Stop the denial!

Everyone makes mistakes. It’s how you handle them that makes all the difference. Allowing your ego and impatience to get the best of you can and will cost you your job. First apologize to all involved, sincerely. Clichés or platitudes won’t change anything. People will naturally be forgiving if you are not continually making the same mistakes over and over. If you missed an important milestone, committed fraud or lied, gossiped about your boss or upset an important customer, it will take more than the apology to set the right tone for the future, if you are given the opportunity. When you are, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance—become very coachable and do whatever is requested to get back on track (http://SeibCo.com/contact). If you have burned your bridges, learn from your mistakes and negotiate a good severance package. Be responsible about lamenting your situation to others, because no one wants to hire someone else’s problem!

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Are your next leaders ready?

Many companies today are starting to feel the squeeze of needing experienced leadership and looking for it in all the wrong places. It starts with vetting and onboarding your future leaders now and providing them the learning opportunities they need to build business acumen. (Read more on this topic is my eGuide “Companies and Executives Need to Vet and Onboard Each Other!” http://ow.ly/qYzMB)

Onboarding your leaders in new jobs require:

    • An inside mentor and outside business advisor (or executive coach)
    • Building upon strengths and providing opportunities to develop and grow
    • Developing initiative, resourcefulness, and an ability to work with and through others to achieve results through collaborative opportunities
    • Very importantly, coachability. Hiring know-it-alls will only limit their ability to grow, be promotable and your company’s ability to attract and retain top talent.

Use a strategic hiring process to ensure the candidate can do the job now and appears to have the objective ability to be promoted in the future. Qualified selection and coaching assessments along with qualified 360-degree feedback can make a significant difference in selecting and developing the right person, one with executive potential, regardless of past work experience. (http://SeibCo.com/assessments)  

When interviewing candidates for employment or promotions, drill down—most candidates are adept at telling you what you want to hear. Ask the right tough questions and listen to their responses and examples. Many times candidates truly believe they can handle job responsibilities and don’t take into consideration other life commitments, a different work culture, or different expectations required in the executive office. Devise a structure to ensure that if candidates fail, they aren’t automatically fired. You’ve invested a lot of time and money in employees’ success—simply restructure their upward movement in a lateral direction. (For additional insights in how to interview, get your copy of Hire Amazing Employees: Second Edition (http://BizSavvyHire.com)

Have you had a bad review?

A bad review doesn’t mean your job or career is over. However, it’s a warning something needs to change and change quickly. Your opinions or feelings about the review won’t save your job or change your boss’s decision! Chances are good that you’ll take whatever issue you’re confronting (bad boss, poor company practices, poor performance or attitude, etc.) to your next job due to your attitude about authority, how companies should structure their businesses, or not having found your career niche.

Before actively renewing your resume or increasing your interview readiness, take time to review what you have achieved. (http://TimeToBrag.com) Share your successes with your boss, and put them in writing so he or she can attach them to your performance review. Also, be sure you have your past and current metrics available and include them with your review if they have been favorable. Next, work with your boss to put together two or three “must-dos” to help you improve your performance. Hire an executive or business coach to help you navigate the list and ensure that you are making the right decisions along the way. (http://SeibCo.com/contact) Finally, schedule weekly meetings with your boss to assess progress, tweak the process, and address any new issues that arise.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Successful Leadership Is Evolutionary

Every generation of leaders likes to believe they invented the newest and most effective way to manage people, build profitable companies, and “build a better mousetrap.”  The reality? We didn’t do it ourselves. The achievements of our businesses, inventions, and other ideas were an outcome of working effectively with and through others to achieve the intended results, and at the same time acknowledging our predecessors.

True leaders are humble and take great care of their teams. They set aside their egos, hubris, and other personality impediments to pave forward the pathway and open new doors to achieve their intended results. If they’ve made a lot of money, it is shared appropriately. If they created a lot of press, they generously include others’ contributions in their brag statements. (http://TimeToBrag.com)

Why are these insights important?

1.       When you understand that your success stands on the shoulders of your mentors, business advisors, bosses, and team members, you become humble knowing you didn’t go it alone. It makes it easier for others to want to work with you and share their knowledge and experiences, since it’s not all about you and your credentials or paycheck.

2.       It’s never solely your ideas or creativity that make the system or product work. Sharing the credit works wonders for current and future undertakings. Asking the right questions, listening and building upon ideas, and making available (or creating) the required resources are key traits of leaders. They ensure others stick with you during the design, launch, and refinement processes of your projects.

3.       Documentation of your process, including charts and graphs, helps others visually understand the progress. They can then see potential glitches and possible solutions, and not rely on any overly optimistic feelings of triumph you might have. Documentation also provides a foundation for you, and them, to build on for the next venture.

Remember, leadership and business, as most things in life, are evolutionary—they build on previous successes and learn from past failures to create the next victory.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Stop managing and start coaching.

Effective bosses know that everybody has their own learning style. Instead of telling your employees how to get the job done, you should provide assistance that is focused on a quality process and an intentional end result. As a manager, you should take time to listen, ask the right questions, and use qualified assessments to become a laser-focused coach with the ability to guide your team and provide the necessary adjustments. You should encourage your employees to interact with one another, other teams, and their clients to develop new processes and systems to achieve the required end results:  satisfied customers and a positive return on investment. (http://SeibCo.com/assessments)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Are you ready for an executive coach?

  • Is it a challenge to get projects accomplished with and through others?
  • Do you vow to find a job that doesn’t require working with anyone?
  • Do you and your boss butt heads with the end result based on who has the strongest willpower?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you need an executive coach immediately. There is still time to achieve your 2013 goals, if you are willing to do so. Urgency is the key! Bad habits can be easily redirected if caught early enough. A qualified coach can help you do what you don’t want to do so you can achieve positive results. Don’t wait! Your job may depend upon it!

A good executive coach:

  • Provides on-the-spot insight and options
  • Helps you overcome your blind spots
  • Provides constructive feedback and appropriate praise
  • Asks the right questions to help you develop the right course of action
  • Provides options for how-to work with and through others

 Contact Jeannette today @ http://SeibCo.com/contact

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Have you been sidelined?

Many times executives and key players are sidelined and no one has told them about it! It can be devastating to learn you were not invited to an important meeting or are no longer included in making important decisions. It can be hurtful when coworkers and employees avoid you and refuse to buy in to your ideas or plans.

First, talk with your boss and find out what happened. Be willing to apologize for any misunderstandings or inappropriate comments you may have made. Even though it can be difficult to hear the truth, you cannot fix what you don’t know for a fact. If your boss doesn’t know why you are being sidelined or is unwilling to get involved in rectifying the situation, insist nicely that you need to know what happened. Remember, it won’t help you keep your job if you burn a bridge!

Next, hire a coach immediately to determine what can be done to salvage your job, reputation, and paycheck.

Third, set aside your denial and take action now. Urgency is the key! The longer this situation goes on, the less likely it can be turned around. Yes, it is your responsibility to make the needed changes, determine what needs to be done for the company and boss, and seek the resources required to make the necessary changes! (http://SeibCo.com/contact)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Take Your Dreams Off Hold

There will always be economic highs and lows, jobs and bosses we don’t like, and life circumstances we allow to stymie us. We believe it is just the way life is. To further complicate and prevent us from taking charge of our careers, we employ worn-out excuses of not having enough time or money, being afraid of failure or even of success. Yet none of these excuses and thought processes will move you forward to achieve your aspirations in life.  It’s time to take your dreams off hold!

First, embrace the fear! Now, blast through it by identifying and handling the most pressing issue keeping you from your dream (for example, if you need money: find additional income; if you need child care: trade services with other mothers; if you need a different job: talk with your human resource department). Second, clarify in writing what you really, really, really want, establish a short-term goal, and now create a focused action plan.  Run it by others to ensure it will produce the intended results.  Third, find or develop a group of like-minded people (family, friends, or boss) to keep you on task and provide time- and money-saving ideas. Hire a coach to keep you focused on the right things and moving forward if you are pursuing a business venture. (https://seibco.com/contact/)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Learning Opportunities Can Be Priceless

As a leader, it’s important for you to be receptive to new ideas generated through collaboration between different work groups. They foster teamwork and can bring about cost-effective and competitive-edge systems, procedures, and off-the-wall solutions. Create a safe structure for employees to take their ideas and run them through the company’s business model – doing so enables employees to understand how business decisions are made.  Include budgetary and other market-driven concerns in their learning repertoire. Remember, some of these innovations will work and some won’t— it’s how you handle the debrief that will provide priceless learning opportunities and encouragement.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

You Are a Champion

In many companies, employees are expected to “dummy down” and not share their accomplishments. Statistically women, more than men, have a very difficult time sharing their achievements, since most were taught as children that it’s impolite to brag. The result? Because employees don’t give voice to their successes, they don’t receive the promotions, pay increases, and business recognition deserved. Business owners don’t get the contract bids and industry reputation required to succeed because they don’t tout their accomplishments. There is an art to learning how to brag in a business-savvy manner. Get your copy of It’s Time to Brag! and complete the five simple exercises. Share your successes, and experience increased success. (http://TimeToBrag.com)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013