Qualities of a Good Leader: How to Know if You Are a Good Boss; or How to Know if You Have a Good Boss
One of my clients came out of a very difficult job situation about 4 months ago. The culture at her former company was cliquish and punishing. The leadership always had someone in the “one-down” or “outsider” role.
My client was in that outsider role almost from the start of her employment. As a result she’s healing from PTSD in a new position where the leadership is supportive and follows a mentoring model as they grow their new employee’s strengths.
Professional Skills Development: 4 Ways to Make Your Employees—or Yourself— Seriously Miserable!
There was a smart, sophisticated and utterly sarcastic article in The Washington Post, March 6, 2012 entitled, How to Completely, Utterly Destroy an Employee’s Work Life, by Teresa Amabile professor/director of research at Harvard Business School and Steven Kramer a developmental psychologist/researcher. They are coauthors of The Progress Principle.
I’m going to summarize the article below. Then I have some questions for Y-O-U. Do a little self-analysis based on this powerful research:
Question for Company Leaders & Managers:
If you are a leader within a corporation or large organization—take a look in the mirror. How might you be destroying your employee’s happiness?
Are You Losing Prospective Clients or Impressing Them Through Your Customer Service?
Now this may be TMI (Too Much Information!!)—but we had a lower level toilet back-up this past week at my house. You may be wondering, “Why the heck is she telling ME this? And why do I care?”
Well, I actually do have a reason—It’s because I received such great customer care from everyone I worked with at Dean’s Professionals, a 24/7 plumbing, heating, air conditioning company. I was ultra impressed and they are going to have my business for a lifetime because of it!
Business Skills 101: To Increase Your Business Growth & Profits— Get Yourself Ready to Hire a Great Team One Helper at a Time
Grow a Team to Help You Focus on Your Expertise
If you want to grow your business, it’s important to also grow a great team of people to help you. These assistants and specialists may be virtual or on-site, full or part-time, depending on your needs, your budget and your business structure.
How many assistants or specialists you need is dependent on the nature and amount of work to first make your business foundation solid and second to take your business to the next level.
Many small business owners get bogged down in trying to “do it all” themselves—never hiring, never delegating.
PART II—Top Leadership Skills: How “Leaking” Creativity and Expertise is NOT Good For You, Your Passion OR Your Profits!
In last week’s Feature Article I talked about two “Energy Leaks” you must stop up if you are going to move toward the business and professional life and outcomes you desire—Preserving Your Time and Energy. In this week’s article I’m going to give you two more essential changes and leadership skills you MUST implement – two more energy leaks at work so you have more time and energy to move toward the business and professional life and outcomes you desire.
These are ESSENTIAL CHANGES to make or Leadership Skills you need to develop if you are going to make big picture business changes in your life in the coming months.
Okay, moving right along…the next key essential you need to conserve is… (Drum roll please!)
PART I—Top Leadership Skills: Stop the Energy Leaks So You Start Preserving Your Passion and Profits!
In this article I’m going to cover 2 KEY elements—these are ESSENTIAL CHANGES to make or Leadership Skills you need to develop if you are going to make big picture business changes in your life in the coming months.
They will make you a better business owner or leader within your company or group.
For each of the leadership skills I’m going to identify the Leadership Skill “challenge” so you become more conscious of behaviors that are very common – and you are most likely doing them too.
- These are behaviors that will keep you from making the changes you desire.
Surround Yourself With People Who Will Expose You to New Opportunities—To Be Propelled Toward the Big Picture Business & Life You Want
Esperanza Spalding is a 20-something jazz musician who has played with Stevie Wonder, opened for Prince and entertained at the White House, all in a very young lifetime. Listening to an interview on NPR’s Sunday Morning show I was awed by her timeless wisdom when asked what she had learned about navigating a life and a career.
Here are some small bits of BIG PICTURE Wisdom Esperanza shared that we can all learn from, along with some questions to ask yourself this week:
Win/Win Communication+Decision-Making
Win/Win communication cannot happen when you put issues between you and blame, criticize, or demand.
Win/wins also do not exist when there is too much compromising.
When individuals over-compromise or shortchange themselves by abandoning their desires, they become resentful.
Their identities and sense of self-worth are damaged.
This is true for Business Partners, Entrepreneurial or Professional couples, and for personal relationships.
A Three Step Formula to Talk for Win/Win Resolution: Balance Life Together
Couples bring differences, unique styles of communicating and needs. This can be exciting; it can also get you in trouble if you don’t have an agreed upon way of resolving issues. Last week I introduced the concept of putting your issues “On The Table.”
This week I want to show you how to do it, using a 3 Step Formula.
A Life in Balance: Winning Together
But first, let’s recap what it means to agree to partner and to put your differences, disagreements, needs or desires “On The Table”. It means:
Red Flags & Teeny Tiny steps—or a 2 X 4?
I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was filled with great food and the love of family and friends. I also hope it was restful, because we are rounding out the year 2011 in the coming few weeks. Some folks tell me they’re being hit with even more year-end demands at work, on top of holiday and everyday obligations on the home-front. All this is happening at a time when the days are shorter and our natural inclination is to become more reflective, appreciating our time together, and gradually looking toward what we want in the year ahead. But it’s hard to peacefully reflect on what’s most important to you or what you want when you’re feeling stressed-out, when you’re in survival mode.
Now many people think they need a 2 week vacation or a long weekend at a spa to de-stress and get back in balance. The truth is—that’s a great idea, but it’s probably not going to happen! Right?
So I’ve been thinking a lot about this dilemma and how important it is to take teeny tiny steps to realign and rebalance your self-starting RIGHT NOW—in the next 5-6 weeks—so you can move fully and whole heartedly into 2012.
Feature Article:
2012’s supposed to be an AWESOME, auspicious year.
It’s a year of transformation and reclaiming your power. It is going to gift you with the freedom to express who you are freed from ego, social nicety, desire for approval and any attachment to your old ways or dramatic stories. It’s about deep spiritual presence and peace.
Wow.
You want that, don’t you? You want to be ready to step into it.
So despite life’s demands, I want to help get you in the right frame of mind, body and spirit, fully aligned—Rebooted and Rebalanced—to know what you want to create in 2012.
It’s led me to write a feature article chock full of Work Life Balance Tips and I’ve created a video training series called REBOOT and REBALANCE Your Life RIGHT NOW-Teeny Tiny Steps to Get Yourself Back in Balance within 30 Days so you can Make 2012 YOUR Best Year Yet! Take a look below and be sure to sign up so you can get yourself ready to enjoy more of the holiday season and ready to make 2012 your best year yet.
Rich Blessings. Let’s get you ready for 2012!
How Did Steve Jobs Do It?
He Consciously Created a Balanced Life To Support His Genius Work. You Can Too.
- Steve Jobs leans against his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis)
Along with everyone else on the entire planet, I can’t stop thinking about Steve Jobs (2/24/1955 – 10/5/2011) a guy who grew into a remarkable man and who became a visionary. He died two weeks ago—having changed the world, our experience of it and all of life—in a short 56 years.