bulletpointleadership

There is all the difference in the world between saying, ‘Keep your eye on the ball!’ and asking, ‘Which way does the ball spin after it hits the ground?’ or, ‘Exactly where does the tennis ball hit your racket?’ Both are used to coach. Only one method is effective.

As leaders, we are all coaches. Whether it’s in our job, with our family or with our community, we help people become more effective. That is the primary role of a coach- to help people become more effective.

The ability to coach is a great leadership tool to help empower others and to also sustain their development. Great coaching can help develop self-sufficient people, increase engagement and produce better ideas and solutions. The coach’s job becomes more interesting, challenging and fun when great coaching takes place.

To be a good coach, it’s necessary to make three basic assumptions.

First, a great coach is in a partnership with others. The coach desires peak performance from people in order to achieve results. The person being coached wants the rewards that come from personal productivity, recognition and feeling competent. Both people have a significant investment in accomplishment.

The second assumption is that people are motivated to improve. Great coaching does not involve the carrot or the stick. It requires leadership and specific skills.

Third, people have experience that can be used by the coach to help in their growth and development. Coaches are not required to have all the answers. Coaches don’t just tell people what to do and how to do it. Effective coaches have dialogue with people and listen to what people say.

Listening and asking effective questions can be your ultimate leadership tool. It is your primary tool in creating world class coaching experiences.

Here are 5 tips to enhance your coaching experiences:

•  When a person answers your question with a question, answer that question with questions that contain possible clues. Here are a few examples: For example, suppose that you ask another person: “What changes would you like to see in the way this is done?” If the other person responds by saying: “I don’t know, coach, what do you think?” Rather than telling, you could ask: “Considering the strong emphasis that we are now placing on reducing the cost, how do you think we could be even more effective?”
• Use silence as a tool. Maintain silence after asking a question to give the other person an opportunity to respond. If you think you know what the other person should say or do, it is difficult to maintain silence but keep quiet. Be patient!
• Avoid running two questions together. If the other person has difficulty in answering the questions, say: “Let me rephrase the question…”and ask one question that provides additional clues or insight. Key take-away – Always ask permission before directly providing information. Ask: “Could I make a suggestion?”
• Really listen. As the other person speaks, maintain eye contact, nod to indicate active listening, clear your mind of your thoughts and focus. When the person stops speaking, collect your thoughts, summarize and acknowledge the person’s feelings, if appropriate.
• Use self-disclosure. This is very powerful! Where does it say that coaches have to always do things right and never make mistakes, and above all, never have feelings? It doesn’t say this anywhere. Good communication occurs when two human beings talk honestly with each other. Coaches are not perceived as “weak” or “incompetent” when they confess to having made a mistake or two.

If all this sounds wonderful and coaching is so great, why don’t we do it more often? Some of the reasons may be it feels really good to give someone the answer, it’s often easier to tell than ask, it’s good for our ego to be seen as the expert or the other person may think we are incompetent if we don’t give them the answer.

Coaching is not an option. It is a part of living! Successful leaders do it very well. The good news is that coaching is a set of skills that can be learned, and then applied to help the other person become more than he or she ever imagined. Effective coaching is great leadership.

Until next time, Leaders Develop Daily Not in a Day

“The only real training for leadership is leadership.” ~ Anthony Jay

As we end 2011, here is some trivia that may spark familiar experiences to many of you. Over 90 million Americans make New Year’s Resolutions but 70 million Americans break those commitments within the first week. That’s right, the first week!

We all have seen our local gym packed with the masses on the first week of January and few weeks later the place is back to normal with the regulars grinding it out every day. Many people have the tendency to revert back to their old behaviors and not finish.Why do highly successful people seem to finish strong in everything they do? They make a commitment to change their life, stick to new things, and get new ventures off the ground and running. What do they have that makes this so easy for them? 

Three critical qualities jump out to me when it comes to finishing strong. Focused on Action, Perseverance ad Energy are not incredibly stylish qualities but are critical skills to finish strong. I challenge all of us to finish strong in the last few weeks of 2011. Finishing strong will allow us to end this year on a high note and with the positive momentum to make 2012 an incredible year. As Newton’s Law of Inertia states, “An object at rest stays at rest. An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an external, unbalanced force.” Get in motion and stay in motion. 

• Focused on Action - Successful people that finish strong don’t spend a great deal of time contemplating. They enjoy working hard and are not afraid to act with a minimal plan. Strong finishers have a solid self-confidence and focus on their strengths. The only way we will ever know what we can do is to ACT and FIND OUT!

• Perseverance – Strong finishers refuse to become discouraged even when defeated. They pursue everything with a drive and a need to finish. Finishers view failure as an outcome, not a final result. If you fail, learn from that outcome and do something different next time. Look for multiple ways to accomplish your goal.

• Energy – Finishers have great energy. They not only manage their time but more importantly, their energy. Finishers relentlessly push past their comfort zone. They understand their energy levels allow them to push and push. Exercise, eat clean and take regular renewal breaks.

Life is a series of sprints, not a marathon. View your life as a sprint and now is the time to kick it into high gear to the finish line.

If you are planning to finish 2011 STRONG, share what you are doing to make this happen!

Until next time, Leaders Develop Daily, Not in a Day!

You don’t get what you want until you know what you want.

What is success to you? I believe the core of success is focusing on your purpose in life.  Sounds pretty heavy, doesn’t it.  Well it is.  To get to the core of success, you must reflect and determine your values and what you are passionate about.  This will ultimately lead you to your purpose in life

Understanding your purpose in life will change everything.  Turning your purpose into your daily focus will create happiness, financial rewards and fulfillment in your life.

To get to this secret sauce of success, write down answers to the following seven questions:

• What are the top 5 things on my “bucket list”?
• My leadership is my legacy.  What is my legacy?
• What am I currently doing to live this legacy?
• I will consider my life to be successful if…?
• What is holding me back from this life?
• What are my beliefs that are holding me back from this life?
• Where do I need to put more effort and attention in my life?

After reviewing your answers to these seven questions, look for themes in your answers.  There is a very good chance that the themes in your answers are a major part of your purpose.  Take some action with your findings from the seven questions.  Set some immediate goals!

Here are three quick bullet point for setting goals:

• Get specific - . When your goals are specific, things happen!

• Track it. This is a “secret weapon”. Create a chart with the seven days of the week across the top and the specific actions that you will take on a daily basis along the side.  Focus on reaching the specific actions every day and track your progress every night before bed.
• Get a Wingman. Have a partner to hold you accountable on a weekly basis.  Set up a scheduled and re-occurring meeting for 15 minutes a week to talk to your wingman about your progress and challenges.  Having this type of accountability will increase your focus.

Until next time, Leaders Develop Daily Not in a Day!

“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” ~Don Marquis

I tend to think about leadership (and just about everything else in life) in bullet points. This allows me to be very simple in my thinking in order to take action. It’s a process I use to try to put everything into 8 or less bullet points that are easy to digest and remember. I have termed it “Bullet Point Leadership”.

 For example, when I think about avoiding the bad habit of procrastinating I use three key bullets:

• Cut it down - important tasks often appear so large and formidable when you first approach them. One technique is to cut a big task down to a smaller size in order to get the work done.
• Start small - Psychologically, it’s easier to do a single, small piece of a large project than to start on the whole job. Start small and soon you will find yourself working the project one step at a time.
• Just get started – Momentum is our friend. Once you start working, you develop a feeling of accomplishment. You become energized and excited. You feel yourself motivated and propelled to keep going until the project is complete.

 When you think about avoiding procrastination, what bullet points come to your mind?

 Until next time, Leaders Develop Daily Not in a Day.