When employees needs are not met, they find it difficult — if not impossible — to focus on anything else. As their leader, you play a pivotal role in ensuring that those needs are met. If you put in the time and effort, employees will perform at a higher level, will be more loyal and will be much more likely to hit their goals. So what do employees want from their leaders? … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Help Employees Reach Their Creative Potential
Would you like your team to be more creative? Let me clue you in on something. It isn’t about techniques or strategies. It isn’t about hiring more creatively gifted people either. The most important first step to helping your employees become more creative is to believe that they have creative potential. So, once you believe it is possible for people to be more creative, … [Read more...]
Focus Half of Your Coaching Time on These Employees
I have the good fortune of working with lots of leaders, and often have the chance to talk with, teach or consult with them on a variety of issues including their role as a coach. The vast majority of those I work with truly want to be more effective and make a difference for their people and their organizations. When the subject of coaching comes up, invariably the … [Read more...]
Training is an Event. Learning is a Process
I say that often. It’s part of my personal philosophy, and it’s part of my business philosophy. Let me explain. People around the world (you included) buy learning materials, books, audio programs, and webinars and attend lectures and workshops every day. Those learning options exist whether you want to learn about leadership, leopards or being a lifeguard. Companies and … [Read more...]
Coaching Success … In 10 Sentences
Coaching is one of your most important roles. When you do it well, it can also be one of the most gratifying parts of being a leader. While I have long shared insights and helped others learn to be better coaches, I wanted to see if I could summarize the essence of coaching success into seven sentences. I didn’t succeed. Instead, below you will find ten "rules," that if you … [Read more...]
4 Ways to Ensure That Your Training Dollars Aren’t Wasted
There is a disconnect between what senior executives want from learning and development, and what they actually see. In fact, 96 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs want to see a business connection, yet only 8 percent see it. And 74 percent want to see ROI, yet only 4 percent see it, according to Patti and Jack Phillips of the ROI Institute and authors of The Business Case for … [Read more...]
[Infographic]: How to Motivate 6 Different Employee Types
The best way to motivate people is to truly understand what motivates them. Sounds painfully simple, and yet, too many leaders don't follow that advice. They stick to one-size-fits-all tactics or rely on money to motivate employees to do their very best. In this infographic, created by Headway Capital, you'll learn that money is not the answer to everything and instead … [Read more...]
Mandatory Training Doesn’t Always Improve Behavior
What happens when an employee or customer survey indicates that the supervisors, customer service agents, or senior management team needs to behave in different ways? Often, someone in the organization creates a mandatory training program to teach the supervisors, customer service agents, or senior management team new skills in the hope that knowing about the new skills will … [Read more...]
10 Coaching Rules the Best Leaders Follow
Last week, we answered "Is All Coaching the Same?" (Spoiler alert: We don't think it is, and in fact, we believe there is a very clear distinction between coaching for knowledge versus coaching for skill.) You should definitely hop over and check out that post if you haven't already to read our full explanation, but it essentially boils down to this: Coaching employees to build … [Read more...]
Is All Coaching the Same?
“Is all coaching the same?” Absolutely not. There is a difference between skills and knowledge, and there is definitely a difference when it comes to coaching employees to improve in either area. IMHO, it is easier to coach knowledge. You essentially are presenting facts, data and what works or doesn’t work. It takes less time to coach knowledge because it often requires … [Read more...]