Lessons

Have you ever been let down by your team for not achieving a particular result?  You committed to achieve x and fell short, leading to being held accountable for your actions?  Have you asked yourself, how did I let this happen, and now you are being micromanaged or had additional workload placed on your shoulders for not performing? Often times in a leadership role, we tend to trust our team to perform against their objectives blindly.  Do not get me wrong here, trust is an imperative element to build a great, cohesive team.  However, the element you may have or…

Your Focus & Questions You Ask Determines Your Performance! Negativity destroys any upward momentum within an organization.  Negativity also hinders your performance as a leader. From time to time it is very simple to contemplate negative thoughts and voice your concerns on initiatives, targets, expectations, etc. The problem with type of outlook is that it is counterproductive to what you seek on accomplishing… SUCCESS.  Success comes from your focus and attention. Is Your Focus Correct, Do You Relate To The Following Questions? Do you feel there are unrealistic targets set forth to achieve? Are you questioning a new initiative rolled…

Excuses are a normal element of everyday life; however, they are not effective nor help any of us grow and develop. An excuse or a justification – a reason why something cannot or has not been done, is not admirable, will lead to the outcome, success, nor the person you are in pursuit of becoming. I recall when I was at the beginning stages of my managerial career and I frequently felt bad for not being in touch with a family member. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months became a half year. Finally, I overcame the feelings…

A prerequisite to great leadership is your ability to ask thought provoking questions to your team members and truly, authentically listen. It is very easy to swoop on in and give direction without involving those you lead but that minimizes the potential contributions of your team and creates less buy in. To Engage is to Lead To Develop is to Lead To Inquire is to Lead To Listen is to Lead If you seek solutions to a problem, tailored around a specific set of questions, you help your team in the ability to discover the correct answers on their own,…

In a leadership role, it is imperative to coach, educate and check for understanding.  Far too often, I have witnessed many leadership professionals assume their team knows what it is they should be focusing on.  When these leadership professionals witness something not going right, they immediately tell their team what was wrong and what they should have done differently.  Sometimes this feels, good.  Sometimes it makes you feel as if you made an impact today by fixing "x." Has you ever fell victim to this common trap?  If so, I am also guessing that you have spent many days repeating…

To achieve a goal you must know what it is you are looking to accomplish. Within the leadership role, you will constantly be looking to achieve results of your key performance indicators. I have found many times, a large portion of individuals in a leadership role are unfamiliar with how to begin setting and accomplishing goals and targets. To Achieve a Goal, You Must First Get Granular! What I have discovered is that we sometimes tend to outthink the methodology needed to find success. Sometimes we tend to focus on the overall goal but tend to ignore the steps needed…

Are you looking for success?  Do you want to take your game to the next level? Over and over, some of us with great leadership potential, tend to focus on barriers and obstacles.  Sure, there will be many times in your career with the stress and anxiety of your day to day job will start to get to you.  The difference between those whom allow this anxiety to control their thought processes and decisions and those whom do not, is the difference in incremental success. For every single barrier that you face to achieve certain milestones, metrics and benchmarks, there…

As a leader, you will encounter many situations that will challenge you.  Roadblocks and obstacles will clout your judgement. You may be tempted to stop and give excuses.  It is at this pivotal point, that you remind yourself, all of the reasons you want to be successful.  You must remind yourself, everything you have done to make it to this point in your career. You may be asked to report in on progress, and / or asked to discuss your plan of action to yield success.   It is at this pivotal point, you prevent yourself from throwing your hands…