What Is One of the Best Ways to Engage Your Team?

How do you know if someone is engaged? What makes someone on a team more engaged than anyone else? An engaged team member is passionate about their job, they will do what it takes to get things done and they are committed to the organization. They are motivated from within and have a growth mindset. They love to learn new things and know that they will figure out what they don’t know.  What if you have someone who isn’t engaged though? They may come to…
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Is Your Team Engaged Even When You Aren’t All Together?

If you and your team have worked together in person, you already have that bond. However, when everyone is working remotely, it can be a challenge to ensure that everyone is engaged. What do you need to do to ensure that everyone is still connected on a consistent basis?  What if you add new team members to the group? How do you adjust your leadership to support the remote engagement that is necessary for success?  These are the real questions…
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What Is The Root Cause of a Frustrated Leader?

Leaders get frustrated when their teams don’t do what is expected. What caused the team to have a disconnect between what was expected and what happened in reality? Most of the time there is an issue with the leader holding them accountable. The leader doesn’t want to tell the team what to do. Instead they will make suggestions or try to hint around at what should be done instead of coming out and saying what they want. When the team doesn’t seem…
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Want To Be The Best Leader In Your Company?

Leading a team seems so straightforward at first. There are tactical activities to manage and there needs to be a focus on strategy too. You also need to develop people, ensure they get their work done, and hold them accountable too. Sounds easy, right?   Here is where the challenge comes in. Not every person is the same. Every person that you lead has different learning styles, personalities, interests, experiences, beliefs, and ideas. You may think that they will shift to your style, but you actually…
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How Can You Make a Difference For Your Team Right Now?

Leading others during this pandemic requires creativity and flexibility. It is an ever-changing environment and things will be done differently to adapt. It isn’t always easy, but it is necessary. We are five months into the shift to leading teams remotely and at this point, it looks like it will be a lot longer. The ways of working are different, but your priorities are the same. Focus on the development of the team, deliver on your goals, and influence/communicate with clients…
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Are You Ready to Lead Other Great Leaders?

As you progress to higher levels in an organization, you will inevitably not only be the leader of a team, but you will begin to lead other leaders. While this may seem similar in scope, leading other leaders requires a different mindset to be effective. These high potential leaders may already have strong skills, experience, and the respect of their teams. They are looking to be further developed and stretched even more. How will you set these leaders up for success? You will need to leverage your…
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How Can You Build Trust With Your Manager?

Do you know what your manager expects of you? If the conversation about expectations doesn’t happen, then you don’t know if you are doing what your manager wants you to do. Having this conversation early on in the relationship allows for clarity on the ways of working together and communication. It sounds simple enough. Why don’t people do it?  There may be a fear or anxiety that people may have about this type of conversation. Will they be able to meet the…
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Do You Think Managing Up is a Good Thing?

Building a strong relationship with your manager is important to your career. Your manager can support you and help you gain visibility to move up in your career or they can also be the person that holds you back from progressing any further. Managing up is focused on finding the best ways to work together which ultimately supports you.    How can you help them achieve their goals which can provide you additional opportunities for visibility? What strengths do you…
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What Is Helpful To Know About Your Manager?

There are some key things that you need to know to have an effective working relationship with your boss. What are your manager’s strengths and opportunity areas? No leader can know or be good at everything so it is important to do some of this research. How can you help support your manager in the opportunity areas? Look for the things that will increase the value of your relationship and will provide ways that you can build trust. It is also…
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How Can You Support Your Manager Like A Client?

I attended a training class many years ago on coaching and feedback. The two big things that I remember from that class were: give feedback to someone in a timely manner and that your manager is your top client. I had lots of clients at the time, but never considered that my manager was one of them. It was one of those aha moments for me and it made a lot of sense. This type of thinking shifts how you…
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