Category: Influence

How Do You Define Significance in Your Life?

A friend of mine, Scott Fay, writes and teaches on success and significance in our lives. Another friend of mine forwarded to me an article about how we sometimes positively impact others in our lives without knowing it. There is a great connection between these two ideas.

In his book, Discover Your Sweet Spot, Scott explores how we create significance by giving away what we can’t keep. That certainly includes money, but it also encompasses our time, our attention, our talents, and our efforts. Significance in our lives is about being significant in the lives of others. It is not about us.

When we influence others through our actions, we will probably never see the result or know that we had any effect. But that shouldn’t cause us to change our actions.

Isn’t it amazing that if we have the right motives, and work to positively impact others, we can succeed and not even know it. We should strive for significance without any need to see the results.

This morning I reflected about people that have had a positive impact on my life. I found it amazing that most have no idea that they had an influence me. I am sure you would discover the same if you thought about people that have shaped your life, and your list would probably include family, teachers, mentors, friends, and colleagues.

I think a great challenge for each of us would be to reflect on the significance we want to have in our lives. What actions should we be taking to make a difference for others? Are we prepared to follow through every day without the reward of knowing the effect?

4 Key Ingredients in Developing Your Team

I routinely get asked, “How can I develop leadership skills in my employees (or my team)?” No matter your business, your team size, or your objectives, there are key requirements for successful employee development that apply . Let’s review these four significant steps to learn how you can develop a leader from within your team. A leader who will help you grow your business, or grow your success.

1) See their potential. You cannot develop someone if you truly do not see their potential. This may be the hardest part. You must be willing to see them as they can be, not as they are right now.

2) Show them the picture of their potential. You have to be very clear about what the future looks like. You can’t just tell them they have potential. Where do they have potential? Where can it lead them? What is the opportunity they have right now to start developing this potential? Make it as clear as possible. Support them as they begin to step out of their comfort zone.

3) Create rewards to match their growth. You can’t develop leaders without having a business model that rewards them for their achievement. You have to be willing to provide appropriate rewards for the performance you expect.

4) Align this process with your business plan or goals. How many people do you need to develop? Where will they fit in your business? Where will their new skills and responsibilities drive new growth or new success? If you develop new leaders, you want to keep them. You will only be able to retain them if they fit your business plan, and if they can continue to grow. You will need to establish a growth environment that supports and nurtures your team in alignment with your business.

This is not an employee training plan. This is a leadership development plan. A plan which requires your intentional involvement to be successful. It is not a plan that you would want to implement with all your employees. It is a plan that meets the need of a specific employee for a specific business purpose. It is this alignment which creates the opportunity to successfully develop your employees.

I hope this helps you think through the process that will help you develop key people on your path to success!

 

What Everybody Ought to Know About Connecting

Recently I was certified in the facilitation of the Real Colors temperament assessment tool. Real Colors is grounded in the personality theory of Carl Jung, and validated by the work of Myers-Briggs, and Keirsey-Bates. Maybe you are familiar with other assessment tools like MBTI or DISC. Real Colors is a tool that is accurate, understandable, and easy to apply on a daily basis.

Why is all of that important? Your ability to communicate and connect with others is vital to your success. According to the Harvard Business Review, “The number one criteria for advancement and promotion for professionals is an ability to communicate effectively.” Leadership expert John C. Maxwell says, “Connecting is vital for any person who wants to achieve success. It is essential for anyone who wants to build great relationships.”

Knowing about temperament theory can help you identify the approach required to improve your connection with specific people. People are different in how they connect with others. People have different perspectives.

How much more effective could you be in your work life and relationships if you had more insight in how to connect, support and add value to others?

As Zig Ziglar said, “You can get everything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want.” What if you had a better understanding of how to communicate effectively with other people?

The Real Colors workshop provides the opportunity for people to learn their own temperament preferences, and how they can better relate to others with different preferences.

If you are discussing a new problem that needs to be solved with an individual, what approach in communication would you use? Some people want you to get right to the point and discuss how to solve the problem. Some people want to understand why the problem needs to be solved, but not told how to solve it. Others want to understand how solving the problem will support the team or other people. Other people need clear and precise direction with defined organization on how to solve the problem.

Which approach is most effective? It depends on who you are are talking with.

If you knew which approach would work with different individuals wouldn’t your effectiveness improve? That is the power of Real Colors.

I am excited about helping people understand themselves, and how they can be more effective in this world. Contact me if you would like to know more about how Real Colors can help you or your organization.

 

Heartfelt Recognition Makes a Difference

In one of my leadership positions, I implemented a recognition award for my team. Every quarter I accepted nominations for the winner, who would be selected for their efforts over the previous quarter.

There was nothing special about this process. You have probably seen similar programs at some point in your career. There was nothing special about the award itself either. In fact, there was no monetary consideration, and the award was a traveling trophy. If you were recognized, you were able to keep the trophy on your desk for the quarter, but then it was passed to the next recipient.

What made the award special was public recognition, and the letter which accompanied the trophy. The letter detailed the specifics of why the person was being recognized. It was written in a story format, and the story came from the heart of the people impacted. The stories had impact.

When I reflect on the success of that process, I can see the importance far beyond the award itself. Here are three main benefits we enjoyed.

1. Displayed Sincerity and Authenticity. The awards allowed the leadership team to model sincerity and authenticity to the organization. We researched and validated the activity being recognized to verify accurate representation.

2. Increased Awareness of Great Effort. Since we were not recognizing people just for doing a great job, but for specific actions, the team became more aware of opportunities for recognition. The staff began to learn how recognition within their own team can impact all parts of the organization.

3. Celebrated Shared Values. This might have been the greatest benefit. The entire organization began to develop an understanding of what we valued as a team. It created the culture we desired. It energized the entire workforce.

As I think of the impact of this one simple program, I can’t help but think that everyone must already be doing this. But I have heard from many of you, that it is not true. Many organizations, spend their time on problem solving, and fire-fighting, with little to no effort placed on recognition.

With such a large payoff, how can we ignore recognizing our people? What do you want to change in your organization?