The Pygmalion Effect: Sooner or Later Leaders Get What They Expect

 

 

 

 

 

 

The concept of linking expectations to performance is called the "Pygmalion Effect". The original Pygmalion was a mythological artist who carved a statue of the ideal woman. His statue was so beautiful and lifelike that he fell in love with his creation. His love was so strong, the goddess Venus came to his rescue and brought the statue to life. 

The Pygmalion effect is a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction.

This concept applies to business. When managers genuinely believe their employees are competent and responsible, they are more likely to treat them in ways that facilitate their ability to succeed. When managers doubt the competence of employees, they are more likely to focus on shortcomings and less likely to give the employee stretch goals. These employees may likely adjust to these low expectations. 

There are specific behaviors that communicate our expectations, whether high or low, to another person. Our beliefs influence these behaviors. It is ultimately the choice of the employee to meet these expectations, but you can influence their decision. As Warren Bennis wrote in his book, On Becoming A Leader, “Employees, more often than not, appear to do what they are expected to do.” 

Managers can communicate their expectations of employees, positive or negative, without realizing it. There are specific behaviors that managers use to do this. Dr. Robert Rosenthal of Harvard University created the Four Factor Theory to categorize the elements of these behaviors. 

• Climate 
Climate describes the non-verbal messages from the manager. Climates can be encouraging or discouraging. 

• Feedback 
Managers give more positive feedback to high expectation employees. Frequent, specific praise achieves better results than random, vague feedback. 

• Input 
Input consists of the amount of information given to an employee. A high expectation employee receives the resources needed to do the job well, while a low expectation employee receives little information on how to improve the work. 

• Output 
Output is the amount of information requested from the employee. The high expectation employees have more opportunities to offer their opinions and receive more assistance in finding solutions to their problems. 

As a manager or supervisor, your aim is to get the best performance from the people who work from you. If you have high expectations of a member of your team, this can reinforce your efforts. On the other hand, if you convey lower expectations of an individual, this can undermine your efforts to improve his or her performance.

Without knowing it, you may show low expectations by delegating less challenging and interesting work. You may pay less attention to team members' performance and give them less support and praise. In return, the team member may feel undervalued and untrusted, and his or her confidence may be undermined. And so your lower expectations, albeit unconsciously communicated, can demotivate the team member, creating the exact opposite effect of the performance improvement that you want.

More than this, the effect of low expectations can create a vicious circle – you expect less, you get less, you lower your expectations and further demotivate, and so on.

The good news is that the opposite is also true. By setting and communicating higher expectations, you can motivate team members and create a virtuous circle leading to continuously improving performance.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

How to Make Sure Employees Understand Your Strategy in 2023

  

You might have the most compelling strategy for your organization, but if you can’t get it out of your head and get others to see it and believe in it, it might as well not even exist.

Just because the strategy makes sense to you doesn’t mean it will take only an instant for others to see it like you do. We often think that others think as we do, that others see the world as we do, but it’s more likely that there’s a lot of ground to cover between their perspective and yours (Please repeat after me, "Message sent DOESN'T always equal message received" 😉). Employees come to their jobs with their own context, and it’s the leader’s job to help them understand the collective context, including how you see the marketplace today, and how that led to your strategy.

Understanding Strategy Means Business

Communication from leaders that focuses on explaining the organization's vision/mission/strategies and how employee’s individual jobs fit into the big picture are key drivers of how employees feel about their leadership and the effectiveness of internal communication overall. Communication Climate Index, The Qualtrix Group, 2018

• Motivating employees to help achieve your strategic vision increases profitability 22% to 27% over a 6-12 month basis. Chief Executive Group, “4 Ways to Motivate Employees to Help Achieve Your Strategic Vision,” working study of 100s of their client companies, August 2020

• 57% of surveyed Americans stated they would perform better at their jobs if they better understood the company's direction. Zeno Group, online survey of 1000 Americans, early 2019

• One-third (33%) of executives were not confident that their employees could accurately communicate the company's business strategy to others. Zeno Group, "Barriers to Employee Engagement" Study, 2021

The Majority of Employees Don't Understand Their Company's Strategy

A recent study by Franklin-Covey which surveyed thousands of employees across industries revealed:

•  Only 37 % said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying     to achieve and why.
•  Only one in five was enthusiastic about their team’s and organization’s goals.
•  Only one in five said they had a clear “line of sight” between their tasks and their   team’s and organization’s goals.
•  Only 15 percent felt that their organization fully enables them to execute key   goals.
•  Only 20 percent fully trusted the organization they work for.

If the soccer team pictured below had the same results that would mean:

• Only 4 of the 11 players on the field would know which goal is theirs. 
• Only 2 of the 11 would care. 
• Only 2 of the 11 would know what position they play and know exactly what they are supposed to do. 
• All but 2 players would, in some way, be competing against their own team members rather than the opponent.

It’s up to leaders to engage others so they have the same clear picture you do of your strategy and where the business is going. The reality is that some may have small windows into your view of the strategy, but very few have the whole picture like you do. Lift the perspective out of your head and get it into others’ so they can own it and help you achieve it.

Here are 6 steps to help your employees understand and buy into your strategy:

1. Put the strategy on a single piece of paper. Let it serve as a strategic framework that drives all work inside the organization.

An effective business strategy summary typically includes the following components: 

• A summary of your organization’s strengths and weaknesses, along with the opportunities and threats you see.
• Your vision, mission, and values.
• The top business goals of the organization that, if achieved, will drive your success.
• The individual strategies that will help you achieve those goals.
• The measurement components for each strategy.

And don’t forget to leave space for individual leaders to customize the organizational information for their teams.

2. Share the strategic framework and ensure your leaders are aligned. 

Give leaders the context behind the strategy so they understand how you got there and ask them to make the strategy relevant for their teams.

Don’t allow the bobble-heads.You know the meeting. Everyone nods in agreement during the meeting, and then leaves the room and does whatever they want. The senior-most leader leaves the meeting thinking, “Great, everyone’s on board and moving full speed ahead.”

Except what usually happens is that people go back to business as usual, or chat up the grapevine about how the ideas discussed will never work. It’s time to stop the bobbleheads.

How do you ensure alignment with your team instead of just having nodding heads?

• Engage everyone in critical discussions. Don’t allow bobbleheads to speak with their nods. Draw them out to find out what they’re thinking.
• Ask open-ended questions of your leadership team to get real-time input and commitment. How someone answers a question tells you what they’re thinking.
• Elicit opinions to ensure diverse perspectives are aired and discussed.
• Once you gain alignment, ask leaders to share how the strategy is relevant to their area of the business.
• Set clear expectations and accountabilities so every head-nodder has a clear set of actions related to their critical role in activating the strategy.
• Follow up individually with your leaders for their perspective on what was discussed. Ask questions to engage each one in dialogue, and check how well a leader is customizing the information for his or her team.
• Give leaders an assignment: Have them reach out to their staff and come back to you with perspective on parts of the strategy that seem confusing and/or barriers that may exist to implementing the strategy (along with recommended solutions).

3. Provide leaders training on how to use the tools. See them in action so you can coach them on how to communicate big-picture messages, along with that all-important personalization. Can your leaders make the strategy relevant to their teams?

4. Use the strategic framework consistently in your communications with employees so it becomes familiar to them and they see what’s happening and how it ties to the strategy (they know what’s important when they see and hear it from multiple sources).

5. As your thinking evolves about the strategy (quarterly, annually, etc.), update your framework and communicate regularly so employees are in the loop and understand the reasons behind decisions.

6. Celebrate “wins,” always connecting back to and reinforcing the core elements of the strategy.

Chances are, many employees just see their tasks and not the bigger picture of how they contribute. You also might learn that there’s a need for your team to better understand the organization’s goals and strategy, too. Or, there’s not clarity on your team’s priorities.

No matter what the learnings, you’ve started an important discussion that you can continue regularly, and can form the basis of lots of celebration in the future. And what team can’t use even more celebration?

"Everything rises and falls on leadership. And leadership rises and falls on communication."    
                                                                                --Peter Senge

Click here to read a related post entitled: Execution IS Strategy
 

To your greater success and fulfillment in 2023,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

13 Ways to Soar in 2023

 

Improving your professional results in 2023 might appear to be a heavy task that takes a lot of time. But, in truth, it all starts with a small step in the right direction. Below are thirteen of my favorite tips to help you do just that.

1.     People Have Done More, With Less

Remember this every time you feel like the cards are stacked against you or you don't have what it takes. You not only have the goods, but you most likely have more than what thousands of other successful people had before you. With much less than what we enjoy today, people have created lives of health, wealth, success, and happiness.

2.   Build the Muscle

Taking action is like a muscle; it's a skill that must be built and strengthened over time.
So start to build it today. Start small. Set mini-goals for yourself, small tasks you can do in just a few minutes. Then, when the time comes to do something truly important, the habit of action you need will be there, ready to move you.

3.  Strike When the Iron is Hot

Often, the moment bursting with the most drive and excitement is in the beginning, when a goal or idea first comes to mind.Your juices are flowing. Your mind is spinning with possibilities. A better life is just around the corner.

This is when you need to get moving. Right that instant. When the idea comes to you, take a step toward fulfilling it. Putting it off will only let that energy fade away.

4.   Get Angry

It might sound strange, but getting angry about where you are is actually a very good thing. It's only when we get upset about something that we feel any motivation to change it. If you're not mad that it's broken, why bother fixing it?

Don't lose hope if you feel unsettled and unhappy with a part of your life. That's a good sign, a sign that you're getting ready to make a change.

5.     Raise Your Standards

We don't often defy our standards. If you're not the type of person who smokes, you can't imagine falling into the habit. It's just not who you are or who see yourself to be. Take that idea and inject it into the rest of your goals.

No matter what you want, begin to think of yourself as someone who simply makes it happen. As you begin to raise your standards and see yourself as the person you hope to become, it will be harder and harder to procrastinate or back down from fear. It's just not who you are.

Right about now you might be saying to yourself, 'Getting motivated sounds great, but what if I don't know what I want to get motivated to do? What if I don't know what I really want?'
This is one of the most important questions you'll ever ask, but if you're like most people, the answers you need are difficult to find.

However, there is a solution. There is actually a proven method to tapping into your unique path to happiness and uncovering all of your goals, dreams, and true purpose in life.

6.   Gather Your Personal Motivators
What books motivate you? What movies inspire you? What people, places, or things make you want to do the things you say you want to do?

We all have them, though few people take the time to identify in particular what they are. Go a step further. Don’t merely name the things that motivate you-- gather them into one place and create a motivation station of sorts.

When you find something that excites or inspires you, you've found gold. You can't let that slip to the side. You need to capture it so you can return to it whenever you need hope, encouragement, or confidence.

7.      Motivate Others

When you help others, they will in turn be helping you. If a friend or family member is in need of a little motivation, make it your personal goal to help them achieve success. Motivating your friend will help you to learn about motivation from an entirely different viewpoint.

8.     Write Out Your Excuses

Make a written list of the reasons you normally use for not doing something that you should-or want-to do. Consider each area of your life: your job, your family, your money, your health, etc.

If you're not working as diligently as you should be, what's your reason?

Next to each item on your list, brainstorm for solutions. For example, if you wrote down that you put off your goal because you have a full-time job, you could write that you still have five to six hours per night to work on your tasks after work. If you're smart enough to come up with these excuses, you're smart enough to tear them apart.

9.    Make it a Game

We are hardwired to meet a challenge. So when you have to complete some simple task or project, make it a game. This will reframe the situation from a dreaded job to a personal competition. Have to clean the house? See if you can do it in under two hours. Need to write that report? Finish a paragraph before the next commercial break.

10.  Get Organized

Plain and simple: A cluttered desk or home or office makes for a cluttered mind.
Get clear. Get focused. Get organized.

You'll create a state of mind that is not only relieved from all the clutter but also ready for action.

11.  Discomfort, Anyone?

Do something that makes you uncomfortable at least once a week. Once a day if you're ambitious. Eleanor Roosevelt echoed this sentiment when she remarked, “Do at least one thing everyday that scares you.”

Why?

Because most of our goals push us to do things we don't normally do, to say things we don't normally say. That can be scary, so most people don't do it.

But if you force yourself into uncomfortable situations (talking to a stranger, for instance), you'll get good at pushing past your comfort zone. You'll also realize the world doesn't end when you do the things that scare you.

Check out a related post: Stretching Outside Your Comfort Zone

12.  Who Did This?

You're unique, no question about it. Even so, I have a feeling someone out there has been in your shoes. They shared your struggle and your dream, and they found a way.

Instead of reinventing the wheel and going at this alone, why not reach out to those people and find out how they did it?

If you want to improve your health, reach out to someone who already did it. If you want to start a business, email an entrepreneur. If you want to love your job, find someone who changed careers and adores the new direction.

You'll get two immediate rewards. First, you'll realize that you're not alone. There are other people out there just like you. Second, you'll learn how to actually achieve your goal, not through guesswork or hunches, but through actual proof.

13.  Get It in Writing

I used to keep everything in my head. To-do lists, business ideas, schedules...everything I thought of or about squeezed its way into an already crowded space.

And it drove me crazy.

I was constantly going through mental lists, making sure I wasn't missing something important. Then I decided to empty my head of it all. I typed it into the computer and felt instant relief and clarity.

If your head is swirling with thoughts and ideas, write them all down on paper or record them all onto your computer.

In the words of a 1992 En Vogue song, “Free your mind and the rest will follow.

With every best wish,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

 

26 Ways to Savor Life in 2023

 

When we get older we start to see the reality of life's fleeting nature. We can use this knowledge as an opportunity to see each day, each moment as a golden opportunity for enjoyment, happiness, and love.

If we live to age 90, from birth to death we have 32,850 days on Earth. Our Earth has been around 4.55 billion years. Our life here is just a blip.

This awareness provokes a lot of soul searching for many of us. I've thought, read and studied a lot about what comprises a quality life and have determined five areas that are key to enjoying life to the fullest.

1. Living in integrity. This is something you must define yourself by creating your own personal operating system. But in general it includes living in alignment with your values and your personal/religious beliefs; being authentic and honest with yourself and others; and living in balance financially.

2. Making a contribution. Whether through our work or otherwise, we all need to feel we have a purpose and have made some mark on the world. We need to feel that our lives have some intrinsic meaning. Having a passion and sharing it with the world provides tremendous joy and fulfillment.

3. Having good relationships. We need loving, supportive, and healthy relationships with romantic partners, family, friends, and co- workers. We certainly know the impact of bad relationships. Good ones offer us joy, contentment, and connectedness.

4. Being healthy. When we feel good physically, we feel good mentally and emotionally. We we feel bad physically, we feel bad all over. It is hard to enjoy life when your physical health is poor.

5. Having pleasure. There are so many things in this big world to enjoy--more than we could ever experience in one lifetime. If we are living in the framework our integrity, then pleasurable experiences should be pursued and enjoyed regularly--without guilt. Having fun is essential to savoring life.

As you examine these five areas in your own life, remember that first defining your integrity and creating your own personal operating system will make it far easier to define the other four areas. When we live outside of our integrity, it casts a shadow over all other areas of our lives.

Here are 26 ideas for savoring life and living it to the fullest in these five critical areas:

1. Define or refine your values and personal operating system. Know what is important to you, and seek to live in accordance with that.

2. Restore your integrity wherever you have stepped out of it. Make amends, correct the situation, shift the balance. This will reduce agitation and guilt.

3. Be true to yourself. Be authentic. Look for ways that you are pretending, acting to impress, or living out some other person's expectations rather than your own.

4. Examine your job. You spend many hours a day in this job. If you don't love it, or at least like it, you are frittering away a good chunk of your life. This is imperative for a happy life. Take control of your career.

5. Know your passions. If you don't know what you are passionate about, find out. Take the time to do this, and then find a way to regularly incorporate your passion into your daily life. Discovering your passion dramatically increases happiness.

6. Give to others daily. Share your knowledge, passions, skills, and time with someone else on a regular basis. This doesn't require a grand gesture. Impacting one life can make a huge ripple on the world. It feels good.

7. Show kindness. In the smallest interactions, be kind. Choose kindness over being right, indignant, smarter, richer, or too busy. Kindness feels good to you and to the recipient. And it's infectious.

8. Release some stuff. If you have loads of material things that you don't use, release them. Give them away to someone who can use them. This is tremendously satisfying.

9. Release some money. If you have plenty of money, use it for good. Contribute it in a way that makes one person or the whole world a better place.

10. Just listen. Listen to someone's story, their pain, their joyful event, their boring anecdote, their fears. Give someone the gift of really hearing them.

11. Nurture your friendships. Be the initiator. Express your feelings for them. Learn more about your friends. Be there for good and bad times.

12. Be the person you want in others. Define what you want in a relationship, then be that person yourself. Like attracts like.

13. Let it go. Be quick to forgive and quick to forget. Holding grudges and nurturing old wounds is unhealthy and makes you unhappy.

14. Know when to let go. However, some relationships can pull you down. Take a look at those in your life. Is it time to let go? How much energy are you giving away to them?

15. Expand your network. Actively meet new people. They can enhance your life, introduce you to new ideas and opportunities, pleasures, and other new friends. Studies show that people with good networks are more resilient dealing with the adversities in life.

16. Love yourself. A healthy love for yourself with healthy self-confidence creates healthy relationships.

17. Communicate often. We so often misunderstand and misinterpret one another. Or we say things we don't really mean. Learn healthy communication skills and use them often, particularly in your primary relationship.

18. Educate yourself on nutrition. Read books, blogs, or magazines about proper eating for good health. Then eat that way. If you are unhealthy, it will undermine your happiness in all areas of your life.

19. Go outside every day. Sunlight boosts your mood and provides vitamin D. Being in nature enlivens your soul and makes you feel connected to the world around you.

20. Get moving. You know this. Get some exercise. Walk, bike, run, swim, dance, stretch, lift weights. You can make it fun. Take care of this remarkable house for your soul.

21. Cut back, simplify, reduce stress. Find balance in your life by letting some things go. You can't do or be everything. Pick a few things, and enjoy them fully. Identify where you are stressed, and deal with it.

22. Find an outlet. There are difficult times in every life. Find someone, a professional coach, counselor, minister, mentor, or friend, who can help you through them. Talking about your problems with someone trusted helps you heal and cope and stay mentally and emotionally healthy.

23. Play often. Play shouldn't end at childhood. Have fun regularly. Define what is fun for you and go do it every week.

24. Increase your travel (Local or abroad). The world truly is your oyster. There is so much to explore and see and enjoy. Pick some places that intrigue you. Save your money. Plan some trips.

25. Unplug. Television and computer have pulled us away from real living. Actively reduce the amount of time you spend in front of them. Fill that time with pleasurable activities instead. Read, cook, play a sport, meet with friends, do something creative, , meditate, go to the theater, camp, look at the stars, chop wood, carry water.

26. Think less. Be more. Act more. Negative thoughts create negative feelings. Actively seek to stop negative thinking, and just be in the moment. If negative thoughts and feelings are getting intrusive, do something distracting.

Imagine living this way!

Pick one of the activities above and savor it.

It takes thought, planning, and a dose of wisdom to create a fulfilling life--a life that you can savor. Experience teaches us these lessons, and wisdom helps us to embrace them.

To your greater fulfillment and success,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Leadership Renewal 2023: How to Become a Stronger People Leader in the New Year

  

 

 

The new year is here and it's the time for hope and renewal. In this spirit of new possibilities, why not commit to becoming a stronger people leader by starting some or all of your management relationships anew?

Managers often say, “I can see now that I should be a stronger, more engaged leader, but I’ve been in this role managing a number of the same people for many months or even years.” These people often ask: “How can I possibly just change my management style one day?”

Often these are long-standing workplace relationships. So the employees in question are accustomed to the way they’ve always interacted with this manager. If you make a big change they are going to feel it. They might even challenge you on the legitimacy of your change effort or doubt the likelihood of your success.

That’s why it’s best not to rush into a big change in your management relationships. Keep in mind that becoming a stronger people leader is not about putting your foot down, but rather much more like talking a walk every day. You need to be in this for the long haul if it’s going to work. So stop and think. Make sure you are ready psychologically. Make sure you are ready tactically. Make sure you have made all the preparations necessary.

It takes courage to make a change; that's true whether you are considering a wholesale renewal of your leadership approach or just a renewal of one or more specific management relationships.

Start with high engagement. The beginning is your best opportunity to reestablish the ground rules for your working relationship. This is your chance to create a new clarity and alignment:

• This is our mission.
• This how our work relates to the mission.
• This is how we operate from now on.
• These are our core values.
• These are our standards. This is how I’m going to operate from now on.
• This is what I’m going to do to help you from now on.
• This is what I have to offer you in return.

First and foremost, that means dedicating the time for high-structure, high-substance team meetings and regular, ongoing one-on-one dialogues starting on day one of your renewal. Take heart. This is good news! Think about it: you are about to let your people know that you are making a new commitment to the essentials of leadership. How can anyone on your team truly object when you say: “I’m going to be stronger (In a good way) and more highly engaged from now on”? Craft your own message with the key elements of the “Good news!” message:

• I am going to strive to live up to the huge responsibility of leadership.
• I’m going to spell out expectations for you and help you plan your work.
• I’m going to track performance.
• I’m going to help you learn, get tools and resources, solve problems, and earn more.
• I need your help in becoming a stronger, better manager.

Perhaps the toughest part of renewal is sticking with it (Read: Homeostasis). Like any change in habits, it’s not easy to stay on the wagon. For a leader with long-standing relationships, it could be very tempting to fall off the wagon and go back to your old management habits. So you have to be diligent and vigilant for weeks or months or sometime longer before the changes really become the new normal.

Every step of the way, keep asking yourself:

• Who needs to be managed more closely?
• Who needs more responsibility and autonomy?
• Who needs help navigating the complex, ever-changing workplace?
• Who needs help with the fundamentals of self-management?
• Who needs performance coaching to speed up or slow down?
• Who has a great attitude, and who needs an attitude adjustment?
• Who is likely to improve? Who is not? (Beware of the self-fulling prophecy)
• Who should be coached up? Who should be coached out?

[Check out a related post: How to Coach High Performers to Go Even Higher. ]
• Who are the best people? Who are the real performance problems?

Yes, consistently is critical. But even more important is knowing what to do when you fall off the strong-leadership wagon for a while. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or a week or a month or years. Just stop and think. Prepare yourself. And then get right back to being strong and engaged. One person at a time. One conversation at a time. One day at a time.

The solution to nearly every management challenge comes from consistently practicing the fundamentals very well. That means maintaining an ongoing schedule of high-quality, one-on-one dialogues with every person you manage.

If you consistently practice the fundamentals you will quickly see results: increased employee performance and morale, increased retention of high performers, increased turnover among low performers, and significant, measurable improvements in business outcomes. Not only that, but you will find yourself spending a steadily diminishing amount of you time on “firefighting.”

It is not easy to practice the fundamentals with rigor and consistency. To get going, you need to overcome three big hurdles:

First, you have to make the transition, which may require that you find new reserves of energy, conviction, and follow-through. Going from not maintaining high-structure, high-substance, ongoing, one-on-one dialogue with every direct report to establishing that practice requires that you change personally and professionally, communicate this to colleagues and superiors, roll it out to direct reports, and then start doing it.

Second, you’ll find it’s time-consuming, at first. Getting back to the fundamentals usually requires a significant up-front investment of extra time. If you haven’t been doing it before, you will still have to fight all the fires you have not prevented at the same time you are heavily investing time in preventing future fires. This could take up twice as much of your time for a while, until all the old fires die out.

Third, you need to stay ahead of the vicious cycle. You have to use discipline and focus to consistently spend your management time where it should be spent—upfront, every step of the way, before anything goes right, wrong, or average.

If you commit to this—consistently maintaining the high-structure, high-substance, ongoing, one-one-one dialogues—in a matter of weeks everything will get much better. Plus, you will start getting your time back—and then some.

Of course, the really hard part is truly sticking close to the fundamentals even when the heat is on. Don’t let the crisis throw you off your came. If you finding yourself slipping away from the fundamentals—if you have a bad day, week, or year—just bounce back. Get back on your game and start practicing the fundamentals again, with rigor and consistency, one person at a time, one day at a time.

Top performers are a lot like professional golfers. The one thing that helps every elite golfer to master the fundamentals of the game is a coach. Every elite golfer has a coach to watch the pro’s swing.

Why? Because the golfer can't change what they can't see.

Because the coach can see what the golfer can’t, change is possible.

This kind of feedback builds champions.

Engaging a professional coach can help you improve your "leadership game" along with the business results you want to achieve in 2023. Remember this simple truth:

If you want the best from your team, you must give them your best. And given the disruptive changes in society, the workforce, technology and market demands, your best must be getting better or you and your team will not be equipped to compete and win.

Here are three resources to help you realize your full potential as a person and by extension as a leader:

Click here to read a post titled: Coaching Works: Here's Why  (3-min)

Click here to read a post titled: SMART Coaching Works: Here's Proof (3-min)

Click here to view a powerful Ted Talk titled: Want to get great at something? Get a coach (16-min)

As we leave one more year behind and move forward into the next one, here's hoping that you'll make the commitment to become a stronger people leader and thereby having a greater impact on the lives of the people you lead and in the organization you serve. 

 

Check out a related post: A New Year's 'Blessing' for Leaders.  (3 min read)

 

Wishing you 12 remarkable months of growth, health, and happiness,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

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Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.