Tuesday, 24 November 2020
Sunday, 22 November 2020
A guide for how to start thinking like a leader
Hi!
Whilst I'm certainly no expert and not trying to be some know-it-all here, this was some thing of a cheat sheet I created for up and coming leaders, as part of a development plan to serve as a bit of guidance.
They are a few tried, tested and proven successful items that have worked in mostly all situations and industries, via not only myself but with a few of the leaders I've worked with and developed through the years. You'll probably know and use some (or all) of them already.
If you do see any value, please pass these on to anyone who might be working through any leadership development.
Before getting into the list, the below statement is something I suggest you grab hold of and try to keep to. It will help guide your team through your own actions, and as a prod to yourself.
"EVERYDAY HAS TO BE BETTER THAN AVERAGE"
Whilst it doesn't sound all that inspirational, its enough of a statement to keep you trying, to keep you reaching for something better. Try it, see how it goes for you.
Now the list;
- Have a clear plan on what success looks like for you as a person
- Be passionate / positive – your state of mind will affect your teams state of mind and action
- Be the calm in the eye of any storm – teams need surety and stability to operate effectively during a crisis
- Execute – get stuff done. Finish lines are important.
- Be a constant learner - especially from your people and surroundings. Pay attention to everything.
- The little things for your team mates "DO" matter, often even when they say they don't.
- Create confidence as a leader with your employees
- Be proactive through thought, awareness and action
- Actively collaborate – ensure you involve everyone
- Keep a solid positive connection
- Be transparent where possible – build trust
- Empathy is a genuine super power. It enables the ability to see things "brewing" before they become negative. Empathy also allows you to better connect with your people, vital for when [insert bad word here] hits the fan, and just as important when things are going great
- Don't dismiss your gut instincts – if nothing else, they should be a call for you to be more curious of whatever triggered them.
- Be a clear communicator – what, why, how, when. Especially when dealing with the next point.
- Be good at change management. It is all about ensuring there are no real surprises that frighten, concern or start people making up their own ideas. Lead people in the direction you need to them to be open minded about, or perk their curiosity weeks in advance of any changes you are looking to implement. That way, when the change eventually has to be introduced, it is accepted a lot easier.
- Set strategic goals for yourself and those who report to you – ensure alignment to greater dept. and business goals. Utilise and teach ground level, 2,000 ft., 5,000 ft., 10,000 ft. and 30,000 ft. approaches/thinking to see and deal with potential disruptors and opportunities for success / profit
- Understand how everything "fits" together from dept. to wider business. Where does your business start, what transitions through it (both in and out) and where it finishes
- In relation to point 13, also know where YOU fit in the business, what is the role you play, what can you bring to the team you run, to the depot you work in, to the business as a whole and write them down. This can serve as a reminder on your journey.
- Be curious at all times. Ask all the questions. Better to ask the question, than hide you don't know and end up getting caught out.
- Understand who the key stakeholders of your dept. and business actually are. Meet them.
- Honesty and integrity are a leaders greatest assets. Make these your greatest traits. Instill them in others when teaching / mentoring
- Know you don't have to know everything. A good leader can coach, guide and empower and improve a team's outputs, emotional state, all without being able to do the actual role their team does. Understand how it all works, and ensure you have key people who do the actual work, so they can explain to you any challenges that may affect the team etc that you then address where applicable. This is key to empowering your team. They become the expert in their role.
- Be authentic – it is better to be yourself than pretend to be someone you are not. You can adapt and learn and change, but YOU stays the same. Understand who YOU are.
- Ikigai [google it] and WHY journeys are important
- Understand what the business expects of you and those you lead. When unsure, ask. When no guidance, refer to points 1, 9, 10 and 12
- Treat all people with respect, from the CEO to the cleaner of the toilets. Everyone has a story, everyone has dreams, and everyone has opinions and suggestions. You only have to ask them and be curious. Some of the greatest cost savings and innovations for businesses have come from the lowest ranked person in organisations.
- Develop strong people systems
- Develop and clarify strong process systems
- Be innovative. Drive innovation from within your teams.
- Do what you say you're going to do.
- Frustration and anger are not tools of an effective leader – teams need consistency in emotional content and throughout business
- In conjunction with point 21, it is important to be seen as human. Wherever possible, humanise yourself. Share about your personal life, tell people about your story, be okay with showing vulnerability – these are the things that will endear you to your team, create trusting bonds and long lasting solid professional relationships
So there are a few solid ones to begin with. I deliberately left it at "27" to make you uncomfortable enough to get to "30"...
Give it a shot and add in your own ones and share in the comments section below.
In the meantime, have a great day and a great journey :)
Darren
Thursday, 4 April 2019
Team Dysfunction - hints and tips for both leaders and team members
Hi you!
Great to see you back. How has your week been?
A tricky subject because dysfunction can be obvious and subtle.
This post is in no way trying to be confronting like I have all the answers, because I don't. These are simply a few things I have been taught and thought a good idea to share. As always with these posts, take out of it what you find useful, dismiss what is not. I'm by no means an expert and the aim has always been to offer up my own learnings to promote sharing and empowerment.
Feel free to add in your own thoughts or suggestions in the comments below.
So this is specifically in relation to teams that somehow lose their way, get caught up in frustrations from small issues which then eventually become near impossible impassable mountains.
Team dysfunction almost always increases individual anxiety, pushes up absenteeism, creates friction, causes collective stress (and often perception changes of how an entire team "views" things) and generally lessens the team's effectiveness in working towards their common goal. Bottom line - it can affect a teams reason for existing. More often than not, workloads go from "coping" to "impossible", even without actual workloads actually increasing. Again, its that perception thing.
I've been very lucky in my working career to have worked with a great many teams and individuals. I've run high performance teams, varying levels of dysfunctional ones, right through to supposedly "broken" teams, those of which, thankfully didn't remain that way for long.
But how did I turn the two latter types around? No, I'm not the worlds greatest manager. I just employed some awareness and realised a few home truths, things I have been taught.
Keep reading.
The truth of the matter you need to realise is, there is no team that is ever broken or beyond repair. Same goes for every individual within it. Sure, some people may be unsuited to their roles, choose to move one, be let go or be encouraged to go elsewhere (as is the nature of business) but the main key is to realise that in the majority of situations;
There are always other factors that prevent individuals from being positive members of their team.
Realising these key features (for both you as a team member or as the leader) can certainly help how the team progresses from that point on. Being aware there is dysfunction is half the battle.
The next key feature relates to the below picture - taken from works by "The Table Group's CEO, Patrick Lencioni - click http://www.tablegroup.com/ to learn more.
If you are the leader of the team, in my experience it has always been vital to work on repairing each of these 5 dysfunctions via working both one on one with the team members and as the entire group themselves (so everyone hears the same thing, a consistent message from you).
Just as important, if you are the team member, it is your job to be aware of the dysfunction and work on addressing each of the issues for yourself within your team, as a part of it.
For instance with your new awareness of any dysfunction, you have to take some responsibility too and look at yourself. A team is only ever as strong as its members, right? What if you're inadvertently adding to the dysfunction?
As a leader or member of the team, a good thing to try - ask yourself, are you (perceived or actually) any of the following people?
If you are, then the time has arrived to do something about it. You didn't come to work to cause others problems did you? I'm betting you said no, of course not. The trick will be if you can be honest enough with yourself to answer accurately.
If you have been perceived as being The Arrogant, start being more empathetic, try to understand the challenges your fellow team mates are experiencing. Empathy is something I cover often in high performing teams as this can often be lost in the pursuit of better measurements. It is a solid method of seeing something from someone else's perspective. It can also change your own.
If you're The Confused, make a list of the things you're confused about and get the answers you need. It's amazing how knowledge can deal with confusion. So many people dig themselves holes by not fronting up to say they dont understand something. Ask yourself a question - which is better? To know how? Or to pretend you know how? You get the drift.
If you're The Panic Machine, try and figure out why you feel this way all the time. A good tip is to deal in facts and logic more often than dealing with emotions. Emotions are good, but if they're causing you to panic with knee-jerk reactions, go with logic and facts about what is "actually" happening, not what you're afraid "might" be.
Consider this - if I tell you "dont think of a purple elephant". Read that again. What did you do? You thought of a purple elephant, right? This proves hacking your brain is possible. Find your purple elephant.
The Blamer - is nothing ever your fault? Are you absolutely sure about that? Not taking responsibility for your actions or your part in actions is detrimental to any team make-up. Likewise, if you are the leader and The Blamer, then you are creating a culture of fear within your group. This behaviour from a leader creates all five of these types. Like the arrogant one, employ some empathy and look around as to how people are reacting to you. You might be surprised.
The Fearful. Ok, you, my friend, need to have more faith in yourself. Helps to know that fear often comes from a combo of confusion and panic that occurs in situations you think/feel you are ill-prepared for. Worst case scenario feelings. History can also be an influence on you too. My best advice is to read some of my other posts or google up what you can do. All you need is a little bit of self-belief, ensure you have an accurate picture of yourself and to develop some trust so you can ask the questions for the answers you need to feel better. And trust me. You can do it, the world wont end if you admit your fears.
You may also be one of each of the types at different times of the day, week, month or year. Is there a trend you can see? Do you always become the Panic Machine every time you deal with a particular person? Or Blamer when dealing with someone else? Either way, being aware is again, half the battle won.
As the leader of the team and you have these people within your team, it is always your responsibility to help them/facilitate the changes these people will eventually want to strive for under your guidance. By helping, you can address the 5 dysfunctions of a team as represented in the pyramid.
But most of all, remember, no team is ever broken. Some do lose their way at times but believe me, success is never as far away as you might feel it is in the beginning when you realise something might be up.
This post only just scratches the surface of what's possible, like I said, I'm no expert. I make plenty of mistakes, and I'm still learning. This is simply stuff I've been shown and taught in the past and is tried and tested - it works.
Yes, it will take effort and yes, it will take time and yes again, you may make mistakes too, but the thing is, if you are the leader of a team that is struggling, it is 100% your responsibility to help them resolve the issues as best you can. You have to try. You were put into your position as a leader for a reason. Back yourself like you've been backed, get advice if you need it, and get in there.
The effort now will save you time in the future. 100% guarantee.
Likewise, if you are the member of a team that isn't running right, you have a responsibility to help it too. Look at yourself, look at those around you. You already know everyone would prefer to be happier, right? And since you're all in this together, doesn't it make sense to do something about it? Consider the alternative. What if no one does anything? Your team will become even more miserable, some people will leave, your team may collapse entirely.
I sincerely hope some of this has helped you. If you have any questions or even just some clarity around some of the points, please don't hesitate to ask. If I don't have the answers, I'll find some.
Have a great day.
A tricky subject because dysfunction can be obvious and subtle.
This post is in no way trying to be confronting like I have all the answers, because I don't. These are simply a few things I have been taught and thought a good idea to share. As always with these posts, take out of it what you find useful, dismiss what is not. I'm by no means an expert and the aim has always been to offer up my own learnings to promote sharing and empowerment.
Feel free to add in your own thoughts or suggestions in the comments below.
So this is specifically in relation to teams that somehow lose their way, get caught up in frustrations from small issues which then eventually become near impossible impassable mountains.
Team dysfunction almost always increases individual anxiety, pushes up absenteeism, creates friction, causes collective stress (and often perception changes of how an entire team "views" things) and generally lessens the team's effectiveness in working towards their common goal. Bottom line - it can affect a teams reason for existing. More often than not, workloads go from "coping" to "impossible", even without actual workloads actually increasing. Again, its that perception thing.
I've been very lucky in my working career to have worked with a great many teams and individuals. I've run high performance teams, varying levels of dysfunctional ones, right through to supposedly "broken" teams, those of which, thankfully didn't remain that way for long.
But how did I turn the two latter types around? No, I'm not the worlds greatest manager. I just employed some awareness and realised a few home truths, things I have been taught.
Keep reading.
The truth of the matter you need to realise is, there is no team that is ever broken or beyond repair. Same goes for every individual within it. Sure, some people may be unsuited to their roles, choose to move one, be let go or be encouraged to go elsewhere (as is the nature of business) but the main key is to realise that in the majority of situations;
NO ONE COMES TO WORK TO DO A BAD JOB.
There are always other factors that prevent individuals from being positive members of their team.
The next key feature relates to the below picture - taken from works by "The Table Group's CEO, Patrick Lencioni - click http://www.tablegroup.com/ to learn more.
Just as important, if you are the team member, it is your job to be aware of the dysfunction and work on addressing each of the issues for yourself within your team, as a part of it.
For instance with your new awareness of any dysfunction, you have to take some responsibility too and look at yourself. A team is only ever as strong as its members, right? What if you're inadvertently adding to the dysfunction?
As a leader or member of the team, a good thing to try - ask yourself, are you (perceived or actually) any of the following people?
If you have been perceived as being The Arrogant, start being more empathetic, try to understand the challenges your fellow team mates are experiencing. Empathy is something I cover often in high performing teams as this can often be lost in the pursuit of better measurements. It is a solid method of seeing something from someone else's perspective. It can also change your own.
If you're The Confused, make a list of the things you're confused about and get the answers you need. It's amazing how knowledge can deal with confusion. So many people dig themselves holes by not fronting up to say they dont understand something. Ask yourself a question - which is better? To know how? Or to pretend you know how? You get the drift.
If you're The Panic Machine, try and figure out why you feel this way all the time. A good tip is to deal in facts and logic more often than dealing with emotions. Emotions are good, but if they're causing you to panic with knee-jerk reactions, go with logic and facts about what is "actually" happening, not what you're afraid "might" be.
Consider this - if I tell you "dont think of a purple elephant". Read that again. What did you do? You thought of a purple elephant, right? This proves hacking your brain is possible. Find your purple elephant.
The Blamer - is nothing ever your fault? Are you absolutely sure about that? Not taking responsibility for your actions or your part in actions is detrimental to any team make-up. Likewise, if you are the leader and The Blamer, then you are creating a culture of fear within your group. This behaviour from a leader creates all five of these types. Like the arrogant one, employ some empathy and look around as to how people are reacting to you. You might be surprised.
The Fearful. Ok, you, my friend, need to have more faith in yourself. Helps to know that fear often comes from a combo of confusion and panic that occurs in situations you think/feel you are ill-prepared for. Worst case scenario feelings. History can also be an influence on you too. My best advice is to read some of my other posts or google up what you can do. All you need is a little bit of self-belief, ensure you have an accurate picture of yourself and to develop some trust so you can ask the questions for the answers you need to feel better. And trust me. You can do it, the world wont end if you admit your fears.
You may also be one of each of the types at different times of the day, week, month or year. Is there a trend you can see? Do you always become the Panic Machine every time you deal with a particular person? Or Blamer when dealing with someone else? Either way, being aware is again, half the battle won.
As the leader of the team and you have these people within your team, it is always your responsibility to help them/facilitate the changes these people will eventually want to strive for under your guidance. By helping, you can address the 5 dysfunctions of a team as represented in the pyramid.
But most of all, remember, no team is ever broken. Some do lose their way at times but believe me, success is never as far away as you might feel it is in the beginning when you realise something might be up.
AGAIN, NO ONE COMES TO WORK TO DO A BAD JOB.
Once you deal with the barriers causing dysfunction, your team will feel better about themselves as individuals and as a team. Team cohesion will begin, smiles will start being a lot more common, the ability to empower rises up and any historical-type difficulties will be handled by yourself and those around you, almost to the point where the team can self heal from injury.
This post only just scratches the surface of what's possible, like I said, I'm no expert. I make plenty of mistakes, and I'm still learning. This is simply stuff I've been shown and taught in the past and is tried and tested - it works.
Yes, it will take effort and yes, it will take time and yes again, you may make mistakes too, but the thing is, if you are the leader of a team that is struggling, it is 100% your responsibility to help them resolve the issues as best you can. You have to try. You were put into your position as a leader for a reason. Back yourself like you've been backed, get advice if you need it, and get in there.
The effort now will save you time in the future. 100% guarantee.
Likewise, if you are the member of a team that isn't running right, you have a responsibility to help it too. Look at yourself, look at those around you. You already know everyone would prefer to be happier, right? And since you're all in this together, doesn't it make sense to do something about it? Consider the alternative. What if no one does anything? Your team will become even more miserable, some people will leave, your team may collapse entirely.
I sincerely hope some of this has helped you. If you have any questions or even just some clarity around some of the points, please don't hesitate to ask. If I don't have the answers, I'll find some.
Have a great day.
Thursday, 29 November 2018
Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Leadership - what is it all about?
Well...it was inevitable.
Everybody gets older. I turned a year older this very year. I think it likely you did too, or you will.
I know, life. Crazy...
I know, life. Crazy...
For those of you who don't know me. I'm a guy who is still in my forties with a few wrinkles appearing on my face when I smile now, I'm happily married, I have a 17 year old son, a 21 year old daughter, a 3 year old granddaughter and a 9 year old step son. There's a lot more salt than pepper in my beard and hair now than there was a year ago (possible reference to all the children) and I'm less inclined to go for a cross country run now than I was when I was 20.
No wait. Scratch that. I've always hated cross-country running. Face turns red, you sweat and overheat, struggle to breathe, and the constant running thing never tickled my brain. With all those symptoms, I'm pretty sure they're all signs of an allergic reaction.
Plus, running for fun? Have you ever seen a happy runner? No. And there you have it. I do enjoy exercise though, but swimming. Not running. I'm not built to run. I'm more of a stand and see what happens kinda guy.
Plus, running for fun? Have you ever seen a happy runner? No. And there you have it. I do enjoy exercise though, but swimming. Not running. I'm not built to run. I'm more of a stand and see what happens kinda guy.
So let's kick this off. So, how does a guy like me - who did not excel in school but did fine, was not a superstar in any chosen field just fine in most, was not particularly well supported by my teachers due to my incessant curiosity, who came from a single parent home - end up doing all the incredible stuff I have done (and with more to come) across so many businesses and with so many amazing people?
The answer is the very same answer that I've been writing about in almost every single post I've ever written. It all comes down to;
"Attitude"
Yup - this old nugget. "A" double "T", "i" and another "t" with a whole lot of "uuuude" thrown in for good measure.
I - like a lot of the successful people I know - strive each and every day, to focus on the good, to turn not-so-good situations into better, to be proactive greater than 20% of our time and turn the negative thinking of others and ourselves, into more positive views. Dwelling on negatives does no one any good. Learning from negatives becomes a positive and that does everyone good.
By constantly looking for win/win's in every situation, being open to learning from everyone and anyone, by building a genuine, honest rapport with the people you work and interact with, you build a good base with people. Maintaining a constant drive for transparency and integrity in all your dealings, things will often fall into place where they're supposed to. Add to that, doing exactly what you say you're going to do (and striving to become well-known for all these traits), you will build up a size-able level of respect. It's how its worked for me in all the businesses I have worked within.
And judging by the numerous head-hunting messages I get through LinkedIn etc and emails each month, I can only guess that perhaps this respect has translated into word of mouth that I'm a good guy to have on the team too. Always nice to be wanted :D
By constantly looking for win/win's in every situation, being open to learning from everyone and anyone, by building a genuine, honest rapport with the people you work and interact with, you build a good base with people. Maintaining a constant drive for transparency and integrity in all your dealings, things will often fall into place where they're supposed to. Add to that, doing exactly what you say you're going to do (and striving to become well-known for all these traits), you will build up a size-able level of respect. It's how its worked for me in all the businesses I have worked within.
And judging by the numerous head-hunting messages I get through LinkedIn etc and emails each month, I can only guess that perhaps this respect has translated into word of mouth that I'm a good guy to have on the team too. Always nice to be wanted :D
For you reading this, all that effort I've noted might seem a lot or hard work, but it's not. It is just a simple state of mind. Nothing more.
The result of having this type of attitude ensures that you have the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally without burning any bridges along the way. Whilst sure, as a leader you will have to make decisions that ultimately challenge what others are doing and you might get things wrong but in my experience, whatever bridges you "singe", you 'll never burn to the ground. Often the burns will fade once people realise you have not ever deviated from being a genuinely caring person with integrity who they trust. And more often than not, a person's reaction to anything you do, is often reflection on them, rather than you. Especially when you have a good, kind heart with the attitude to match.
And that raises the big point. Being successful in business is never about being heartless. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The people and businesses I have seen become successful, have been all about the heart. Being honest. Valuing people highly. Caring. Whilst there are always dollar decisions to be made, if you have a core set of values of how you view the world and they ultimately reinforce a heart approach and why you're in business in the first place, then you cannot go wrong. And it's easy to see the people and businesses who fall off this path too. You can almost see the disengagement amongst their employees from the moment they suspect they've become numbers rather than human's and their leaders have disengaged.
Whenever you are working, whatever you are doing, if you have the right attitude towards it and those around you, you will succeed. Make sure you're not just sitting back and "expecting" things to happen for (or to) you, and things will get easier and you will keep yourself ahead of the curve. Nice people in business do get somewhere. Nice people with go-get-it attitudes get even further. It does also depend on what you consider is success.
For me, my guide is about making a positive difference to those around me, genuinely helping people develop and grow, building relationships that will stand the test of time, all whilst being well rewarded for my efforts. Not so that I can go buy "stuff", but so that I can provide for my family (be that travel to expand their minds, safer cars they love, healthier food on the table, etc) to the very best of my ability. Your career will take off the moment you define what you want out of one.
The result of having this type of attitude ensures that you have the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally without burning any bridges along the way. Whilst sure, as a leader you will have to make decisions that ultimately challenge what others are doing and you might get things wrong but in my experience, whatever bridges you "singe", you 'll never burn to the ground. Often the burns will fade once people realise you have not ever deviated from being a genuinely caring person with integrity who they trust. And more often than not, a person's reaction to anything you do, is often reflection on them, rather than you. Especially when you have a good, kind heart with the attitude to match.
And that raises the big point. Being successful in business is never about being heartless. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The people and businesses I have seen become successful, have been all about the heart. Being honest. Valuing people highly. Caring. Whilst there are always dollar decisions to be made, if you have a core set of values of how you view the world and they ultimately reinforce a heart approach and why you're in business in the first place, then you cannot go wrong. And it's easy to see the people and businesses who fall off this path too. You can almost see the disengagement amongst their employees from the moment they suspect they've become numbers rather than human's and their leaders have disengaged.
Whenever you are working, whatever you are doing, if you have the right attitude towards it and those around you, you will succeed. Make sure you're not just sitting back and "expecting" things to happen for (or to) you, and things will get easier and you will keep yourself ahead of the curve. Nice people in business do get somewhere. Nice people with go-get-it attitudes get even further. It does also depend on what you consider is success.
For me, my guide is about making a positive difference to those around me, genuinely helping people develop and grow, building relationships that will stand the test of time, all whilst being well rewarded for my efforts. Not so that I can go buy "stuff", but so that I can provide for my family (be that travel to expand their minds, safer cars they love, healthier food on the table, etc) to the very best of my ability. Your career will take off the moment you define what you want out of one.
For the attitude, people will see this great attitude in you, a confidence, a know-where-they-stand understanding and as a result, will not only work hard for and with you, but you will also garner their respect and belief in what you're trying to get done.
Sounds great, right?
But what about all the experience, the skill? What if you're just starting out?
Along with the attitude, you also need to allow yourself to make mistakes, not be too embarrassed to make them so that you then don''t try, become too afraid to ask questions.
You have to be brave.
But what about all the experience, the skill? What if you're just starting out?
Along with the attitude, you also need to allow yourself to make mistakes, not be too embarrassed to make them so that you then don''t try, become too afraid to ask questions.
You have to be brave.
"It's ok to make mistakes"
So many people beat themselves up unnecessarily regarding making mistakes, but ask yourself some logical questions each time you make one;
"What have I learned?"
I'll bet you leaned how NOT to do it again, right? So is that a negative or a positive?
I'll bet you leaned how NOT to do it again, right? So is that a negative or a positive?
"How did that happen in the first place?"
Root cause analysis. Time to start looking at the process and how you got there, which will lead quite nicely into...
Root cause analysis. Time to start looking at the process and how you got there, which will lead quite nicely into...
"How can I stop that happening again?"
Forward thinking to help yourself and others.
Forward thinking to help yourself and others.
"How wide did that mistake go? Who else did it affect?"
This is a good one to consider. Shows caring, plus can open up your mind to stop thinking just about your backyard, this one enables you to think all the way across the business you're in.
Regardless of the mistake, it is absolutely possible to turn it into a "positive" by learning from it and acting on it.
This is a good one to consider. Shows caring, plus can open up your mind to stop thinking just about your backyard, this one enables you to think all the way across the business you're in.
Regardless of the mistake, it is absolutely possible to turn it into a "positive" by learning from it and acting on it.
Did you know about the potential to make this mistake before you made it?
Maybe you did. What actions did you take to ensure it didn't happen? If you didn't, now you do. What will you do with this information you've just learnt?
Will you try to cover it up and fingers crossed no one realises? Well, you could...but where will that get you? Constantly having to hide it? Anxiety that someone might eventually find out? That doesn't sound like any fun now does it. Always better to confess, own any errors you make and spread the word! You don't want anyone else doing the same thing you did, right?
Thing is - your $40 mistake (or even $4000 mistake) that you've just learnt from and are striving to fix/repair etc could be potentially plug a massive dollar hole the business you work for, that no one knew about. You raising it will highlight it. Good trustworthy people spread the word and endeavour to protect the business.
And since you've found the error, by you alerting others to it, your little mistake could potentially save your company millions of dollars in the long run.
So...when you make a mistake, why would you beat yourself up again?
LEARN FROM IT,
ANALYSE IT,
FIX IT,
OWN IT,
SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT IT.
If you need an acronym to remember - try F.O.A.L.S
That's a real positive.
ANALYSE IT,
FIX IT,
OWN IT,
SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT IT.
If you need an acronym to remember - try F.O.A.L.S
That's a real positive.
So give these things a go - consider the environment you work in and look toward upping your personal profile within the business. Think about who you interact with, what your job is, what your role is (job and role can be different) and why you're there.
A few key points to consider too if you want to be well thought of, trusted and successful.
1. Never be a suck-up - everyone can see through sycophantic behaviours, even if you're world class at it. You will effectively lose all respect from the people you work with and miss out on even normal opportunities. No one likes a suck up attention seeker.
2. Keep your cool when others aren't or can't. Someone who can think crystal clear in any crisis is an asset to any business.
3. Never go to a meeting without preparing for it first - you can choose to go as a spectator or a participant. NEVER choose to go as a spectator.
4. Do what you say you're going to do - use outlook calendars, phone reminders etc do whatever you have to make sure you don't forget. If you do forget, don't bother with excuses, own it. You made a mistake. Learn from it.
5. Allow yourself to have fun, and those who report to you. Don't be serious all the time. No one will relate to the person who can't have a laugh. They won't follow you or support any goals you have either.
6. Admit when you don't understand - which would you rather? Know how to do something or do it wrong and have to re-do it?
7. Be genuine/real. This, is numero uno and the MOST important thing of all. Fakes never gain trust. Better to be respected for who you actually are, than respected for someone you're pretending to be.
8. Show empathy for others. Care and concern is a strength, not a weakness. The leader who can empathize, can show vulnerability, is the one people will follow. You "get" them, they "get" you.
9. Proof read every email you send before you send it and re-read every email you receive at least once.
10. And lastly (but by no means finally) - challenge yourself. You're a lot stronger, braver and smarter than you give yourself credit for. Trust that fact and give things a shot. How will you know what you can achieve if you only ever sit back and don't push yourself?
I'll leave this all with you to have a bit of a re-read through - it is a big post.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck with your career. I'm sure you've got this and perhaps all the stuff I've blathered on about, you already knew. If you did, sometimes its just good to have it written down as a reminder. If you didn't, I hope it is helpful.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck with your career. I'm sure you've got this and perhaps all the stuff I've blathered on about, you already knew. If you did, sometimes its just good to have it written down as a reminder. If you didn't, I hope it is helpful.
So please, have a great day...
...and dream big.
Distinguished Gentleman's Ride photoshoot
It's that time of year again!
Where I grab my dapper gear and start telling anyone who will listen about this charity ride I help organise here in Tauranga, and the benefits of why you should donate to this worthy cause.
Please donate :)
Thursday, 29 March 2018
Dealing with problems
So I have been thinking...yeah I know...dangerous times....
But see I've had this thought, a little random thought.
I was on a phone call yesterday, had taken a bite out of an apple whilst on hold (it was a long call). I had plenty of time to finish my mouthful before the person I was talking to came back.
For whatever reason, I kept holding my apple for the entire duration of that phone call, didn't bother putting it down once - and at the end when I hung up, I noticed something.
And this is where I had this thought.
For arguments sake, forget my phone call and let's say I'm holding an apple up in front of your face. Yep, a regular crispy apple.
Now let's say I ask you; "How heavy is this apple?"
You're going to guess.
Maybe anywhere between 100 grams metric or maybe 3-4 ounces if you're from the States.
Now what say, I tell you that no matter how much you determine this apple's weight to be, you will always be wrong - even if you take the apple from me and physically weigh it.
Yes, you're going to think I have lost all my marbles.
So what am I on about?
The thing is, the longer you hold that apple, the sooner you will change how you consider it's weight.
To clarify - if you hold that apple up in front of my face for a minute or two, it wont be a problem - right?
But what if you were to hold that apple up in front of my face for an hour?
Or two hours?
Or maybe two days straight?
The weight of that apple will not physically change but the longer you hold it, the heavier it will get for you.
And here's where that thought has come in, knocking around in my back-brain until it's arrived here.
Could this be some kind of analogy for difficulties we sometimes face?
For those times we negatively prepare for meetings expecting the worst?
For stresses built up only from our own insecurities?
For our anxiety's, our panic's, worries and concerns?
It strikes me that all of these things are all like this apple.
The longer you hold onto them, the more painful they become and the heavier on you they get.
But see I've had this thought, a little random thought.
I was on a phone call yesterday, had taken a bite out of an apple whilst on hold (it was a long call). I had plenty of time to finish my mouthful before the person I was talking to came back.
For whatever reason, I kept holding my apple for the entire duration of that phone call, didn't bother putting it down once - and at the end when I hung up, I noticed something.
And this is where I had this thought.
For arguments sake, forget my phone call and let's say I'm holding an apple up in front of your face. Yep, a regular crispy apple.
Now let's say I ask you; "How heavy is this apple?"
You're going to guess.
Maybe anywhere between 100 grams metric or maybe 3-4 ounces if you're from the States.
Now what say, I tell you that no matter how much you determine this apple's weight to be, you will always be wrong - even if you take the apple from me and physically weigh it.
Yes, you're going to think I have lost all my marbles.
So what am I on about?
The thing is, the longer you hold that apple, the sooner you will change how you consider it's weight.
To clarify - if you hold that apple up in front of my face for a minute or two, it wont be a problem - right?
But what if you were to hold that apple up in front of my face for an hour?
Or two hours?
Or maybe two days straight?
The weight of that apple will not physically change but the longer you hold it, the heavier it will get for you.
And here's where that thought has come in, knocking around in my back-brain until it's arrived here.
Could this be some kind of analogy for difficulties we sometimes face?
For those times we negatively prepare for meetings expecting the worst?
For stresses built up only from our own insecurities?
For our anxiety's, our panic's, worries and concerns?
It strikes me that all of these things are all like this apple.
The longer you hold onto them, the more painful they become and the heavier on you they get.
Goal for you. Please remember to put your apples down.
You'll feel better for it.
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