Archive for the 'strategic listening' Category

Do You Encourage People To Find Their Voice?

An important measurement of strong leadership is creating a highly functional performing team. There are many ways to motivate team members, but none more important than empowering each person to share their views and ideas. If people are encouraged to offer innovative suggestions without risking being shot down, do you think that they might contribute to an inspired team spirit with potentially outstanding results? According to Emotional Intelligence guru Daniel Goleman- “It turns out that employees who feel appreciated personally will take creative risks that result in innovative ideas and products. Organizations that want to survive in today’s climate have to nurture and capture all the good ideas they can” Here are a few hints in empowering others to find their voice:

 

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Published on Wednesday April 25, 2012 in Building Trust, Influential Leader, Leadership Development, strategic listening and Team Building. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

What Can Leaders Learn By Spending The Day With Their Team?

I recently presented a three day workshop for a bi-lingual manufacturing firm. The entire team attended the programs, senior leadership though supervisors. Although the topic we explored was Problem Solving, what stood out for me was how the team grew to understand one another. By tackling each of the exercises and learning together, so many critical issues emerged by accident. Here are a few of the noteworthy “aha” moments:

 

  • We have a language challenge: When the program began, some of the more senior leaders felt that team members were lazy and not communicating information. Information was constantly getting lost and oftentimes never shared. During our small group discussions and activities it became apparent that information
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Published on Tuesday October 4, 2011 in Communication, Leadership Development, strategic listening and Teams. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

If you look around your office, how many effective leaders do you see? How many people can you honestly say you would follow down a path because you believe they could help you blossom in your career? Are there leaders that you feel are trustworthy and deserving of your support? These are tough questions but for a leader to gain followers, it is critical to be authentic and empathetic when connecting with others. It is also important to be sincere in the way you communicate, and specifically how you choose to listen to others. One way to get a handle on how well you are leading is to ask yourself some key questions:

 

  1. How
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Published on Monday September 12, 2011 in Coaching, Communication, Leadership Development, leadership qualities and strategic listening. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Advice On Developing Rapport With Your Team

In working with many organizations, I have come to realize that a leader cannot be effective without establishing a connection to their team members. All the ideas and vision in the world will not be welcomed or implemented if the team feels no rapport with their leader. The challenge for a leader is to understand how each of the team members processes information and receives the message. Not always an easy task when there are so many different personalities and generations on a team.

When sharing new organizational or team goals, it might be helpful to think about the best method to present the information.

  • Should I gather the entire team together to discuss the direction?
  • Should I meet individually with each team member?
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Published on Wednesday March 30, 2011 in Building Trust, Communication, Leadership Development, strategic listening and Team Building. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

How Can You Build Stronger Work Relationships?

I have often been asked why some work relationships are highly effective while others remain mostly combative. What impacts the success of two people or a team interacting together in a supportive and productive way? Constructive work relationships can make or break an organization’s success. A leader who is unable to master the skills to lead a highly functional team may require coaching on how to cultivate healthier interactions between co-workers. What behaviors do employees need to successfully build constructive relationships and what are some barriers to building these most productive interactions?

Here are some of the skills and behaviors I think are critical for creating healthy work relationships:

  • Can be candid
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Published on Tuesday February 8, 2011 in Building Trust, Communication, Leadership Development, strategic listening and Team Building. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .