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| Leadership Information |
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Leadership - Connect to Engage!
It's been said many times that true leadership is measured by ones ability to motivate and influence others. Leaders must work hard at motivating people to take action necessary to drive change and to ultimately increase results. Even though most people would agree with the definition of leadership as the ability to motivate and influence others, most people still have trouble translating the definition of leadership into actionable and measurable steps. The biggest obstacle faced by many leaders is simply figuring out how to effectively motivate and influence an entire team comprised of unique individuals. Let's face it, not everyone is motivated by the same things, nor is everyone influenced to take action or change behavior based on the same factors. So, what can leaders do to motivate and influence the ENTIRE team? Here is the elusive one-word answer: CONNECT. Leaders must invest the time in each and every one of their team members to, get to know them - to build a connection based on trust, honesty and respect. (Keep in mind, this personal connection must always remain professional and appropriate. Enough said on that.) Taking this one step further, leaders must create opportunities for team members to connect. This personal and professional connection will draw you and your team together, to work more effectively to improve efficiencies and increase production and profitability. To help you envision the ultimate in a leader that successfully connects with his/her team members, let's look at a fictional example. Any "Trekies" out there? Don't flip the channel, this will be quick. Even if "Star Trek" is not a TV favorite of yours, odds are you probably know enough about the long running series to appreciate our example. Regardless of which Star Trek captain you visualize, all are terrific examples of leaders (albeit fictional) who have a unique connection to each and every member of the crew. It's also obvious to the viewer that each team member has an unwavering allegiance to the team, the mission, and to his or her leader. (envision Captain YOU!) Just imagine your own team having such a solid connection, both with you and with each other. Picture you and your team facing exciting and challenging situations together, "Exploring strange new worlds!" and "Boldly going where no one has gone before!" Maybe this means taking your team to the #1 spot in your company, and/or reaching new levels of efficiency and/or production! The prospect of leading a team that is connected is exciting isn't it? Ok, we've talked about connection and the importance of building a connected team. Next we see that connection is the key ingredient leaders must leverage in order to raise the level of employee engagement. An employee that is engaged in their work will typically run circles around employees who are working simply by showing up and "going through the motions". If an employee is engaged, it means that they feel they have a stake in the outcome - an honest desire to contribute to something greater than themselves, or even monetary gain. The engaged employee has emotion tied to their work. Perhaps that emotion comes out of a sense of loyalty and connection to their leader or other team members. Top leaders understand that in order to connect with their workforce, they need to leverage the power of emotion. Only by connecting with the individuals can a leader create a powerful team consisting of employees who are committed and engaged. KEY MESSAGE: CONNECT TO ENGAGE! Now that we now understand the concepts of connection and engagement, so let's get specific and share some examples of how a leader can achieve the connection that will inspire employee engagement: 1. Leaders must know up front where they are taking their team. They must "believe in" and "see a clear vision of the future". In order for you to know when you have achieved your vision, the vision must be measurable. Here are some examples of a vision with measurable results. Showing most improvement quarter over quarter. Achieving balanced performance - your team is listed in the Top 3 ranking in every key category. Reaching the net income annual goal, or gaining market share over a key competitor! 2. Leaders must communicate their vision in a way that inspires others to "believe". Communicating change can be difficult. Communicating a clear action plan that everyone can understand lessens anxiety. Change always creates opportunity. Turning the anxiety of change into excitement for opportunity should be the goal of the leader when communicating the new vision. Here are some examples: Breakdown vision into individual goals so team members understand their roles and responsibilities. Hold all team kick-off meeting to unveil overall vision and action plan. Add fun and excitement. Anticipate questions and be prepared to overcome any perceived barriers. Implement tracking and regular progress reporting to keep team focused on achieving each step leading up to the ultimate goal. 3. Leaders must support, promote, inspire and motivate team members to realize the vision. Motivate team members by giving everyone an opportunity for personal gain, above and beyond their regular pay. For example: Introduce a special incentive program. (This doesn't have to cost a lot of money.) Base awards on a percentage of "net" gain to the organization - not just one persons ability to achieve an individual goal. Offer "interim" awards to key contributors once the team achieves mid-level goals. Make a point of "celebrating" the small wins, which will ultimately lead to the BIG WIN! Use gift certificates, lottery tickets, recognition awards, etc - praise and recognize individual and team accomplishments along the way. 4. A team is only as strong as its weakest link. Leaders must hold team members accountable for their duties and responsibilities. This is only fair to those employees doing a great job. Hold accountable any team member who is not doing his/her fair share. In order to achieve great things, you must expect great things from your people. Consider these examples: BE CONSISTENT in your counsel. Hold yourself accountable! Did you TEACH? Did you COACH? Only then can you EXPECT! BE CONSISTENT in your counsel. 1st offense = verbal warning (ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities) 2nd offense = written warning (get signature for documentation) 3rd offense = final notice (employee must understand that you will support their choice to either improve immediately or to move on to a more rewarding opportunity.) 4th offense = termination And finally, BE CONSISTENT in your counsel. In wrapping up this conversation may we reiterate one last time - when you have succeeded in creating a team that is connected, you can count on each of them having a higher degree of personal engagement toward meeting the goals before them. Still wondering if this connection thing is really that powerful of a concept? Real quick, think about the following examples of leaders who have connected with people on a broad scale, and the kinds of results that came from achieving such a powerful connection: 1. President Reagan - connected so effectively with the people of a foreign nation and around the world by effectively communicating the words "Tear down this wall!" 2. Boris Yeltsin - won support from people all across the globe as he stood on a tank and quite literally stared down the face of communism. The final point here is that you do NOT need to be a world leader in order to be a great leader. Through the power of connection you can inspire a higher degree of employee engagement which will enable you and your team to achieve new levels of efficiency and production. Enjoy the journey! Richard Gorham is the founder and President of Leadership-Tools, Inc. His web site, http://www.leadership-tools.com is dedicated to providing free tools and resources for today's aspiring leaders. Offering high-quality tools in the areas of Business Planning, Leadership Development, Customer Service, Sales Management and Team Building.
Leadership - Google News |
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Coaching Elements of Timeless Leadership Great leadership is timeless, always in vogue. The world has been hungry for great leaders from time immemorial. In times of chaos and war, environmental and social upheaval, great leaders often emerge pointing the way toward peace. In times of tranquility, calm and prosperity, great leaders have emerged to maintain the systems of order and to challenge apathy. Leadership and The Dirty Work The airline, Jet Blue, has been featured in many magazines as a new company that has hard great results and success so far. A lot too has been mentioned about the challenges they face ahead and about the culture they created at the start and are working hard to foster now. One of the many things that sets Jet Blue apart is their focus on teamwork. Here's one example. They have no cleaning crews - every employee on the flight (including pilots and those not working but on the flight) cleans up the plane. 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Hilarious as the ensuing mayhem may be on the big screen, it is a poignant and not too thinly veiled metaphor for how most of us live our own lives - mindlessly occupied with our own issues and concerns, stumbling through life (often over the toes of others) with little if any conscious direction or critical thought. In the end, we keep on running into the same scenarios and problems over and over - not because we're caught in a time loop, but because we're caught in a life-loop. We haven't made the grade, so we can't graduate beyond our current situation. The Three Faces of Leadership This article was published in the Nov. 2003 edition of Hamilton, Ontario's BIZ Magazine under the title "Leadership's Triple Crown" LM Leaders ARE; Are you? Identity Crisis The Ten Commandments of Leadership A poem hangs on the wall at Mother Theresa's orphanage in India. For all who are called to lead, it is a great reminder of what we should do: Two Vital Abilities Any Leader Must Have As a business owner, you are a leader whether you like it or not. Whether you like it or not you have to guide your group in order to expand your organization. And whether you like it or not, there are some difficult situations that you have to confront and handle -- hopefully in a way that inspires confidence in you from your staff. 10 Ways to Develop Your Latent Leader latent (adj.) Not visible or apparent, but capable of developing or being expressed; dormant. Leadership is About Growing Others - Its Not About You! "Before you become a leader success is all about growing yourself. Once you become a leader success is all about growing others." Jack Welch (1935- ) Former Chairman & CEO, General Electric" Are You a Leader or a Manager? President Ike Eisenhower once demonstrated the difference between leadership and management to his cabinet by putting a piece of string in a straight line on the conference table. He then asked one of the attendees to put his finger on one end of the string and push it. The string, of course, bunched up in an ugly bundle. He then asked the man to pull the string with his finger on one end. The string straightened up in a nice neat line and followed the finger across the table. "This", said Ike "is the difference between managing and leading." Two Leadership Traps: How To Avoid Them and How To Get Out Of Them (Part 2) Here's how to get out of, or avoid, the "I need ... " trap. It simply involves changing what you think and what you say in very simple ways. The Seven Secrets to New Age Leadership Did you ever notice that In our American culture, we have the tendency to look outside of ourselves for leadership? That's a trap. Isn't it time we looked inside ourselves to see how we can be the leader we want and need to be in the 21st century? I certainly think so. 5 Steps on How to Set and Achieve Your Goals Which one is a goal? I will lose 15 pounds I want to run a marathon Quit smoking All of the above None of the above Follow My Leader - To Effect Change, Leaders Must Walk the Talk! A leader's role Leadership: Seed or Fruit? Purpose: Learn immediately if you are fostering leadership or ignoring it. Discover the power of nurturing your people. The Leadership Talk As A Living Hologram The hologram is a three-dimensional photograph made on a flat surface with laser beams. BIG-3 Leadership! "Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends." - Walt Disney
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