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whats_your_coaching_style

Do You Know Your Coaching Style?

Posted by Coaching SkillsNo Comments

Coaching is more than a means of correcting problematic behavior.  It’s more than something a manager has to do in times of conflict.  Coaching is how relationships form between managers and employees.  It’s an opportunity. Knowing your coaching style can go a long way to successful coaching.

Building a relationship of mutual trust between manager and employee benefits everyone – employee, manager, team, and organization.  And while coaching is an ongoing process, the skills involved in conducting a coaching meeting can be extended to the overall employee/manager relationship.

What’s My Coaching Style? is a coaching assessment that measures personality style and explores how it relates to coaching and interpersonal relationships. Coaches and managers identify and understand personality traits, learn how to capitalize on personal strengths, and minimize potential weaknesses.

Accurate, easy to use, and and easy to apply, the coaching assessment measures an individual’s preference for one or more basic behavioral styles: direct, spirited, considerate, and systematic. With this knowledge, individuals can better understand why they behave the way they do, learn how to adapt their behavior to improve interpersonal relationships, develop rapport, and ultimately, become more effective coaches.

 The result of a coaching meeting should be a message, sent and received, about behavior.  Both employee and manager need to be aware of and committed to specific actions that will align behavior with organizational goals and values. By upholding these values, and guiding work toward these objectives (by coaching their employees), managers are building a better future for their organization.

Healthy employee-manager relationships can be an invaluable part of your organization’s culture.  Build them with great coaching – let What’s My Coaching Style? be your guide! You can learn more about the value of using this product in your training in the upcoming FREE webinar What Does Your Coaching Style Say About You?

Register for the free webinar today!

23
jan
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courageous_leadership

The Three Buckets of Courage

Posted by UncategorizedNo Comments

Courage involves behavior. Like all behaviors, courage can be developed, encouraged, and reinforced. While a lot of writers have focused on the realms in which courage is applied (e.g. moral courage) military courage, and political courage, it is more useful to understand the common ways that people behave when being courageous, regardless of which realm they’re operating in.

While the realms themselves may have sharp differences, the ways people behave when being courageous within those realms are surprisingly similar. In my work as a courage-building consultant, I have discovered that there are three ways of behaving when your courage is activated. When you become familiar with the three distinct types of courageous behavior, you gain a deeper understanding of how to tap into, and strengthen, your own courage and the courage of those around you.

I call these three different forms of courage the Three Buckets of Courage.

Try Courage

When managers talk about wanting workers to “step up to the plate,” it is Try Courage that they are referring to. Try Courage is the courage of initiative and action. You often see Try Courage when people make first attempts – for example, whenever you see someone attempt new, skill-stretching, or pioneering tasks. Someone who volunteers to lead a tough or risky project is demonstrating Try Courage.

Trust Courage

Trust Courage is the courage that it takes to relinquish control and rely on others. When managers talk of wanting employees to embrace company changes more willingly or to follow directives more enthusiastically, it is more Trust Courage that they want employees to have. When Trust Courage is present, people give each other the benefit of the doubt, instead of questioning the motives and intentions of those around them. Trust Courage isn’t about taking charge (as with Try Courage), but about following the charge of others.

Tell Courage

Tell Courage is the courage of voice and involves speaking with candor and conviction, especially when the opinions expressed run counter to the groups. To preserve their safety, workers often agree too much and speak up too little. When Tell Courage is activated, it causes workers to assert themselves more willingly and confidently. Tell Courage at work is shown when employees tactfully but truthfully provide tough feedback, even to their manager. It’s also seen when workers raise their hands and ask for help, or when they tell their manager about mistakes they’ve made before they are asked.

The main benefit of using the Three Buckets of Courage as a framework for understanding and categorizing courageous behavior is that it helps make courage, as a concept, more graspable.

Parsing courage into three behavioral buckets allows us to discriminate the different ways we have been courageous in the past and are capable of being in the future.

To learn more about how to develop courage, attend the free webinar “Courageous Leadership: How to Build Backbone, Boost Performance, and Get Results” on Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. EST. This webinar will allow attendees to understanding why being courageous is the premier personal and professional virtue while learning how to create an environment that supports ongoing courageous behavior. Participants will also receive tips on how to increase their courage while inspiring more workplace courage. Register today!

This webinar is based on the HRDQ product “Courageous Leadership.” Courageous Leadership is a comprehensive training package that introduces courage-building, which is a practice that guides leaders to readily meet challenges, fully embrace change, and speak more assertively. Learn more!

10
jan
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communication_skills_in_the_workplace

Learning to Listen: The Importance of Great Communication Skills

Posted by communication skillsNo Comments

Being able to listen well is crucial to workplace communication skills in any job role. Great listening skills will allow you to perform better, communicate more effectively, understand more, and feel like a part of the team. Great listening skills from both managers and employees will lead to a better working relationship.

Verbal communication should be a two-way street—one person talks while the other person listens, and vice versa. But frequently, we focus more on talking and not enough on listening. This can cause issues in the workplace.

Listening well is a skill that everyone needs, as it is required in nearly all work activities. Areas where listening skills are crucial:

  • When team members listen to each other they are better able to share ideas and solve problems.
  • Decision Making. Making the best possible decisions requires knowing all of the available information, and in order to know all of the information you need to listen to it and absorb it.
  • Managing and Supervising. Mangers need to listen with empathy, compassion and respect. This will allow employees to feel valued and trusted.
  • Customer Service. Listening patiently and helping the customer fully express their issue can provide the extra insight needed to answer questions and solve problems in a way to satisfy the customer.
  • Listening to a customer’s needs before you start talking about the sale can provide the information you need to tailor your presentation to the client/customer.
  • If you listen with an open mind, you can find clues as to what terms the other party will and won’t accept.

The Listening Model

The Listening Model depicts the three main dimensions of behaviors and shows the extent to which each is invisible and visible. It’s important to keep this model in mind when thinking of improving communication skills.

“Staying Focused” is mostly invisible and involves clearing and maintaining a mental space that allows you to pay full attention to the speaker. “Capturing the Message” can be both invisible and visible and it entails building a complete and accurate understanding of the speaker’s message. “Helping the Speaker” is mostly visible and refers to the golden rule of listening: listen to others as you would have them listen to you. If you perform all of these three categories then you are much more likely to find success in your listening skills.

Learning More

To learn more about the importance of listening and communication skills and how to perform them better, attend HRDQ’s webinar “Learning to Listen: How Listening Can Improve Workplace Performance” on Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. EST. Attendees will leave the session being able to determine listening effectiveness in three dimensions, explore the visible and invisible aspects of listening, learn what it takes both physically and mentally to listen, understand common barriers to effective listening, and create a plan to put new skills into immediate action. Register today!

The webinar is based on HRDQ’s “Learning to Listen” product, which evaluates current skill level, shows individuals how to take an active role in the listening process, and then provides ample opportunities for practice and development.

9
jan
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transformational_leadership

The Top 5 Qualities of a Transformational Leader

Posted by LeadershipNo Comments

Technology and market innovations continue to disrupt the global economy, forcing companies to rethink how they organize their business, manage their workforce, and engage with customers. In order to confront and surmount these challenges, organizations must identify weaknesses and inefficiencies in their operations and implement changes quickly and effectively to stay competitive. Without visionary, transformational leadership, however, any effort to implement changes is likely doomed to failure.

Transformational leaders are able to facilitate change initiatives effectively, building consensus and achieving buy-in to ensure that transitions are carried out as smoothly as possible. Not every leader is well-suited to this task, however. Far from a caretaker of the status quo, transformational leaders need to develop and implement strategies that can push a company to where it needs to be for sustained success. These leaders tend to have a number of key qualities in common.

The Top 5 Qualities of a Transformational Leader

Good Listener

Transformational leaders may have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish, but they’re also humble enough to realize they don’t always have all the answers. They understand that listening is the foundation of many other leadership skills; it helps them better understand their teams and opens the door to productive collaboration. Effective leaders refine their active listening skills to both demonstrate attentiveness and avoid misunderstandings. Furthermore, when people feel like their concerns, feelings, and ideas are being genuinely heard and taken into consideration, they are more likely to be engaged and committed in their work. Given that high engagement is strongly connected to productivity and retention, listening skills are essential for any leader hoping to succeed in the long run.

Adaptable

In today’s fast-moving business environment, leaders need to be agile enough to identify changing dynamics and make rapid adjustments to overcome challenges without compromising strategic goals. They must have the situational awareness to understand how external and internal events, such as shifts in the market or an administrative shake-up, might impact an organization’s performance. When changes require them to act, they need to know how systems within a company interact with each other so their solutions don’t end up creating more problems than they solve. Prioritization can help leaders be more adaptable because it helps them manage multiple needs, which may even conflict, while still keeping larger organizational goals in sight.

Inspiring

Truly transformational leaders find ways to inspire, creating an enthusiasm and passion that causes others to aspire for better performance and effort. When employees are inspired, they’re more likely to be highly engaged, which in turn leads to lower rates of absenteeism, higher productivity, and diminished turnover. Inspirational leaders are effective at creating a sense of purpose for their teams. They communicate goals and challenge employees in ways that make people want to rise up to meet, or exceed, expectations. Their combination of emotional appeals and active communication helps these leaders to get to know their team members and better understand how to motivate them. By aligning strategic goals with people’s pre-existing values, transformational leaders can create a work environment in which everyone understands why their role is vital to the organization’s success.

Accountable

Few things undermine a leader faster than deflecting blame and refusing to take accountability for their actions. Employees need to know that a leader is not only willing to hold themselves responsible for outcomes, but will follow through on the commitments they make. When leaders hold themselves accountable, they communicate that accomplishing the team’s collective goals is their highest priority, not fulfilling some personal agenda. This also sets a strong example for employees, encouraging them to accept the same degree of accountability in their work. Building an organizational culture that emphasizes accountability helps to lay the groundwork for a workplace that thrives on communication, trust, and consistent engagement.

Integrity

Leaders who struggle to build trust, loyalty, and support will find it almost impossible to succeed. Effective leaders must demonstrate that they are honest, ethical, and worthy of trust. They can build this reputation by keeping promises and honoring commitments while setting an example for behavior that is in keeping with the organization’s stated values. Employees need to know a leader is credible and willing to “speak the truth.” When leaders are able to build trust in their teams, they’re better able to secure commitment and buy-in from people on important initiatives that are needed to drive organizational change.

With today’s complex and competitive business environment challenging companies like never before, there is a huge demand for truly transformational leadership. Unfortunately, not all leaders are equipped to deal with the obstacles before them. In order to find enduring success, companies must continue to focus on instituting development strategies that allow them to identify and prepare high-potential employees who can step into leadership roles when the time comes. Simply perpetuating the status quo will no longer be enough.

 Attend the free webinar What Makes Great Transformational Leadership? This webinar is based on the HRDQ product, Transformational Leader, and will be presented by Rick Lepsinger, President of OnPoint Consulting. Rick’s career has focused on helping organizations and leaders identify and develop leaders, work better virtually, enhance cross functional team performance, and get from strategy to execution faster.  He conducts numerous seminars and workshops on succession management, leading from a distance, leading cross functional teams, and enhancing execution.  Rick has written numerous articles and is the author or co-author of several books, including his most recent Closing the Execution Gap: How Great Leaders and Their Companies Get Results.

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