Tag Archives: Employee Engagement

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Building Reputation Through Your Employees

  By Christina Lattimer • May 7, 2014 - 10:58 am

Building Building Reputation through your Employees is always the first step

It is even more important to encourage behaviours and demonstrate values which enhance your reputation.  There is a lot of competition out there.  Businesses are growing stronger through the power of networking, collaborating and becoming social.  Great businesses have already caught on to the fact that building reputation is a multi-faceted process which of course includes customers, but also stakeholders and employees.  Increasingly employees have a voice and it is being heard.

You and I both know that when we do business with a company, it’s not usually the leader or the marketing manager we are transacting with.   It is the people who work in that organisation.   We all have tales of great customer service and poor customer service.  And people in the organisation are the experience we remember.

Many of your people will be great at what they do:  Some will know what to do, but won’t always, and some will likely need more information.  In some respects the levels of ability are a bit of a red herring, because what will be infectious is your employees’ attitude about you as an employer.  I would rather have a room full of people who loved the business, bought into the concept but needed some training, than fully trained employees who were luke-warm or even disliked the organisation.

Your customers will get vibes off your employees

Not only will customers get the vibes off your employees; It can’t be helped, energetically we are all giving off vibes;  even more importantly, your employees are likely connected in a way they have never been before in human history.  Such is the power of social media.

Knowing that my employees were a kind of social media business card for my business could well fill me with horror.  The truth is, if as a business you make a gaffe that is newsworthy, then it’s entirely possible many many people  would know about it in seconds.  We all know bad news is inevitable.

Consider the potential for either sharing good news or bad news.   All of your employees have friends, family, social networks, whether they are online or not.  What your employees are saying about you, your business, your product, your service, is vital.

It follows that it’s increasing vital to know what you are building with your team.  What do they think? What are they saying to friends and family and potential customers about your business?

Ask your employees what they think

I talk to people a lot about their work.  I ask them whether they like it or not.  Whether they believe in what they do.  I can honestly say that I have met people who love what they do, they are enthusiastic, and they believe that the organisation’s mission is their mission.   These are the people we would all love to have working with us.

I have also met people who detest what they do.  They don’t buy into the company values; they don’t respect what the company does.  But they come to work because it’s a job; they need to feed their kids.  You can usually spot these people in your team.  They can’t help their attitude.  While this is a problem, it’s an easily identifiable problem, and you can do something about it.

But what about the people who are in the middle?   They quite like their job; they are rubbing along quite well.  They aren’t too bothered about what you do, it pays well, and as far as their own responsibilities go, they do what they have to do.  Are you content with the messages they are giving?  If your employees are pretty neutral about the work they do, then it will come as no surprise that those who should be the biggest resource building your reputation are not talking about your business in the way you would like.

Your employees are one of your biggest advertisements.  What they think say and do is totally representative of your organisation.  Your business is the sum total of all of your employees, like it or not.

If you don’t know what your employees think about your organisation, ask them.  Don’t make assumptions.   Just because you think your idea’s are the best thing since Edison invented the light bulb, doesn’t mean your employees share that thought. If they don’t think much of your business, then you have work to do.

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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7 Ways to Get It Right And Give Management The Credit They Deserve

  By Christina Lattimer • May 5, 2014 - 3:37 pm

A Management role is a multi-talented one!

manager I have read so many negative reports about management over the last few months that I felt I had to stand up and hurl in a different perspective.   In the past few months, I’ve read quotes such as:

  • “three quarters of employers report a lack of leadership and management skills and too many managers have an inflated opinion of their ability to manage people”
  • “More than six out of ten people employed in customer facing sales and service roles say that their managers’ behaviour towards them [Negatively] affects the level of customer service they deliver.”
  • “Poor people management is at the root of much of the evil in our economy”
  • “Estimated cost of poor management in the UK is £19 Billion a year!”

What on earth is going on?  If I were still a manager I think I’d be feeling pretty battered by now.  So ok we have a problem Houston.  But what is the real problem?

For me, problem number one, is that although we all know the difference between leadership and management (Don’t we?)   We employ managers and complain they don’t lead and then we define leadership with models which talk about competencies such as leading from the front, vision and courage and integrity… to name but a few.  Attributes most managers can’t actually use because they have to deliver an already created and articulated vision, where the trail has already been blazed, and the values already decided.

We want managers to be people managers, but actually none of our outcomes or targets or values is about our people, so where do we expect them to focus?  Ok, so I’m stretching a point, or two, but I do think that those points illustrate that at times, just sometimes, managers can’t win.

I’m not going to get into the leadership debate in this blog; I’ll save that for another day.  Today, I am going to concentrate on the sometimes thankless task of being a manager and why I think our good managers need a big and hearty pat on the back.

And just a final observation about the bad press managers get.  With all the “poor” managers out there, I just have three questions.  Who is recruiting them?  Who is managing them? And who is letting poor managers get away with it to the extent that they have such a “negative” impact?  Well, someone is!

There was an advert a few years ago that featured a mother wearing different hats.  When her little girl cut her knee, she had the nurse cap on.  When she was helping her son with his homework, she donned the mortarboard, and finally when cooking dinner she wore her chef’s hat. (I know, I’m probably showing my age) Well for me, managers are like mothers, to the extent that they have many roles and have to wear many hats.

In most organisations, managers are multi-faceted.  They have to manage their people, their budget, their results locally and globally, the environment they work in, change management, training needs, absence, performance, initiatives, projects, the business plan, the people plan, stakeholders, partners, customers, reward, reviews, income, communications, processes, media, social responsibility, diversity,…….oh and of course the work. Need I go on?

I know that there are some great qualifications for managers and also managers pay is probably not too bad.  But what I do think is that managers are not given the actual credit for the demanding, time-consuming, multi-talented role they have to play in an organisations’ success.  It may have simply slipped my attention,  but I have honestly never heard an organisation come out and say things like “we owe our success to our multi-talented managers”  Or “the real backbone of the organisation is held together by our highly skilled managers”  High profile leaders tend to get the credit for great successes.

So how do we go about changing the image of our managers, and giving those good ones the credit that they are due?  Well here are my thoughts:

  1. Be clear about the limit of the leadership role the manager.  If a manager is an executor of an organisational vision, then specify that they have to have a team vision, which derives from the main vision.   They don’t have to be able to change the world.
  2. At recruitment stage, be clear about why you need the manager.  If their prime focus is people management, then make sure they have people management skills.  If you want a people manager and the successful candidate has written a great thesis on your range of products and the best way to sell them, then you are on the wrong tack.
  3. Develop potential within the organisation, with brilliant role models and clear demonstrations of the skills, behaviours and standards expected.
  4. If your organisation only has aims and targets based on product or service, then that’s where your managers will place their attention.  If you want them to manage your people, then set targets about your people.
  5. Make sure management is  clear about the expectations of them. More importantly be clear you know what you expect of them.  If you shift the goalposts, involve them in the decision.
  6. If you employ specialists or professionals, value your managers as much as, if not more than your specialist or professional contribution.  (Yes really)
  7. Give your manager’s credit for the difficult and dedicated job they do.  Their jobs are highly skilled professional roles, and you should acknowledge that.

In life there are people who work well and people who don’t do so well, and this is reflected at all roles in an organisation, there are poor CEO’s, all the way down the hierarchal chain to poor Administrators;  as well as poor managers.

I believe that the reason for the focus on underperforming management is because they are such a pivotal and impactful force in an organisation.  So let’s raise the standards of our managers and have better businesses, but also give credit when managers are doing a great job and value them.

I hope you enjoyed my small but heartfelt accolade to the manager.  What do you think?  Do you agree?  Why do you think management are getting such a poor press?  I’d love to have your views.

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Lead Yourself First: Attachment and Letting Go

  By Christina Lattimer • April 23, 2014 - 9:40 pm

121227905 Attachment can become unhealthy

We all can become attached at some stage in our lives.  As children we are attached to our parents or other caregivers.  In this scenario attachment is seen as healthy and affirming.

When an attachment prevents us from seeing or acting clearly it has become unhealthy.   Sometimes we are attached to other people, to particular kinds of situations, or substances for example.  Obsessive attachments as we know become addictions.  When these kinds of attachments become obvious we will often seek help.

In the workplace, we can become attached to a particular culture, belief or perception about the way things are, or should be. We can become attached to our views of others and also about how relationships should be at work.   People who resist change are usually people who are attached to maintaining the status quo.

A number of years ago I worked with a manager, who believed employee surveys weren’t helpful because in his view the survey gave people the opportunity to complain and only employees who had a grudge filled in the survey. Hard-working employees did not have time to fill in the survey; they were too busy doing “real” work.   Despite attempts to help him see the employee survey as an opportunity, he preferred to be right and his view prevailed.   His survey results never did improve.

Often we don’t even realise we are unhealthily attached to our views, something or someone, until we have to face physical, emotional, or intellectual change.   An unhealthy attachment is actually a reaction to fear of change, or when letting go feels like we have to give up or sacrifice something we believe we need.    It’s also human nature, and very few of us have the emotional intelligence and insight to completely avoid the pain unhealthy attachment brings.

The problem with letting go of attachments is it feels scary. There is however a magical empowering alternative to attachment.  We all need to form relationships with people and situations.  We need to build a framework of beliefs and ideas so we can function.  Instead of attachment, we need to connect. Connecting is involving oneself emotionally, physically or intellectually without the fear of “giving up” or “sacrifice” unhealthy attachment is borne of.  We know we can connect, enjoy and when the time is right, with love; let go.

Below are some of the ways we can better navigate our lives by replacing unhealthy attachment with healthy connection.

  • Recognise when we are attached to people and instead re-frame into healthy connection. We can intimately connect with our very close relationships.  As you connect with others, rather than become attached, you are freer and can enjoy each other without the fear of loss. You realise people come into your life sometimes for a lifetime, and sometimes for a season.
  • We might not realise we are attached to objects or situations until we have to face the pain of giving them up.   How often do you hear sad stories of people who ruin or take their lives because of losses on the stock exchange for instance?  “Giving up” can create depression and despair.  “Letting go” is a healthy alternative. If we know we can enjoy our lifestyle, or our situation and be able to “let go” when the time is right, this attitude empowers us to live and enjoy the present.
  • Let go of our need to be right.   Attachment to beliefs, attitudes and ideas can limit our life tremendously.   Reality is shaped by our beliefs. What we focus on becomes our world. By keeping an open mind and being prepared to examine and change limiting or unhelpful beliefs and thinking; we stay fresh and open to what life brings.
  • Be purposefully positive.  Recognise when we are unhealthily attached to being negative and how negativity is limiting ourselves and others, in our lives and our workplaces.  Holding onto negative views and conclusions will ultimately prove us right in the end

If the manager who dismissed his employee survey results by his fixed views about the respondents had been more open minded; he might have been open to the possibility that even negative feedback was “valuable”.  He could have taken the opportunity to engage with his people, acknowledge their perceptions and take action to positively impact them, and his results.

Good programmes should approach the psychological issues which can impact performance, although most don’t.

We all become attached and sometimes unhealthily, it is an ego trait which can cause unnecessary pain, suffering and resistance.  If you find yourself attached, then with kindness and understanding, gently detach and reconnect.    You will become magically empowered to live life more openly and freely, and after all isn’t such freedom what we all want?

 

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Lead Yourself First – The Impressive Impact of Relationship

  By Christina Lattimer • April 22, 2014 - 5:28 pm

relationship In my view, money doesn’t make the world go around, relationships do.

We are in relationship with everyone we meet, because we are always swapping energy.  Even the guy reading the paper in the adjacent seat on the train might leave an impression as you form an opinion about or sense his energy.  Ok, it’s not much of a relationship, but it is important to know we can actually impact everyone we meet at some level.

If we have even a slight impact with a complete stranger think about the impact we have on our nearest and dearest, our work colleagues, teams or customers.  Human relationships whether they are romantic, work-based, friendship or family based are successful or not because of a number of common factors.

Forging successful relationships is essential for a successful life.  Whether at home or at work,  creating successful relationships is being able to identify what needs to be in place, and being able to understand ways your relationships work by heightening your understanding of the relationship.  The following are components and factors which can be applied to our relationships and the reason why we form them.

Purpose

If you are friends with Ted because you like going to the pub every Friday, and he is in there every time you go for a pint, then that’s the relationship you have.  If Ted stops going to the pub on a Friday, then it’s unlikely you will continue with your relationship. If you went and knocked on Ted’s door, he would likely be gobsmacked.   Where relationships can fall down, is when one person in the relationship wants to take it further than the purpose of the relationship.  Understanding and being honest about the purpose of any relationship can prevent many misunderstandings and conflicts.

Reciprocity

A relationship can only be successful if both people want to be in it. If you’ve ever been friends with someone and you’re making all the calls or trying to make arrangements to meet, then you are probably more invested in the relationship than the other person.  If a customer simply isn’t interested in your product, or your employee is looking for another job, then you don’t have a reciprocal relationship.

Energy

Sometimes we have the best relationships with people who have contrasting energy. Someone who is reserved and quiet  may enjoy being in relationship with another who is exuberant and loud.  Alternatively such a relationship might be a complete recipe for disaster.  I remember being on an interview panel with a candidate who was enthusiastic and proactive.  While I admired her energy, the other panel member felt drained by it.  If matching energy is experienced, then people may feel extremely comfortable or very bored.

Values

Shared values usually create relationship success.  If you are struggling in a relationship, examining each other’s values is a good place to start.  If for example you value expensive things and a luxurious lifestyle and someone else values basic and simplistic living, then you will either come to terms with the differences or the relationship will not exist for any length of time.  Likewise a caring, sharing colleague might form a close working relationship with a tough hard-headed business type, but more than likely won’t.

Expectations

Expectations can be centred on your own and/or other’s needs and wants.  If you expect your employees to contribute a decent day’s work for a fair wage and that doesn’t happen, then the chances are you have relationship problems.  Likewise with personal relationships, problems may well occur if you feel let down or expect something different than that which is on offer

Communication

How we communicate can determine the success or not of a relationship.  Communication differences can ruin a relationship if there is a lack of understanding about different communication styles.  For example conflicts can arise between people who communicate kinaesthetically and those who are auditory. I remember a long drawn out conflict between a manager and one of his team because the language he used was logical and factual and didn’t fit with her needs which were words of caring, feeling and empathy.

Attitude

Your beliefs, thoughts and conclusions  can determine your attitude about people in your personal and work life.  If you work for an employer and you believe you don’t count, then your belief is going to colour the relationship with your manager or team. Your attitude will seep out whenever you speak to others about work. Likewise, if someone has let you down badly in your personal life, if you are unable to forgive them, then your relationship will be affected forever by your attitude to them.

Commitment

Relationships require commitment, even if it’s to give someone your full attention for just a day.  If you decide to work for someone and only plan to stay for a few months and they expect you to stay for the long haul, then your commitment to each other is mismatched and will affect your relationship.  Most of us enter into marriage as  a lifelong commitment.  However, when that commitment wanes, the relationship could be in big trouble without a re-examination and re-connection of why you committed in the first place.

Boundaries

Boundaries exist physically, emotionally and mentally.  Part of building good relationships is about identifying and respecting your own and other people’s boundaries.  Boundaries signify how much you are able to or want to allow someone into your life, or how much of yourself you want to give.  Pre-nuptial agreements set clear boundaries.  I want to spend my life with you, but if anything goes wrong,  I’m not prepared to give you my money.  At work, contracts of employment set out the boundaries of the relationship.  Trouble can occur when you’ve signed up for 40 hours a week, and the company with a long hours culture actually expects a lot more.

Timeliness

Relationships happen at the right time.  If the timing is wrong, then it’s unlikely the relationship will satisfy any or some of the factors listed above.  If you meet the man of your dreams and you need to go to college halfway around the world, then the timing may be wrong to get together at that point.  Likewise, if your customer doesn’t want to buy quite at that point, or your employees don’t buy into your vision, it may well be that the time is just not quite right.  Unless of course there is a permanent mis-match of any of the above and there will never be a right time.

 

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Challenging Limiting Beliefs Is A Leadership Skill

  By Christina Lattimer • April 17, 2014 - 10:13 am
beliefs Understanding how people tick is essential for a leader, especially at the level of our beliefs.

Beliefs create our individual and collective worlds.  Millions of pieces of information are available to us at any one time.  Our beliefs and the parameters which are then laid down by our beliefs determine which pieces of information we receive.  Our beliefs determine which pieces of information we accept or reject.  If we don’t believe it, then we simply don’t perceive it, or won’t allow ourselves to perceive it.  In the words of the song

“No matter what they tell us No matter what they do No matter what they teach us What we believe is true” Beliefs come in all sorts of packages and create all kinds of effects in our lives.

  • When conflicting beliefs come into our awareness it can create confusion
  • Holding opposing beliefs at the same time can cause internal conflict
  • Limiting beliefs can prevent you receiving what you want
  • Subconscious beliefs appear to control your behaviour and make you feel  helpless
  • You can bring subconscious beliefs into your awareness
  • You can choose your beliefs.  No belief is ever fixed
  • The key to changing your world and experience is to change your beliefs
  • How you interpret reality around you can inform and shape your beliefs.
  • Beliefs are simply an interpretation that you choose to determine as true
  • Beliefs can be changed.

When a leader or manager understands the process to go through to challenge limited beliefs, then they have the key to secure positive change for the greater good.  I’m not suggesting that it is a leader or manager’s  job to change people’s beliefs.  And certainly we need to make sure we respect people’s beliefs, particularly in the arena of equality. However a good leader or manager will understand the effects of limiting beliefs and understand the process of undoing them.

People act and react in accordance with their beliefs and uncovering those beliefs to enable positive growth is extremely powerful.    Brainwashing people or trying to force people down a different route is not ethical, and it is not what I am suggesting.  Everyone has a free will, and this must be respected.  But it is useful to know,  how and what you need to do to understand when your employees are holding unhelpful beliefs about themselves or others.  Being aware that these beliefs can be changed can help you to influence and persuade employees to adopt more positive beliefs.

I’ll give you an example.  I worked hard for a couple of years engaging with a particular team and helping them to think and feel like a successful highly motivated team.  In those days I was pretty idealistic and hoped that I would win everyone over, and that everyone would enjoy working in the team.  But there was a core of people, who no matter what,  were still unhappy.  They habitually criticised and caused negative waves.  Simply put, they had fixed beliefs about their working lives and maintaining their belief was more important to them then changing beliefs.

I was talking to one of the employees who could be particularly negative.  I asked her why she seemed so resentful and was there something I was doing which was causing this particular resentment?  Her reply was a real eye-opener.  She told me that it was nothing to do with me at all.  I had come in and she observed that I was trying to get the team on board.  However, she didn’t like management, never had and never would.  She went as far as to say that nothing I would ever do would persuade her otherwise!

We did come to a somewhat uncomfortable compromise in the end, which limited her impact in terms of negativity within the team and how our relationship would work in the workplace given her fixed and unrelenting views.  Not ideal, but then, not my job to change her beliefs.

The real power of understanding beliefs and belief systems is when managers are instigating change.  Work on drawing out existing individual and team beliefs and then understanding how to help people see things through a different lens for the better within the workplace is the key to fundamental and lasting success.

Encouraging employees to reach positive beliefs about themselves, their contribution and the meaningfulness of your vision and task are the building blocks to brilliant success.

Incidentally for the sake of clarification:  in the Equality Act; belief is defined as “including philosophical beliefs, such as humanism, which are considered to be similar to a religion. Other categories of beliefs, such as support for a political party, are not protected by the Equality Act.” This is not what this blog is about. 

This blog underpins the work being developed for my leadership programme which will be released later this year.  If you’d like to be updated when this is available,

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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50 Ways you can make a difference as a leader for 2014 – Join the leadership challenge!

  By Christina Lattimer • January 23, 2014 - 2:05 pm
I would like to invite you to a leadership challenge.

Don’t worry there is no work required from you during this leadership challenge.  You can simply read,  observe, catch up if that is what you would like to do.  Alternatively, if something inspires you, then please join in, submit relevant articles, news, insights, contributions or even experiences.  Whatever you choose, its up to you, the only commitment is to sign up and receive the weekly updates directly to your mailbox.

You are a leader.   I know I am like a parrot repeating this to you again and again, but you are a leader to someone, from being prominent on the world stage to simply being your own inner leader, you are a leader to your employees, your kids, your family your friends and yourself.  You can lead on the world stage or simply in your own day to day routine.   Join our leadereship challenge and improve your leadership mindset!

At this stage in 2014, you are either feeling great because your New Year promises to yourself are being kept, or you once more have lapsed into the same old habits.  If the latter is the case, my only advice to you is to forgive yourself and wherever you are, I’d ask maybe to consider a slightly different approach to 2014.

Why not make 2014 a year when you concentrate on how you are leading yourself and others and your life. It’s about quality, not quantity – content, not form.  It’s about how and not what; give and not take. Join our leadership challenge.  It costs nothing!

What these following practices in the leadership challenge actually help you do is change mind-set – your own and others.  How do I know this? Because over a 30 year span of managing and leading others, these are some of the things I learned along the way and which I know if applied can change the way you lead and manage for good.

The truth is, what you give out, you get back. Newton’s 3rd Law, “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions”, while centred on physical actions and reactions, it is the same with mental and attitudinal energy too.

So come with me on a journey.  Each week of the leadership challenge,  I will expand on the suggestions below, one by one, week by week.  Updates might include a new article, related articles, research, videos or a relevant quote.  You need do nothing, but simply consider the suggestion and read the material.  If you are hoping to change the way you lead yourself, simply substitute “others or them” for “you or yourself”. If you are inspired, then I invite you to submit your articles, experiences, quotes or other relevant material for each weekly topic.  You can do this by commenting, submitting material to me in advance or providing links on the commentry. If you aren’t inspired to do so, simply sit back and enjoy.

You will know some of this, maybe a lot, and some of it might simply be a refresher or even could be new.   My hope is that the journey on the leadership challenge will be an interactive one, where we can share perceptions, views and ideas as we progress through the year.

So if you’d like to join me on the leadership challenge  journey,

50 Ways to Make a Difference As  A leader

Leadership Challenge Part One

Developing Self Awareness to Benefit Yourself and Others

  1. Remembering It’s a Journey not a Destination
  2. Accepting the power of your mind
  3. Tapping into your right-mindedness
  4. Dealing with your inner critic
  5. Understand your own personality type
  6. How to forgive yourself and give up guilt for good
  7. Developing self-trust and trust in others
  8. Practice “honest” thinking, not just positive thinking
  9. How to change limiting beliefs
  10. Understanding, you don’t know what you don’t know

Leadership Challenge Part Two

Creating A Compelling Future

  1. Developing a clear vision
  2. Communicating and engaging with others about your vision
  3. Bridging the gap between the here and now and the future
  4. Understanding the power and limitations of planning
  5. Practice Letting Go
  6. Developing resilience
  7. Developing patience and trust
  8. Keeping an open mind to opportunities
  9. Living in the present while creating your future
  10. Dealing with doubt positively

Leadership Challenge Part Three

Engaging and Motivating Others

  1. Help others feel connected to something bigger than themselves
  2. Help others feel they are part of making a significant difference
  3. Help others feel good about their positives
  4. Help others feel good about the challenging parts of themselves
  5. Demonstrate the power of giving
  6. Practice acceptance of themselves and others
  7. Practice non-judgement
  8. Practice discernment
  9. Develop new thinking skills
  10. Develop new ways to raise awareness of the impact of emotions

Leadership Challenge Part Four

Interaction and Communication

  1. Demonstrate congruent communication
  2. Make decisions with integrity
  3. Use “toward and away” motivation in your interactions with integrity
  4. Raise your awareness of how people tick
  5. Be inclusive
  6. Be visible
  7. Understand how to ask the right questions
  8. Use logical levels to increase understanding
  9. Use Carl Jung’s personality types to aid understanding
  10. True listening

Leadership Challenge Part Five

 Relationship is everything

  1. Another way of looking at relationships
  2. Giving up specialness to gain everything
  3. Dealing with difficult people
  4. Preventing conflict
  5. Responding not reacting
  6. It’s either love or fear
  7. The boomerang effect
  8. The role of gratitude
  9. Myths about others
  10. The central relationship lesson

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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14 Ways to Be a Great Team Player At Work

  By Christina Lattimer • November 21, 2013 - 1:08 pm
team player In the new social world we now live in, the importance of teamwork in any organisation is key.  Being a collaborative team player, aligning purpose, values and effort will be the hallmarks of a great employee.

Andrew Armour sets out the need for collaborative working in Why Superteams Win In The Social Era Of Business, and asserts that 86% of senior executives surveyed in the 2011 Innovation Barometer, viewed collaboration as vital to innovate, but  only 21% had the culture and people to do so.  I believe that things have probably moved on since then, but we still have some way to go.

Being a team player at whatever level in the organisation is a skill which increasingly, organisations will view as essential., according to Mckinsey because of global talent shortages. Because the dynamics of our world are changing so rapidly and significantly, team members no longer need to sit back with frustration or without a voice.  As has been demonstrated in many incidents over the last few years, employees  have used social platforms to “out” many illicit, unfair or just plain silly practices.  Conversely, team players can be the biggest advocates and champions for their employers, as they tell glowing stories across their social media communities.

In an increasing global economy, as Mckinsey’s article points out, there might well be heavy demands on highly skilled interactive professionals:  A collaborative aligned team is going to be essential to help bridge any gaps. Change is in the air, and switched on employers are already realising that culture change is essential to meet the challenges of the social era, and the talent marketplace.   Good HR Expertise is essential.

As an employee, you will gain a distinct advantage if you understand what is going to be needed to be a valued team player.   You are going to find that respected  employers are increasingly going to be looking at how well you collaborate with others, how positively you interact in the social world, and how much you buy into their values and purpose.

How can you become the team player that good employers will be lining up to have in their team?

Having led and managed literally hundreds of employees, there are some timeless qualities I have encountered which for me make up the ideal team player.   Of course in an ideal world, you rarely get the whole set of team player ideal qualities.  We are perfect in our imperfections.  The following attitudes, traits and qualities are so good to work with,  and one’s I would certainly be looking for in any assessment, certainly for key players in my team.

As a great team player you will:

  1. Take responsibility for yourself.  This means not automatically blaming your tools, your  colleagues or management, but being self aware enough to say “perhaps I could have done something differently”.
  2. Get the big picture and understand exactly what we are trying to do together – You don’t naturally have to be a big picture thinker.  In fact some organisations may employ you because of your attention to detail, but being able to pull yourself out of the detail sometimes is a huge advantage.
  3. Have an affinity with and believe in what we are trying to achieve –  You will love our products, love what we are trying to do, and it makes you happy because you think by virtue of working with us you have been part of it all.
  4. Give a positive account of the organisation and concentrate  on what is good about it – This does not mean pretending that everything is ok and smiling when it isn’t, but realising that even though things might go wrong, there is positive intent behind the decision making.  It really is about giving others in the team whatever their role “the benefit of the doubt”.
  5. At times when it is crucial for the business, go the extra mile –  Being committed to pulling out the stops when necessary.   There is a fine line between occasionally having to put in more effort and it being expected as a matter of course, so if it’s too much, have the confidence to say so.
  6. Care about others on your team – This can be tough because team work can be a hot bed of relationship problems.  But with some determination and commitment to creating a caring environment, then concerted effort is never lost.
  7. Commit to resolving differences in an adult and win/win way – Workplaces can be the worst place to play out the parent/adult/child relationship.  A paternally based organisation is definitely becoming an old paradigm.  Becoming aware of the paradigm, is the lamp needed to dispel it.
  8. When you’re not able to fulfil your contract for any period of time for family or medical reasons, you commit to doing your best to get back to work as soon as you can because you know how crucial you are to the excellence of the business.
  9. Commit to getting the work done, on time and to the best of your ability – This is not just for the team, this helps to raise your own personal standards and improve your own energy.  It always pays dividends, and will be noticed.
  10. Trust us to make the best decisions we can with the information we have, even if you don’t like it.  With millions of decisions to make, some with consultation, some not so democratic, its a minefield, and we’re not always going to get it right.  Sometimes you aren’t going to like it, but you trust  the intention is good behind it.
  11. Understand we have a mutual contract and  we will respect your rights, and you respect ours. – if it’s not working, then, communicate, communicate, communicate until it’s right.
  12. Forgive us our mistakes, we all make them – Help to create a no-blame culture, where we know none of us are perfect, but we will learn from our mistakes, not use them to beat each other up.
  13. If you’re not happy come and tell us about it constructively, trust us to listen and do something about it – Be open to different ways of seeing things, and commit to finding a solution.  Don’t be that person who is happy being unhappy.
  14. If you can’t commit to any of the above, consider how you are contributing to the success of the organisation, and if you can’t or won’t commit then consider your position.   If we are doing everything we can to collaborate and it’s still not working then you might be simply in the wrong job.

So there you have it, my somewhat idealistic list of a great team player.  It might sound impossible, but I have encountered such positive traits collectively along the way.  I would hope many of them are traits I displayed as a team player myself, although, I’m not sure if my past teams would agree.   I’m sure there are also many to add, what would be your ideal wish list for a great team player?

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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2 Faulty Thinking Patterns Leaders Must Ditch

  By Christina Lattimer • November 14, 2013 - 3:00 pm
Faulty Thinking Most progressive people in business understand only too well that the old paradigm of faulty thinking  has long gone.

Examples like “profit before values”: underhand strategies of “the end justifies the means” or  “we are important so we deserve special privileges”  have been exposed and deleted by the best organisations.   While businesses regroup and to make amends, change doesn’t happen overnight.  Some two years or so on from the major scandals, there is still much to do.

Optimistically change for the better must occur, and evidence of proactive and definitive change is happening, typically illustrated by the very strong corporate statement issued by the likes of   where they set out in no uncertain terms their ethics and standards moving forward.  Other companies are positioning themselves accordingly.

Many of the problems arose, not because people involved in the scandals where inherently bad people, but because they were  victims of “faulty thinking”.  Faulty thinking taken to the extreme.   Throughout history you can see examples of faulty thinking being taken to the extreme.  Think Hitler and modern day dictatorship, terrorism, and modern day slavery.  There are lesser degrees of faulty thinking, but if adopted globally then innocently seeming “right” thinking can be catastrophic.

There are some key beliefs and thinking patterns which underlie many of the “ills” of society and of course can be evidenced on the leadership stage.  These beliefs have permeated our culture as a global society and therefore have become a paradigm which acts like a closed cell door and makes it seem difficult to get out.   Much is of course unconscious faulty thinking.   This might sound bleak, but actually by acknowledging such faulty thinking, then we are able to shine a light on this paradigm and change our beliefs and thoughts to more positive and affirming thinking which will of course create a brand new paradigm and a much brighter future.

The following set out 2 ways  we continue to exercise faulty thinking and therefore limit great changes in the world and in business.

  1.  There is not enough to go round

The economic crisis is not yet over, and there is a cacophony of voices telling us there is recovery, and others who are predicting the end of society as we know it.  Who knows?  The whole debacle has been made by ongoing and systematic faulty thinking about our collective purpose and the possessive of money in particular.

The scarcity principle is one which is one of the most prevalent traits of faulty thinking, and one which people feel most justified in bowing down to.  But it is a faulty system, borne of faulty thinking.  There is no real scarcity in the world; we have made a system where we have bankrupted the world, businesses and individuals.  There is plenty of food to eat and there are enough resources, we have sufficient intelligence to overcome the majority of problems which arise.  We just don’t do it.  Why?  Because we believe there is scarcity, on a global, collective and individual level.  The scarcity is literally all in our mind.

For a business leader, this is a difficult one because the thought and “evidence” of scarcity through downturns in economy, reduced budgets, income etc. is compelling.  The scarcity principle is one which makes people work longer for less with little hope.

The unified alternative is to find the opportunity in any situation whether reduced economy or other situation where scarcity is the fear.  Use the experience to find ways of creating more, leveraging growth and learning to challenge beliefs and assumptions and “the way things have always been done”.

This is not rocket science. Every savvy entrepreneur knows that there are always opportunities in adversity.

  1. Favoritism

There is a standing joke on the UK version of the “X Factor” involving  Louis Walsh, the long serving judge from Dublin,  who is said to favour acts from Ireland whether they have talent or not .  I think most people see it very much as harmless fun, and it always raises a laugh.   This is only a TV show, and while I’m sure some hopeful with talent might feel put out about being turned down because people with less talent have got through by virtue of their place of birth, they hopefully can get their talent recognised elsewhere.

Favouritism in other arenas and especially in the workplace has more serious connotations.   At its worst, favouritism stems from a conscious or even unconscious form of discrimination and can seem harmless, but it has far reaching effects.  At best, favouritism is simply a matter of keeping ourselves in our comfort zones, because of a fear of “difference”.

Many years ago I applied for a job.  Pitching up for the day of assessment and interviews, I was joined by 6 other hopefuls.  Of the seven of us there was one man.  We were collectively greeted by the CEO and his board, all men, and the day of interviews commenced.  I remember thinking they were doing really well because they must have recognised the overly masculine nature of their top team, and they had called 6 women to interview.  Surely they were committed to giving women a chance.  I don’t know indeed they may well have been.  The next day, I got a phone call to say that I had been an “exceptional candidate” and the board had been very impressed, but that they had decided to offer the job to another person.  I was fine, and was quite amused to note when they announced the appointment, it was the only male candidate, who was successful.  Now I’m not saying that they were discriminating against women, nor am I saying the male candidate didn’t have the best qualifications.  But I did wonder if they were pretty comfortable in their “all male” group.

Favours can consist of securing contracts, promoting, awarding bonuses, praising, promoting, spending time, allocating quality work etc. to others with little regard to contribution or effort but because they are in the “favoured few” circle.  It can mean employing family members even if they aren’t the best qualified.

The unified alternative is to be open to many different types of contribution and value them all.  To develop a framework of fairness, appreciation and reward open to all.   Be aware of, and guard against biases.  The underlying premise to this is of course that we are all equally of value in whatever situation.

There are many ways we  think in a faulty way, but if we solved those two we would have opened up a vista of opportunity, the like of which has never been seen before.

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Burying the Hatchet on Work Place Disputes

  By Christina Lattimer • October 31, 2013 - 2:46 pm

Disputes Disputes at work cost us much more than loss of productivity

As we speak I have placed myself at the centre of a dispute. Now for me this is quite a big deal because quite frankly I am against being in dispute per se. The details of the dispute are immaterial because all it really boils down to is that the other person I am in dispute with simply sees things differently to me, and they are trying to foist their perspective on me. (Conversely, I’m at it too!).

Because I know that disputes are futile egotistical diversions, which waste a lot of time and energy I usually avoid them like the plague.  That’s not to say I don’t feel strongly about certain issues, and I abhor it when my values are being dishonoured, it’s simply that I know enough to realise that everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Also life is simply too short to become embroiled.

The thing is with disputes though; it is usually when someone else’s rules, opinions or behaviours impinge on our own personal boundaries that we can no longer turn a blind eye.

Some of the facts

At work in the UK, around were recorded in 2012/13. The introduction of payment of a fee to lodge an employment dispute to a tribunal which was introduced in July 2013, has many HR professionals and employment lawyers waiting with baited breath to see if there is a sharp downfall in claims as a result. The most recent released by the UK Government are pretty inconclusive and the trends have certainly not been established.

But whether or not the payment of a fee helps to direct the minds of claimants whose disputes may be dubious is really a bit of a red herring. The emergence of an application to an employment tribunal is quite often the end result of a long and arduous route whereby somewhere along the line, parties to the dispute have failed to find a solution, or a meeting of minds.

Workplace conflict is extremely costly; in a , it was found that resolving conflict took up, on average, one day per month for each and every worker. If you start doing the math, then you realise that the cost to businesses is pretty huge. But even then, as we all know; disputes at work have a ripple effect. Not only do they take precious time to resolve, they can create an awful atmosphere, absence from work, knotty HR issues while disputes are being solved and simply drag down the business.

Why disputes occur

There are many reasons why disputes occur, but some of the common dynamics present are;  roles of victim and victimiser, a sense of unfairness or injustice, a need to be right and the other wrong and sometimes a need to be better than or indignation at being seen as less than.

Some of the causes of disputes arise from:

  1. Rules imposed by one party have been broken by the other, but the other doesn’t agree on the rules in the first place.
  2. There is a disagreement on the facts
  3. One person is being seen as having an unfair advantage over another
  4. A person’s behaviour is,  or is seen as, unacceptable
  5. Decisions are made which don’t consider the person or their circumstances
  6. There is a personality clash
  7. Inadequate communication exists.

I’m sure there are many more, but in my experience many disputes are contained within those seven causes.

Because we are all so unique and our perspectives are so very different, conflict resolution management is not really a huge success, as can be seen by the number of disputes which have reached employment tribunal.  In fact many companies might argue that the most important HR Expertise  is being able to minimise the effects of disputes in the workplace.

A different mind set

There is no magic wand unfortunately. Human behaviour doesn’t transform instantly. A change of mind is needed, and this is not just in the workplace, but at home, in politics, in global leadership. The following mind-set shifts would produce a significant change in unhealthy disputes which simply squash the spirit, waste time and stunt creativity and innovation.  Creating dynamics of equal value, a goal of harmonious working (healthy conflict is allowed!), and respect of boundaries and understanding each other.

These can translate into possible actions such as:

  1.  Helping people who feel victimised to access their inner strength and honour themselves.
  2.  Creating a common purpose and vision when setting rules and boundaries, and when others can’t or don’t meet them, helping them as much as possible to do so.
  3. Allowing people to make an occasional mistake.
  4. Treating everyone with equal value as a person
  5.  Involving and honouring everyone when instigating change
  6. Being aware of and acknowledging when decisions are made they may have a negative impact on others and finding ways to help people when that is the case.
  7. Raising awareness of how we operate as human beings, and our impact on others.
  8. Creating congruent communication, where different styles are respected and used.

The funny thing is, when I began to get into my current dispute, a big part of me was saying, just surrender, don’t go down that route, let it go!  But my rebel sense of indignation and rightness won over. Well for a short time anyway. I think though, it might just be time to bury the hatchet!

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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The Emotional Key to a Better Leadership Style

  By Christina Lattimer • September 25, 2013 - 1:40 pm

Leading with Emotional Intelligence and Owning Your Feelings

Yesterday I was picking a business colleague and friend up from our local train station. After battling the morning rush traffic which was an emotional feat in itself, I got to the station only to discover there were major building works. I managed to get into a space at the side of the station which had lots of car parking spaces but had big “no parking” signs because they belonged to a local hotel.

I had arranged to pick my friend up from the pick-up point at the front of the station, and I was already late. Therein lay my dilemma. I didn’t have his mobile number to hand, I couldn’t get to the front of the station, and if I had driven away I had no way of letting him know what was happening.

Acutely aware he would be wondering where on earth I had got to, I decided to jump quickly out of the car and wave to him to signal where I was. I got out of my car door, went onto the path, my friend spotted me after a couple of waves, and as I turned to go back to the car about 2 metres away there was a private car parking attendant writing out a ticket. “You have got to be kidding” I said. He smiled eerily and said “no, you’ve left the car unattended, you can see the signs”, as he proceeded to stick a ticket on my windscreen. Completely astonished, I watched helplessly as he proceeded to take photographs of the empty car no doubt to back up his ticket.

Years ago I would have reacted badly to the sense of injustice, anger and frustration of being so unfairly treated.  At this stage in my life I simply managed to say with great disdain “I don’t know how you sleep at nights”. We then got into the car and left.

I managed to forget about the incident until last evening when I came upon the ticket in my handbag. The emotional annoyance and frustration came rushing back, and the sense of injustice made me look to see what right of appeal I had to the ticket. Awareness of my dislike of the parking attendant made me pause and think about why I disliked him. Of course it was my interpretation of the event which made me dislike him and the perceived hassle I felt I now had by pursuing an appeal. I knew I could interpret the events in a number of ways. He was only doing his job; he must need the money badly; I did not know what pressure he was under to “catch perpetrators”. Of course I had choices about how I would respond too. It might just be easier to pay up and to learn the lesson for next time.

One of the most annoying habits for others I have learned over the years of developing self-awareness is my understanding of the power and responsibility of owning my emotions, and the ability of others to do so also. My kids do not appreciate me rationalising their anger with others when I suggest they may look at the situation in a different way, a vital key to emotional intelligence.  They want to blame others; after all it makes them feel better. And it does for many of us.

We do however always have the power to choose how we will react or respond to any situation. In an extreme example Victor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist and holocaust survivor, recounting his experience in the concentration camp said

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Viktor’s story is amazing, he chose to see his guards and captors as imprisoned as he was himself, and honed his emotional intelligence to the degree that he incredulously could even see the good in some of them.

Even in one of the most gruesome events in history Viktor was aware of the knowledge that he could choose how to interpret his experience.

Understanding one’s power to choose one’s reaction to what is happening is one of the key’s to great leadership, as well as emotional intelligence.  You only have to read about the hardships faced by Ghandi, Mandela and others like them to know that these great leaders possessed well developed emotional intelligence, which should be included in more leadership development programmes’.

At work too, being able to choose one’s response when you feel angry, scared, anxious or even gloriously happy is essential if you are going to navigate your way through and win hearts and minds. That’s not to say you never show your feelings, or become a sterile shadow of your real self; it means you choose when it is appropriate to act on with emotional intelligence about how you are feeling. In the sage words of Aristotle

“Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy”

The reason it’s not wise to act on one’s feelings or emotional reaction, always, is because they are often inaccurate.  As human’s we can misinterpret the simplest of things. An employee goes off sick after they’ve been asked to do something differently. You assume they are emotional and angry, when actually you find out they’ve been suffering from depression since their mother died. An employee raises a grievance and you feel threatened and angry with them because you think they are out to get you, until you discover that they have very difficult circumstances at home and no one has taken the time to understand them. Even when the evidence overwhelmingly justifies the way we feel, we can always still choose a response.

The trick is to use your emotions like a guidance system. They are simply giving you some information about what you are experiencing.  Sometimes taking action on emotions is the right thing to do, and sometimes it’s not. As a leader, emotional awareness is a key to making win/win decisions, taking charge of difficult situations and tapping into your intuition. If you let your emotions take charge of you, then you can blindly forge into situations and create irreparable damage.

In my own journey, owning my emotions and not blaming others for how I feel is and was one of my toughest lessons.  Honouring feelings, while choosing an appropriate response is the key to owning emotions. It is only with this knowledge that you can reclaim your personal power, both in life and as a leader.

I still don’t like the fact I got a parking ticket, but I know I can either choose to simply pay up and put it behind me, or I can appeal, using precious time and resources to justify my sense of unfairness. Either way it is a choice. Which one would you choose?

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.