When I first started out as a leader, I was much more directive than I should have been. I didn’t know another way to lead a team yet. Now many teams and many years later, I have learned that there is a much better way to lead. This style of leadership sets the vision for the organization, empowers the team and helps the team learn the skills they need to be successful. Being a leader who leverages coaching skills helps…
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I recently sent out a survey to do some research on challenges that leaders have so I could build some coaching programs. Some of the responses included some questions about coaching and how it works. I thought it might be helpful to answer those questions here in this post. What is coaching? The International Coaching Federation who is the governing body of certification for coaches defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them…
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I attended a family anniversary party over the weekend. It was great to see everyone and celebrate the momentous occasion. There were people there that represented the different parts of the couple’s lives. People they had met in high school, at work, their neighbors, their family and children. Over a lifetime you meet so many people. Some that you continue to connect with throughout your life and others that may come into your life for a very short time. Seeing…
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I have been lucky enough to have some new opportunities come my way. I was obviously pretty excited about each of them. My first impulse was to just say yes immediately. If these were things that I had been working towards, then saying yes would have been absolutely the right thing to do. But these opportunities came out of the blue. How do I decide whether or not to take them? I have a rule that I use…
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I have a confession to make. I absolutely love to collect quotes. I have them saved in my One Note and in my Pinterest account. There are thousands of quotes that people save and re-pin on Pinterest every single day. Quotes are used in so many ways. They may be used for motivation, inspiration, reflection and as a way to help people move forward in their lives. Have you heard a quote as you are going throughout your day that…
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As I read the article, The Leaders Imprint by Scott Mabry, it struck me how much every decision and action we take as a leader can leave in Scott’s words, an “Imprint” on others who work for us. Being critical of our team members on a regular basis has a lasting impact on them. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, people don’t leave organizations, they leave managers. Being too critical causes people to doubt themselves, shut down, become disengaged or…
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What is interesting about the title “leader” is that you don’t get that title unless you are leading a team, an organization or a company. By definition, it means that you have others who are following you. Although there are some companies out there trying the concept of not having formal leaders in place, this is still evolving and it may only work for certain types of companies. In my opinion, being a leader is really one of the greatest…
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I was reviewing my list of values from an assessment I took about a year ago. I always find it interesting to go back and look at what the results were at that time and if they still resonate with me. Here are my top 5 values: Helping Others Succeed, Learning/Knowledge, Coaching, Customer Service and Problem Solving. Anyone who knows me should not be surprised by this list at all. It is absolutely who I am and how I live…
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The beauty of having a diverse team is that each person brings different experiences to their unique roles. They also have different perspectives and leadership styles. As the leader, you need to find the best way to motivate the team to accomplish the goals. So how do you do that? This was my dilemma about 16 years ago. I had a team that was made up of internal employees, external contractors, differing levels of expertise and different leadership styles. Did…
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CONGRATULATIONS to the Chicago Cubs on winning the National League Division Series! Four very exciting baseball games occurred against the San Francisco Giants which led to the win. I was thinking about all the work that the Chicago Cubs Organization put in place to get to this point. Tough decisions about who to keep on the team and negotiations to identify other players who would bring the team together to give them the chance to win. It is exciting to…
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