Archive for March, 2010
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
No is such a small word and yet so hard to say.
Often we don’t want to say no, even when that’s the right thing to do because we don’t want to risk appearing unable, unappreciative, or disrespectful. We don’t always act as we know we should. Many people place more value on what others think of them rather than on what they think of themselves. Their need to please others is so strong that, in pleasing others, they continue to diminish their own worth and the quality of their lives. If you, like many people, inadvertently are more concerned about pleasing others than pleasing yourself, it’s time to change.
If you consider what others think of you to be more important than what you think of yourself, you are likely to accept more responsibility than you want or can handle. In a childish attempt to please, you might accept too many responsibilities and become overwhelmed. We’ve all had occasions when we were afraid to tell the boss no. We’ve hesitated about refusing an invitation lest we hurt someone’s feelings, or we’ve agreed to help out a friend even when we didn’t have the time to do so. As stated before, this can cause you to feel overworked, underpaid, out of control, and unappreciated!
If your self-image is healthy and your need to please others is secondary to pleasing yourself, you will tend to frame your responses in light of your values and priorities. As a result, you will find yourself appropriately saying no when requests are not in alignment with your values and goals. Focus on developing attitudes and habits that continuously enhance a positive self-image and a high level of confidence. Focus on doing the right things for the right reasons.
The key to changing any habit is having a desire to change. Desire is reinforced by your conviction that your goals and priorities are right. Habits are very powerful and difficult to break. Therefore, you must really want to change and the rewards or the consequences must outweigh the alternative. If not, you’ll do what’s comfortable. It is frequently easier to do what is familiar than to do what we know is right, but familiar may not be best.
Choose the outcomes you desire. Who you are today may have been the result of choices made by many others in years past. Who you become tomorrow will be a result of choices you make today. Look to the future, not to the past. View setbacks not at failures but as learning experiences and opportunities for growth. Situations do not control you. If you feel your job, your life, your boss, your employees, or your family controls your time, you’ve chosen to let them. You can choose to control your own life. You can select the events in which you want to participate and affect the ultimate outcome. Alan Kay once said, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” People may choose to control our lives, but they are only successful of we choose to let them. What you accomplish and the amount of time you spend getting there depends on the choices you continue to make.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Posted in Personal Development | No Comments »
Monday, March 29th, 2010
Trust is essential to the success of any team.
Outstanding performance and winning teams are based on trust and competencies that produce results. Trust is a belief that those who you depend on in your team will meet your expectations. When trust is present, your team members will work effectively together, share information freely, share challenges and mistakes, admit lack of knowledge, and commit themselves to the success of the team. It is easier to build trust when working in the same physical environment because you will be exposed to many visual clues. Researchers say that it takes less than four minutes to make a trust judgment based on someone’s voice, body language, and words. However, in today’s business arena, there are times where a team is functioning remotely and developing trust can never be forgotten or pushed to the wayside.
When people fail to work well together, it is often because there is no trust. When there is no trust, there is fear, and fear is a major deterrent to innovation and results, and without trust the best ideas will never surface. Trust can never be mandated, as it must always be earned. There must be honest, complete, and open communication delivered in a way that fosters mutual respect. Your employees must feel free to ask questions with the confidence they will receive support and the necessary information. Each employee must also feel free to openly express his or her thoughts and feelings. There can be no hidden agendas or clandestine activities. An effective leader must become an expert at ensuring that everyone is kept informed and feels that they are in on things.
In his book, Building Productive Team, Glenn Varney introduces what he calls the Trust Cycle as a means of showing how leadership can prevent cynicism and establish trust. The Trust Cycle shows “Trust is developed from adequate to total information so that the individual can influence or make decisions, which builds more trust.”
There are many factors and behaviors that build trust, and even though developing trust is a very individual experience, research has shown there are some common factors, which help create an environment of trust. Trust can be enhanced when a leader focuses on building strong relationships with and among the team. Review the following categories and concepts as it relates to your department, team, or business unit. What can you do to build stronger relationship and deeper trust within your team? How will it impact the overall results?
- Results: All team members are focused on and produce results, exceed customers expectations, meet delivery times, and measurable results are documented.
- Integrity: Team members can be trusted to mean what they say when they say it, show commitment to the team, do what they say they will do, communication is essential, and behavior is in the best interest of the team.
- Change: Team members are willing to change and adapt, open to other view points, and are flexible.
- Empathy: Putting yourself in a team member’s shoes and showing care and concern are culturally sensitive, and sensitive to the impact of all decisions.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: building productive teams, Communications, glenn varney, Leadership, Management, performance, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, results, trust
Posted in Business Management | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Achieving success in life, business, sports, etc. is about mastering excellence. Success is about commitment, persistence, skill, confidence, and execution. Vince Lombardi was quoted as saying, “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field or endeavor.” So the question becomes no matter what your chosen field or endeavor, how do you master excellence?
In my experience there are three key ingredients that, when embraced, create the foundation for mastering excellence.
1. Having the right attitude.
Having the right attitude is a decision you need to make every day. Your attitude not only affects you, but it affects the people around you. There are two ways you can look at virtually everything in your life. A pessimist looks for the difficulty in the opportunity, and the optimist looks for opportunity in difficulty. Frederick Langbridge reinforces the different views of an optimist and a pessimist in the following quote, “Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.”
Your attitude affects your body language and your behavior. Folks with the right attitude often appear strong, confident and happy. Folks with a more pessimistic view often appear haggard, unhappy, and stressed. Having the right attitude gives you energy and that energy is very contagious … being optimistic fuels better health. Even when the world around you seems to be challenging or crumbling, having the right attitude will reaffirm that you have what is necessary to face any challenge and create the right outcome for you. Your attitude has a direct correlation to your ability to master excellence in whatever you choose to pursue. There really is only one right option-embrace the right attitude!
2. Being goal oriented.
Know what you want, why you want it, and define how to achieve it. Defining personal and professional goals will create a road map for your success. It is not enough to have a dream. In order to have a dream become a reality there needs to be a goal with defined action steps. Action is what makes things happen and being goal oriented is an empowering process. As you achieve things from your list, you start to feel an energy building that will very quickly snowball. The more you start to achieve by being goal oriented the more you want to achieve and the more you know you can achieve.
3. The devil is the details.
Attention to detail is critical to mastering excellence and it will make you stand out in comparison to others. Attention to detail means nothing goes unnoticed. It is paying attention to how you dress, how you behave, how you communicate, how you carry yourself, how you take care of your surroundings, how quickly and efficiently you follow up, and how you treat others. Make every detail meaningful and reap the rewards of success.
You have the ability to be excellent at whatever you pursue or endeavor, and being excellent is a choice that is 100% within your control. Decide today to raise your level of success by having the right attitude, by being goal oriented, and by paying attention to every detail. Excellence and success go hand in hand!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: attitude, detail, devil, excellence, Frederick Langbridge, goal oriented, optimist, pessimist, RAC, resource associates, Resource Associates Corporation, Success, Vince Lombardi
Posted in Personal Development | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
It has been said, “We’d better pay attention to the future because that’s where we’re going to spend the rest of our lives.”
Success in any business is a clear picture of where the business is going and even though there is technically no “end,” What will the end result look like? The propensity of most management teams right now is to focus on the present, to put out fires, and manage by crisis. With all of the changes in the business environment of the last 24 months, that propensity is understandable; however, crisis management doesn’t prepare your organization for future growth and opportunity. Planning your business’s future is no longer a discretionary decision. If you want to control the destiny of your business then you need to create it!
The preparation of a strategic plan is a multi-step process encompassing vision, mission, objectives, values, goals, and specific action steps. The process we use successfully with clients can be boiled down into these stages:
Stage 1. Visioning
A company’s vision is a statement of potential. A vision statement is a description of what your organization wants to become.
Stage 2. Strategic Thinking and Planning
The term strategic thinking can be defined as the process that determines the future direction of the organization. This process addresses all aspects of your business and its resources. Its foundation is a strategic thinking process and its conclusion is a logical and well thought out plan that when implemented will ensure the organization’s success.
Stage 3. Business Planning
Business planning is the process that actualizes the strategic plan. During the business planning process, your mission is crystallized into specific goal categories. These categories then become actionable through goals and actions steps. If there are multiple departments each will have a mission and business plan which is their contribution to the organization’s mission. The progressive achievement of the mission or all of the departmental missions will propel the entire organization toward the realization of its vision.
Stage 4. Implementing the Plan
The real key to the success of this process is action. Vision alone does not ensure success. Even the most comprehensive plan will not ensure success without action steps and measurement. Without action steps, time frames, and accountability the process is just a mental exercise that, while it may be stimulating is meaningless or a waste of time and energy.
Stage 5. Review and Continuous Improvement
Without measurement, it is difficult to see progress, and it is impossible to manage a business. Creating a dashboard for the communication of goals and objectives is critical for measurement. Everything relies on execution. Success requires continued learning and improvement. There is always something you can do to gain control over any situation. There is always something we can learn to become better!
Take a moment and be honest. Do you have an actionable strategic plan for your business? Do you know where you want to take your business one year from now, five years from now? Do you want to learn how to better manage the inevitable fires while focusing on growth opportunities? Make the commitment with your management team to develop a strategic plan now as your future results depend on it!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For information on creating an actionable strategic plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: action steps, business planning, continuous improvement, crisis management, goals, Management, measurable results, mission, RAC, resource associates, Resource Associates Corporation, strategic plan, Values, Vision
Posted in Strategic Planning | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Many studies document the Boomer exodus from business and industry.
Albeit some Boomers may be reevaluating their time line based on the economic changes, but there is no question that a high percentage of the 77.5 million Boomers will be vacating corporate America in the next five years. (Study conducted by AARP-2008)
56% of business and industries’ Boomer population hold leadership positions. Conversely, there are only 46 Million Gen X and Gen Y’s to take the place of those vacating Boomers. These numbers reflect why business and industry need to be so concerned about brain drain and develop a strategy to combat it.
A recent report conducted by OI Partners state that 54% of companies surveyed said they did not have enough qualified candidates working for them to succeed their executives and managers and 14% weren’t sure if they have enough leadership successors in place. The survey included responses from 212 primarily large and mid-sized employers throughout North America.
The luxury of time is gone. Organizations must get prepared and begin implementing a leadership succession plan. Having prepared leaders at all levels of an organization is a management strategy and a competitive business advantage. Organizations achieve sustainability and growth through their leadership and the quality of that leadership. The important skills necessary to lead a company to succeed in the upcoming years will be different. In addition to being able to lead people, new leaders will need to plan strategically, inspire commitment, and manage unyielding change. However, to be an effective leader takes much more than skill. It also requires the appropriate attitudes and behaviors. There are many tactical skills of leadership, but without the appropriate attitudes and behaviors, the skills are almost meaningless. We talked in a previous post about how actions speak louder than words. It is difficult to inspire commitment in a team when the leader’s body language, tone of voice, and behaviors reflect something entirely different. Managing change becomes very difficult if a leader’s attitude is “this too shall pass.” In order to manage unyielding change a leader needs to be aggressive, innovative, and responsive. And yes, it takes certain skills to be aggressive, innovative, and creative, but success in these areas requires the right attitude equally as much as the right skills.
In working with clients to develop their leadership bench strength we have found the following formula works extremely well:
In order for your business to achieve Improved Results (IR) there needs to be Positive Behavior Change (PBC). We have found a successful way to achieve Positive Behavior Change (PBC) by customizing a process unique to the client that addresses the needed Attitudes, Behaviors, and Skills (ASK) combined with a Goal Accomplishment (Goals) model that drives Positive Behavior Change (PBC) which leads to measurable and improved results.
As your organization develops future leaders for your organization, you need to ensure there is a solid base of leadership skills is important. What attitudes and behaviors do you want people in leadership roles to exhibit? What messages do you want them to send when they are not talking? What example do you want them to set when no one is officially watching? To identify a true leader, observe his/her behavior and attitude as it will tell you a great deal more than an evaluation of their skills.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, and executive coaching, and youth leadership. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: AARP, attitude, Behavior, Boomers, Change, commitment, gen x, gen y, improved results, leadership succession, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, Success
Posted in Business Management | No Comments »
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