Have you ever woke up in a good mood only to have a phone call ruin your day? Have you ever arrived to work with a positive mindset only to have the office climate depress your spirit?
You work too hard on establishing and maintaining your mental, emotional, and physical health to allow someone or something to diminish it. This is why you must be determined to "protect your space". The people we come into contact with, the places that we go, and the actions and habits that we take all have the potential to affect us positively or negatively. Here are some questions to think about to help identify the positive and negative influences in your life that may affect your space:
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Let’s be honest. Conflict in the workplace and in business happens. Sometimes, personalities clash, stress causes some to speak or act out of frustration, or opinions and feelings dominate. When conflict happens, how we handle it can determine if bridges will be burned or if working relationships can be preserved. Here are a few tips for handling conflict in the workplace.
Most of us lie every day in some form or another. Perhaps you tell your significant other that you are fine when in reality there is something bothering you. Maybe you tell the server at the restaurant that the food and service were good, but in the back of your mind, it could have been better. It is possible that you told your boss that bad traffic was the reason for your tardiness, but really you stayed up too late last night and had a difficult time getting up in the morning.
The motives for lying can be selfish or altruistic. Selfish people lie for personal gain or to avoid the consequences of their actions. They deceive others and may even take pleasure in doing so. This type of lying is offensive and many would agree that it is wrong. However, others may lie in order to protect others from harm. For example, telling a person that their new hairstyle is terrible may damage their self-perception so you may choose to lie to them instead. Does that make the lie acceptable? Finally, there are those that lie by omission. They intentionally leave out details or facts, either for self-preservation or to protect others. In business, is lying ever okay or is honesty always the best policy? The short answer is that honesty is best. However, as a leader you will find that there are times when the truth has to be given out in responsible doses or softened so as not to do damage. How you deliver the truth can be just as important as whether or not you tell the truth. For example, if an employee is not performing to expectation, you can communicate that to them without belittling them or making them to feel completely incompetent. Take a look at the following scenarios and determine whether or not you would tell the truth: Scenario 1 You have just received a promotion, but it is not effective for two weeks. You have been told not to announce the promotion to anyone on your team for confidential reasons. One of your lead team members informs you that they heard a rumor that you were being promoted and asks you if this is true. What is your response? Scenario 2 You have applied for a new job and your potential employer has asked for your last supervisor’s contact information so that they can obtain a reference. You know that your last supervisor did not like you and would not provide a favorable reference. What is your response? Scenario 3 You are conducting a performance review for one of your top team members. If they receive the highest rating on their review, they will receive their annual bonus. However, even though this team member is a top performer, they have arrived to work late almost every day this quarter and should be marked down. What do you do? How do people describe you when you're not in the room? What do people notice about you?
As a leader of a team, you must recognize that people draw conclusions about you and make assumptions about you that can affect their willingness to be a dedicated team member. Are you known as the leader who never smiles? is negative? always late? As leaders, we cannot be concerned with everyone's opinion of us, but we must be aware of the opinions that can inhibit team performance or even affect respect and recognition of your leadership. How can you find out how your team feels about you?
As a leader, you are in the spotlight. Team members and employees notice everything about you, including your appearance, your speech, your mannerisms, who you associate with, the activities you engage in, and the activities you do not choose to engage in. This does not mean that you need to conform to the expectations that others have for you, but it does mean that you have to be aware of how other's perceptions of you may affect the efficacy of your leadership. We have a tendency to romantacize the past, especially when our present isn't ideal. Some people believe that their high school days were their best ever or that college was the best time of their life. Others long for past loves or mourn over material things that they have lost along the way. It can be tempting to try and recreate the past as a solution to a present slump. There's a saying that you can never step into the same river twice. That's because the water is always moving and changing the river so that, even if you returned to the exact same spot where you once stood, the river is still not the same. The river has changed and so have you.
We have to be careful not to spend to much time looking backwards and keep moving forward, no matter how wonderful the past used to be. A mindset of a true visionary is that your best days are yet to come! This means that we often have to let go of strategies and systems that no longer meet the needs of us, our businesses, or our teams. Saying, "Well, that's how we have always done it" is an excuse for a lack of innovation, creativity, and efficiency. Instead, practice the strategy of continuous improvement. A true leader is a life-long learner that is willing to re-assess, re-focus, and re-strategize! Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help you determine how to keep moving forward:
If you would like help or support in implementing a process of continuous improvement for yourself or with your team, give me a call! We are most like the five people that we associate with the most. Stop and think about who those five people are in your life. Would you be pleased with yourself if you were like those people? Hopefully the answer is yes! If not, it may be time to evaluate who you allow to be in your circle.
There is a saying that, if you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room. Although it may be gratifying to be the big fish in a small pond, that is not a situation that fosters growth. Anyone who is interested in moving to the next level has to begin to associate with people who are on the level that they are aiming to achieve. When you include those people in your circle, you position yourself to receive valuable advice and expertise as well as networking opportunities. How do you know when you have the right circle of peers?
As you grow in your career and your personal life, not everyone that you started with will be with you for the entire journey. Keep reevaluating who you are associating with to determine if your circle of friends and peers are helping your journey or hindering it. Are you ready to stretch yourself and move to the next level? Consider a coaching session! I'm here to help! Reflection is a precursor to growth. It's nearly impossible to move forward when you do not know where you have been. The end of the year is a great time to pause and reflect on how you have grown and performed over the last calendar year. Before developing new goals and resolutions for the upcoming year, pause and think about your journey.
Here are a few questions that you can ask yourself:
Practicing the process of reflection will lay the foundation for your goal-setting. Those who do not identify and recognize their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. Similarly, if you do not know your own recipe for success, it will make it more difficult to replicate that success. Do not skip the reflection process--it will provide you with the growth that you need to make incredible progress next year! During the holiday season, leaders may notice that their teams may not be as productive as they are during other times of the year. This may be an issue that is dependent upon the industry, but can affect any organization or team at any time. Some of the contriburing factors for decreased productivity during the holiday season include;
This is the time of year when educators are going back to school. For many teachers, there has been time over the summer to rest, recharge, and plan for the upcoming year. The lucky ones were able to squeeze in vacation! For principals and other education leaders, there may not have been much of a break since the last school year. Between ending the school year, running summer school, hiring staff, participating in training, and preparing for back to school, there was probably very little time to mentally prepare for the new school year.
What happens when educational leaders do not enter the school year fresh and rejuvenated? They may find themselves easily frustrated, running short on creative ideas, and thinking of an exit plan! The school year will run much more smoothly if campus and district leaders are ready for a fresh start. Here are a couple of ways for beginning the school year with a fresh mindset:
Students and staff will appreciate a refreshed and rejuvenated leader. The new school year is a new beginning for everyone, including the leader! If you are interested in personal leadership coaching, send me a quick note and we can talk! |
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