I Thought We Resolved the Issue

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“Resolving issues and focusing on the long-term impact greatly improve your results.” Jeannette Seibly

How often have you thought an issue was resolved only to have it come back and knock on your door again? It’s frustrating! If you let it, it can sabotage your resilience, resourcefulness, and results.

Issues reoccur when you put a band-aid on them. You were in a hurry to make the problems disappear and take the easy way out. The truth is (if you’re honest about it) you allowed your personal feelings to get in the way, didn’t talk it out with others, or listened to sage advice. But ignoring the real issue(s) never resolves the true problem.

It can be difficult to confront challenging issues. You may feel powerless or lack the confidence or insight to resolve the core issue. Too many times, you and others talk about it over and over, taking weeks and months in hopes of resolving the issue. But instead, you and the team gloss over the actual issue. In the meantime, the window of opportunity has closed, and the damage has been done irrevocably.

Decisions will be well-thought-out when a company addresses the fundamental issue head-on and facilitates the process. It gets resolved quickly, and the issue disappears. I’ve been part of situations where the problems disappeared, and to this day, the issue hasn’t resurfaced because it was effectively resolved. It required integrity to do the right thing (not take the easy way out), critical thinking (not circular thinking), making decisions, and taking action immediately.

Build Solutions That Disappear Issues

Align on Core Values. Be clear in your communications and management practices that all solutions must align with the company’s core values. For example, when addressing employee retention, the issue is rarely about money (even though many focus on it). It’s about factionalism, quiet retaliation, or other less talked about (and real) issues. One solution may be enforcing workplace policies and procedures (e.g., no-tolerance policies).

Make Good Decisions. The process of making good decisions doesn’t need to be complicated. Integrity, honesty, and critical thinking will always create better outcomes when having tough conversations and addressing tough issues as soon as possible. When making informed decisions, remember to analyze the risks, costs, and impact on others.

Communicate the Results Appropriately So No One Involved is Left Out. When writing an email or talking, be present with what you say! Or, you may make the situation worse! Also, when coming to an agreement on the goal and focused action steps to take, go around the table or virtual camera to get everyone’s input until nothing new is added. Yes, it’ll take more time. But in the long run will save countless hours and money and stop the issue(s) from resurfacing.

Think Win-Win-Win. While you do not have a crystal ball, doing the right things right will be reflected in your decisions. If you are upset or angry about the issue or have a vendetta against someone, recuse yourself immediately. Otherwise, the core issue will hang around for a long time and hurt your business growth and career.

Follow-Up and Follow-Through. This is the step that is usually skipped! Ask the team: “What are the true results? Are the solutions implemented and working? If not, what do we need to do to move forward?” It’s helpful to come back in a day, week, and month to ask yourself and your team, “Did we address the true issue? Did we resolve the problem? Are you hearing any feedback or gossip that we need to investigate?” Note: The old issue may be resolved, but a new one may have popped up. Remember, you’re never done handling issues as a leader and boss. Don’t wait! Address issues now.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom can transform those bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about resolving issues: How often have you used the band-aid approach when resolving an issue, and have it returned to haunt you? When these issues resurface or hang around too long, they hurt your retention, revenues, and results. Get these issues resolved now. Do you need a facilitator to guide you through the conversations? Contact me!

Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? The coach is in! Every boss and leader has their blind spots! They get in the way of being a results-producer! When tough times occur, and they will, asking for the right help is essential! I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Want to Blast Through Tough Times?

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“Tough times don’t stay tough when real actions are taken to resolve the issue.” Jeannette Seibly

Everyone experiences tough times. It’s a reality that you cannot avoid.

But tough times don’t have to last for a long time if you take real actions to resolve the situation, relationships, or failure.

The key is to learn from these tough times. Then, move on. Remember, making hasty, poorly thought-out decisions during these times will cause the problem(s) to hang around longer!

Jere was devastated that another team member quit – but at least this one had let him know before he left instead of ghosting him as the others had done. When his boss demanded Jere take action instead of wallowing in his “tough time,” he talked with his executive coach.

The coach walked him through the steps required. This time, Jere took notes instead of citing money and time as excuses for his poor hiring practices. Changing old habits and looking at leadership blind spots helped Jere see why his tough times kept hanging around! Jere took real action by being coachable and listening to his executive coach! He spent several hours setting up his job fit selection system and had others (e.g., HR and legal) sign off on it. The good news? With this new system, he improved his selection process and worked with his executive coach to improve his management and coaching style. His team retention increased, and so did his customers’ satisfaction.

The three lessons he learned?

  • Stop attempting to do everything “your own way” … it only creates tough times.
  • Time and money are the most common (aka lazy) excuses that overlook the valid reason for bad habits hanging around!
  • Working with an executive coach will teach you how to develop resilience, resourcefulness, and flexibility in your management style.

How to Develop Resilience, Resourcefulness, and Flexibility

Resilience. The experience of working through the tough times in a way that creates intended results and resilience. The best way is to work with an executive coach who has been through tough times and helped others successfully navigate them. Remember, attempting to take shortcuts or believing you have it all handled when you experience a minor victory only keeps the tough times hanging around and makes the lesson(s) more expensive.

Resourcefulness. Take initiative because sitting and waiting for the answers never works. Resourcefulness requires focused action to resolve the issue, challenge, or problem.

Example: Trina kept waiting for Ted, her team member, to improve. Even though she continued to receive customer complaints, she did nothing. Her biggest fear was having a straight conversation with Ted and causing him to quit. Trina didn’t feel other team members were capable of doing his job. (A false assumption.) When her boss demanded she work with her executive coach, she finally asked for real help. They created a plan. First, Trina looked at the objective data for all her team members and found that several had the skills required. Then, Trina talked with Ted. Surprisingly, he told her he planned to leave but didn’t know what to say to her. They worked out a focused action plan and delegated different parts of Ted’s job to other team members who looked forward to their new job responsibilities.

Flexibility. We all believe we know how people and situations should work. But know-it-alls usually hurt themselves and keep the tough times around longer than others. Flexibility requires listening and expanding your perspective for you and your team to cross the finish line and win.

Example: Joseph believed he was right that no one else could do his job as well as he did. The problem was that Joseph was in an auto accident, and the team had to pitch in to honor customer commitments or lose a lot of money during this tough time. During the process, Joseph learned flexibility and how to allow others to do the work without micromanaging them. The good news? Joseph and his team realized that working together made the results even better, with happier customers!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom can transform those bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about being Resilient, Resourceful, and Flexible during tough times: All bosses and leaders experience tough times, often more than once, twice, or thrice! During these times, lessons are available for management and leadership growth … if you are open to them! If you’re not, your tough times will hang around longer than you want. Have questions about what you need to do? Contact me!

Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? The coach is in! Every boss and leader has their blind spots! They get in the way of being a results-producer! When tough times occur, and they will, asking for the right help is important! I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Feeling the Holiday Stress Already?

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For busy business professionals, stress is unavoidable, especially during the holidays. Stressors impact your results, interactions with people, and your ability to get everything done!

To disrupt holiday stress and manage it, clarify, prioritize, and take focused action steps to move forward. It sounds simple, but it’s not always easy to do.

Get Into Action to Reduce Stress!

Pick one now and do it! It doesn’t matter which one. Just do it!

Prioritize. Not everything is a priority. Make a list of everything that you believe needs to be done. Circle the top ten. Now, cut the list down to the top three. Rank your priorities 1, 2, and 3. Do number 1 now. When it’s done, move on to number 2. Then, number 3. Don’t forget to celebrate the completion of each task. Note: Be honest with yourself! If you won’t do something on the list, just cross it off!

Let Go. Not everything needs to be done immediately. If you need to file or shred papers, get an oil change for your vehicle, or replace a light bulb, schedule it on your calendar for later in the week. Then, honor that scheduled time.

Delegate. Stop being a lone ranger. Yes, your team members will not do things exactly the same way you would. Consider that they might do a better job … if you let them.

Do It for 20 minutes. Too often, we have dreaded reports or other activities we must do. Yawn. Instead, set a timer and do it for 20 minutes. Then, decide whether to spend another 20 minutes or schedule it for later.

Excuses Be Gone. Too often, we create excuses about why we haven’t completed something. Stop! The mental energy would be better spent developing and taking action on the mantra, “I can do this and do it now.”

Stop Multitasking. Commit to getting one thing done at a time. There is satisfaction in fully completing something. While it may seem like multitasking allows you to get more things done, it rarely works that way. For example, attempting to write a report and listen to an employee simultaneously only creates more stress for both of you. You will miss addressing essential points in the report, and your employee will feel unheard and unimportant.

Write It Out. Studies have shown that it can be cathartic when people write down their fears, upsets, and frustrations. Writing helps get negative thoughts out of your head and provides insights. The key is to keep things private and not share your written journal with others. Do not send your upsets in an email or text to your boss, client, employee, or co-worker (or post them on social media). They are private.

Walk It Out. Take 10 minutes, three times daily, to walk around, go up and down the stairs, or simply move! Remember to breathe!

Talk It Out. Turn your internal monologues into dialogues. Get them out of your head. Share your concerns with someone who can help you. It may be an excellent time to find an executive coach who can help you stay focused and improve your effectiveness while decreasing stress.

Meditate. Take time to empty your mind and be silent for several minutes. It can be refreshing. Sit comfortably. Focus on breathing in and out. When thoughts appear—and they will—say, “Noise.” Don’t make these thoughts good or bad. Meditating may be the most effective way to reduce tension and anxiety, yet the most difficult for highly stressed people.

Brag. When you learn how to brag, it is a huge confidence booster. Complete your Brag! statements. Keep these up to date and review them anytime stress doesn’t go away or you need a confidence boost. Remember, 2024 is right around the corner. Be ready to win a new job, promotion, opportunity, pay raise, and/or sale … or any goal that fulfills you.

©Jeannette Seibly 2018–2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom can transform those bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about de-stressing during this time of the year: Stress is unavoidable, especially during the holidays … many of you have expectations for yourself and others, year-end challenges, and unfilled goals. Before you do anything else … breathe. Take time this year to de-stress and enjoy the holiday season. It will support you as we round the corner into 2024! Contact me if you need a sounding board. Happy Holidays!

Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? The coach is in! Every boss and leader has their blind spots! They get in the way of being a results-producer! When tough times occur, and they will, asking for the right help is important! I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Are You Engaging in Quiet Retaliation?

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“Quiet retaliation creates a toxic workplace culture when not effectively addressed.” Jeannette Seibly

Someone told on you!

  • You are accused of using microaggressions to make a point.
  • You were not truthful when submitting your expense reports.
  • It appears that you made the wrong decision that cost the company a client.

Your automatic response is retaliating, getting even, and/or blaming others. However, retaliation of any kind only creates further trouble.

Many leaders and bosses often retaliate by taking unfavorable actions against or making negative comments about employees who disagree with them. Or when their management team or boards find out about their wrongdoings. Or fire the whistle-blowers. These are examples of retaliation and are illegal in all states.

But what is quiet retaliation? It’s much more subtle, is incredibly common, and can be contagious in the workplace. It occurs when the avenger makes the employee or team uncomfortable through their words or actions. Often, the “victim(s)” feels targeted.

Here’s what quiet retaliation looks like in the workplace:

You …

  • Refuse to pay overtime but demand additional work be done
  • Ignore their ideas, or make negative comments about their ideas
  • Inform the employee or team that hybrid or remote work is no longer an option
  • Exclude them from important meetings or social get-togethers
  • Deny promotions or desired work assignments
  • Micromanage the employee or team
  • Withhold information and resources needed to get the job done
  • Rely on microaggressions to express your frustrations, hurt, and anger about them not being a “team player.”

When these types of quiet retaliation occur, the workplace culture will suffer. As the leader and boss, it’s up to you to work with your executive coach to ensure you and all employees are not engaging in these insidious and toxic practices. Because doing so will hurt your credibility, business growth, and future career options (even if you’re the business owner!). It also causes great clients and top talent to leave eventually.

Tips to Handle Quiet Retaliation

If you are engaging in quiet retaliation:

  • Talk out options with your boss and HR to rectify your wrongdoing.
  • Work with an executive coach to take responsibility for your misconduct and stop any quiet retaliation against employees.
  • Learn how to talk out and express yourself in healthy and helpful ways.
  • Apologize where and when appropriate.
  • Have all work assignments, promotions, and job change decisions made by objective team member(s).

If you have an employee engaging in quiet retaliation:

  • Remember, this may have been going on for a long time! Do not delay in addressing it!
  • Investigate or hire an objective third party to do so and ensure there is documentation.
  • Take the right actions to rectify the issue, including letting the offender go.

How to avoid quiet retaliation:

  • Enforce a no-tolerance
  • Train leaders, bosses, and team members to avoid any form of retaliation.
  • Provide written policies and procedures and communicate these with all employees.
  • To avoid surprises, have leaders and bosses conduct self-assessments and review them quarterly. Listen for any biases, negative comments about a person or team, and blame levied on the team for poor results. These are potential signs of quiet retaliation.

Note: If you’re experiencing quiet retaliation against you:

  • Inform your boss, HR, and your boss’s boss.
  • Document occurrences by keeping a log on your personal electronic device (not company-issued). Include in writing the time, date, other people that observed it, and factually what happened.
  • If nothing changes for the better, contact an employment attorney.
  • Talk with a coach and a therapist … retaliation of any kind will diminish your confidence and feelings of self-worth, especially if your co-workers side with the retaliator. This usually signifies a toxic workplace culture, and any healthy changes are unlikely to occur. Time to move on.

Quiet retaliation hurts your bottom line and ability to attract and retain top talent. You also risk losing great customers! What are you, as a leader and boss, doing to look for and stop the insidious practice of quiet retaliation?

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom comes from 31 years of transforming bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about quiet retaliation: This is incredibly common and can be contagious in the workplace. Many times, it’s been occurring for an extended period of time. Without intervention, quiet retaliation creates a toxic workplace culture because many employees mimic the leaders and bosses who engage in it. Contact Jeannette for a confidential sounding board to address looking for and addressing quiet retaliation in your workplace.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Or are you one of those bosses? With my depth of experience and wisdom, I transform bosses from hated to respected! Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Podcast: Many have been told that bragging is wrong. The problem? You will not win the job, promotion, or sale if you cannot share your successes. Check out my podcast interview with host Frank Agin:  https://bit.ly/BragPodcast. Get your brag on by giving it a listen.

Do You Feel Like You’re on a Never-Ending Hamster Wheel?

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“Do you feel like you’re on a hamster wheel? The continuous and repetitive cycle that never ends? It’s time to step off.” Jeannette Seibly

With worldwide and personal events taking an emotional toll on you as a leader and boss, it’s easy to feel like you’re on a never-ending hamster wheel … the continuous and repetitive cycle that keeps you immobile and uncertain about what to do or going around in circles trying to achieve intended results.

Even though you attempt to hide your true feelings, fears, and concerns, your anxiety, frustration, and anger leak out in unconscious, subtle, and sometimes loud ways. Being conscious of your feelings, which others may also be experiencing, will improve others’ ability to listen to you, brainstorm, and develop workable solutions that positively impact your results.

Tips to Get Off the Hamster Wheel and Create Positive Results

The key is to take focused actions and work with a coach.

First, Get the Facts. The head and heart do not always work well together. It’s essential to work with a coach and/or therapist to decipher what is valid as a fact versus what is true personally for you emotionally. If you don’t, peer pressure, group thinking, and wanting to be liked will take over … and not in a positive way. Continuing on the hamster wheel will hurt your results and future business and career opportunities.

Second, Put Together a Plan. Write out your ideas and talk about a short-term plan with your team to get the immediate issue handled. Keep in mind that decisions made today will impact tomorrow. So, listen and make the best win-win-win decisions. Beware of the trap of making decisions in your own best interests. Bad decisions tend to hang around for a long, long time.

Third, Get into Focused Action. Making a plan can be easy. The hard part is getting into focused action. We have so many excuses! Especially when you must make changes and instead are busy overanalyzing what could go wrong. Taking steps forward will reduce the hum of the hamster wheel in your head. For example, if you have an employee creating mischief on the team, overlooking it and not addressing it will only allow the issue to mushroom! Have the tough conversations!

Fourth, Keep Your Ego Tempered. Many times, to not feel vulnerable and feel in control, you will allow your ego to take over. You’ll issue mandates, micromanage others, or talk in a fear-based manner. Yes, your choice of words matters! Again, talk it out with one or two trusted advisors, your coach, and/or a therapist. Remember, you don’t have the luxury of “shoulding” all over everyone! (Think, it should not be this way; they should know better)

Fifth, Practice Gratitude and Allow for Learning Moments. Removing the hamster wheel will necessitate being open and vulnerable during these challenging times without carrying your emotions and fears around in your actions, on your face, and in your voice. Others will follow your lead! Use the exercise, “What worked? / What didn’t work?” to see the positives and help you determine specifically what can be done right now to impact results.

Sixth, Celebrate Your Wins! You did it! Time to celebrate and update your brags!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom comes from 31 years of transforming bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about managing the “hamster wheel” of being a leader and a boss: With much change occurring worldwide and personally for everyone, it can be difficult to stay focused on what really matters. We get caught up in the hamster wheel of life and forget we can step off! This week’s article was inspired during one of my hamster wheel episodes, and it works! Contact Jeannette for a confidential sounding board to step off your hamster wheel.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Or are you one of those bosses? With my depth of experience and wisdom, I transform bosses from hated to respected! Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Podcast: When was the last time you patted yourself on the back? Learning how to brag is critical to your business and career successes! Check out my podcast interview with host Frank Agin:  https://bit.ly/BragPodcast. Get your brag on by giving it a listen.

Why Do You Need to Make Crucial Changes Now?

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“Waiting to make the right changes in hiring and retaining top talent costs you time, money, and your business.” Jeannette Seibly

Because the right people in the right jobs are your most valuable assets!

Many bosses and business leaders in private and family-owned businesses are failing to make crucial changes now. Instead, they wait until there is an “Oh! S^&T moment!” By then, it’s usually too late. It’s gut-wrenching; they are looking for someone or something to blame.

Have you recently:

  • Noticed a leak in your financial profits? (There is no line item for hiring or promoting the wrong employee!)
  • Lost a major client … the one that has kept your doors open?
  • Lost a key employee … the one who knows everything about the company and its systems?
  • Spent more time updating your computer systems than hiring the right person?

The bad news? Ignoring these issues with the ostrich approach never worked well for anyone and never solved any of the “people challenges” you continue to have. Remember, the right people in the right jobs are your most valuable assets! Your reticence to make required changes takes a toll on your current employees and customers.

The good news? When you upgrade and update your hiring, promoting, and job transferring systems to collect objective, valid, and reliable data, your profits soar, and your employees and customers are happier.

It’s Time to Get Real

About the Numbers. Having high turnover is insane! And costs a lot of money. Relying on the excuse that it is less than “industry standards” won’t make a difference to your bottom line, retaining top talent, or keeping great customers. Conduct an analysis of the cost of hiring mistakes. Then, compare the cost of updating and upgrading your hiring and selection practices. Usually, a wrong hire costs much more than a well-designed strategic selection system.

About Your Selection Process. Are your people in the right jobs? Most employees today would give a resounding, “NO!” The Great Resignation and Great Attrition (along with other new terms for old issues) are employees’ battle cries for help! They are bored and stressed! A well-designed strategic job-fit process includes conducting effective job-related interviews, using real qualified job-fit assessment tools validated for pre-employment and promotion use, and following through on collecting true due diligence data.

About the Importance of Onboarding. Without following a well-designed plan to onboard new hires, you will lose them. Why? The boss is often too busy, so that the employees will step in. Employees have a way of doing work that may or may not reflect company policies and procedures. Bad habits, employees not on the same page, and mixed customer reviews will cause new hires to leave.

About Managing and Coaching Practices. Many bosses today are promoted for the wrong reasons and make poor managers and coaches. What missing? They lack coachability. It’s why many former employees blame bad bosses for leaving. These bosses take feedback as criticism of them personally instead of understanding it’s an opportunity to learn how to improve the quality of their work. Also, they fail to provide critical feedback to their employees.

How do you determine coachability? Ask the following interview questions more than once,

  • “What was your most recent mistake?”
  • “What did you do to correct it?”
  • “Who was involved in building the solution?”
  • “What were the results?”

If the job candidate or person you want to promote cannot think of any mistakes, move on to other candidates!

About Providing Leadership and Management Development. Again, many bosses and leaders are promoted for the wrong reasons (e.g., longevity, being liked by their boss (but not the employees), or handling a customer issue well once). Take the time on Day 1 to create a career path, leadership and management development training, and opportunities to use these skills based on the employee’s and company’s goals.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom comes from 31 years of transforming bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about making crucial changes now in how you hire, coach, and manage your employees: We all like to think we have time … as soon as we put all the fires out. The challenge? The fires never end if you keep hiring, promoting, and job-transferring the right people into the wrong jobs! Now is the time to get real! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation about updating and upgrading your selection processes NOW!

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Or are you one of those bosses? With my depth of experience and wisdom, I transform bosses from hated to respected! Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Podcast info When was the last time to patted yourself on the back? Learning how to brag is critical to your business and career successes! Check out my podcast interview with host, Frank Agin:  https://bit.ly/BragPodcast  Get your brag on! Give it a listen.

Be a Respected Leader and Achieve Intended Results

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“Respect grows based on the quality of the decisions you make.” Jeannette Seibly

Being a respected leader (or boss) and achieving intended results requires taking responsibility for each situation, discovering the true issue, and making the best decisions to improve results. And? Asking for help!

The biggest challenge I’m seeing today is leaders focused on being well-liked by employees and customers, and disregarding the importance of being respected.

A general manager (GM) for a company was well liked by employees and clients. It was a surprise and shock when he was reamed by a new board member about his poor management of the company’s satellite office. After the board session, the GM resigned. After the employees and other board members convinced him to stay, he rescinded his resignation. But nothing was done to resolve the real issue of poor financial management. Several months later the GM was fired.

In this situation, the GM was liked but not respected. He did not ask for help, and no one addressed the real issue of poor financial management.

5 Keys to Build Respect as a Leader

  1. Select the Best People. Stop intuitive hiring practices! Respect begins by hiring, promoting, and job transferring your management and employee teams into positions that fit them! (It’s called job-fit.) Before selecting people, craft a well-designed selection process to collect objective, valid, and reliable data about the person’s ability to be effective in the job. This requires using qualified job-fit assessments, conducting job-focused interviews, and implementing a six-month onboarding program.
  2. Make Faster Decisions. When done right, you will make better decisions. Taking days, weeks, or months to make decisions is often due to poor leadership, and the fear of not being linked. Instead, have the tough conversations and get to the heart of the issue. Remember, integrity, critical thinking, and paying attention to the impact on others will create better decisions now and in the long-run.
  3. Talk It Out. Communication is everything. Too often, leaders don’t pay attention to their own words, as well as not paying attention. When talking it out, go around the table to get everyone’s input until there is nothing new being added. The process includes eliciting responses from those you normally don’t listen to. The answers reside inside the quality of the conversation! Yes, it can take more time. But in the long run, it builds respect for you as a leader, and provides support when implementing less-than-popular decisions.
  4. Build Good Working Relationships. This facilitates getting things resolved faster, with faster buy-in. This is key to developing respect. When are allowed to make statements and offer opinions about how things should be done or how should be viewed before listening to people, relationships falter (and sometimes destroyed). Remember, listening, learning, and asking questions of those involved will always build stronger relationships.
  5. Plan for Your Replacement. Succession planning and development are crucial for future leaders. When you plan for your replacement, you build respect because you are showing your commitment to the longevity of the company, more than your own personal interests. You never know when your successor will need to step up, either short or long-term, due to illness, death of family members, and other issues. The key? Make sure the person is the right one. (SEE #1 above) Too often, a good #2 person does not make a good #1 leader. Don’t skip #1.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom comes from 31 years of transforming bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about being respected as a leader: Think of a leader you respect … what was the #1 trait that leader had? Now … think of a leader you liked but didn’t respect. What were the differences? Often, it comes down to how they made decisions that impacted the company, employees, and customers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation about how to become a respected leader.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Or are you one of those bosses? With my depth of experience and wisdom, I transform bosses from hated to respected! Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Why Do You Need a Leadership Coach?

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“Every successful leader has a coach … or two.” Jeannette Seibly

The short answer: In today’s world, many unknown factors occur when you create new systems, design new products and services, and handle people challenges to meet customer demands.

Change (real and perceived) causes anxiety for you, team members, boards, and customers. When you (or they) are uncomfortable or confronted, it feels like a mosquito constantly buzzing. Then, you (or they) may do mischievous things to make the annoyance stop (make bad decisions, focus on personal impacts, hideout).

On October 7th, I celebrated having been a leadership, executive, and people coach for over 31 years!

I’ve worked with:

  • Tough leaders that continually get themselves in trouble.
  • Other leaders that have the capabilities but not the drive and willingness to address the “tough issues” or have the “tough conversations.”
  • Successful leaders that are the guiding light for others and understand they still need an objective sounding board when making those “tough decisions.”

My philosophy: Good leaders with leadership coaches produce their intended results while guiding their team members to grow.

Having a leadership coach will:

  • Sharpen your skills
  • Help you be coachable
  • Teach you to accept feedback from customers, bosses, teams, and others
  • Provide a committed listener to reduce anxiety, stress, and frustrations
  • Improve decisions, relationships, results, and bottom lines
  • Show you how to develop team members to excel and achieve unprecedented results

6 Traits Required to Grow Your Leadership

Influence Others. Being an influencer depends on your ability to work with and through others! Making good decisions and providing clarity during the murky times is the leader’s opportunity to influence while growing the team. Your leadership coach guides you in your critical thinking, working relationships, and basic knowledge.

For example, if you have a team conflict, it’s essential to address it immediately because it never gets better. (Or, I would have already!) As an influencer and leader, develop a strategy with your coach. Start the process using a qualified job-fit assessment to help the team see why they are pointing fingers at each other and how to achieve the intended results. (Objective data)

Listen While Building a Workable Plan. Listening is critical for everyone, especially a successful leader. It’s amazing what you’ll hear and the ideas that pop up as a result of true listening. Remember, not every idea has a positive return on investment. Work with your coach to ensure everyone is encouraged to contribute solutions and that the plan meets budgets, timelines, and customer needs.

Make Good Decisions. Too often, leaders want to be liked. As a result, they fail to make good decisions or any decisions. They lose the respect of others, including their board, top talent, and customers. A leadership coach helps you formulate good business questions to ask before having the required conversations to make better decisions.

Work with Difficult People. There will always be nay-sayers, those jealous and upset that you have what they want (e.g., job, title, results, money). It’s impossible to avoid these types of co-workers and employees. But don’t ignore the gossip they create, and include them in discussions by asking for their advice. (Use mindful resilience techniques when triggered by their comments or actions.) While this minimizes the negativity, it won’t stop them from their critical critique of you. (It’s not personal – if it wasn’t about you, they would criticize someone or something else … and often do.)

Clarify Leadership Blind Spots. Work with your leadership coach to discover your leadership blind spots. Remember, you can build on strengths. Focusing on weaknesses only keeps them around.

Avoid Excuses! Time and money are the #1 excuses and rarely the real issues. Look beneath these excuses to identify the fears you and others attempt to cover up. Are the fears something that can be addressed? In most cases, yes. Working with your coach keeps the conversation moving forward, ensures it stays on point and provides realistic goals/results.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom comes from 31 years of transforming bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about working with a leadership coach: Successful leaders have coaches! Let me repeat this! Successful leaders have coaches! (think Michael Jordan, Tom Brady) A coach helps improve your results, people management, and ability to navigate complicated relationships and situations. Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation about how to hire the right leadership coach for you!

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Or are you one of those bosses? With my depth of experience and wisdom, I transform bosses from hated to respected! Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Are You Listening or Simply Hearing?

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“To be a great boss, listen!” Jeannette Seibly

Listening and hearing are critical skills for every boss today. But they are not the same skill!

  • Listening is paying attention to a message to hear, understand, and physically or verbally respond to it.
  • Hearing is the process, function, or power of perceiving sound. (HandyHandouts.com)

When you listen to what your teams and employees say, you’ll gain respect, solutions, honesty, and better results. If you are hearing the words (like many bosses do), it’s not good enough. You will lose customers, top talent, and career opportunities. (The list is endless!)

Listening to Be a Great Boss

Be Present! Focus and stop multi-tasking. While listening, set aside electronics, negative feelings, replaying old conversations, and other distractions (e.g., people-watching). When listening or speaking, stay focused on the current discussion! You’ll be amazed by what you can learn, even if you believe you already know it all!

Breathe to Stop Triggers! When you notice you are triggered or offended, breathe in for 5 counts. Pause. Exhale for 5 counts. (Or any number that works for you.) Repeat this breathing pattern 3 times. Breathing reduces the fight, flight, or freeze stress response triggered in your brain. Note: If you need to do this often, discuss it with your executive coach and/or a therapist.

Let Them Finish! They’ve been rehearsing what they want to say for a while. If you cut them off because you’re impatient or think you know what they will say, they will start all over again … at the beginning! Since some people are poor communicators, they may ramble, lack clarity of what they want to say, or fear saying what they really want to say — help by inviting them to share the main point of what they want to say. Pay very close attention to your tone of voice – remember, you’re asking them, not ordering them.

Check Back! Being on the same page in a conversation is crucial to being considered a great boss and listener! When someone is finished sharing their thoughts or ideas, check back to be sure you heard them. Never assume you did! The best practice is to use the same words they used. For example, if they say “generous,” use the same word, not something else. Then ASK THEM, is this correct? Note: Refrain from using slang or inappropriate words since the conversation will be repeated with others!

Build on Their Ideas! Working together, take their ideas and build on them. This not only improves your results; it keeps others in the conversation. Be open to listening to their additional ideas, too.

Expand Your Perspective. Listen and honor differences! If you have difficulty listening to others’ points of view, you will limit your ability to be a great boss. Participate in training programs and workshops, and hire an executive coach to help expand your thinking. I have found that while qualified assessments significantly improve job fit, they also provide an ability to listen beyond your perception of what others can accomplish on the team!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom can transform those bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about listening to be a great boss: I’ve been saying this for years. Bosses need to listen beyond just hearing the words. It improves team members’ willingness and abilities to communicate their ideas, thoughts, and solutions! It starts with you and how you listen! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation about being a great boss who listens! 

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Or are you one of those bosses? With my depth of experience and wisdom, I transform bosses from hated to respected! Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Your Commitment to Cross the Finish Line Requires You to Believe You Can

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“Crossing the finish line requires an inner belief that you can, plus doing the work required.” Jeannette Seibly

Crossing the finish line and achieving the goal requires believing AND doing the work required!

The challenge? We give up too soon … and spend more time creating excuses and talking with others who support our reasons than looking for guidance to cross the finish line!

We have heard of the fable about the tortoise’s and the hare’s efforts to cross the finish line. Today, most people believe they must be the hare to cross the finish line — be faster, smarter, and make more money. But it’s the tortoise that crosses the finish line to win! The hare burned out, stressed out, and gave up too soon due to poor job fit, poor work practices, and an overconfident ego.

Example: Jeremy got his degree in engineering due to his parents’ expectations and financial support. But his genuine desire was to start a nonprofit to support refugees. After getting his engineering degree, he worked for an engineering company. He took advantage of the company’s education and volunteer programs to learn how to establish and run a successful nonprofit. Jeremy honored his commitment by not giving up, crossed his finish line, and now runs a nonprofit. Currently, he’s looking for the next finish line (a new goal)!

What Do You Need to Do to Cross the Finish Line?

Know Your True Self. Take time to get honest about what you’d really really really like to accomplish. Use a qualified job fit assessment to clarify your strengths, and work with an executive coach to develop them. (Just because you’re a math whiz doesn’t mean you should be an accountant or a financial planner!) Remember, no one is born a leader, design engineer, or financial trader … it all requires doing the work!

Set a Timeline. When do you wish to achieve your goal? Be realistic and work with a career coach. In your current job, use the company’s education plan to get the training and certificates required to support your goal, or seek out other options.

Make a Financial Plan that Works. It’s the foundation for reaching your goal. Also, create a business or career plan. Know what you need financially to cross the finish line and achieve your goal. Be realistic about the numbers and expenses, and start saving and working on your plan today!

Understand Expectations. Regardless of your finish line (new job, create a business, travel, etc.), ask and learn about the required hours and experience and other expectations. Example: A new air controller was excited about his new job. But when the work schedule for the upcoming month was passed around, he crossed out the times he was listed to work since he didn’t want to work those hours. His new career was short-lived because of his unrealistic expectations.

Ask for Real Help! Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help! Many people have not been where you want to go, and their counsel isn’t based on reality. Look for people who have achieved or helped others achieve your goal. Crossing any finish line requires an industry mentor, executive coach, and other supporters! Beware when someone insists you do it their way. Say, “Thank you,” and move on.

Create Daily Practices. It takes small steps consistently taken over and over, like the tortoise, to cross the finish line and achieve your goal! When you become good at your work, it’s not time to stop! Be a student, be curious, and keep doing the basic work, even when bored! Remember, good basic practices are required to develop mastery to win. (Like building physical strength, it takes many repetitions over and over.)

Develop Communication and People Skills. Regardless of what you wish to accomplish, you need good written and verbal skills (beyond texts and emails) and good interpersonal skills (even though you may not like talking with others). Take workshops, attend a social event weekly, and learn the art of talking with anyone anywhere at any time. If you wish to travel, include a foreign language.

Remember, the tortoise kept going regardless of the circumstances– their commitment to cross the finish line never wavered. It may seem impossible at times for you, but there is no greater satisfaction than honoring your commitment to cross the finish line and achieve your goal!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom can transform those bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about crossing the finish line and achieving your goal: Remember the fable about the tortoise and the hare? The tortoise kept going regardless of the circumstances that got in the way and crossed the finish line. What is getting in your way of crossing your finish line and achieving your goal? Have questions about what you need to do? Contact me!

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? A great boss has goals and a commitment to achieve them. When circumstances and life get in the way, asking for help is important! I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.