Leadership

Apr

2023

5 Steps to Solving Problems

Are you having a tough time figuring out how to solve a problem? You’re not alone! I am in the middle of processing a problem to determine how to grow something I help lead.

Problem-solving can be tough and overwhelming, but don’t worry – there are steps to make it more manageable. Here are some tips to help you become the problem-solving pro you were meant to be.

Identify the problem

Before you can start solving the problem, you have to identify what the problem is. It might be helpful to write down or draw out the problem so you have a visual representation of it. Try to be as specific as possible when identifying the problem – this will help make the rest of the process go more smoothly.Break it down

How do we eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Same with our problem, once you’ve identified the problem, start breaking it down into smaller, more manageable parts. This will help you to make the process less overwhelming and help you identify potential solutions or approaches.

Brainstorm solutions

Now that you have a better understanding of the problem and have broken it down into smaller components, start brainstorming potential solutions. Write down as many ideas as you can think of – even if they don’t seem feasible. This will help you to get your creative juices flowing and will give you more ideas to work with. Involve your team in this as well because more minds bring more ideas.

Analyze the Solutions

Once you have a list of potential solutions, it’s time to analyze them. Consider the pros and cons of each option and decide which one is the best. This helps you narrow down your options and create a plan of action.

Take Action

Think of solutions is the easy part. Now that you have identified the best solution, take action. Create a plan of action and set a timeline for completion. A plan may be as simple as just the first step. The timeline will help keep you on track to continue moving forward.

Monitor Results

Finally, it’s important to monitor the results of your problem-solving efforts. Keep track of progress and adjust as needed. If you sense you are not moving toward your goal this will help determine where to adjust. As you can see, problem-solving continues even in this stage to ensure you get the best results.

Problem-solving can be tough, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By following these tips, you can become a problem-solving pro and tackle any problem that comes your way. Maybe you are like me and get stuck and could benefit a thinking partner to help you keep moving forward. If so, contact me for a no cost to you thinking partner session. In the meantime, get out there and start solving! Lead Well.

Apr

2023

Leaders Provide Hope

I am writing this on Easter morning. For some people this day is more than just a day about a bunny. This is a day about hope.

As a business leader, you understand the importance of hope. Part of your job is to provide hope, optimism, and direction to your team. You set the tone of success and drive your teams to reach their goals. As a leader, you are the provider of hope.

If your title is CEO may I suggest it stands for “Chief Encouragement Officer.” Even if this is not your title as a leader you provide hope and here are some ideas on how.

Providing Clarity

Leaders give their teams clarity and focus. They provide direction and focus on the future, while keeping the team motivated and inspired. Leaders create a space for their team to thrive, where everyone can work together to reach shared goals and objectives.

Safety and Security

Leaders provide hope to those in their organization by creating a safe and secure environment. A space where employees feel comfortable expressing themselves and taking the necessary risks to achieve success. They provide the support and guidance needed to make difficult decisions and take risks.

Stability

Leaders also bring a level of stability to their organizations. They create a vision of success and create a path for their team to follow. Leaders provide hope in times of chaos, when the future is uncertain, and when the risks seem too great. They apply what leadership expert John Maxwell calls “The Law of Navigation” by providing guidance and direction to ensure that their teams can reach their goals.

Leaders are not only providers of hope at work, but they provide hope to their communities. They are the voices of change, creating solutions to challenges and empowering their communities to drive positive change. They are the ones who stand up and speak out, who speak the truth to empower and create solutions to challenges.

Leaders provide hope. They provide the vision, guidance, and support needed to achieve success. They are the heroes of our time, the individuals who stand up and speak out, who create solutions and drive positive change. They are the beacons of hope in our world, the ones who inspire and motivate their teams and communities. You understand the importance of leadership. Be one who provides hope today.

Need help getting clarity so you can provide hope. Contact me for a thinking partner session to discover how I can help you and your team be the leaders they were made to be. Lead Well.

Mar

2023

Five Tips to Help You Create Vision

Over the past couple of months I’ve had the opportunity to help some business leaders and non-profit organizations work on their business strategy. A big key to strategy is having a clear vision.

As a business leader, you are the one who helps define the vision for your team and encourages buy-in from everyone involved. Creating a vision can be a daunting task, but with the right approach, it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Here are some tips to help you create a vision for your team:

Start with the End in Mind

Before you start trying to create a vision, think about what success looks like. What do you want your team to accomplish in the long run? Spend some time thinking about it, and then you can start to create a vision that will help your team achieve that success.

Get Input from Your Team

Once you’ve identified what success looks like, the next step is to get input from your team. Find out what they think success looks like, and then you can start to create a vision that incorporates everyone’s ideas. This is important because it helps create a sense of ownership and buy-in from everyone involved.

Make Sure your Vision is Achievable

A vision is only effective if it is achievable. The vision should be something that feels like it will require teamwork and effort, but realistic enough your team can see themselves accomplishing it. If your vision is to triple your income and the last few years you have only had a ten percent growth people will get discouraged because it won’t seem achievable. Scale it to be stretching and, with work, achievable.

Be Specific and Clear

Make sure that your vision is clear and specific. This will help your team understand what they need to do to achieve success. Put numbers or some type of metric with the vision to provide clarity. Creating a scoreboard that is visual can also help.

Communicate the Vision to Your Team

Vision leaks. People forget in the whirlwind of work and life what the big picture is. Once you have created a vision, communicate it to your team. . . often. Make sure that everyone understands the vision and is clear on their role in achieving the vision

Creating a vision for your team can be an incredibly rewarding experience, and can help to create a sense of buy-in from everyone involved. With the right approach, you can create a vision that will help your team achieve success. Need help thinking into your vision? Contact me for a thinking partner call to help you think into your personal and team vision. Lead Well!

Feb

2023

Learning from Lincoln’s Leadership

I was driving on a business trip and listening to the book The President and the Freedom Fighter and have also been slowly working my way through Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Both books highlight the leadership of President Lincoln. Below are some quotes from the latter and what we can learn about leadership as we celebrate President’s Day.

“In order to win a man to your cause you must first reach his heart, the great high road to his reason.”

Throughout his presidential leadership, Lincoln was intentional about when he acted. The emancipation proclamation was first drafted almost six months before it was officially ordered by the President. This was because he understood the importance of timing. Had he ordered this at the time it was written the union was not in a position that would win the hearts of the people. Six months earlier it may have caused a greater divide instead of unity.

Leadership expert John Maxwell in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership explains that “people buy into the leader, then the vision.” Lincoln understood this and knew he had to have the hearts of people before he could move forward with his vision for the emancipation of slaves. Great leaders connect with those they lead so they understand their needs and when the time is right they will support the leader’s cause.

“The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places . . . Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.”

Lincoln read voraciously. He not only read but sought to understand and apply what he read. It has been said that leaders are readers. Why?

In order to be effective as a leader you must continually be growing. When we stop growing, we stop going. Reading is a way to learn from others we may never meet. Reading expands our perspective. Reading expands our knowledge so we can succeed.

Reading is not enough, we must apply what we learn and put it into action. Maybe there is something we need to change because of what we read, something we need to apply immediately or even teach others. What feeds the desire to grow is the determination that you will succeed. Leaders read in order to succeed.

“Though Lincoln desired success as fiercely as any of his rivals, he did not allow his quest for office to consume the kindness and openheartedness with which he treated supporters and rivals alike,”

Goodwin tells the story of how Lincoln needed someone to galvanize the war department. Many people would not consider someone who humiliated them in the past. Not Lincoln.

Lincoln tapped Edwin Stanton, who previously spoke disparagingly about Lincoln, to be the head of the war department. He did not allow personal grievances to prevent him from inviting people into his inner circle. Throughout his presidency, he had rivals as well as supporters who provided various perspectives to speak into his leadership.

Great leaders have the humility to bring people with different opinions close to them to strengthen their thinking. They put aside personal grievances and create a culture of openness unified around a common cause. As long as everyone in the inner circle is unified around the vision, different perspectives are healthy. Lincoln put people before his agenda and sought what was best for the country above all else.

Consider these priorities: relationships, growth, and different perspectives. Which of them do you need to improve on? Need help thinking into this? Contact me for a thinking partner session to help you think into your leadership. When we raise our leadership ability, it creates room to grow the leaders around us. Lead Well!

Goodwin, Doris K. Team of Rivals. Simon & Schuster: New York. 2005.

Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Harper Collins Leadership. 2022.

Feb

2023

Five Tips on Building a Healthy Culture

I was sitting with a business leader as we discussed their business strategy. During our conversation, it became apparent that he needed to get clear on what kind of culture he wanted to build.

As a business leader, it’s up to you to create a healthy workplace culture — one that encourages collaboration, creativity, and innovation, while still maintaining a productive and professional environment. Though every culture is different, here are ideas on how to get started.

Take a “Culture First” Approach.

A “culture first” approach focuses on the health and well-being of the company and its employees. This means creating a supportive and inclusive environment that values diverse thoughts and worldviews and encourages open communication. It also means providing the necessary resources to make sure employees have the tools they need to succeed.

Establish Clear Goals and Expectations.

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to help some business leaders set clear goals and expectations. This is essential for any successful business. Explain to your team what you expect from them in terms of their performance, and make sure they understand the vision and mission of the company. As a leader, you should also ensure your team knows what their roles and responsibilities are and hold them accountable for meeting the goals.

Prioritize Employee Engagement.

One leader I was talking to applied this idea with his leadership team by listening to their ideas to create an environment for them to own the vision. When employees feel heard and valued and have opportunities to express their ideas and experiences they will be more enthusiastic about the direction of the organization. On a personal level schedule flexibility and autonomy in how they complete their work can increase engagement.^1,2

Encourage Open Communication.

Oftentimes I will go into an organization to provide a communication workshop because this can be at the core of organizational culture problems. Not only is understanding our team and how we communicate important, but being available to answer questions and address concerns creates an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Creating ways for team members to communicate with each other and safely provide constructive feedback will reinforce the culture of open communication.

Invest in Professional Development.

Investing in professional development is another great way to build a healthy culture. Research has shown that employees are more likely to stay with an organization if they help them grow in their skills.³ Providing employees with the resources and training they need to develop their skills will help them stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technology and give them the confidence to take on new challenges.

Creating a healthy workplace culture is a process that takes time, but the rewards are worth the effort. By taking the “culture first” approach, setting clear expectations, prioritizing employee engagement, encouraging open communication, and investing in professional development, you can create an environment that encourages collaboration, creativity, and innovation — and that’s good for both your business and your employees. Need help assessing your culture in an organic way? Contact me to explore tools like our communication impact workshop or the Maxwell Leadership Game to assess and/or grow your team. Lead Well.

Jan

2023

Learning From Legendary 49ers Coach Bill Walsh

Although I am a Los Angeles Rams fan, I have to admit that Bill Walsh, coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 – 1989, was a legendary leader. I read his book The Score Takes Care of Itself a while back, and below are a few principles we can learn from his leadership.

Have a Philosophy

“Your philosophy is the single most important navigational point on your leadership compass.”

I have read books by many successful coaches, and they all have this idea in common. John Wooden had his “Pyramid of Success.” Pete Carroll has his “Win Forever” philosophy and if we look at other sectors of leadership, leaders have a philosophy.

In a resource I created called Leadership Theory 101, I explain eleven theories of leadership which I won’t go into here. I see in Coach Walsh’s statement that effective leaders have a philosophy. This is our guide on why, what, when, and even how we do what we do. This will be at the center of our decision-making process. Our philosophy will be our compass.

Growth not Goal

“I directed our focus less to the prize of victory than to the process of improving . . . about the quality of our execution and the content of our thinking; that is, our actions and attitude.”

As Walsh developed his philosophy he, like other great coaches, chose not to focus on winning but the process that would help them get to that outcome. When we get too focused on the result, we lose our drive if we have a loss that seems to prevent us from accomplishing the goal.

When leading our teams, we must have a goal or vision. That provides the why behind what is done each day, but as McChesney, et al. discuss in The 4 Disciplines of Execution, the lead measures are the daily actions that will help us achieve the goals we seek. As we keep our team focused on the habits that will bring results, the results will come.

Culture is Critical

“Champions behave like champions before they’re champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.”

Maybe you’ve heard the idea that culture eats leadership for lunch. As a leader, Walsh had a philosophy that helped create a culture. If the standard we expect as leaders is only held up when we are present, then we don’t have the culture we seek yet.

When the leader is not present, but the performance standard remains, you have created a culture. If people are not meeting expectations and others on your team hold one another to the expected standard . . . you have the culture you desire. This culture tied to your philosophy and expectations will reinforce and continue to help you accomplish your goals.

Reflect on these three areas for a moment today and evaluate how you are doing in these areas. Do you have a culture of followers who do what you want when you are there? Or are you developing leaders who are excited about the vision and help others work to accomplish the shared vision? Need help developing the leaders around you? Contact me and let’s explore ways I can help you and the leaders around you grow to create a culture that builds champions. Lead Well.