Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Oft Overlooked Ingredient to Great Leadership

There are a thousand great books out there helping us with perspectives on leadership. A lot of them are worth our time reading.

I do believe that knowledge is obviously an important component of setting up newer managers for success or in helping existing managers succeed in creating teams that are hard working, energetic, committed and that win.

I think it is a huge mistake though to think that knowledge is the only ingredient in the "Great Leader" recipe.

I've had a growing number of industry managers tell me lately that they are disappointed in the lack of performance from people they hired whose Knowledge credits were stacked high and wide. (University degrees, Dale Carnegie, Post Education Certificates etc).

While knowledge is important (I'm not knocking any of the above. they are very valuable), in my experience it isn't always enough to get you where you want to go.

The missing ingredient to turn people into Effective Managers & Leaders is a few cups of Courage.

That is where the upcoming 1st Time Manager's 2 Day Boot Camps in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver set themselves apart.


Over the years, my leadership classes have been filled with great people who come to realize that they know what they need to do about the situations they are in. Knowledge in reality is not the problem.

What they really need is the courage to walk through the fear of addressing issues with people, communicating both up and down the company ladder, risking conflict: All things they'll need to do to deal with the situations they have.

I understand that. Its a huge issue in today's workforce and its holding a lot of Canadians back from what life would have for them.

I don't want fear to ever stop you from achieving your best.

So, on top of laying down 2 days packed with the knowledge you'll need to be a great leader, motivate teams, manage performance, communicate for clarity, handle change etc...

We'll also deliberate on the fact that Courage is essential and comes with A.G.E., which is not what it seems. (If it was, my wife tells me I should have more than enough)

Mark these dates on your calendar and register to reserve your spots today! Click on the city most convenient for you to access a fax registration form.

Calgary: September 14-15, Glenmore Inn & Convention Centre
Edmonton: November 3-4, Holiday Inn Express Downtown
Vancouver: November 29-30, Burnaby Hilton

Click here for a more detailed Workshop Info Sheet

Special Offer (for registrations before September 10): Register 2 people and bring a 3rd for free!

If you want a new lease on life and practical tools to launch your success, sign up and we'll see you in one of those great cities.

Do you have more than 10 employees that you'd like to take this training? I can cost effectively bring this training direct to your organization. Contact me for more info. david@marketbeamer.com or (403) 874-1044.

Here's to your success!

David

Thursday, August 12, 2010

FEAR: Use it!

I don't know about you, but fear has and can stop me in my tracks. I retreat back into myself like a deer in headlights.

It is interesting to note that Fear as an acronym stands for:

False
Emotions
Appearing
Real

Consider the following scenarios:

1) Your Boss hasn't said anything about the project you just completed

Fear: They hate your work.
Truth: They are as run off their feet as you are. They love the fact they can count on you to do what needs to be done. They just haven't had the time to say it.

2) A Co-Worker keeps messing up and is impacting your ability to do your job

Fear: They are an idiot and perhaps doing it on purpose to make your life miserable.
Truth: They ARE an idi...(I knew you'd be saying that!)
Real Truth: They likely never truly understood what your expectations were (there are 1240 reasons why this may happen). Magically, once you take the time to actually clarify expectations they will very likely start meeting them.

So it points us to how we can use FEAR powerfully in our lives. FEAR is simply a call for ACTION. It is a trigger that should motivate you to clarify, communicate, act through something.

After a "How to Deal with Difficult People" seminar, a woman came up to me , thanked me for the class, and asked me if there was an advanced session because she had a really difficult person to go back and deal with.

I encouraged her that there was and that it was free! The advanced class is called experience. I challenged her to go back with the tools she did get from the workshop, walk through her fear and just talk to that person.

Experience will show her that rarely is it as bad as she feared.

Experience
will show her that when things are finally said they get dealt with.

Experience will show her that when things are dealt with, people breathe easier and teams succeed.

Experience will make her better each time she encounter similar scenarios.

Experience will continually build her courage in the face of her fears.

It can do the same for you. What lies are you still telling yourself today? What fears are stopping you in your tracks? You now know what to do.

WARNING!: You'll be adding Experience to your resume... but that's always a good thing.

Looking for help with what to say and how to say it ? Don't miss the
1rst Time Managers Two Day Boot Camp in either Calgary or Edmonton. You'll learn 4 ways to successfully give feedback, even in the most stressful of situations. You'll also get an opportunity to practice it. See below or to the left for more details and links to registration.

Contact: (403) 874-1044 or david@marketbeamer.com

Monday, August 2, 2010

Drop the Pretense

A few words for the wise:

To achieve success driven by great communication patterns simply:

1) Drop the pretense.

2) Put it in the past tense.

3) Just be in the present tense.

4) Your future will be far less tense.

Stephen Covey author of 7 Habits for Highly Effective People suggests that most managers spend 80 percent of their day fighting "Fires" or things that are urgent and important. Most of these are a result of miscommunication/ lack of understanding.

If you are going to spend the time (listening to someone) don't commit the crime (not really listening to them.)

There are a ton of pretenses that can get in the way of us being in the moment with someone and truly listening:

1) Being super busy ourselves and thinking ahead
2) Their attitude
3) Their appearance
4) Past experiences with them
5) The environment we're in

just to name a few.

Drop them and experience the time saving, relationship building benefits of being 'in the moment' when speaking with someone.

If you can't drop them, tell them upfront and schedule a time when you can.

They'll thank you for it.