Review of the book "Lead Well and Prosper"

I was recently contacted by Nick McCormick, author of the book Lead Well and Prosper, and was asked to review his book on my blog. I love to read business related books, especially ones that are focused on the topic of leadership, so I was pleased to accept the request.

Lead Well and Prosper is a quick read. It is the kind of business book that you keep on your bookshelf and reference to remind yourself of the core basic fundamentals that leaders need to follow in order to be effective managers. The book also provides helpful tools in the back of the book as good suggestions in how to better maximize effectiveness.

The subjects that are covered in the book are coveted longstanding principals that Mr. McCormick points out as being critical if you are to achieve the status of a "good" manager. He also points out that being a "good" manager will separate you from your peers by virtue of "good" managers being few and far between.

There is a management practice or principal covered in the book that will speak to each individual. One such topic that I personally am completely on the same page as Mr. McCormick and feel that in today's business world more leaders need to follow is in Chapter 5, which is titled “Listen.” In today's business world, all too often the art of listening and paying attention has been pushed aside for the "art" of multitasking. Have we as leaders forgotten that as much as 70% of all communication is in fact listening? Mr. McCormick reminds us in his book that we should be giving our team members our undivided attention and that bringing a laptop to a meeting or answering your phone when you have a team member in your office are both leadership errors. In Mr. McCormick's words, these types of actions will lead to members of your team shutting down and not coming back to you when they have quality ideas that they would like to pitch to you, which include the ones to which you could add greater value. I could not agree more! Again, this is just one example of the "15 successful strategies for becoming a good manager" that Mr. McCormick covers in his book.

Pick this book up once a quarter and take it to lunch in order to get a good refresher and to ensure that you are executing the basics well. It is an investment of your time that will be well worth the effort.

Thanks again to Nick McCormick for the offer to read and write about my experience with his book titled Lead Well and Prosper. I wish him all the best in his future writing endeavors!

What's New No. 2

So what else is going on at The EG that is new and exciting in addition to the recent introduction of video? Over the course of the later half of 2007, our talented product development team and programmers went to work on constructing a new solution for recruiters in the health care industry. Breaking from the platform of traditional job boards, our team, after researching the industry, decided to incorporate a social networking component into our new site. It was clear that people in the health care industry needed their own community online; therefore, we introduced our social networking section of the new HealthCareerWeb.com called, "MedCom."

After the soft launch of the site at the end of 2007, we started to see an influx of medical professionals starting to find their new networking space. As we near the hard launch date, more than 2,000 individuals have already created networking profiles in addition to uploading resumes and actively applying for jobs. We are also very excited to have Denise Tanner leading our HealthCareerWeb.com efforts in the capacity of business development manager. Denise has professional experience within the health care industry and has a great understanding on how to best position our products to meet the needs of both job seekers and recruiters. Denise has already contributed greatly to our efforts in preparing HealthCareerWeb.com for the upcoming hard launch.

At the rate new jobs are being created in the health care industry, we understand the importance of developing a product that can readily meet the needs of the industry. The aging population in the United States is the primary reason for the increasing health care hiring bubble, and when an economic trend is demographically supported, it typically come to fruition.

A large part of our motivation in developing this new product is to meet the needs of our customers (job seekers and recruiters within the health care industry). Another large part of our motivation is to be a partner in proactively meeting the health care needs of the aging population base within the United States. We have a large group of hourly job seekers that utilize our products and services that represent a great base for educational programs to tap into in order to re-career individuals for new careers in health care. As manufacturing jobs, construction jobs, etc., are on the decline, there are great opportunities for individuals within these respective professions to embark on a new rewarding career within health care.

We are very excited about our newest product offering! A special thanks goes out to all of the individuals who worked together to pave the way for our newest offering, HealthCareerWeb.com.

Sound Leadership Principles

2008 is going to be a year in which many professional leaders at all levels of organizations separate themselves from their peers by way of producing excellent results within industries that are cyclical in nature. It is increasingly important that those in leadership positions have made a concerted efforts to plan their strategies for the year well in advance of whatever current market conditions might be, while remaining sensitive to the fact that (since we live in a business climate that changes faster than the leader of the current presidential primary elections) their plans will need to be constantly reviewed and updated throughout the year.

Below is a list of ten sound leadership principals we can all follow as leaders (at all levels) that become increasingly important when faced with challenges.

• Stay positive - Make sure that those that you lead understand your plans and initiatives to navigate the tough times, while simultaneously keeping the focus of the organization on proper execution of basic fundamentals and celebrating successes.
• Identify solutions, not just problems - When you find something that is not working or is need of repair, be prepared to offer suggested solutions to the problem in lieu of just being someone who comes across as always pointing out the negative.
• Catch your folks doing something right - You will be encouraging the type of behavior or accomplishments that you want among your teams.
• Listen - I mean really listen. Give those that you lead your full attention when you are engaged in conversation. Not only will this give you a better sense of the pulse of your organization, it will send the message that you care.
• Have high expectations - You have to keep yourself and those within your organization focused on performing at higher levels of success. This means you, too. Make sure the people that you lead see that you are willing to go the extra mile. If you expect more from your people, it will increase their willingness to roll up their sleeves while putting on their company hats if they know that you are also going to be in the trenches.
• Quickly identify and lose any and all dead weight - Constant poor performers, under-achievers, bad attitudes, constant complainers and negativity can quickly be a big drain on those in your organization that are getting it done. Identify it and remove it quickly. Not only will overall attitudes improve quickly, but you might be able to afford to pay your top performers better if they can absorb the workload that was being put forth by those who did not possess the will do or can do or simply did not fit in with the team or organizational culture.
• Put the right people in the right jobs - People are happier when they are doing what they enjoy. Have you ever promoted a top performer into a new capacity just to watch as they struggled in their new role? You will also need to take the time to hire the right people the first time.
• Invest resources in what works and quickly - If your organization is not focused on the ongoing research and development of your next big initiative, your company is at risk. It might take trying twenty different products, strategies, and initiatives in order to find the next $10 million dollar business. Keep developing product, and get it to market fast.
• Get your organization lean - Healthy organizations do not waste resources. Find where and on what you might be spending money that you can live without and get rid of the waste.
• Reduce your stress - Be sure to make time to recharge your batteries. Don't forget to make time for yourself and your family. Exercise, eat healthier, go for a run, read a good book, go for a family walk around the neighborhood, etc. A healthy mind and body will afford you the ability to make better decisions and will provide you with increased energy.
  

I am excited about the initiatives The Employment Guide has in store for 2008. These include launching HealthCareerWeb.com, the introduction of video job postings and many other great initiatives, as well as the ongoing development of new products to meet the needs of our customers well into the future.

What other sound principals that you utilize would add to the above list?

"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been." - Henry Kissinger

Professional Resolution

The process of establishing a New Year's resolution is very similar to the goal setting process. Two key aspects of developing a resolution are writing it down and the fact that it is time sensitive. New Year's resolutions are typically personal in nature, but I have found that using this process in business can be an effective means by which to lead individuals to establish personal work-oriented goals.

If you are in a leadership position, you can resolve to mentor or work on the development of the individuals that you lead. You might also resolve to improve one area of your leadership skill set to a new level. This could include the improvement of listening skills, organizational skills, presentation skills, writing skills, etc. If you lead a sales team, you can use this exercise to have each member of your team establish a resolution that would be activity based. Agree to be your sales team's income coach throughout the year to keep each person on track to hit their personal income goals by measuring activity. This can be broken down into individual resolutions in the areas of increasing the number of sales calls being made, number of prospects being called or improving his or her ability to execute a sales call from the opening to wrapping up the sale, etc. This will not only demonstrate your interest in his or her success but your commitment to helping in the obtainment of their income goals. Weekly one-on-one meetings with your team can have a segment in which you analyze each team member's progress towards staying on track to achieve their income goal. This will mean establishing new activity-based targets throughout the year to act as a road map to success against the backdrop of, say, “If you do this you will be on track to hit your income goal for 2008.”

A side benefit of this process is in the fact that each member of your team has a vested interest in following your direction. Weekly coaching sessions do not include, "Your activity levels are too low...make more calls," which in my mind is a lot like a track coach running behind a runner yelling "run faster" (doesn't work). Instead, your coaching sessions now sound more like, "Your goal is to make $90,000 in 2008, and based on your sales and activity levels, you are not on track to hit your goal. However, let me show you that if you increase your efforts (here and here) you will get/be back on track." This is a great example for sales representatives, but this process can also be imperative in developing goals for those in leadership positions who (verses higher commissions, etc.) might aspire to achieve higher levels of responsibility. Therefore, developing a resolution that is focused on their professional development over the year could make this individual a better candidate for any promotional opportunities that might arise in 2008.

I have yet to finalize my own resolutions (professional or personal) for 2008. Professionally, I do know that I am going to continue to be a student of leadership and continue working on my own professional development. Reading a book each month on leadership is a good option and one that I am considering. Attending seminars on leadership is another good option. Personally, I am giving some thought to training for and running in a marathon. I completed my first half-marathon in 2007 and feel as though this could be the year that I could cross "run a marathon" off of that proverbial "life list." I only have a couple of days left to make a decision. The Chicago marathon in October could be the ticket...

What is your professional resolution for 2008? How about your personal resolution? Have you ever used this process in the establishment of goals for those that you lead?

Happy New Year!

Best regards,

Jeff Littlejohn
Vice President and General Manager
The Employment Guide

Finding Y-our Focus

In a changing business landscape companies are routinely challenged to develop new products to better meet the needs of their current customer base while continuing to expand their ability to acquire and retain new customers. Many businesses will tackle this process by adding new products or brands to the current offering. Typically these brands are overseen by a brand manager or business development manager while utilizing existing infrastructure and resources to deliver new products to market.

The recruitment advertising industry is not exempt from this process. Our business, The Employment Guide is also not exempt from this process. As we enter our eleventh year of business we are a much different and diversified organization than we were in 1997. We have added to our product offering through the development of our job fair business and our award winning website EmploymentGuide.com. We have also added our targeted niche product offering to the transportation recruitment industry CareersinGear.com and as of yesterday just released our newest member of our product family HealthCareerWeb.com. All of this change is due to the changing needs of our customers and emerging needs within certain industries that are the fastest growing areas of within the recruitment industry.

So what does this mean to the leaders within our organization and the individuals that they lead including our sales personnel? What is or should be our focus? At first glance the thought of this question can appear overwhelming. How am I going to sell all of these products? How can I get my staff to sell this and this and this...? Where do I find the time? When do I spend time selling this or that? It can become a daunting task if not properly managed.

Realistically, from a leadership perspective, we are not asking our sales teams or leaders to do anything different. We continue to ask our sales personnel to focus on calling existing customers and prospects to discuss their needs and to match the best product or combination of products from our portfolio that will satisfy those needs while developing their overall skill set and knowledge base. Nothing new. The line-up of products that we have today affords us an increased ability to expand our total customer count by satisfying a wider array of needs. Once we earn a prospect's business and they become a customer; it is then up to us to work on retaining that customer by exceeding their expectations while providing award-winning customer service. Basically, our expectations of our sales teams and where they focus their efforts will not change. Do they need a broader range of knowledge and skills due the fact that they are talking to a more diverse group of prospects and dealing with new technology? Yes. Are we asking for these individuals to do something outside of their core responsibilities and focus? No. We cannot nor will we ever be all things to all people. It is important that we are the right things at the right time to the right people, which equates to providing the right combination of products and services to meet the need of the customer or prospect on whom we are focused at the particular moment in time.

Businesses can grow by adding products and customers or selling more to existing customers, or they can grow through acquisition (buying new customers). The way that a company stimulates progress and the ability to grow can come in a wide range of packages. We have expanded our product offerings, which in turn offers us as an organization to meet the needs of an increasing number of prospects and customers. The purpose of this expansion is to meet specific needs within targeted markets in the recruitment industry while adding to our overall customer count. We are working towards accomplishing this in a way that has allowed our business to remain true to our roots in the fact that all of our products are niche in nature and are in line with the core ideology of our organization.

In my opinion, customer acquisition and retention must always be the primary focus of a business. A successful company will always be customer oriented. How a business chooses to tackle this task should be based on their core values and purpose. The road map will always look different from business to business and leader to leader, but the goal of customer acquisition and retention will always be an underlying part of a "for profit" company's purpose.

What are you doing to increase the focus of the individuals that you lead in the area of customer acquisition and retention?

Have you found any specific time-management techniques that have worked for you or those that you lead?

Best regards,

Jeff Littlejohn

Listen to Lead

Listening is a skill. Listening is 70% of all communication. In today's business climate of rushing and working at a fast pace while multi-tasking, listening can become an afterthought. People tend to speak over one another and even will finish each other's sentences. I even find myself doing the same thing at times and have to pull back, slow down and make sure I am giving someone my full attention or take the time to summarize what someone has just communicated to me to be certain that I understand what they are trying to tell me. Once you find yourself in a leadership role, the importance the skill of listening takes on is amplified. Through listening you find out what works and what will not. What the organization will buy into and what they will not. You also gain credibility with those that you lead because they know that you care enough to listen to their thoughts, ideas and concerns. Listening goes hand-in-hand with leadership.

In our company the most successful ideas always "bubble up" verses being pushed down throughout the organization. I can readily count off many such examples of projects that started at the local level and become successes verses a few that were forced down. It goes to show you that people like to innovate and be original. It is exciting to try something new or to take a new spin on an old idea. As a leader, it is important to listen to the ideas of your people and find out what is working and what is generating excitement and passion, to provide any needed tools or resources, and then get out of their way and let your folks execute.

The next time someone comes into your office to speak with you, listen. Truly listen. Then summarize your conversation back to that person before they leave your office as a way of saying, "Hey, I respect you, and what you are saying to me is important enough for me to make sure I completely understand what you are trying to communicate." Did you hear something more than you might have in the past? Did the person walk away from your conversation feeling good about the exchange? By slowing down and giving people your time and attention you will effectively motivate, have a better understanding of what is going on in your business and will be in a position to make better decisions. Listening is leading.

Try to do this with every one-on-one conversation over the course of a day. Let me know what you learn from the experience?

Core Purpose

The second part of defining your organization's core ideology is in identifying your "purpose." The "core purpose" as defined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, the authors of Built to Last, follows:

Core Purpose - "The organization's fundamental reasons for existence beyond just making money - a perpetual guiding star on the horizon: not to be confused with specific goals or business strategies."

The purpose of an organization should be able to act as a guiding light to inspire an organization for a substantial period of time. It should be of a nature that it can never be fully achieved but yet continually pursued. You have to "get at the deeper more fundamental reasons for the organization's existence."

What is the core purpose of The Employment Guide? It is to provide information, tools and resources to help people find jobs and employers find qualified people within niche recruitment segments (i.e., hourly, health care, transportation, etc.).

The combination of your organizational core values and core purpose is what makes up your core ideology. It is important for the people who make up an organization to have an understanding of their responsibilities and how their efforts tie into the core ideology of an organization. This is also a good way to evaluate prospective employees. Do they "fit?" While this may or may not be uncovered during the interview process, an environment or culture that is self-sustaining or has a high level of self-accountability will quickly move to expunge individuals who do not share the fundamental organizational beliefs of the organization.

What is your company's core purpose?

Built with Passion

If you asked me to rank the things that I love about what I get to do for a living, working on and providing resources for professional and leadership development to those within our organization would be at the top of my list. Building our organization from within is our goal. Effective developmental programs and succession planning will afford us the opportunity to make this a reality, while constructing a solid organizational foundation of leadership.

Building an organization that has strong leadership requires daily involvement through active mentoring and coaching as well as structured developmental programs. The leadership within your organization has to be devoted to the practice for it to become ingrained within the organization's culture. Those of us in a leadership role know that it can be a battle to find the time to make this commitment. My opinion is that leadership's involvement in the developmental process is so critical that organizations can only become successful at the practice when their leader's routinely demonstrate their passion for the process. I know I have written the following statement in previous blog entries, but people truly do "emulate their leaders." A leader's actions, or lack thereof, will create cultural drivers that will lead to a business having strong leadership and good succession planning or not.

From my perspective, it is of great joy to reflect on the times I have had the opportunity to be directly involved in an individual's professional development process. It should be a great source of pride when those that you work with on development embrace the principals that they are taught and utilize those skills to achieve higher levels of success and responsibility. I am exceptionally proud when these folks are recognized and rewarded for their contributions. One of the best feelings in the world is to watch individuals with whom you share your own personal thoughts and lessons, which you have learned from experience and mentors, achieve his or her professional goals. That is how you build and leave your professional legacy. Pretty cool stuff!

What has been your most rewarding experience when serving in a mentoring role?

Apples to Apples

It is extremely helpful and potentially humbling when you get to hear feedback from your customers and those who are in positions or roles to support your customers. One recent such experience created an opportunity for our business to better educate our sales representatives on how to ask questions about our customers results given the nature of our product verses that of the competition.

In the vertical space of transportation recruitment, most publishers (both print and online) typically only offer a national presence. One unique factor of our product, Careers in Gear the magazine and CareerinGear.com, is that it is published regionally as to give national, regional and local recruiters a better means by which to target their message based on geographical needs. We do not force a national buy. A lot of our customers do not recruit for drivers on a national scale. In fact, we have customers that recruit on a national scale, but may only be using us in one regional zone. This is where we have to be very careful in how we educate our customers to view our results and their ROI when using our product compared to the competition. It is our responsibility to work close enough with our clients to have a better understanding of how they are measuring their results. In the end, meeting our customers needs is ultimately our goal as to earn their business in the future. That means we have to accurately know how our customers define their goals and expectations as far as our ability to live up to their expectations. Just as important is our ability to have the knowledge of what other products and services our clients are utilizing to meet the same need and how they will be comparing results. With regards to our Careers in Gear the magazine and CareersinGear.com, we have learned of examples where customers have been comparing our results within one region to those of other products that only offer a national presence. While we outperform these competitors within a region, they might have delivered a greater response, just not within the specific area of need. ROI within the area of need was better using our products. It is our job to point this out to our customer and to educate our customer on looking at our products and services on an "apples-to-apples" basis.

The transportation industry is a terrific industry in which to be conducting business. While attending the 2007 American Trucking Association's Management Conference and Exposition, I had the opportunity to speak with many leaders within the industry. I appreciate the time and feedback that everyone gave me and others within our business. We look forward to working closely with our current customers and those that we will be serving in the future. We will continue to invest in the ongoing research and development of our current suite of products and products that are future-focused in nature to meet the dynamic needs of the driver recruitment industry.

A Leadership Must

There are certain things leaders need to remain mindful of on an ongoing basis that impact the mental well being and culture within their operation. Subtle and common sense things that at times can prove to be very elusive including...

• Always saying "thank you."
  
• Always using the word "please" when asking someone else to do something.
  
• Not playing the "boss card" unless it is absolutely necessary.
  
• Giving recognition for a job well done.
  
• Treating everyone fairly even in the most difficult of situations. (This particular item is of just as much importance to the folks that are in your office and not directly related to the issue at hand because they know however you treat the current situation could be reflective of how you might handle any future situations including theirs.)
  
• Never using unprofessional language.
  
• Being honest with people even if it means telling someone something they do not want to hear but communicating it in a tactful manner.
  
• Stopping whatever you are doing to actually listen to what someone is telling you.
  
• Summarizing back to someone what they just told you to ensure you fully understand what they are saying.
  
• Introducing people by name to your superiors.
  
• Always following through on what you tell someone you are going to do.
  
• Catch folks doing something right, verses something wrong.
  
• "Coach" your people into becoming the winners you perceive them to be.
  

People emulate their leaders. Follow these guidelines and you will improve the morale, culture and effectiveness of your entire organization. A business is only as effective as the mindset of its greatest resources, its people.

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment." - John Wooden

"Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions." - Harold S. Geneen

What are you currently doing that could be added to the above list?

Define & Refine

I have been the beneficiary of being able to work for some excellent leaders and mentors over the course of my professional career. A common thread that has been passed to me is that a leader will define his or her legacy through the folks that they develop and you will define yourself as a leader by dealing with the tough times. These two issues can be inter-related in that if you are investing in the the professional development of your people on an ongoing basis your organization will be better prepared to deal with the tough times.

While we will not all achieve some of our childhood dreams and leave our legacy by becoming a U.S. Open tennis champion, etc., we can still leave our footprint on the world (and will) through the people with who we interact and develop. An ongoing commitment to the professional development of people can be a difference maker in an organization becoming a talent magnet. Arguably, every organization has room for improvement in this area. I am, however very pleased with the current programs that are offered through our organization. The most prevalent (from a leadership perspective) is our Manager In Training (MIT) program. This program is comprised of 12 individual modules that go into detail on the specifics that a top-performer will need to round out their skill set to successfully move into a leadership role. How many individuals have you mentored or have been involved in their professional development on an ongoing basis? Better yet, how many of those individuals have been promoted as a result of your mentoring? This is a great way to measure your ability to leave your mark, knowledge, legacy on the world through your leadership. In essence, this is a form of immortality as the knowledge gained through your teachings lives on in those that you have professionally developed.

"The best executive is the one that has sense enough to pick good men to get what he wants done and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it." Theodore Roosevelt

While the folks that leaders develop will define that leader's legacy, it is how they deal with tough times that will refine their legacy. No one ever remembers how a leader took over an organization that was firing on all cylinders and kept it firing on all cylinders. It is when a leader find their business dealing with adversity or a new threat such as conditions that are in essence "new waters" that a leader will refine their leadership legacy. One such challenge that I am dealing with is the education of everyone in our company on how think like an electronic media company. This means learning new skills, teaching new skills, and leading our business in new ways. Traditionally, things we did not have to worry about as being important to our business are now critical. One example of this is in the content we create as well as how and where we place it on our websites. Not only does this take into consideration the words we use, but the number of words we use. Interestingly enough, we have made strides in how we are utilizing these tools in just a short period, although, this is a journey. The ship is turning and as we do so I am confident that we will remain a formidable organization as we stay the course. The coolest part of this journey is that it involves both the professional development of everyone in our organization and it offers a unique opportunity for those in a leadership role in our organization to refine their legacy.

How would you define your journey? Does it involve developing your people or your "inner-circle?"

Leadership and Concensus

There is a school of thought that tends to relate consensus with leadership. While you could define this as a completely democratic way of utilizing leadership, it typically increases bureaucratic issues and the time it takes to make decisions. This is especially true given that any one individual doesn't assume the responsibility for making a decision.

In my opinion a more effective approach is to utilize group discussions to uncover concerns, ideas, or opportunities for improvements prior to the final development of an initiative or making a decision. This way you can include ideas from your team when and where it makes the most sense in order to gain higher levels of buy-in. The rest of the process is in the leader's ability to effectively lead his or her team to the right conclusion by asking a series of leading questions. This way the group can come to their own conclusions via the path that is carved out by the leader. If done effectively your people will ultimately end up at the right destination.

While democratic leadership models have flaws, so do those that are autocratic in nature. I personally believe the right model is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. I like to define our leadership culture at The Employment Guide and www.EmploymentGuide.com as "controlled autonomy." While this is an oxymoron, this terminology does a good job in defining the way we give our leaders definable parameters by which to make local decisions within the breadth of their authority. Anything that falls outside of this scope will ultimately need senior manager approval. This provides balance while keeping our organization nimble and flexible as to better deal with current and emerging competitive threats. You can use our leadership style at all levels in order to better improve performance while remaining engaged in your business.

Consensus can also work against a leader if they allow themselves to be lead more by their team than leading. If a manager becomes to dependent on their team to direct the business the leader then becomes more of a facilitator verses a true leader. Once a leader is removed from the navigation and ownership of the business they are likely to fail. The line between leading and being lead can occasionally become fine in nature. My advice is when you, as the leader feel that these lines are about to cross be sure to quickly review your objectives and the need to make decisions based on the needs of the business verses what is best for the individual. The most effective leaders have a way of creating the perception that both of these objectives are parallel and intertwined into an organizations culture.

How would you define your leadership style?

Leadership Repair

When times are tough leadership is more closely scrutinized. Once a staff or team feels the impact of a change in a local or office market, for whatever reason, it is up to the leader to lay out a course of action or alternative solutions to get their team back on track in obtaining success. Lack of such action by a leader results in a continuation of negative performance trends and ultimately loss of key personnel. Ultimately, this leads to a loss of confidence among personnel in product, company, and leadership. Once all three of these issues have been allowed to come to fruition it can be impossible to reverse negative trending and performance without new leadership.

By being completely engaged in their business effective leaders avoid these types of situations. Although it is true that some circumstances can be outside of a leader's ultimate control (economy, weather, etc.), quality leadership finds or create ways to overcome obstacles without allowing excuses to replace confidence or productivity.

How is the confidence level of your team? Do they believe in your cause? Do they believe that you can lead them back to being successful? Are they confident in the products and services, or suite of products your company is offering? Let's face it, especially in a sales oriented business, if you as the leader have allowed the confidence level of your sales team to become shattered your leadership ability will rightfully be called into question and might even be beyond repair.

If you are int his situation, my advice is to have regular meetings and discussions with your team to stay plugged in to what is and what is not working. Demonstrate that you will not allow current obstacles to overcome your success by working on the exploration of alternative solutions until you find the one that works. Work harder and smarter than anyone else in your organization. Become the example of how to deal with a difficult business climate. This could even lead to higher levels of recognition within your company. True leadership and legacies are usually defined when times are tough. When is the last time you read a best selling business book on turning around an already top-performing operation? Always be working on a plan to overcome any obstacles while incorporating the the thoughts and ideas of the leaders on your sales floor to elevate the confidence level of your team. Repairing the confidence level among your team will also repair the greatest obstacle to your success, and ultimately will restore your ability to once again effectively lead your team to success.

Emulation

Have you ever noticed how a business will take on the personality of its leader? Another example is when a leader truly takes ownership over an initiative and his or her staff members follow suit. I see examples of this everyday in our business. What is important to the leader of any given piece of our business is also important to those that report to the leader. Is it due to the anticipation of inspection of results or efforts? Maybe in some cases this applies, but in most it is due to the elevation of the level of passion for a particular piece of the business that the leader has embraced that causes the increase in revenue, income, activity, etc.

Understanding this can give a leader an advantage when dealing with their teams. You can increase the overall effectiveness of your people by not only keeping your message consistent but by the manner in which you deliver the message. Even if you are having a bad day, you need to deflect or filter your inner frustrations from those that you lead so you can keep the environment positive and productive. All too often leaders fail in this regard. An example of this would be if traffic was bad on the way into the office and the leader gets upset, lets this spillover into the workplace and allows it to set the tone for the entire day. Be cognizant of your mind set, body language and verbal communication to your team. This is especially true early in the workday. Sometimes leaders derail their operation without even realizing it. Being keenly aware of the completeness of the impact you can have on your people will elevate your leadership skill set.

Always remember that people emulate their leaders. This can be great if the leader is confident, capable and always able to deliver the right message at the right time.

Start your day tomorrow in a unique way that would be completely out of character. What kind of impact did that have on the rest of the work day? Did anyone else on your team step outside of the norm? People emulate their leaders....

Failing Forward

Leaders have to know and understand when it is acceptable to allow people to fail. Failure is a part of the professional development process. As long as all related risks to the business are low, leaders can afford to occasionally allow their folks to experience personal and professional growth via "failing forward."

Proper management of the failure experience on the part of the leader will help ensure the desired development is attained. A leader has to make the time to have a discussion with his or her team member on what caused the failure, how to avoid the same mistake in the future, and finally to ensure that the individual completely understands the cause of his or her failure. If each of these steps is accomplished, there is a much higher probability that there will not be a repetition of errors or failure. This process also aids in furthering the team member's professional growth and is quite necessary in developing heavy lifters as well as the future leaders of your business or organization. When having this discussion with one of your team members, be sure to begin by explaning the failure in logical terms at the beginning of the discussion. Be direct in your coaching; you have to make certain that there is a complete understanding not only of the failure but also of the implications it is having on your business. Once that is accomplished, you can start the process of pointing the person in a new direction and give him or her a nudge down the right path.

Everyone (leaders included) must be open to learning from their mistakes or bad decisions. If you are in a leadership position, it is likely that you comprehend the process of allotting the amount of time you should give to each decision based on the long-term implications it will have on your business. Obviously, the more critical and long-lasting the impact, the more time, thought and investigation is warranted. The ability to make effective decisions is part of the reason you are in a leadership position today. This talent can be taught and developed in others and is part of the "failing forward" process. By helping your employees learn how to make better decisions you will elevate and lead your organization to higher levels of performance. A big part of this developmental process requires giving employees the room to fail. This requires the leader to not only be receptive of some failure but also (and this is sometimes the tougher part of the process) requires the leader to get out of the way and let people do their jobs.

How comfortable are you with allowing your people to develop by "failing forward?"

"Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes." – John Dewey

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." – Henry Ford

Ownership

How much ownership do you have over your business even if you are not the outright owner? Now ask the same question with regards to your staff. Ownership derives high levels of self-accountability and responsibility, which are both qualities that exceptional leaders possess and strive to instill in teams.

Our company, The Employment Guide and www.EmploymentGuide.com is very autonomous and entrepreneurial in nature. There is a lot of decision making ability left to those that are leading our local efforts. This gives our business a unique ability to be nimble in how we are dealing with real threats to our business units. The more responsible a leader is with their autonomy the more autonomy they are given. This process builds the ownership factor in our leadership group and further differentiates our business from competition that may or may not have a local operation or local leadership championing their efforts.

Going about the creation of ownership among your team is a worthy investment. The building of responsibility through the assignment of task and the inspection of results is a great way to get the process rolling. Individuals who display higher levels of ownership are good candidates for succession planning. Keep these individuals close, they are the ones that will be able to help position you for an easy transition into a role of increased responsibility.

What does ownership look like and how is it identified? Looking back at my own personal experience I think first and foremost this trait is easily identifiable in people who who are problem solvers or who are defined as "heavy lifters." Do you have people on your team who are your "go-to" folks? Is someone taking on additional responsibility or making a conscious effort to go above and beyond your expectations without you personally having to lead that person to that level? Is someone a "clock-watcher" or do they commit to a job and get the job done on time and with the desired results?

Here is a very simple test to measure the level of ownership in your office. Crumble up a piece of paper and put it in a somewhat obvious place on the floor in a general work area. Now sit back and without being obvious, observe. How long does it take for that trash to find its proper home? I know this might seem a little corny (did I really just use that word?) but it might open up some eyes, mainly yours. A reverse practice or exercise of like kind could be allowing your folks to see you picking up trash out in front of your building, in the parking lot, etc. People will emulate their leaders. A public display of ownership in its simplest form can go a long way in developing the culture you need to be successful.

What percentage of your team is made up of "owners?" What are you going to do differently to build this quality among the remaining members of your team?

What is Your 20%?

Most individuals in that are in leadership roles have an understanding of the 80/20 rule. Just for the purpose of this post I will quickly summarize it. The 80/20 rule is the rule that 20% of your actions, efforts or work will result in 80% of your success, results, etc. From a sales perspective this could mean that 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your customer base. At a higher level it could mean that 80% of your throughput will come from 20% of your operations. Obviously, clear identification of your own personal "20%" is going to have a major impact on your success as a leader. As a leader, it is important to continually (if not daily) ask yourself, "What does my 20% need to be today?" Once these items are clearly identified, you will know where to invest your time and efforts to generate the greatest impact towards the accomplishment of your goals.

Given the hectic pace and speed of today's professional environment it can be easy to lose this focus. I can tell you from my own personal experience that staying on course and focusing on the "20%" can be a tough assignment when you are in a role that requires having a lot of balls in the air at the same time. I can also attest that if done successfully, focusing on your "20%" will have a very positive impact on your own personal productivity and your ability to lead the individuals who are on or support your team. Another important piece of the 80/20 rule that I like to utilize, but is not often attached to this theory is delegation. If a task falls into your 80% and could potentially be completed by someone who reports to you, delegate the task. This is especially true if the assignment will result in that individual experiencing professional development.

When was the last time you completed a personal 80/20 assessment? Try this out over the course of a few days and let me know if it aids in your ability to have a positive impact in your leadership role.

Attitude Change

In order to increase the ability of a team to accomplish a goal, the leader must first gain the all-important "buy-in" factor. The one consistent barrier to achieving the goal of having a team working as a cohesive unit is that perceptions and attitudes of team members might have to be altered prior to execution. In my opinion, possession of, or the development of this skill and the ability of a leader to execute this task is the first step in the process of becoming an effective leader. Leaders put focus on cause and effectively build advocacy among their team in order to produce long-lasting perception changes and desired results. How does this process take place? Here is a chart that I found online that I think does a pretty good job of displaying the process that individuals go through in determining whether or not they are going to change their attitude about a subject.

Chart originally from - http://chiron.valdosta.edu/mawhately/767/attitude.htm

The ability of a leader to accomplish a change in attitudes comes down to their individual leadership skill level. You might know people in leadership positions who do not have to work very hard at this or to whom this skill comes naturally. On the other hand, and good news for all in a leadership capacity, is the fact that this skill can be learned, practiced and professionally developed. Yes, leadership is a skill and can be developed through studying, practicing and developing one's own ability. I have yet to come across a subject matter expert who thinks otherwise. Maxwell, Blanchard and others all agree on this topic. I have even been an eye-witness to some amazing transformations and professional growth in some individuals who are within The Employment Guide and http://www.employmentguide.com/ organization. These experiences add weight to the argument that leadership skills can be developed. Have I changed your attitude about that yet?

Prior to setting out to achieve a specific task or goal, a leader must have a clear understanding of the perceptions and attitudes on his or her team. Even if a leader does not gain 100% buy-in from their team from the beginning, this process will allow for greater clarity of internal obstacles. This knowledge is very powerful and should give the leader more control of the guidance of their organization as they navigate towards exceeding his or her goals. Start the leadership process at this point and you will focus up front on what could become your biggest obstacle to success. By-pass this process and you are likely to end up with conflicts in opinions that give way to doing battle internally verses with the competition.

What has been your experience with this issue?

Leaders Learn

If a leader expects their organization to be centered on the development of its people, he or she needs to be personally engaged in the process of improving his or her own skills and knowledge level. Effective leaders utilize all of their resources to accomplish this, including followers who can elevate their ability to be informed and make better business decisions. By having a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each team member's talents, a leader can better tailor his or her search and interview questions to find qualified people who will improve internal resources.

We have all heard the saying, "You are only as good as the people with whom you surround yourself." I know I am surrounded with the most talented folks possible who are a complement to my skill set. These are individuals on my team that I can lean on for advice, direction and knowledge and who are engaged in the leadership and direction of our business. Personally, I am on a professional development journey that I do not expect to end. Learning and growing professionally makes what we do fun. Even more enjoyable than the learning process is the benefit of being able to teach increased or new-found knowledge to others to effectively elevate our organizational knowledge level. Leadership development or the continued development of the leader transcends into an organization being centered on the continued development and professional growth of its greatest resource, its people.

What have you done recently to work on your own professional development? How have you utilized your new-found knowledge in developing your people?