I am serving as a Mentor again this year with the RTP Healthcare Business Women’s Chapter.  I so enjoy working with these bright, energetic, ambitious, and professional women. Cassandra Kennedy, VP Global QA at Quintiles was the featured speaker for the kick off event and in her speech she introduced the concept of leaders as “pushers” or “pullers”.

Think of a leader that inspired you when you worked with them. Did they push or pull?  What did you like about them? In your leadership role are you a pusher or a puller?

Pushers

Pushers always know what is going on. They know who is working on what and they know what needs to be done and how they are going to get things done. They see the problem before the solution and push people down.

Pushers push for more with little regard to the obstacles in the way. They expect more from the team and him/herself. Often they take credit for the team’s success.

Pullers

Pullers get their team enthused about the project or goal. They lead by example and expect their team will follow along.  They understand that compliments and incentives are effective in motivating people and give the team credit for success. Pullers ask, “Am I elevating the performance of my team?”

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Pullers know their team members, know their strengths and see each person as a “10”. People are assigned responsibilities that are aligned with their strengths.

Are you a pusher or a puller? Do you want to hone your leadership skills? Contact me for a Complimentary Coaching Session.

Women’s Leadership matters because we have changed the culture of leadership over the last three decades. Women in Leadership encounter different matters than do men in leadership. Women lead differently, not better or worse – differently. I’ve highlighted three areas in which women and men lead differently.

Communication

Men communicate directly, “I want this report.”

Women communicate circuitously, “This report is due and I need you to finish it by Friday, please.”

Women tend to make requests in a softer and more pleasant tone.

Negotiation

Negotiation is part of men’s repertoire. They expect to negotiate for promotions, raises and projects.

Negotiation is uncomfortable for most women who think that if the leader thinks they deserve a raise it will occur.

I coach women to ask for what they want, need and deserve.

Conflict

Men can have a heated argument with a colleague and then go out to lunch or to a ball game with that person.

Women tend to avoid conflict at all cost and if conflict occurs, women hold on to the feelings of anger.

Women can learn not to take things personally from men, and men can learn how to communicate so that conflict does not arise from women.

Leadership is not for the faint hearted for men and women. Extraordinary leaders work to communicate clearly, negotiate fairly and handle conflict professionally.

Contact me for a complimentary coaching session for you or your team to improve your leadership skills.

Last month I introduced you to Power Plays for Leaders for Volunteers. For a quick review Click Here

Case study

Leon had been a member of the Downtown Chapter of Networkers International for just over a year and was honored to be invited to serve as a board member. During the Board Retreat he was asked to be Program Chair for the monthly meetings. and diligently and enthusiastically set about confirming speakers.

Several months into the year, Leon proudly announced to the Board that he had lined up a panel of very successful, expert Networkers for the upcoming meeting. He announced the names of the panelists to which one board member commented, “those are neither successful nor experts. I know them all. I won’t go to that meeting. I know more than they do.” Another board member chimed in, “haven’t we had two marketing presentations in a row? That is unacceptable. We have got to have more diversity in our programs. If we aren’t careful, we are going to lose membership.”

Surprised and overwhelmed, the Chairperson of the Board called for order, and moved on to the next agenda item.

Leon was crushed. He had spent hours and hours recruiting speakers with no direction from the board, and now they were attacking him for doing a poor job. He didn’t need this hassle – he resigned from the board and Networkers International, never to be seen again.

Leon’s resignation threw the board into frenzy. Each board member was assigned to find a speaker for the monthly meetings to finish out the year. Like the stone in the pond, the ripples of discontent grew throughout the membership. Ultimately when it was time to recruit new board members for the following year, it was virtually impossible to find a Program Chair.

Is this a familiar scenario that you have experienced from a volunteer or professional organization? What could the Executive Committee done to support Leon rather than attack him? How could the Chairperson have better conducted the meeting?

Lesson Learned:  As the leader of volunteers it is vital that you make your expectations clear. The Executive committee could have given Leon clear goals and suggestions for speakers. Wouldn’t it have been more professional to tell Leon that he should have three marketing programs, three skills building programs, two expert panels with criteria for the “experts”?

Types of volunteer organizations

There are many kinds of volunteer organizations – groups at church, projects at work, girl and boy scouts, community service, hospitals (for profit and non-profit), organizations for the arts and professional organizations to name a few. Each of these organizations has a unique purpose and each organization will attract volunteers who have an interest in that purpose. Although the organizations may differ in purpose and scope, the leadership skills needed are the same.

Examples:

Arts
I served as the Chair of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra Board and the primary purpose of that board was to raise money for the symphony. Board members were invited and selected based on their perceived ability to solicit funds from the community.

Community Service
As Chair of the Advisory Board for Leadership Pensacola (a program of the Chamber of Commerce) my purpose was to provide programs for the participants that supported the Chamber and informed the group about the community.

Professional
Professional Organizations goals are usually to provide a community of interest for the professionals and to provide professional development and collegiality. I served as chair of a national, state and local organization.

Why do people volunteer?

1. To strengthen their resume and get references for jobs. I know several people who are volunteering with the intention of being hired by the company.
2. To align their purpose with the organization and to make a difference. WE all know people who volunteer for the Cancer Society or Make a Wish or Go Red for Women because they have experience or know someone who has been touched by disease.
3. To connect with the community and to feel involved. This is my reason to volunteer with the senior golf tournament in my community.
4. To use skills in a productive way and to develop new skills. Gen Y’ers are being courted to serve as volunteers because of their social media savvy.
5. To meet new people and explore new areas of interest. If you are new to a community, volunteering is a great way to meet people (and network without calling it networking).
6. To gain leadership skills. At the board level, people are expected to have some leadership skills; however, I will share some stories that will question that assumption.
7. To gain prestige. In communities, some boards are perceived as more prestigious than others.

Leadership Roles

Just as in business, different leadership roles exists in volunteer organizations. The Board of Directors has differentiated roles, Chair, Vice Chair, Program Chair, etc. etc, and each role is vital to the success of the board.

The “worker” volunteers have different roles depending on their project and function. One volunteer may chair the Fun Run because they love running and want an assignment with a specific time frame. Another might serve on the sponsorship committee because they want to meet corporate executives. Each of these roles is also vital to the success of the organization.

Leadership Tips

1. The single most important thing to remember if you are leading volunteers is…understand that each person is serving for their own reason and you must respect that individual.

2. Make the goals and objectives of the organization clear to each volunteer.

In the next issue, I will share case studies that will reinforce skills building for Leaders of Volunteers.

Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed his son, Telemachus, under Mentor’s charge when he left for the Trojan War. The personal name Mentor has been adopted in English as a term meaning someone who imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague.

As a leader are you also a mentor? Do you have a mentor? Does your organization have a mentoring program?

Benefits to the organization of a Mentoring Program

When conducted in an efficient and productive manner, mentoring can provide employees a way to connect, learn and grow within the company and along their own career paths. Mentoring encourages loyalty to the business by exhibiting open communication. Loyalty to the company results in less employee turnover.

The purpose of mentoring is professional development which results from a synergistic relationship that enables the mentee to set and achieve goals, make decisions and solve problems.

Characteristics of Mentor

The role of a mentor is to build rapport, ask questions, listen and elicit the mentee’s own wisdom. The mentee takes responsibility for their own actions because they are empowered by the mentoring conversations.

Great Mentors have the ability to:

• Listen
• Ask deeper questions
• Share personal learning
• Co-create goals and action plans
• Engage in the development of others
• Focus on the mentee
• Influence and build connections.

Mentors do not:

• Have a wandering conversation with no specific outcome
• Allow mentees to wallow in a gripe session
• Teach
• “Fix” or “Heal”
• Direct
• Share an imbalance of power

Reverse Mentoring

Based on the paradigm of mentoring where a more senior person (in terms of age, position or experience) mentors a junior in reverse mentoring the more junior person serves as the mentor. Reverse mentoring may be used when executives need to understand operations or technology that can be shared tech-savvy employees. The key to success in reverse mentoring is the ability to create and maintain an attitude of openness to the experience and dissolve the barriers of status, power and position.

Would you benefit from having a mentor? Would your company benefit from implementing a mentoring program? I am ready to help you find a mentor or start a program.

Every winning team has a Playbook that contains the scripts of dramatic plays. This notebook has descriptions and diagrams of the plays of the team. Winning leaders have a Playbook for their team members as well. This play book may be the Employee Handbook which outlines the rules and regulations of the organization. Another iteration of a Playbook may be the Strategic Plan. Too often these Playbooks are unimaginative and, yes, boring. Additionally, the Playbook may sit on the shelf and never used to direct the organization.

Here are a few questions to consider:

• What is the name of your Playbook?
• Who gets a Playbook?
• Is the Playbook dynamic and easily understood?
• Is the Playbook current?
• With what frequency do you refer to the Playbook?
• Is the Playbook engaging and motivational?
• Does the Playbook reflect and promote the organizational culture?
• Do you have different Playbooks for different segments of employees?

Get your Playbook off of the shelf and update the information. Be strategic about your use of the Playbook.

Call me to set up a consultation about Power Plays for you and your team.

In her January 2012 newsletter, Barbara Mencer introduced the term Hassle Quotient. The Hassle Quotient is roughly equivalent to how much of our all-to-precious time we have on earth that is devoted to obtaining the usefulness of a product or service. Barbara referenced it to small business owners and encouraged them to assess the hassle quotient (the difficulty in doing business with them). I relate it to my lack of patience for almost anything.

In this piece, I use the term Hassle Quotient to point out the level of difficulty it is to work with the leader.

How would your team members rate your hassle quotient – the level of difficulty to work with you? Is it a hassle to get an appointment with you? Is it a hassle to get an answer from you? Do you embrace new ideas and initiatives, or is it a hassle for people to introduce new initiatives? Are your goals clearly defined or is it a hassle to decipher where you want the company to go?

What happens when the leader has a high hassle quotient?

Communication is vague and stifled. When the leader is too busy to talk to their team members, to meet with them, or communicate with them results and productivity dwindle. Employees make uninformed decisions – or make no decisions which, is reflected on the bottom line.

A leader with a high hassle quotient creates a culture of distrust and disengagement. Because the team members are unclear of the expectations new initiatives dwindle and morale plummets.

What is your hassle quotient? What is the hassle quotient of your team?

I work with leaders who understand the importance of investing in themselves and others. Contact me to schedule a Lunch and Learn program with you and your team.

Want to experience coaching? Schedule a Complimentary Coaching Call.

Need a speaker for your professional organization? My interactive presentations are both informative and entertaining.

If you’re a midlevel professional, a career coach can help you discover what you need to do to reach the executive level.

By EILENE ZIMMERMAN
Published: July 28, 2012, The New York Times

Q. You know of several high-level professionals who have used a career coach. What are some reasons that you or others might do the same?

A. Professionals enlist coaches to accelerate their careers, getting help with things like making decisions, cultivating a presence and achieving self-awareness. Coaches can provide honest, unfiltered feedback, which is hard to find at the highest levels of an organization, says Joseph R. Weintraub, a psychologist and director of the Coaching for Leadership and Teamwork Program at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.

Through conversations with direct reports, peers, customers and managers, coaches seek to gain a realistic picture of the client. “People who give this feedback to the coach are often not willing or able to give it directly to the executive,” says Mr. Weintraub, co-author with James M. Hunt of “The Coaching Manager: Developing Top Talent in Business.”

For midlevel professionals, a coach can help identify what needs to be done to reach the executive level. Coaches also focus on interpersonal skills, helping people communicate and network more effectively, says Todd Dewett, a leadership development coach and management professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

People benefit most from coaches if they are open to change, says Mr. Dewett, adding that the best candidates are often those who have already been working on their own to improve.

READ MORE HERE

1. If you’ve taken the Strengthsfinder 2.0 assessment, you know that it indentifies your top five strengths. In the workshop we took a deeper dive and categorized each strength into the categories of:

• Executing (Achiever, Arranger, Belief, Consistency, Deliberative, Discipline, Focus, Responsibility and Restorative).
• Influencing (Activator, Command, Communication, Competition, Maximizer,, Self-Assurance, Significance and Woo)
• Relationship Building (Adaptability, Developer, Connectedness, Empathy, Harmony, Includer, Individualization, Positivity and Balance)
• Strategic Thinking (Analytical, Content, Futuristic, Ideation, Input, Intellection, Learner and Strategic.

One group of participants from a single company were surprised to see how many strengths they shared – and how many strengths their group was missing. This is a typical experience because leaders tend to hire people who are like them rather than hiring people with different strengths.

How do you base your hiring decisions?

2. A participant shared with me that he spends most of his time working to shore up his weaknesses. His “Aha” was that it is much more beneficial to concentrate on his strengths and to collaborate with a colleague who has strengths that compliment his challenges.

In what area do you focus your time?

3. Lastly, another participant realized that she was not working in her strength area and was exhausted and overwhelmed by her work. This is typical. When we work in areas that are not our strengths we are exhausted, every day seems to be fifteen hours long and we dread going to work. When we work in our strengths area, we are delighted to go to work every day and even if we work long hours we are exhilarated and fulfilled.

How do you and your team feel about work?

If your team is not engaged and is less productive than expected, call me to work with you to create greater productivity be identifying and capitalizing on individual strengths.

I’m scheduling speaking engagements for the next eighteen months. Contact me to speak to your group or business.

I’m confident that you will find part two of this article helpful and will integrate it into your marketing strategy. I’ve literally given you scripts to use in your networking endeavors.

Effective networking takes time

Networking is a marathon – not a sprint. Build your network one person at a time. After her first meeting with a weekly networking group, Jane was disappointed when no one responded to an invitation to her home. I coached her around making strategic decision regarding the right networking “fit” for her, and the reality of establishing relationships over time.

Consider your objectives and action plan before attending a networking event.
For example, “I will trade business cards with three people.” Or “I will introduce myself to the regional manager.”

Make the first move

Marge is attending a national professional meeting and her objective is to
get her resume into the hands of three specific people. Since Marge is a self proclaimed introvert, I worked with her on the following techniques to approach these people.

What do you say?

“May I join you?” is a great statement to join a group of people who are already engaged in conversation. Maintain eye contact and smile.

Successful prompts to start a conversation.

“What brings you to this conference/seminar/etc?
“How do you know the host company?”
“Have you been to the Company X booth?”
“Did you attend the talk by Betsy Smith? She said…What do you think?

Creative responses to “How are you?”

“Great thanks. I just closed a huge sale…”
“I’ve just taken a new job/responsibility and I love learning about it.”
“I’m excited because I had a positive call with a potential client; interview with a potential employer; am about to travel to France.”

People love stories

Do you have three to five stories that you can tell relating to your exceptional work? This is not bragging, merely sharing your enthusiasm for your job. Spend time contemplating these stories so that they are at top of mind awareness.

The close

Budget your time and spend 15/20 minutes with one person or group.

“It has been fascinating talking with you. I’ve learned a lot and hope that we stay in touch.”
“It has been great talking with you. You have a wonderful sense of humor.”

Get out of a bad conversation

Remember these when you next get trapped in a conversation that you find unbearable.

“I must go make a call.”
“Excuse me, I see my friend who is waiting for me.”

Networking is an integral part of being a professional or business owner. If you want to know more about networking, please contact me for a complimentary coaching session.