Category: Productivity

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!

 

How to Use Desire to Achieve Success

We spend much of our time fulfilling other people’s desire. We have responsibilities, loyalties, relationships, and requirements for which we are committed. How much time do we spend on our own desire?

I don’t ask this question in a selfish manner, but from the perspective of our grand plan for success in our life. Napoleon Hill in his book, Think and Grow Rich, said, “The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.”

Sometimes another person’s desire becomes our desire. But at other times, we need to know our real desire. I have a friend and mentor who loves to ask the question, “What do you want? What do you really, really want?” Unless we spend some time really thinking about our desire, we may never have the ability to really achieve what we want.

The most significant achievements develop from the desire that resides within us. We need to be able to tap into that desire with certainty, inspiration, and effort.

Even when we discover our desire, we must be prepared for obstacles. It was Dan Brown that wrote, “Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.” It is common to observe this in our own actions from time to time.

To achieve great things, we need to have great clarity in our desire. Desire must be greater than our fear in the required actions to achieve.

How often do you reflect on your desire for success or achievement? What do you really, really want?

Discover a New Idea

I find it interesting that when I get intrigued by something, I am willing to put in the time and effort to learn more. It is not an unusual trait. You have probably experienced the same effect.

It starts with a new awareness. A fact that I was not aware of previously. Then I feed that curiosity with a simple search on the internet which produces a list ready to be explored.

After clicking and following a few leads, one of two things happen. Either I find my curiosity satisfied, and I am willing to move on, or I find my curiosity increasing.

As I continue to pursue more knowledge, the search process transforms into research. I find myself taking notes. I begin to organize and analyze data. Has this ever happened to you?

This can lead to taking action. Trying something new. Taking the knowledge and putting it to use.

For a thought to turn into action, and make it through all those obstacles, it must be linked to an outcome you desire. The desire for a new outcome is what allows us to dig deeper, solve problems, and tolerate mistakes. For me, and maybe for you also, only a few ideas survive this process.

It is difficult for us as human beings to change our behaviors. But yet all of our new actions or new behaviors begin with a single thought.

Usually I am intrigued by ideas that are related to my business, or my area of expertise. But sometimes inspiration comes from completely unrelated ideas.

I can tell you I am not very effective in this entire process. I am not sure anyone can be. Is our curiosity always bigger than our ability to follow through?

It only takes following through with one idea to make a huge improvement in your results. Also the time to research an idea in 2015 is a fraction of the time it would have taken in 1985. So we do research more. But do we take action faster also?

This process has lead me to be curious about how I could be more productive, yet more innovative, and even more curious than I am today.

Maybe we should do more searches, some of them even random.

 

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.