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Finding Leadership within Your Business

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Business people in board room meetingAre you truly confident that you have some leaders from within your business?

While some company owners are quick to answer yes to such a question, others no doubt have to stop and think about it.

If you feel like you are having trouble finding leaders inside your company, do you plan to do anything about that moving forward?

If not, this does not mean your business is doomed for failure anytime soon.

What it does mean, however, is that you may want to take a little time to see if you not only do have some leadership talent within your ranks, but also how best to utilize that talent to motivate others inside your business.

Using Outside Examples to Inspire

Even though there are different ways with which to go about finding and bringing out the leaders in your company, it sometimes just comes down to simple things.

For example, you may have some budding leaders within your ranks, but for one reason or another, they are timid about putting those skills to use. If that’s the case, how do you (and should you) bring out those skills?

Always keep in mind that you should never force an employee into doing something they’re not comfortable with or becoming someone they truly are not meant to be. That said it is perfectly fine (sometimes quite necessary) to ask them to take on more authoritative roles if need be.

If you feel like you aren’t quite sure how to go about getting the most out of them, sometimes you might want to think about turning to others to provide sound examples.

For instance, having your employees view and listen to some individuals that have been proven to demonstrate leadership skills is a good start.

Public speakers such as Ron Fournier can provide their years of experience in the political world, transferring that knowledge over into the business community, all the while providing your team with valuable leadership tips.

When you stop and think about it for a moment, the political and business worlds have more in common than you may think.

For one, political leaders have to do all they can to amass support from their constituents, many of whom are either business leaders or employees of the former. While finding the true leaders from within your organization is not simply deciding by a vote which individual is the most popular and/or poised to do the job, it does mean identifying those employees willing to take on a more important role.

If you are trying to find leadership from within your ranks, remember to look at:

  • Motivation – First and foremost, which employees within your company seem most motivated to be leaders? This is not always something which is easy to tell, so it will likely take some doing on your part to identify such individuals. Search for those workers who come to their jobs each and every day looking to better than the day prior;
  • Helping co-workers – You know how some employees all but despise the idea of helping co-workers. To them, they have enough on their daily plates, so why ask them to assist others? As it turns out, those workers who are true team players within the office could be tomorrow’s leaders. Such individuals don’t think twice about lifting a finger to help their co-workers. In turn, those are the kinds of employees who will typically also go that extra mile for your customers;
  • Asks questions – Finally, which of your employees is always trying to learn more? While some workers may seem a little over the top when it comes to asking questions, you want those employees who are willing to roll their sleeves up and essentially get dirty. Such workers usually are interested in all facets of how the company works, with an eye on staying and growing with the business. These are typically the people who will stick around with you for a longer period of time than those who just come in and do their jobs, showing little or no effort to learn more about how things work (that is not true in all cases, so never punish or look down on those who are quiet and yet do a great job).

If finding leadership from within your business has been a challenge at times, consider taking a look outside to see how others can assist in motivating your team.

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business and leadership topics on the web.

Managers Need to Formulate a Strategy

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Chess SuccessBusy managers are like busy mothers.

They get it from the top (spouses, in-laws, and teachers) and they get it from the bottom (kids).

Just like time-strapped mothers, busy managers are ground zero for everybody’s problems, including supervisors, owners, employees and even customers.

Think about it. No irate customer ever says to a surly employee, “I want to speak to your colleague!”

Moms Have All the Answers

Well, moms may not have all the answers, but they have all the answers to a busy manager’s problems.

If busy managers want to stay focused and in control amid all their responsibilities, taking cues from busy moms is a good place to start.

Let Them Eat Cake

When the kids are inconsolable after a loss of a big game, moms know just what to do.

Whip out the cake mix. Nothing makes a kid smile faster than a waft of chocolate cake baking in the oven.

Beleaguered managers trying to placate dissatisfied customers so they can get on with their day need to adopt the same strategy.

Pull out the treats and lay on the icing. Everybody likes “free.”

Simply commiserating with the customer’s trouble and quickly opening up the candy jar (of free products, services, etc.) will oftentimes turn an unhappy customer into one willing to take the treat and run.

Given that every business deals with unhappy customers from time to time, the manager can head-off minor issues before they become major problems. In order to be in control of your business situation, check out the article “7 Tips for Busy Managers.”

Teach Them to Fish

Even busy moms secretly love to be needed.

The sweet sound of, “Honey, where’s my tie?” or “Mom, have you seen my hamster?” is enough to melt a mom’s heart.

But she’s also smart enough to give her needy family enough tools so she can hide in the tub with a juicy novel when necessary. Show me a mom with a new bottle of bath bubbles and I’ll show you a kid with a new hamster cage.

Busy managers need to empower their staff to make decisions independently when the manager is not around or can’t be disturbed.

Teaching decision-making skills to underlings not only frees up the manager’s time so they aren’t pestered by small nuisances, but it helps to bolster employees’ morale and sense of worth in the workplace.

(This sense of worth, by the way, has been scientifically proven to enhance employee engagement in the workplace.) This is not delegation.

This is empowerment on a deep and meaningful scale that can lead to higher productivity levels in the department for which the manager can take partial credit, along with their staff.

Give Away the Answers

Busy moms are masters of organization and communication. Busy moms receive a white board as part of their initiation into motherhood, which are hung where everywhere will see it, right next to the refrigerator.

The white board contains all the info the family needs.

What needs to be bought on the next grocery store trip, what time mom will be back home, when the baseball try-outs are, and how many days are left until Christmas.

Busy managers can give away the answers by keeping their bosses in on the loop. Instead of waiting for a request for a status report, email weekly updates to the boss.

Rather than being called in to a long meeting for a short 5-minute presentation, print out a 5-slide PowerPoint presentation with the information and ask the secretary to hand it out in your absence. Giving away the answers ahead of time saves busy managers from losing ground during a hectic work day.

It could be argued that moms invented the skill of managing.

It’s not a stretch to see how managers can benefit from the lessons of mom.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Kate Supino writes extensively about best business practices.

Who do you want in the trenches with you?

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Spoiler alert: this post contains a spoiler about the conclusion of Celebrity Apprentice.

You’re building a business. It has some similarities to going into battle.

  • You don’t really know what’s going to happen.
  • You need to equip yourself properly.
  • You must be in it for the long haul.
  • You need a strategy.
  • You must know what you want to get out of it. What’s the mission.
  • You need to have a thick skin and confidence.
  • You have to be able to handle unexpected events.
  • You need to know when it’s time to retreat with honor.

And.

You need the right people in the trenches with you.

Band of Brothers in the trenches

But how do you know who will be there, handing you the last cigarette as the artillery fire is landing all around you? Who will jump out of the trench with you and charge into the unknown, eyes fixed on the next hill? Whom do you want to share victory with?

Perhaps I’ve watched Band of Brothers one too many times, but I’ve always known that surrounding yourself with the right people is crucial to success. Jim Collins calls it “getting the right people on the bus.”

How can you discern who will be really invested in what you’re doing…as a colleague, partner, or customer?

How can you ensure that you have the right people?

Here are some tips:

  • Work with someone smarter. Surround yourself with people who inspire you with their resourcefulness, their savvy, and their education. If you need to be the smartest person in the room, you’re not cut out to be a business leader.
  • Work with someone who knows something different. If your special skill set is marketing, hire someone who’s an ace at finance. Know your own strengths, and choose people who compliment them.
  • Work with someone who’s been somewhere different. Find people who have a different life story, a different perspective. You don’t want to be surrounded by yes-men and yes-women. Find people who will argue with you if you’re wrong.
  • Give your people a way to shine. Leeza Gibbons won Celebrity Apprentice this week because she consistently took advantage of her team’s talents and allowed them the room to perform.
  • Stop trying to convince people. As an entrepreneur, your resources are best invested in people who already “get it.” When you describe your mission, look for the light to go on in the other person’s eyes. If it’s not there, you don’t have a good fit, and it’s best for both of you if you move on.

Who’s in the trenches with you?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Are you trying to win? Or win them over?

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By Deb Bixler

Dale Carnegie says that the only way to get someone to do something that you want them to do is to make them want to do it themselves.

If you are always trying to win, then you are fighting. It doesn’t matter whether you are using logic or a club, then you are not communicating. Communication takes practice.

Good communicators do not focus on winning.

Good communicators practice the art of communication and compromise.

Good communication is not winning, but winning others over.

Logic rarely works

Anyone who has tried to argue with children can tell you that logic never works. The same is true with adults. When you couple logic with emotions, then you have a better chance of effective communication.

Humor, anger, virtue, pride, happiness, excitement or even irony can be very effective communication tools. When you are emotionally involving the participant in the conversation, there is a better chance of creating a situation in which they may want to do what you want them to do.

Using logic as a tool to “win” an argument is not effective. Incorporating emotional connections into the conversation will bring better results.

Anger prompts action

It has been proven that people who are angry are more prone to action. However, this type of emotional involvement might not result in the type of action you are looking for. A hole in the wall or a black eye is not the result we are after in most communication efforts.

Creating the emotion of anger in someone is one sure way to get results. The problem is that the result may not be predictable nor the one you want.

Humor is a connector

The ability to use humor in communication efforts will almost always elicit good response even when the co-communicator is not prone to your opinion. The challenge here is to get the other party to see the humor in the situation.

A recent conversation with my 5 year old niece about combing her hair is a good example.

She hates to comb her hair, as it is long and pulls when being brushed out after sleeping.

She would go forever without combing her hair if allowed to do so.

For example, on a recent 2-day sleepover, on day one no amount of convincing on my part could get her to allow me to comb her hair. We ended up going out and about with her hair looking like a rat’s nest.

I am sure that people we met thought I was terrible for allowing her out like that.

It was that or anger! I chose the rat’s nest.

Day 2 brought a new scenario.

I got up and did not comb my hair.

My hair always comes out of bed looking like a total lunatic. Flat on one side, sticking straight out on the other and in 10 different directions all over.

If I went out in public anyone who would see me surely would think I escaped from the insane asylum.

We got ready to go to “Special Persons” day at kindergarten and I asked her if I could comb her hair, and she said no.

I said That’s ok, me neither, I’m not combing my hair either.

She looked at me and we both laughed and we ate breakfast. After breakfast she went upstairs and combed her hair and we both laughed at mine again and I combed mine and we went to school.

Three things happened here.

1. I allowed her to win. She didn’t have to comb her hair if she didn’t want to.

2. We laughed together

3. She chose to comb her hair.

The emotion of humor coupled with me not “needing” to win, allowed her to make her own choice. When I stopped trying to win, I won her over!

Emotions always sell

In sales, when someone has an emotional experience they buy.

The same is true in almost all communications.

Learning to communicate on a level of connection takes practice. It is easier to depend on convincing people of our way through logic than it is to take the time to actually learn their motivations and then make an emotional commitment to connect.

People buy with their emotions. They view products and services emotionally and they also buy into what it is you are communicating when they are emotionally involved.

Author’s Bio: is a direct sales educator who teaches proven systems that work in all direct sales companies. Treat your business like a profession and you will get professional results. Learn more home business systems at: http://www.CreateACashFlowShow.com

Book Review: Executive Presence by Sylvia Ann Hewlett

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When I first entered the workforce, my version of executive presence was a navy blue skirt suit. I struggled to be taken seriously as a writer in an office full of engineers. (That was also at a time when IBM required female employees to wear pantyhose.)

It took me years to realize that the suit alone wasn’t going to do it.

In our casual, work-from-the-couch, wear-pajamas business environment, it’s more important than ever to work on the elusive quality of executive presence.

Skills like gravitas, clear communication, a polished appearance, and authenticity are increasingly rare, but are required for building a successful business. Our own Molly Cantrell-Craig wrote earlier this year about Indiana Jones and his leadership style (you don’t need to carry a bullwhip).

Executive Presence book

In Executive Presence, author Sylvia Ann Hewlett dares to puncture the balloon of puffed up “personal branding” that is often a lazy way to fake presence. She knows what she’s talking about. She is an internationally recognized expert on workplace power and influence who began her career as an insecure, sheltered Welsh girl breaking into the elite echelons at Cambridge University.

There’s a Grand Canyon-like chasm between choosing a color scheme for your wardrobe and having the cojones to tell your boss that she has just suggested something unethical.

The book is full of true stories and practical advice from men and women who have forged a path of leadership as business owners and as management.

How to Increase Your Executive Presence (A Sampling)

  • Tackle the hard things yourself. Don’t hide in your office and expect colleagues to take care of the tough tasks.
  • Become known as the calm in the eye of the storm. When everyone else is panicking, be the person who holds it together and makes decisions.
  • Surround yourself with people who are better than you are. Have the guts to admit what you’re not good at, and hire people who are strong in your areas of weakness.
  • Overprepare for everything. Be ready to contribute and speak up.
  • Get rid of communication crutches, both verbal tics (like saying um or uh) and physical crutches like avoiding eye contact.
  • When it comes to your appearance, focus on being appropriate to the situation/audience.
  • Your work attire should be your armor, making you feel invincible, not insecure. If you don’t feel right, that’s a signal from your inner voice.
  • If you need help in developing presence, consider connecting with a mentor or sponsor, someone you admire who already has presence.

Executive Presence is a handy little book for anyone who is new to the workforce, re-entering the workforce, or who wants to build a personal brand that makes an impact. It would be an outstanding graduation gift.

Do you feel that people respond to you as a leader when you’re making new connections?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

6 Ways to Credit Your Team

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By Ben Morton

Recently I was reading an article on INC entitled ‘The Difference Between Managers and Leaders‘ by Ilya Pozin where he provided some fantastic insights. Ilya’s fifth point was this:

‘Managers want credit, leaders credit their teams’

This is a brilliant point. When it’s acted upon the impact that it has on the leader’s connection with their team, the trust that it engenders, and the respect it earns the leader is huge.

What was really interesting to me though was one of the comments from a reader.

‘How do I give credit when I answer to the MD without my staff present; how will my staff know?’

This is actually a great question which prompted me to stop and reflect on how I have actually gone about this during my leadership career. So, here are my personal and very practical tips to do this.

1. They will just know…

Here’s the key thing. If you start from a position of genuinely wanting to support your people and ‘give credit where credit is due’ then you will naturally credit you team whenever you can. By consistently crediting your team to your boss, your peers, your customers or whoever it may be, these people will eventually come back to your team and say something like this…

‘Hi John. Ben told me about all the work you put into that proposal – great job and thanks’

So you see – they will just know.

2. Reactive email

When you get that email from your boss saying ‘thank you’ or ‘great job’ why not respond, cc’ing your team or the individual, saying something like…

“Thanks Nigel but it was actually Gemma who did all of the hard work on that project so she really needs the praise. Well done again Gemma and thanks.’

3. Proactive email

Instead of waiting to redirect the credit to your team why not be proactive by sending a thank you email to your team and cc’ing your boss.

4. Ask your boss to thank them

Next time you are in a meeting with your boss and you tell him or her that it was your team that put in all of the hard work why not say something like this…

‘The team worked really hard on that project Nigel and it would be great if you could stop by and say well done or drop them a really short email.’

It would take a pretty cold boss to refuse such a request.

5. Pass on credit in public

During a team meeting or company event look for the opportunities to publicly pass on the credit, praise and thank your team or individuals for all of their hard work.

6. Use the intranet

If your company has an intranet site why not post a very short news article celebrating the team or individual’s success and attributing the credit to them.

Hopefully you’ve found this list useful and there are some things in here that you will go and apply to help move you from a good manager to an exceptional leader. I know that there are lots more ways to give credit to your team and I’d love to hear what you are doing…

Author’s Bio: BEN MORTON is a Consultant at TwentyOne Leadership specialising in the provision of high quality leadership training, mentoring and coaching. He has approaching two decades experience in leadership, learning and management along with a wealth of expertise in strategic Human Resource management drawn from experience as a Board Member in small entrepreneurial organizations and working in large multi-nationals such as Tesco and TUI Travel. Having led expeditions around the globe from the Alps of Europe to the Steppe Country of Mongolia and served two operational tours of Iraq as an Officer in the British Army, Ben understands what it takes to lead people in the most difficult of conditions. He’s passionate about sharing his knowledge, experience and expertise.