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Conflict and disagreements are invaluable opportunities to resolve issues and create new opportunities. As the leader, it allows you to voice your concerns and listen to others’ opinions. While many of you may not welcome listening to ideas that are not your own, consider this:

If you listen to others with an open mind, manage the conversation appropriately, and build upon others’ ideas, you will build a team that engages in their work at a whole new level. Conflict is a gift that creates success!

3 “How-to’s” to Create Amazing Outcomes from Conflict

Listen for the gold. Welcoming others input is a gift you give to them, and yourself. Allowing them to share ideas and recommendations without fear is important to eliciting solutions. This provides them, and you, the freedom to design new outcomes out of the conversation! To accomplish this, you first need to stop your mental monologue from chattering! Truly engage in the conversation. This can open up clarity for new ideas and how to accomplish them resourcefully. Remember, no one person has all the answers. No one person knows all the right questions to ask. No one person is right all the time. (Including you.)

Years ago I had a boss who didn’t listen for the gold. His normal response to anything new was, NO! When I approached him with a plan to help employees feel comfortable about their pension benefits, due to the pension plan being terminated, he thought it was a stupid and time-consuming idea. He failed to listen for the gold. He was right about it being time-consuming. However, a well-designed communication process is rarely stupid. In this case, employees were thankful I had taken the time to let them know what to expect with their future pensions. Interestingly, years later, he showed me a system he thought was brilliant. I smiled and reminded him that it had been my idea, and the work I had done to make it happen!

Mindfulness. Being present when others are talking is critical. Too often we allow ourselves the misperceived luxury to think of other things, check our electronic messages or zone out. (In other words, we multi-task and still think we are being present and effective.) Checking out of a conversation often hurts you in the long run. Your team will stop sharing ideas or problems with you. Many will leave to work for your competition using the ideas that you refused to consider and build upon. Become the type of leader that listens and builds alignment. The positive dividends it pays are endless.

Believe in yourself and others. We all have limiting beliefs that can get in our way. These biases or preconceived notions usually limit our ability to listen, build upon ideas and execute proper action. Why? We fail to trust ourselves, our team and our plans of action. Work through these beliefs with a trusted business advisor or coach. Remember, success is an inside job. Believing in yourself and others is the key to achieve amazing results.

Learn how to handle conflict by not overreacting to it, ignoring it, or avoiding it. Use the gift of conflict to make yourself a better leader and help build teams that create new ideas and make positive and powerful differences within your company.

For additional insights, get your copy of: How to Have a Conversation Beyond 140 Characters! (Break through your #1 fear when having conversations!) http://ow.ly/i5gH300fkDy

©Jeannette Seibly 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she is laser sharp at identifying the leverage points that will take a business and its team to the next level of performance and success. Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette for a free, confidential conversation at http://SeibCo.com/contact .

Leaders react differently to mistakes they make. Some readily admit them and learn from them. While others spin the facts to place blame on others. Ignoring the learning lessons mistakes offer can be detrimental to career success, and negatively impact relationships with clients, bosses, boards, employees and co-workers.

The next time you make a mistake, or your team fails to fulfill a project’s intended goals on-time or within budget, instead of finding excuses, blaming others or criticizing the circumstances, embrace the mistake. Mistakes can provide depth and breadth to your leadership credentials when resolved responsibly.

Mistakes are Opportunities for Success

What worked? What didn’t work? Take time to objectively review the facts of the project when a mistake is made. Start with objective (factual) items that did work. There will always be some. Then, focus on the factual items that did not work. (Objective facts can be quantified.) Review with your team and come up with a plan to correct the mistakes made (these could include assumptions, actions, strategy, mindsets, etc.). Also read, 5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Results (and Enjoy Being a Leader Again) http://ow.ly/4mOLGF

Talk it out with trusted advisors. Sometimes we make things mean more than they do. Other times we may be obtuse and not accept the seriousness of our words or actions. Feeling bad does not erase the impact of the mistake. The key is to find a way to resolve it and learn from it. Talk it out with your external coach, industry mentor, boss and/or other trusted advisors to help you learn from the mistake(s) faster.  Hiding and hoping no one will notice will negatively impact your credibility as a leader.

Stop mind-reading other’s reactions to the mistake. Everyone reacts differently to mistakes made. Ask for your team’s input and don’t assume you know what they will tell you! Actively listen, ask the right questions and set aside any defensiveness. Then, take action to resolve the mistake.

Apologize. Normally, your ego will delve into explaining your actions and intentions as a way of saying, “It’s not my responsibility.” Stop! This comes across as defensive and prevents you from learning from it. Instead, embrace the mistake, be humble and share the facts of what happened and what you learned. Ask the people impacted what you can do to resolve it to their satisfaction. The key is to keep communication lines open and develop your leadership skills in handling upset and controversy.

Don’t make mistakes mean so much. Too often, we beat ourselves up for making the mistake. Cut it out! Mistakes can happen with anyone! It’s how you handle mistakes that make the difference between being a leader and sabotaging your career upward.  Don’t forget to forgive yourself!

Leaders not only learn from their mistakes, they embrace them. Take responsibility and the necessary actions to get mistakes resolved powerfully.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant for over 23 years. Along the way, she guided the creation of three millionaires. Her trademark is her uncanny ability to help business professionals identify roadblocks and help them blast through those barriers to produce unprecedented results. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you want: www.SeibCo.com/contact

Many parents believe getting the best post high school education means attending college. According to CBS This Morning (April 11, 2016), over 85% of the estimated three million high school seniors this year are expected to head to college. The reality is, many young people are heading to college to make mom and dad happy, fit in with their friends, or don’t know what else to do for the next four years!

There are Many Other Choices that are Often Overlooked

There are over 5,300 schools, from beauty colleges to Harvard. As parents, it’s important we teach our young adults the lifelong skills necessary to prepare, educate and pursue career and life choices that fit them, since they will have over 7 careers during their lifetime. Currently, low graduation rates, high debt loads and poor placement rates for jobs make it harder for millennials to get on a career path that is right for them, and is also financially rewarding. While financial success is important, remember, today’s financially rewarding careers may not be the same ones tomorrow.

Not everyone needs, or wants, to attend college to get a great education! They simply don’t know what else to do. It’s unfortunate that parents are more likely to spend money to help their kids develop skills in sports (hoping for an all-expense paid scholarship) then ensure their young person gets on a career path that fits them!

It’s important we listen to our kids since we are usually their #1 role model. One young man got a 4-year degree from a prestigious university and received a coveted job offer. His father was so proud — then was equally devastated (and, embarrassed) to learn his son was joining a missionary group for the next two years. The father hadn’t been listening to what his son had been trying to tell him for the past four years.

What can Parents Do?

Put aside your ego. Too often, we unconsciously focus on what would make us happy. We want to live (or relive) that time vicariously through them. We focus on the name of the school, type of degree or major, and other factors (e.g., sororities, fraternities, etc.) that we believe will make us proud. Set aside your ego. Today there are so many post high school choices it’s important to take the time to help your young person take an inventory of what they really really really want to do. This may include visiting different schools and ensuring the one they select will meet their needs. Or, help them get a job. Or, help them pursue other goals. For example, many young people with strong coding/technology skills and interests may wish to work with IoT (Internet of Things) startups. It’s their time to explore what will make them happy with your encouragement.

Education comes in many forms and will provide the opportunity for your young person to develop themselves and clarify what’s next in their career. Remember, life is a process not an event.

Help them set true goals. With 63 to 79 percent of the working population in jobs that don’t fit them, it’s important to use a qualified assessment* as part of their goal setting process. Too often, millennials have rose-colored glasses or tunnel vision when it comes to a particular profession. They base their career options on classes where they got great grades, the illusion of success based on TV idols or roles, projected financial earnings, or other factors that have nothing to do with career fit, job satisfaction or being happy. Help them learn how to set true goals that are authentic for them. Then, teach them how to pursue those goals.

Allow them to succeed and fail. Hovering parents limit young people’s abilities to grow and make their own decisions. As parents, too often we’ve limited their ability to fail because we don’t want them reliving our own hardships or life experiences. Be one of their top supporters in helping them overcome perceived failures and teach them how to take focused action to blast past the mistake or failure to achieve the intended goal.

Be a listener and a resource. Encourage them to talk with people in the industry they wish to pursue. Utilize your professional network and have them setup meetings. (Don’t do this for them or attend the meetings with them.) Help them prepare an agenda of questions to ask. Encourage them to explore new work options. For example, if they want to be an entrepreneur, have them put together a business plan and execute it. Or, if they want to start a not-for-profit, have them work in an established one to learn the nuts and bolts of running one.

The best education we can provide our young people today is the encouragement to pursue their dreams, broaden their life experiences, and be the listener they need to grow and prosper. Remember, it’s their time to explore, investigate and educate themselves on life and career choices for them.

*The Pathway Planner^TM uses the same assessment information (based upon the world’s largest validation and reliability studies) that thousands of companies use to hire. This educational and career planning tool helps young people and people in career transition discover what career possibilities best suit them. In addition, SeibCo provides the book, It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition, (www.Time2Brag.com) to help sell yourself and win the job offer.

To get started, contact SeibCo today: http://SeibCo.com/contact

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2016 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning and internationally recognized business advisor. For the past 23 years, she has helped thousands of people work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now.  She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks, and help them focus to quickly produce unprecedented results.  Each client brings their own unique challenges, and her gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way. Along the way, with her commitment, she helped guide the creation of three millionaires.

Usually, we ignore it, or invalidate the facts or the person providing the input. Even when it is our board of directors, mentor or coach!

While it is much easier to hear wanted advice, there are times we need to listen to unsolicited or undesirable advice. While business leaders gladly share their opinions, thoughts and feelings on any subject, they rarely take (or make) the time to probe into what the core issues are. So, it is up to you to adjust your mindset and ability to listen — it will determine the value of the advice and how to use it. (Especially if it is our customer!)

By listening, we can resolve issues, take advantage of opportunities, and build team morale. Failure to do so may limit our ability to grow our company.

It’s Important that you Hear what is being Said!

Set Aside your Ego. Your ability to listen to unwelcomed advice displays your emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is responding appropriately and understanding what the person is saying … whether or not you believe it is valid information. Learn how to respond without being defensive and ask the right questions.

Don’t Allow your Biases to Dictate your Ability to Listen. Too often we allow our biases about the person giving advice to interfere with our ability to hear what they are saying. The advice or information being provided may be very important but not well communicated.  If you simply can’t understand what they are saying, schedule another meeting with the intention of learning from them. In the meantime, do your homework and come prepared with questions.

Pay Attention. Multi-tasking or playing with your computer or phone while the other person is speaking will ensure you miss value-added points. Usually if someone is taking the time to give you feedback or input, it’s important that you listen! Remember, it often takes courageous to share unwanted information. Paying attention usually has a big payoff whether or not you find the news immediately useful.

Stay Out of the ‘Ain’t It Awful Trap’. It’s easy to buy into negativity. Although you may have a bias that this person is always negative, listen empathetically and place a time limit on it. While there are times venting may foster opportunities, it depends upon your ability to manage it. Turn the information into growing the project, resolving the client issue effectively, or helping someone learn from it. These are great opportunities to develop your skills.

Listening to and managing wanted and unwanted advice is critical to growing your business.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant for over 23 years. Along the way, she guided the creation of three millionaires. Her trademark is her uncanny ability to help business professionals identify roadblocks and help them blast through those barriers to produce unprecedented results. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you need: www.SeibCo.com/contact

Truly successful leaders have learned how to get issues addressed and job activities they detest done with minimal stress. They are great at working with and through others to achieve positive results through delegation. They know (sometimes having learned the hard way) failure to delegate will sabotage the successful growth of their company, ability to hire and retain great employees, and profitability.

Delegate the Right Way!

Select the Right Person. Delegating to employees or others that have the interest, skills and business acumen, can create great working relationships with employees and customers, improve sales and profitability, and eliminate many potential legal issues (e.g., the IRS, a judge or plaintiff attorney are not interested in “why” your company didn’t do what needed to be done.) Give the task or project to the best qualified person, without basing the decision solely on longevity, job titles and non-critical factors. Make sure they have the mindset, interests and skills to achieve the needed results. These people will amaze you in the results they produce!

Create Ongoing Learn-forward Culture. While you may believe everyone is too busy, you might be surprised to learn they are good at busy-ness in an attempt to alleviate their boredom. When new opportunities present themselves, instead of saying no because you are not interested, consider delegating them to your employees so they can learn new skills and develop business acumen. In turn, this will improve job satisfaction and overall results. You’ll be surprised by how much time they can devote to something that truly interests them! And, make sure their current job responsibilities are getting done too!

Mentoring and Coaching is the Company Norm. Too often we wait until there is a problem before providing necessary mentoring or coaching for our employees. This creates a negative perspective of asking for and allowing for help. Encourage cross-training, participation in projects, and team leadership opportunities to broaden your employees’ bandwidth. It can also boost their morale and build their confidence to try new things. Great experiences will normally produce unprecedented results!

Delegating the right way will promote positive results and you will create a more effective team.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant for over 23 years. Along the way, she guided the creation of three millionaires. Her trademark is her uncanny ability to help business professionals identify roadblocks and help them blast through those barriers to produce unprecedented results. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you need: http://SeibCo.com/contact

Many opportunities are often disguised as challenges. Brave and audacious leaders know when challenges occur that’s when new opportunities appear. To take advantage of these, leaders make the commitment to clarify the facts of the challenge, get everyone on the same page, and take focused action. They know change is never an easy process. Their courage to take on challenges, make the right changes, and turn them into rewarding opportunities is their trademark for being great leaders. Many faint-hearted counterparts miss out on these new possibilities to stay competitive, customer-centric and the employer of choice.

Courage is the trademark of bold leaders. They embrace the following:

Encourage change. There is a misperception that change means something is wrong or something needs to be fixed. The truth is change happens every day. Understanding and accepting change is a precursor to the transformative process in any company. Dauntless leaders encourage conversations designed to develop new and broader perspectives.  To help employees understand the opportunities change can bring, have them do one thing different each day.  Then, share about the positive effects.  For example: encourage them to drive to work a different way, talk with different types of potential customers, brainstorm the impact of one company goal, etc.

Talk it out responsibly.  Determined leaders are responsible for what is shared with whom. When sharing their challenges with close confidants and key employees, they are open and coachable to hear what they don’t want to hear. Thus, they are able to create new possibilities. In turn, they help their employees stay committed to pursuing the new and tactically building on what has been working.

Move forward. Not every opportunity takes the right step in the right direction. It takes tough leaders to get to the heart of new opportunities to determine their viability for the company. Using a sense of urgency, fearless leaders ask the right questions to uncover the truth and probe to hear what others may be afraid to say. By doing so, their efforts are rewarded by uncovering new systems, products and services that work for them and their customers.

Take focused action. Many times an issue or situation has been festering for a while regardless of the actions taken. Resolute leaders know it’s time to “breathe new life into resolving it” by employing outside-the-box thinking. They work with their business advisors to effectively build needed business strategies on current practices – ensuring smooth transitions.

Express thanks. Everyone loves to be appreciated, and when shared authentically can help everyone grow. Trust your employees and the process to ensure anticipated changes bring about the transformation needed to achieve success and financial rewards by acknowledging what they are doing well.

Seeking out challenges can provide the right opportunities for transforming the company when handled courageously and with aplomb.

Get started now turning your challenges into rewarding opportunities! Contact your business advisor today! http://SeibCo.com/contact

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor and executive coach for hundreds of leaders for over 23 years. She has an uncanny ability to help leaders resolve challenges and breathe new life into new opportunities. What are you waiting for? Contact Jeannette today for a no obligation discussion: http://SeibCo.com/contact

Successful leaders understand their success starts from within and is built on genuine confidence, competence and compassion — not false bravado. They know that leaders are not born as leaders, and they must do the work to earn their successes. They work smart and are respected by others, and many times (but not always) are liked by others too! Thus, they develop an inner leadership style that works for their employees, Board and customers, while effectively handling the outer actions required too.

As part of their commitment to being the best leader they can be, leaders hire an executive coach to help them achieve results and a mentor from within the industry to recognize new opportunities. These confidants help them recognize and fine-tune their blind spots and build their natural effectiveness. By inviting inside and outside perspectives, they build on their business experiences and improve their ability to make the right decisions for win-win-win outcomes.

Fine-tuning Your Inner Leader:

-Take responsibility for yourself and your decisions.

-Trust your inner voice to guide your words and actions, and realize the need to review ideas, thoughts, opinions and feelings with your coach and mentor for clarity. This helps you stay on the right path required to achieve your results.

-Value your ideas and others’ ideas too. Continue developing the fine art of working with and through others to build solutions.

-Respect yourself and others by listening without blame, judgment or criticism to elicit the best in others.

-Be comfortable with yourself, and ensure others are confident to follow your lead. Take the time to check in to ensure others are truly on the same page with you, not just parroting what you want to hear.

-Set aside your ego by sharing the credit and celebrating the successes of others.

-Create positive learning opportunities using the inevitable failures and mistakes often made. Teach by setting the right examples.

The strength of your leadership is a reflection of the authentic confidence, competence and compassion you have developed. Remember, it’s a lifelong process not a one-time event to become the leader you’ve always dreamed of being.

 “Successful leadership requires preparation and learning from any failures along the way!” Jeannette Seibly http://ow.ly/Kp34R

Jeannette Seibly has been an international business advisor and executive coach for over 23 years. She has guided the creation of countless leaders. Are you the next one? http://SeibCo.com/contact

©Jeannette Seibly, 2014-2016