders must be decisive, but "patiently decisive" and not jump at the first recommendation for a decision. They should listen to all sides before deciding. In fact, on occasion, its good practice for a Leader to postpone an important decision for a day or two, or even a week or two, while collecting additional information.   Leaders must be comfortable soliciting contrasting views, and if possible, to sleep on important issues.

·         Listening is the most important skill for leaders. If a leader is a good listener, he can accept ideas, criticism and other feedback that can improve the company.

·         You want people to say, “Wow, he’s decisive, but he just hasn’t made his mind up yet.” You see, you want people to see that you are decisive on the matters where you can afford to be.  But on the much larger issues, you need the decisive reputation to carry you for a while in order to buy yourself some time to really evaluate the problem.

·         New leaders get into big trouble when they believe that they must appear decisive and establish a directive tone. If the leader is seen as dealing superficially with deep problems, the resulting cynicism makes it difficult to rally support for change because people may not trust him.

·         It is the mature leader who accepts even unfair criticism with equanimity, calmness and grace. Criticism can provide the very useful “reality check” that all leaders need in order to maintain perspective.  Leaders must be brutally honest with themselves or they will slip into the terrible habit of self-deception.  Even the best leaders make mistakes.  By listening to criticism and quickly catching, acknowledging, and correcting mistakes, good leaders can become superb leaders.

·         Regarding decision making: Although there may appear to be some urgency involved and you do not want to appear indecisive, exercise extreme caution and patience. In many cases, a fast decision leads to bad results that will come back to haunt you.

·         At first, you will lack the insider’s detailed knowledge of the company, its people, structure and systems, its policies and culture. Therefore you must take the time to understand it before you make any key decisions or moves.

·         True Leaders can maintain a calm, internal confidence because they have worked hard, prepared for the tough moments, and have built on the successes of the past. In fact, Leaders must appear confident at all times, especially when the pressure is on.

How Leaders Create and Use Networks

Leadership networking is about developing and using your networks in a way that builds relationships and strengthens alliances in service of the organization’s work and goals. A strong leadership network will serve you and the organization well, but it can also extend beyond the job. If you have a great reputation within your network, you have the advantage of having a solid group of contacts who can be resources if you start a job search or look to extend your professional reach.
There are three types of networks important in business: operational, personal and strategic. While a lot of managers excel at building and using their operational network, they often overlook their personal and strategic networks.

Operational networking
Operational networking involves cultivating the relationships with people you need to accomplish your job. This may mean working closely with your Human Resources manager to make sure you hire the right people or developing relationships within other departments to win support for your initiatives.This is the network you need to have to basically get things done. It’s good relationships with the people in your critical path, your customers, your suppliers, your team members
Most people master this skill or they wouldn’t be in management. But some managers don’t reach out widely enough to build all the relationships they need longer term or they miss key changes in overall company priorities because they get bogged down in the day-to-day functions of their jobs.

Personal networking
Personal networking is an afterthought for many busy managers. When you work 60-80 hour weeks, the easiest thing to eliminate from your schedule is your alumni meeting, the annual golf fundraiser and your scuba diving course. But these networks allow you to meet a diverse group of like-minded professionals. They also are a way to develop important social skills for many professionals and may be the first place you turn when you start thinking about changing careers.
These are professional contacts that are discretionary, that are not as closely tied to the immediate job (so) that you can neglect or even abandon and still get your work done today. But these are the contacts that allow you to continue to develop professionally, to benchmark yourself with peers outside, to remain a bit on the cutting edge of your profession. These are the networks that people often use when they want to make a career move.

Strategic networking
Strategic networking is the toughest but most essential if managers want to become business leaders. Ibarra explains that contact with peers and with senior executives in your field is vital and she encourages managers to look beyond their industry as well. This allows managers to share ideas about best practices in management, learn new approaches and keep close tabs on developments in business and technology. It helps managers to see the bigger picture and create their own visionary approach.
These are the networks that make a huge different in leadership. This is where strategic ideas come into play. This is what allows people to line up stakeholders and, frankly, this is the area where most people have serious gaps.

Leadership Skills: Developing Positive Relationships

Maintaining High Standards Of Personal Behaviour, by: maintaining high standards of personal beliefs; behaving with integrity and fairness; behaving ethically; showing respect and sensitivity for the views of others; ensuring that all relevant people are kept informed of plans, decisions, and progress; pro-actively seeking positive relationships; accepting criticism and feedback positively. The rationale is that the leader must aspire to be a role model for high standards of personal behaviour, be ethical, be honest, be genuine, so that they are ultimately trusted by colleagues and stakeholders. Even if the leader is required to carry out actions that have an unpalatable impact, such as when redundancies are necessary, the aim is to carry out such actions in as honest, open, and sympathetic manner as possible, so that observers, even those most negatively affected, will not be able to accuse the leader of unacceptable personal behaviour.

Establishing Supportive Communication Systems, by: establishing training programmes that develop individual and team communication skills; establishing systems that support collaboration and cooperation between internal and external individuals and groups; implementing information management systems that ensure key information reaches appropriate people in a timely manner; encouraging consultative and participative decision making at all levels. Systems and approaches described here are essential foundation blocks on which positive relationships can be built and developed. Without this underlying framework in place, information will be dissipated and misinterpreted, decisions will be based on inadequate information, and relationships will deteriorate.

Promoting Values and Standards, by: consulting with specialists, individuals, teams, and legislative bodies, to identify and establish appropriate values and standards for the organisation; providing guidance on values and standards that is understood at all levels; ensuring that all external partners are made aware of the organisation's values and standards; implementing policies and procedures that manage, monitor, and improve the quality of values and standards, at all levels; taking prompt and visible action when established values and standards have not been maintained. The objective here is to ensure that all working relationships are built and developed against a background of known values and standards, and that all parties are made aware that the quality of internal and external relationships is an important aspect of the organisation's approach to these.

Gaining The Trust of Colleagues, by: consulting with colleagues in an open and honest manner; keeping colleagues appropriately informed about decisions, plans, actions, and progress; providing colleagues with sufficient personal support; honouring commitments made to colleagues; treating colleagues with respect and with appropriate confidentiality. Leaders should work with colleagues in a way which demonstrates the leader's commitment to the values and standards of the organisation, and in a manner which demonstrates to colleagues that they have the respect and support of their leader. This is vital in enabling the leader to draw the best performance from colleagues, and for those colleagues to achieve their personal performance targets. Gaining The Trust Of External Stakeholders, by: striving to understand the viewpoint and the objectives of the stakeholder; consulting with stakeholders in an open and honest manner; keeping stakeholders appropriately informed about the organisation's decisions, plans, actions, and progress; demonstrating personal commitment to agreements and arrangements; honouring commitments made to stakeholders; treating stakeholders with respect and with appropriate confidentiality. The aim here is to behave with stakeholder in an honest, open, and positive manner. For the relationship between the organisation and the stakeholder to be successful, there must be mutual understanding, mutual respect, and a desire to develop a relationship that is beneficial to both parties. This is essential in all external relationships, and particularly critical when the relationship is intended to be long term.

Evaluate Relationship Performance, by: laying down clear quality criteria for the assessment of the condition of relationships; establishing monitoring procedures which include scheduled evaluation review points; insisting that evaluation reviews are carried out even though the relationship appears to be healthy; taking appropriate corrective action to address problems; adopting a continuous improvement approach to all internal and external relationships; ensuring that the quality of relationships is high on the quality assurance agenda of the organisation. Regular and thorough assessments of the condition of relationships is vital. Without these evaluations, and appropriate corrective action, many relationships will deteriorate. Some will linger in a poor condition, causing a constant flow of minor difficulties, some will implode and cause major problems. These problems can be avoided by a regular health-check on each set of relationships followed by appropriate action.

In Summary: just as the organisation's leaders must maintain, develop, and continuously improve the quality of its physical resources, its marketing performance, its financial health, and so on, the leaders must also take the same approach to working relationships between themselves and others, and between all other internal and external partners in the organisation. For the organisation to achieve its operational targets and strategic objectives, it is essential that all working relationships are healthy and productive and continuously improving. The leaders of the organisation must ensure that this is the case.

The Best Way to Build Your Personal Brand

The term “personal brand” used to make me recoil. I associated it with people who proclaim themselves “thought leaders”, “gurus”, “ninjas”, and similar terms with very little evidence that they have earned these titles. Personal branding seemed to me to be the underbelly of the world we live in, where one person can gain a following and stake out his or her own little corner of Internet fame.

Then I sort of became one of those people, largely by accident.

I never started writing on LinkedIn with the intent of developing a following or staking out any corner of the Internet. I just liked writing and knowing that there were people reading it.

I don’t think I have become a thought leader, but I do think I have accidentally developed a personal brand. And here’s the most important thing I have learned about developing a personal brand from my experience writing on this platform:

The return on investing in others far exceeds the return on investing in yourself.

That’s it. That, at least in my experience, is the secret. It’s not the education you received, the title you have earned, or the prestige you have gained. The fastest way to build a personal brand is to invest in the success of others.

Important in Other People’s Lives

A couple of years ago I heard Bruce Springsteen say, “I never wanted to be rich, and I never wanted to be famous. I wanted to be important in your life."

Bruce (if you have spent the money I have on concerts and downloads, you can refer to him by first name) has incredible brand loyalty. Personally, I have listened to his music at the darkest, most hopeless moments in my life—and it has always helped me see a way up and out of that moment.

He achieved his goal with me, and his work has been an incredibly important part of my life.

You don’t need to be Bruce Springsteen to build that kind of brand loyalty within your network. You do, however, need to use his approach of becoming important in the lives of others. 

Being Authentically Viral

Last year, after I started publishing on LinkedIn, a few people began asking for advice and feedback on their own writing. So I shared what I was learning, and noticed how strong some of those relationships became. As a result, I decided to pro actively look and see if new connections were also publishing.

If my connections are publishing I try and give them some advice, or at the very least, like their articles when I see them in my feed.

The result of this active investment in the success of others has been incredible. Doors are opening for me that I never thought were possible. 

So try this: the next time you get a new connection, look at their profile, and see if there is something they are doing or involved in that you could help them with. Share advice or send a quick message of encouragement. 

Let them know you’re there for them. 

When you do those things, when you invest in others you become authentically viral—meaning your influence grows because people are sharing your work and talking about you, not because you typed in the right set of keywords. 

The reality is that very few people care about what you have accomplished, but they might care about who you are, and people caring about who you are is at the core of any strong personal brand.  

But first you have to show them you care about who they are.