Coaching For Leaders

In episode #27, we looked at what we can do in order to coach others to be productive. Now, we're turning the focus on ourselves as leaders to examine what we might be going to get in the way of people's productivity. Move to Outcome Based Meetings "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." - Cyril Parkinson Two Warning Signs: You can't figure out what to talk about. You're doing a data dump. What would awful thing would happen if we didn't meet today? Am I clear on what outcomes I want to have come out of this meeting? Move to outcome based meetings vs. schedule based meetings. You should have: Stated outcome Clear agenda Action items Align working environments with people Fortune Magazine says that drop-ins are the #1 productivity killer in offices Be conscious of how and where people like to work Put people on teams? By all means, assuming they work best that way. Otherwise, can people work alone? Every leader should see this: Watch Susan Cain's TED talk on The Power of

We turn our focus to productivity for this first episode of March. Many of the leaders who listen to this show are already productive themselves, but find themselves looking for ways to lead others to be more productive. In this episode, I'll share some ideas and strategies for helping others find their productive sweet spot. In the traditional paradigm of management, individuals waited for a manager to determine their work for them and assign duties. While organizations still rely on this old paradigm, people are increasingly being asked to step into a leadership role at every level of the organization. Some people are comfortable with this, but many are not ready for the demanding productivity that this requires. If that wasn't challenging enough, we are now all being overwhelmed with tons more information that we ever were before. Email, instant messages, conference calls, and text messages fill our days. Plus, we are asking everyone to do more with fewer resources. No wonder so many people struggle with

We've been discussing engagement this month and now it's take to take action. In this episode, I review 10 things you can do today to engage people with your leadership. As you are listening, be sure to commit to take at least one of these actions either today or tomorrow and then send feedback to the links below to let us know what results you've seen: Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback 1. Sponsor an employee goal. Most all leaders know of at least one goal that each employee is working on during the year. Now, get beyond the average leader and help employees take action to achieve their goal. While they bear the primary responsibility for their professional development, it's also your responsibility to help provide resources for them to get there. This might be in the form of funding, but it could also be providing them with an introduction to someone, making space in the workday for their development, allowing them to utilize company resources for their goal, and many other possibilities.

Understanding the theory behind engagement is an important first step, but it's worthless if we don't also have perspective on how to practically apply engagement in our organizations. This week, I interview Jan Frazee from Southwest Search Dogs. Jan is someone that I've come to respect over the years both personally and professionally for her ability to engage volunteers in her organization -- and I respect her even more as a parent, since she's also Bonni's mom! Interview with Jan Frazee President and Chief Executive Officer Southwest Search Dogs info@southwestsearchdogs.org Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback Thank you to all of the following individuals (and many others) who have either engaged with this community of helped promote this show to others: Fazila in Canada Sandrine in Mexico Charlie in the UK Frances in Texas Kindred in Lake Tahoe Diego in Brazil Stefan in Germany Hana in Singapore Yuria in Japan David in New England Mark in Texas Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com

Every leader needs to engage others in order to maximize the potential of the other person and their commitment to the organization. This week, we're beginning a series on how to engage the people that you lead. My apologies for not airing a show last week, but it was for a very good reason. Bonni and I welcomed our son into the world on February 2nd. Luke David Stachowiak is his name and both him and his mom are doing wonderfully well, now that we are home. I've attached a photo for those who'd like to see his adorable little face. We are very blessed indeed. This week's show begins with a quote from Teresa Amabile, author of The Progress Principle. In a recent commentary on Marketplace, she states, "The single most important thing that can keep workers deeply, happily engaged on the job is moving forward on work they care about -- even if the progress is an incremental "small win." Drive by Daniel Pink is an excellent read on how to engage others. In this book, says there are three things that Pink sugg

This episode puts all the pieces together from our personal leadership series into your 2012 action plan. I discuss in detail how I've used the Creating Your Life Plan ebook from Michael Hyatt to bring value to my life. During his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Steve Jobs said: “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'no' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” See his full talk at this link. Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback I suggest downloading the Creating Your Life Plan ebook from Michael Hyatt. A piece of my vision that I had written down last year was: "The Coaching Skills for Leaders podcast and blog generates multiple comments weekly from listeners who have used the show to better their leadership and coaching skills." The action step behind that was: "Produce a consistent

Kirwan Rockefeller: Visualize Confidence Having a powerful vision can mean the difference between mediocrity and clear direction for the future. I welcome special guest Dr. Kirwan Rockefeller, author of Visualize Confidence, in order to help this community create our personal vision. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Susan Gerke: GO Team Resources Our personality preferences influence every relationship we have, including those where we lead and coach. I welcome special guest and Innovate Learning senior facilitator Susan Gerke to discuss our strengths and blind spots in this episode. Susan and I discussed the spectrum of directing vs. informing language. Here are a few of the resources from Susan: Go Team Resources The I in Team* by Susan Gerke Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Your core values influence how you view the world and how you interact with others. It's key that we understand our own core values as part of our series on personal leadership. To reach me with questions, comments, or feedback: CoachingforLeaders.com I read a quote on page 46 of The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner Here are the values that I spoke about: Meaning - Investing my time and talent into things and people that personally inspire me in the world. Sustainability - Putting my effort into things that will provide lasting, positive change in the world. Vision - Creating the future by building things twice (once with vision, once in reality). Empowerment - Give others the confidence to learn, grow, and contribute to the world in sustainable ways. Love - My passion and desire to treat people like fellow human beings. Some questions for you to consider as you determine your core values: What is your perfect day? What are you doing when you are in flow and lose track of time

It's the new year and an important time to consider ourselves first, so that we can better lead others. This week, I begin a series on personal leadership that will take us through the month of January. Here are a few resources that I mentioned in this episode: The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner Five Practices - Model the Way is the first one Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Cashman HBR Managing Yourself The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey First three habits: private victory Habit #1: Be proactive Between stimulus and response, we have choices we can make Story of Viktor Frankl - Man's Search for Meaning How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

As leaders, we need to support learning right after it happens. In this episode, I'll review fives ways you can do this as a leader. 1) Provide opportunities Find something for them to start to use what they've just learned. If you need to, help create opportunities! 2) Review the actions taken Do a debrief afterwards - particularly if something didn't work well. The sooner it happens, the more likely it is that you'll reinforce good habits and correct poor ones. Avoid reviewing things weeks or months after they happen. 3) Inquire about what they are thinking, feeling, or noticing I mentioned Peter Senge's Fifth Discipline Fieldbook You won't hear much at first but over time you'll hear people say lots of things 4) Correct the flight plan 5) Use encouragement Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Dale Carnegie says "Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise" in How to Win Friends and Influence People. This is a must read for any leader. Also, review episode #9 from

Helping people utilize new skills they are learning is an essential skill for all leaders. In this episode, I'll examine four ways you can do this as a leader. REFRAME Move people away from just task accomplishment and more towards skill mastery. There's a difference between having knowledge and being an strong contributor to an organization. Challenge people for practical experience. Challenge them to put what they are learning into action. RECONNECT Engage people during regular development meetings (at least once a month - once a week is ideal). Discouragement and obstacles will happen - we need to provide coaching along the way. Give perspective by using encouragement and also reward progress (not just results). Challenge people to compare themselves with themselves. RENEW Make things new again. You can't know everyone on January 1st - be ready to add in more, make changes, and adapt Add new challenges and opportunities throughout  the year. Avoid people getting into extremes - either ove

Frances, one of our listeners, contacted me this week to say that she has $700 in a "use it or lose it" budget within the next week and wanted some advice on what to do. Since many of these resources would be helpful to all of us, it's the topic for this week's show. Two overarching rules to keep in mind before you do anything: Talk to people who are doing the stuff you want to do Have your own professional development plan (I use Michael Hyatt's life plan that I've discussed on prior shows) Books The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner How to Win Friends and Influence People (and the new version for the digital age) both by Dale Carnegie The 100 Best Business Books of All Time (link for the printed version) Amazon Prime - $79 a year (2 day shipping, streaming of movies, borrow one book a month for free) Publications The Wall Street Journal ($103 a year for the digital version) Chronicle of Higher Education ($72.50 a year for th

Welcome to the fifteenth episode of Coaching Skills for Leaders. This week's topic: Get Specific With Goals This week I was listening to the HBR IdeaCast and a recent interview with Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson about her book: 9 Things Successful People Do Differently I've also been reading Get Rid of the Performance Review! by Samuel Colbert To reach me with questions, comments, feedback: CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback Examples of actual ineffective goals: "Communicate more effectively" "Develop leadership skills" "Communication skills to be improved (writing) and get your point across more clearing and concisely" "Improve quality and completion of assigned duties" "Begin working outside of their comfort zone towards new opportunities and/or subject areas" SMART Framework S - Specific M - Measurable A - Attainable R - Relevent T - Time-phased Examples of more effective goals, utilizing the SMART framework: Establish procedures with vendors to reduce year-over-year error rates by 20% before June

Welcome to the fourteenth episode of Coaching Skills for Leaders. This week's topic: Four Leadership Lessons I'm Thankful For "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act 2 To reach me with questions, comments, feedback: CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback Four stories from my career of leadership lessons I've valued: McDonald's and the value of humility How I utilize this in daily client interactions now Orientation and the value of excellence I utilize this in teaching and production of this show My first job and the value of consequences Today I utilize this to have courage "Our chief want in life is someone who shall make us do what we can." -Ralph Waldo Emerson My friend and colleague and the value of love In tough situations, find something to love about the other party Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching

Welcome to the thirteenth episode of Coaching Skills for Leaders. This week's topic: How Culture Affects Coaching To reach me with questions, comments, feedback: CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback What do we mean by a strong culture? Strong culture: consistent throughout the organization and thus has a strong influence on individuals Weak culture: do not have as strong an impact on individuals because of inconsistencies (does not mean it is not effective) In Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar Schein (2004) defines culture as, "…a pattern of SHARED BASIC ASSUMPTIONS that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to PERCEIVE, THINK, and FEEL in relation to those problems" (p. 17). We accidentally referred to Schien's book in the episode as "Making Sense of the Organization" which is actually a book by Karl Weick and also an excell

Courage (n) as defined by Merriam-Webster's Dictionary: Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty Eleanor Roosevelt is famously attributed to having said, "Do one thing every day that scares you." "If you're the king of your world, you're playing in the wrong world." -Unknown 5 Pieces of Advice: 1) Have a mentor - for me, it's been my wife (and past managers) 2) Educate yourself on the issues - for me, it's reading and RSS feeds Check out Shelfari.com. Six Ways to Get Smart and Stay Smart 3) Surround yourself with people who will empower you. 4) Have direction - a personal vision Michael Hyatt's life planning e-book is a great way to start 5) Lean into discomfort Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. You can't create a shared vision without having your own vision first. It's inappropriate for us to be dependent on others or independent from them. Rather, we need to have relationships of interdependence. Bonni mentioned a clip from the movie Spartacus which captures the power of interdependence: Two key elements of a shared vision: The people involved have a shared picture of what the future looks like. Everyone is committed to achieving the work and working towards it together. We discussed four steps for leaders to take when creating a shared vision: A few books that we mentioned on this episode: The Fifth Discipline*

Dave Stachowiak: Coaching for Leaders In his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith warns against the habit of leaders adding too much value and stifling the motivation of an employee’s independent ideas. He says that when we start improving an employee’s idea, “You may have improved the content of my idea by 5 percent, but you’ve reduced my commitment to executing it by 50 percent, because you’ve taken away my ownership of the idea.” Does it even make sense to give someone feedback? Here's a helpful guide. Minor issue? If the person is aware: ask what they plan to do to resolve it If the person is unaware: let it go Major issue? If the person is aware : ask questions and help brainstorm If the person is unaware - redirect by using EXPECTATION -> EXAMPLE -> EMPOWER Saying something "nice" first can get us in trouble as a leader: It doesn't sound sincere, since it's often done only before constructive feedback It's not credible since the leader will o

Weddings are an interesting place to watch people give positive feedback to others. I give a few examples. The problem with feedback is that intentions are good, but that sometimes feedback still comes out awkward…sometimes it would have been better if the person said nothing at all. I share a story about someone who heard "good job" just one too many times. Here's the model you want to use: ATTRIBUTE-EXAMPLE-THANK An example of it in action: “Helen, I appreciate how much diligence you brought to this project. Just two weeks ago, I remember you telling me that one of our vendors was very concerned about being able to make our final deadline. I noticed that you had two conference calls with them and worked late one evening last week to help get them back on track and ensure that both they and our campus looked good in the end. Thank you for putting forth the diligence to bring this project to a very successful close.” You're done - don't go further than the above. Who could use feedback from you on a job