As busy leaders, it can easily become habit to multitask. While I am a fan of multitasking in my private office time, I do not recommend this type of work during meetings and interactions with other people. In meetings (regardless of who called the meeting), being distracted shows others that you do not believe them or their agenda to be important enough to prioritize over your phone, walkie talkie, laptop, or planning notes.
Even if you have trained yourself to put your phone down during meetings, you may still find that your mind wanders during meetings or conversations with team members. You may find yourself daydreaming, thinking about the next meeting, worrying about a task or project that is urgent and due, or remembering something that you forgot to take care of before attending the meeting. The next thing you are aware of is someone calling your name or even the adjourning of the meeting! When you attend meetings in that way, you are simply a present body--you did not gain anything from the meeting, nor did you contribute or engage fully. Simply put, it was a waste of time. To keep this from happening, I encourage you to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is the intentional action of focusing on the activity or experience at hand, becoming aware of when you are distracted, and taking steps to regain focus. I often refer to this when addressing my team as being "present in the moment". Employees and team members will appreciate your focused attention on them and the meetings you engage in. Your focused attention is not only a sign of respect, but it also allows you to be thoroughly engaged and ready to lend your ideas and expertise to the discussed topic. Mindfulness is a great practice to exercise at work and even in home life. If you need help prioritizing and planning your work load so that you can be mindful during interactions with others, let me help! Contact me for a free consultation. (Reference Mindfulnet.org)
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Some people may object to the statement, "How you start is how you finish." What about fourth quarter comebacks? What about those who start strong and end up failing? Those are great questions, but they also represent exceptions to the rule. In most cases, how a leader starts is how they finish.
The presidency is seen as the pinnacle of leadership roles. A measure of the presidency is the 100-day marker. Analysts and the public measure presidents by what they are able to accomplish in the first 100 days of their presidency and use that measure to compare them to past presidents and to predict the outcome of the remainder of their time in office. Some presidents object to the measure because they do not believe that their ultimate success or failure can be predicted by a little over three months in office. A good leader knows that when they take on a new leadership role, it is important to start off strong. The first days in the role are filled with meeting new people and making first impressions, making staffing and policy decisions that will impact the remainder of their tenure, and developing the plans that will shape their future as a leader. Whether your start is measured by a week, a month, or 100 days, know that it is still a measure. So what about the exceptions to the rule? As much as we love a good comeback story, no one really wants to be in the position of the underdog having to defeat the odds to get the win. We are much more comfortable getting to the top and keeping the lead. That exception to the rule should encourage leaders who do not get off to a great start that all is not lost--there is still a chance to come out a winner. On the other hand, those who start out on top and end up losing usually made some grave error along the way. Hopefully no one ends up in that situation! Finishing how you start should encourage you to start strong. Begin with confidence and a solid plan in order to give yourself a great start with a promise for a successful finish. Most of us know what we need to do to become successful. We don't have to be experts in a field to make progress towards a goal. For example, if we want to become healthier, we don't have to be a fitness guru to know we need to eat healthier and work out more. If we want to be in a better financial position, we don't have to work on Wall Street to know we should save money and invest it wisely. In any given situation, most of us know SOMETHING we can do to work toward success. So why aren't there more successful people?
The key is self-discipline. Self-discipline is the difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it. We often set goals in a moment of passion, but we find that after that passion is gone, we are no longer motivated to do what it takes to reach that goal. That's where self-discipline comes in. Self-discipine is what drives a person to wake up at 5am to workout or to stay late in the office to complete paperwork. Self-discipline motivates a person to make follow-up calls when they don't feel like it, or to turn down dessert after dinner. Self-discipline moves a person to put 15% of their paycheck into a savings account every pay period. Self-discipline is the difference between winners and losers. When you look at professional athletes, their sheer talent is amazing! But when you really pay attention, you realize that it takes self-discipline combined with their talent to make them successful. They workout religiously, practice constantly, watch their diet, and devote time to learning plays and strategy. The result of their self-discipline is what you see on the court and on the field! So how do you achieve self-discipline?
Self-discipline can sometimes be difficult to acquire, but the payoff is great! If you ask any successsful person, the reward makes the difficult journey well worth it. If you are looking for an accountability partner or would like help in developing your self-discipline, let me help! I'm here for you! Taking ownership is accepting responsibility for actions or behavior. It's pretty easy to take ownership when something good happens--everyone wants credit for that. The challenge comes when bad things happen. Who's going to own up to that?
Taking ownership can be difficult when you or your team falls short. It's hard to admit that you aren't perfect, you make mistakes, and you messed up this time. Accepting responsibility for failure can be especially hard for over-achievers who define themselves by their success. When you make a mistake, you may wonder What will others think when they find out that I failed? Will I be defined by this mistake? In order to take ownership, you must admit your shortcomings. When you shift the blame to someone else or make excuses for the failure, that is not taking ownership. When you take ownership, you are saying, "I did this. It's my fault. I messed up." Owning up to your failures may be difficult and uncomfortable, but it will prove to be beneficial in the long run. Accepting responsibility for your actions saves time and energy for yourself and those around you. Instead of pointing figures, investigating who or what caused the failure, and causing conflict among team members, time can be spent resolving the situation. Taking ownership demonstrates your commitment to improvement. When you take ownership, you are saying to your team, "I will learn from this so that I can do better in the future." There is nothing to improve on if you are perfect, so admitting that you are not perfect and striving to become better at your job shows that you are growth-oriented. People respect leaders who are down-to-earth enough to admit their mistakes and do better in the future. Your peers and those you lead will respect your ownership of your mistakes. We are human, so it's inevitable that we are going to fail at something. It is how we respond to that failure that defines our character and strength as a leader. Admitting that we have fallen short is the first step toward improvement and growth. Teams will thrive when all members know that they are growing and improving together. There are not many jobs that do not require teamwork in some way, shape, or form. As a leader, it is especially important to function well in a team and help the teams you supervise to function effectively. One of the keys to successful team performance is building a diverse, complementary team. How do you do that?
Each team member will bring their personality, experience, and talents to the team. As a leader, you may have a tendency to hire people that are like you. It's a natural tendency because we will see in others what we admire in ourselves. The danger in that is your team will have all of your strengths and ALL of your weaknesses! On the other hand, when teams are diverse, strengths and weaknesses are balanced. Here are three types of people who you definitely want to have on your team: The Doer Strengths: This team member likes to get things done. They keep the group on task and focused on the goal at hand. They do not like to waste time and take pride in accomplishments, big or small. The doer takes action and gets results. Weaknesses: Doers tend to move quickly, sometimes too quickly. Rather than analyzing all options available, they may jump on the first idea for the sake of getting things done. Doers may make other team members feel rushed. Doers are often impatient with others who do not move as quickly as they do. The Thinker Strengths: This team member does not make a decision until all options have been identified and analyzed. Thinkers conduct research and look for examples to follow. Thinkers may play "devil's advocate" to help identify the weaknesses in a plan so that they can be addressed up front rather than after implementation. Thinkers plan out the details and write them down. Weaknesses: Thinkers are often perceived as slow or indecisive. They may spend too much time planning and not enough time doing. Thinkers irritate doers. The Cheerleader: Strengths: This team member is the champion of the team. They provide encouraging words and respond to the social and emotional needs of group members. Cheerleaders stay positive and highlight the strengths in others. They help doers and thinkers to get along. (This team member usually advocates for snacks and refreshments at meetings!) Cheerleaders often make the interpersonal connections necessary to make plan implementation effective. They are the "people-person". Weaknesses: Cheerleaders can be seen as wishy-washy and touchy-feely. They will go along with the ideas of doers or thinkers and may feel guilty about picking sides. Cheerleaders can be overly emotional and can seem distracted or off-task. They may have issues with time management and make team meetings run long. Every team member has strengths and weaknesses, but an effective team acknowledges these and balances them. Is your team dysfunctional? Contact me for a team assessment! If you are anything like me, you have had the experience of moving to a new home more than once in your life. Working in school turnaround, leaders often find themselves moving from one location to another to help struggling schools. I've learned many lessons through the process of moving. Once of those lessons has to do with old boxes. Each time I move, I contemplate whether each box is truly worth the move or if it should be donated or thrown in the trash. These are the hardest decisions of my life!
Over the years, I have accumulated many instructional resources, both commercial and self-created. Each time I moved, I found myself dragging boxes of binders, books, and other materials from place to place, only to remain packed in a box and collecting dust until the next move. When it's time to move again, I may open the box to familiarize myself with the contents. I find myself sifting through the box with nostalgia and imagining what I could still do with the materials. I think I try to convince myself that the boxes are still worth something. The truth is, the materials have more sentimental value than true value. They may align to old teaching standards that have since been updated. They may be old editions of books and resources that have been reprinted. They may be artifacts from old teaching and leadership strategies that I've since revised. My encouragement to myself in my last move was to LET IT GO! Whether literally or figuratively, we may find ourselves carrying our "useless boxes" from one place to another, whether that place is a new place of employment, a new home, a new relationship, or simply a new phase in our lives. In order to reduce the clutter in our lives, we need to seriously reevaluate the value of what we are carrying around--can it truly add to our present situation or are we simply holding on to it for sentimental reasons? Have courage that you are fully capable of acquiring new resources, having new ideas, and creating new materials. Let's not let old baggage keep us so weighed down that we cannot move on to the next project. Let it go! Some people are hard to read. Their facial expressions and body language do not give clear indications of how their feeling. This "poker face" can be beneficial in some situations, but for leaders, there are times when followers need to see and experience what you are feeling.
For instance, when an employee has done well, it is reassuring to see an expression of joy and pleasure on their leader's face. Even a "job well done" can seem insincere if the facial expression doesn't match the words. When a team accomplishes a goal or exceeds expectations, a leader should be their biggest champion! An over-the-top expression of commendation can be the fuel that employees need to tackle the next hurdle and outdo their own performance. Showing positive emotion to employees at the right time is beneficial to morale; however, some leaders may find this difficult if that is not a part of their personality. Here are a few ways to practice showing positive emotion:
Emotions are powerful. In our society, the show of emotions is often shunned and looked down upon as a sign of weakness. A true leader understands how powerful emotions can be and uses them to his or her benefit.
An effective leader keeps emotions in check. There are times when a leader must put their own emotions aside in order to properly address the emotions of their followers. This is especially the case with the display of negative emotions. There may be circumstances that cause a team to be sad, upset, angry, or frustrated. It is not unreasonable to think that a leader would not be emotionally affected by the same circumstances, but, as a leader, it is more appropriate to be strong when your team is weak. Acknowledge their feelings. Be their strength. Avoid commiserating with team members and be the inspiration and voice of clarity that they need. At one of the campuses that I led, a student was tragically killed in an off-campus incident. The tragic loss of this student hit the student body and the staff hard. I felt it too--Why did this happen? How could someone so young be taken away? However, it was my job to put my emotions aside so that I could assist my staff and students. We needed a plan for grief counseling for staff and students, we needed to assure parents and the community of student safety, and we needed to support the parents of the deceased student in their time of need. I could not be so caught up in grief that I couldn't lead. No one expects a leader to be without emotion and stoic, but there are times when a leader needs to hold those emotions in until they are among fellow leaders or with family at home so that they can properly lead their team on the job. On the other hand, just as leaders need to withhold emotion, there are times when leaders need to deliberately show emotion. That topic will be discussed in Part 2. Subscribe to the newsletter so you don't miss it! As leaders, we are often in the position of hiring new members for our team. I remember being ecstatic the first time I had the opportunity to be part of a hiring team. Before long, I was in charge and solely responsible for hiring team members. I have successes and failures in hiring team members, so here's what I've learned along the way;
When you have success as a leader, more than likely you are confident in your abilities. It is natural to see your strengths in others. I definitely do not have a poker face so during interviews, I would find myself smiling or nodding in approval when I spoke with candidates who shared some of the same skills and values that I do. Before I knew it, I had hired replicas of myself. I believe in hiring someone like yourself because as a leader, you do not have the time to do the things that you did before your promotion, so you need someone to replace you. On the other hand, you are not perfect. You need to know where your weaknesses are so that you can hire team members that have strengths in the areas that you are weak. For example, I am a doer. I grow impatient with people who are reluctant to take action. I needed someone on my team that was going to remind me and the other team members to pause and reevaluate before we took action. When I was a new leader, I knew that there was a lot that I still didn't know. I found a team member that had more experience than I did in a particular area. My team worked well together and were effective. The point is, use your hiring opportunities to build a well-rounded team. Team members should represent a diversity and balance of personalities, skills, values, expertise, and experience. Be careful not to hire only those that are reflections of yourself, or you may find your weaknesses magnified! |
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