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My Most Valued Leadership Lessons Learned
In our book, "
- Communication Each of us is responsible for how we are perceived through our communication skills. Take the time to ensure the message you send is the message you want to be received. Too often we get caught up in trying to make sure that we are heard. Make sure you take the time to listen so that when you speak, your words can provide the needed insight. Be cognizant of letting your emotions get ahead of your voice. As you take on more leadership responsibilities, make sure your communication adds value to the situation. Don't allow anyone to have the opportunity to take advantage of something you said inappropriately.
Lesson Learned: Every conversation is an opportunity for people to experience you. Make sure you are always aware of the environment and who is listening to you to ensure your message is being received in the desired manner.
- Team Building As an aspiring leader you need to create teams that will assist you in reaching your goals. Your team does not always mean the people who report to you. For example, the office administrative person is an ideal person to have on your team. The point is to build relationships with key people who can help you out at a critical moment. The point is not to be manipulative. The idea is to surround yourself with people who value your skills and understand how assisting you can help them and the organization be better. For example, if you are consistent with treating people with respect for their skills, you are more likely to get the administrative assistant to help you distribute a memo that is in danger of missing an important deadline.
Lesson Learned: The lowest ranking person in the organization can turn out to be your best resource. Make sure you treat everyone with dignity and respect. You never know when you may need their help.
- Leading Change It takes courage to step out in today's work environment and go against the grain of what others think. Do it anyway if you believe your idea can assist the organization in reaching its' goals. The caveat is to make sure your idea can make immediate impact on any of the top three challenges the organization is facing. If your idea doesn't meet this criteria and you still feel it needs to be implemented, you must strategically rally support from key leaders within the organization. Sometimes it is smarter to let people with more position power rally the troops, rather than you taking the risk of turning people off with your constant communication about a topic you are passionate about.
Lesson Learned: Make sure you have a strong support base when you decide to go out on a limb and rally for a cause that is important to you. Without the support, make sure you weigh the risk of trying to get your ideas implemented.
- Leveraging Diversity Most people need to become more comfortable working with others that don't look like them. Challenge yourself to do more listening than talking when you are in an environment where you feel isolated due to your culture or race. Seek to understand the other person's perspective and then shallow your pride and initiate a meeting with the people that you are attempting to understand better. Make sure you are setting a tone of building bridges during the meeting.
Lesson Learned: It's always easy to complain about being misunderstood or your skills being underutilized due to your race. The first step to resolving the diversity issues in your organization can start with you.
- People Development If you want to reach your career goals, you must establish a track record of having the ability to get results through others. Make a conscious decision to help people reach their goals. You benefit from your efforts in a number of ways. You establish your ability to develop others. You often learn some insight either about yourself or the topic you are teaching someone else about. People usually remember those who reach back to help them.
Lesson Learned: When you look back at your list of accomplishments for the year, make sure you can include how you helped someone else get to their next level of performance. If you pick the right people you will benefit in numerous ways.
Choose to Lead", my co-author and I recommend you become proficient in five competencies in order to be an effective leader. In our Lessons Learned chapter, I offer my most valued lessons during my corporate career. I would like to take this opportunity to share some additional insight on how these competencies taught me my most valuable lessons.
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Dear Reader,
Leadership Solutions for Today's Workplace is a monthly newsletter for professionals seeking quick and easy solutions to enhance their leadership skills. Each issue features practical tips, articles, and resources based on real world examples that demonstrate leadership in today's competitive work environment.
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A Note from Deborah Chambers Chima
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I often think back on my days as a corporate manager in reflection of all I was able to accomplish. It is amazing to me in retrospect how focused and driven I was to achieve my career goals. In reflection, my biggest lesson learned is valuing the importance of having more balance between my personal and professional lives.
Whereas I had a wonderful career, I now realize I took some things way too seriously given that none of the work issues I dealt with was life threatening. I brought my work issues home and let them consume my thoughts. When you find yourself stressed out about a work issue, make sure you place things in the proper perspective.
If not careful, one can easily get caught up in not making the right decisions regarding health, family, and personal down time, all in the name of having a stellar career.
Since we all have to work in order to survive, it only makes sense that we learn to become more strategic on how to meet our career goals. I want to dedicate this newsletter to the people making things happen everyday through their relentless pursuit of getting the brass ring.
I applaud your efforts and dedication. I hope something is said in this issue that encourages you to stay in the fight. If you would like to talk about ways in which you can be more effective in maintaining your balance, give me a call.
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Leadership Solutions Actions
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Too often I have observed many aspiring leaders get off focus at mid year and either lose steam or get distracted by other aspirations and goals. I was always able to remain focused by holding myself accountable for accomplishing what I committed to achieving.
As you assess your year to date progress I recommend the following steps:
- Prepare a self-assessment or a mid year evaluation on your performance.
By now you have a feel for how you are performing against your goals. If you have been guilty of procrastination, determine the steps you need to take to complete any necessary tasks and execute them. If you are on track, determine what steps you can take to accelerate your progress. The idea is to finish the year's goals ahead of schedule to demonstrate your follow through and execution skills.
- Assess if your remaining 2005 goals are executable as well as currently viable.
Don't get caught up in focusing on goals that no longer are relevant or important to the success of the organization. It is better to take this time to recreate new strategies rather than going through the motions of working on tasks for the purpose of staying busy. Don't wait to be told that your goals no longer fit the direction the organization is focused on. Taking initiative by suggesting that your goals need updating will demonstrate your sincere desire to assist the organization.
- Initiate a meeting with your boss to discuss your progress and to reach agreement on the next steps that will lead to the successful completion of your 2005 goals.
Take this time to determine if the boss is still in agreement on what you want to accomplish. Make sure you inquire how you can assist the boss in achieving his or her goals. This strategy will go a long way in positioning you as viable partner.
My recommended reading for the month is Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. This book shows you that it's possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive attitude.
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Leadership Solutions Monthly Scenario
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Karen has been offered an opportunity to take on more responsibility at work. She is excited about the chance to get closer to reaching her goal to get promoted. She is also worried about how the anticipated additional hours are going to impact her family life.
What steps do you recommend Karen take at the beginning of her new assignment to ensure her new workload does not consume her life?
Think about all the things you wish you had either been brave enough or insightful enough to negotiate when you found yourself in a similar situation.
I will give you my recommendations in next month's issue.
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Leadership Development Opportunity
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At the Detroit BDPA Conference on August 17, 2005 the BDPA Coach Connection will conduct a Pre- Conference Leadership Seminar. Deborah Chambers Chima, CEO of Chambers Consulting Group, Ltd. will conduct the "Choosing to Lead" workshop designed to help you determine how your leadership style can be more effective within your organization.
Patricia Perkins, CEO of Exodus Communication, Inc. will conduct the workshop, "Leadership Communication", designed to elevate your communication skills to a level that positions you as the leader of choice.
Each participant will also receive coaching on your DiSC Profile. This profile is designed to identify how you can be a more effective leader. You will gain insight and understanding of your behaviors as you seek to work more effectively with others.
The goal of the seminar is to assist you in increasing your leadership visibility.
The cost of the seminar is $75. You can register for the event and get more information at www.bdpa.org. |
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Leadership Solutions Coaching
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Coaches Corner
This month's question: How do I prevent making the same mistakes of not being able to get along with my boss?
Coach's response: I feel qualified to provide you with some insights on this topic given my lessons learned in this area. I have been guilty of not always understanding or valuing the importance of getting along with the boss. It was not that I did not understand that they were the boss.
My issue was usually that they did not understand or value what I offered in the area of skills and talents. As a result of not feeling valued, I found myself being viewed as difficult to get along with because I wouldn't roll over. I was constantly trying to get the respect I thought I deserved.
In retrospect, my tenacity only caused more separation between the boss and me. By no means am I advocating that you either make a stand and/or allow the tension to escalate. I do highly recommend that you get the pressure off of you as soon as possible to ensure you don't derail from reaching your career goals.
I offer the following steps as possible solutions:
- First, recognize that the boss is the boss, no matter what. If you are not in agreement with the direction they want you to take, you have to make some hard choices. Make sure your choices minimize the conflict rather than escalating them. I can almost guarantee you that if you go head to head with the boss you will lose. Don't allow your emotions to get ahead of your common sense, even if the boss is clearly wrong.
- Take the time to assess the issues you have had in the past to determine if there are any patterns of behavior on your part. The focus must be on you and what you may or may not be doing to alienate the boss, not on what they are or are not doing to you.
The reason the focus is on you and your behaviors is because that is the only element of the relationship that is under your control. For example, if you notice a pattern of you getting frustrated when the boss says or does things in a certain way, you must analyze why his or her actions has that type of impact on you. Your next step needs to focus on determining how you are going to react in the future when your buttons get pushed. You cannot control how the boss will act but you have total control over your responses.
There is so much more we could discuss on this topic. Try these two recommendations to get started. Whatever you do, try not to get into a situation where you are comparing yourself to how the boss interacts with other members in the department. That reaction is a true dead end, with you on the losing side.
If you would like to talk with me about an ongoing communication opportunity you have had with your boss, please give me a call. I would be happy to share my most valuable lessons learned in this area in the hope that you will benefit.
Each month a question will be answered in the coach's corner. Submit your question to the coach at: deborah@chambersconsult.com. If your question is chosen, your identity will not be revealed.
Leadership Coach Deborah Chambers Chima offers one on one coaching, consulting, and teleclasses designed to assist professionals in creating a work environment that is challenging and provides opportunity for career growth.
If you liked today's issue, you'll benefit from her interactive, results-oriented coaching designed to help you define and execute the professional development plan that will lead to achieving your goals. To learn more, log onto my website at www.chambersconsult.com.
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About the Leadership Solutions Gal
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Deborah Chambers Chima is passionate about assisting her clients with achieving their professional goals. Prior to launching her consulting and coaching firm, she achieved an award winning, twenty four year tenure in corporate management in the retail industry, in both international and domestic markets. Her clients appreciate her attention to detail and her desire to assist others in improving their productivity.
To learn more about Deborah, please visit her website at www.chambersconsult.com.
Privacy Statement:
Leadership Solutions For Today's Workplace will not use your email address for any purpose other than to send you our monthly newsletter. We will not provide your information to anyone else.
(c) 2005 Chambers Consulting Group, Ltd.
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