Why It’s Important to Initiate Relationships at Work
Very interesting! The more you give to others, the more you get promoted!
Be a Presentation Pro
Good, practical presentation tips...
From All Things Workplace
You can’t succeed on positive thinking alone
Here's a good article on positive thinking.
It occurs to me that when people are asked to think about their “envisioned future state”, it is just as important for them to make sure they are also noticing the potential barriers and thinking through the steps to success.
Read more from the Science of Success.
Posted by Sandra Oliver on August 5, 2011
Leadership, Personal Effectiveness, Strategy Development & Execution
Delegation: sometimes it is like washing dishes
Let's face it. There are very few people who relish washing dishes. Our kids certainly don't enjoy it and make it known to me on a regular basis. So what do I say to them? "Guys I know washing dishes is a drag. I don't really like it either. We have to do it so let's do our best and get it finished so we can do other things." They grudgingly wash away.
My point? In a perfect world we would only delegate the really stretching and interesting work but sometimes you just have to "do the dishes." When you are delegating mundane work, acknowledge that fact and encourage your staff to do their best. Tell them it just has to be done and that you've been there. It makes it easier.
Take a deep dive
Great leaders ask pointed questions every opportunity they get. Great leaders ask pointed questions all day and in every interaction. Why? So they know what is really going on. So they know who is good. They know what is working. They know what is not. They also find out what's next.
Asking really good questions is a rare skill. If you lead a group of people, I challenge you to consider if you are asking really good questions to a variety of people or if you are listening to the opinions of a select few. In my experience, it is very easy for senior people to slip into the "safe zone" of listening only to a select number of people. You'll be better if you make it a practice to ask really good questions of many different people in many different circumstances.
HR people seem to be too busy all the time
I don't work with a lot of HR people but I do work with a few. It seems to me that all of the HR people I work with share one common trait. They are too busy. HR people are most likely to cancel meetings, most likely to have voice messages that say they are in all day meetings and most likely to have trouble getting back to you for several days. This trend is universal in every organization we work with.
So what? Maybe it means nothing but as a former HR person, I find the trend interesting. Either HR teams are understaffed or working on too many things or both. It feels like a function that needs a refocus. Everyone needs time to reflect, answer calls and emails and have lunch -- particularly those in HR. How can you help others when you have no time to reflect yourself?
Is it harder for direct and outgoing women?
Yes it is. I was talking to a client yesterday and she was complaining that men who state their point of view in a clear direct way are admired yet women who do the same are seen as pushy. You know what? She’s right. There have been lots of studies that prove this out. I can tell you from my own coaching experience that it is in fact true.
Now what? Not much. There is not much women can do about this except notice it and modify their behavior where necessary. I hope the men who read this will do the same. Sometimes things are just not fair and we learn to accept and "deal".
Here's a truly excellent article on this topic.
Posted by Sandra Oliver on July 11, 2011
Communications, Leadership, Women Leaders, Personal Effectiveness
How do we create more meaning in the workplace?
Step one is to make sure we aren’t choking the meaning that is already there. This sounds simple yet it takes a concerted effort. Watch how experiments with adults building Lego provides insight into compensation, motivation and meaning in work.
Dan Ariely, behavioural economist and author of The Upside of Irrationality, is a gem for curious people managers who are hungry to learn.
Make all feedback about you.
People too often make feedback about the other person. "You need to be a better communicator." "You need to improve your ability to coach your staff."
It much more powerful to make the feedback about you rather than the other person. "I really like to be kept in the loop. My preference is to be updated weekly on this project. Will that work for you?". "People management is really important to me. I would like you to make sure that you complete all of your performance reviews in person and on schedule. Can you commit to that?"
Sound better? Of course it does. It is not that the first examples are wrong they are just not as effective as the second examples above. If you want people to listen, make it about you most of the time.
Talent Management is top of mind for Canadian CEO’s
Check out the results from the survey conducted by PWC:
Coaching doesn’t guarantee that a person will be “fixed”
It happens often, someone hears I am coaching someone and then proceeds to tell me all the things that are wrong with that person. Let me be clear, I don’t tell others who I coach, often it is the coachee who mentions it to others. Once people hear that someone is being coached, their expectations of change are heightened. They expect all faults to be “fixed”.
That is not the purpose of coaching – to create perfect people. The purpose of coaching is to help someone meet their personal objectives which can range anywhere from getting to promoted, to improving their business development or becoming a better delegator. Good coaching is focused. Good coaching will not fix all flaws. Nor should it – wouldn’t life be boring if we could ‘fix “ people?
How to prospect effectively
An article on how to ‘prospect” effectively for professional services. Start high. It takes more touch points then you think... 7,8,9 or more sometimes.
http://www.raintodayblog.com/6-keys-to-lead-generation-success/
Assertive women face sexual harassment
From canada.com:
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=6895aaf0-620d-4c19-beda-99370aaf3bae
Everyone is interested in diversity lately
Why? Because the economy has turned around. When business is slow we lay people off and hold off promoting people. Indications are that this has disadvantaged our diverse (women, minorities) groups more. I have seen this as more and more of my clients have asked me about the “diversity issue” in recent weeks. I just read a recent report from PAR (Project for Attorney Retention in DC) that seems to confirm that we have taken a step backward.
“San Francisco, June 3, 2011 – There is not a lot to celebrate when it comes to the gender composition of the new partner classes. According to a survey of the new partner class of 2011 released by the Project for Attorney Retention (PAR), law firms slid two percentage points in promotions of their women attorneys since last year, 32% compared to 34% in 2010.” http://attorneyretention.org/
When the economy improves, we get back on track with our diversity initiatives so this year many organizations have a lot of catching up to do. How do they catch-up? Give an extra “leg up” to your diverse groups by coaching them as individuals and in teams. Figure out what these people need to do to be promoted and give them a coach to help them close that gap. Then take a leap of faith and put them in the more senior job. The coach can help them be successful even if they have a few gaps. There are few better uses of coaching.
Posted by Sandra Oliver on June 20, 2011
Leadership, Strategy Development & Execution, Workplace Issues
People are not Cogs
The “peoply stuff” drives growth (as in Google, Facebook and Apple). It is not an “add-on”. Time to make it core. We are, after all, a service economy.
From Harvard Business Review:
http://goo.gl/l3ogL